MITCHELL'S MARRIED MISERIES.

NZ Truth, Issue 145, 28 March 1908, Page 5

MITCHELL'S MARRIED MISERIES.

A CORPORATION LABORER'S LITTLE LOT.

Harrassed and Harrowed m the Hospital.

A Charge of Threatened Desertion

Dismissed.

Something over i ten years a^o Palmerston the proua was adorned with a dressmaker who bore the lovely patronymic of Margaret Amelia Longhurst. 'Melia soon prew tired of spinsterhood, and after a long search for a husband, managed to snare an unlucky stockdriver named William Robert Mitchell, some ten years younger than, herself. The wedding-bells, rang some nine years ago, but since then they have got considerably out of tune. Two kids blessed the unhappy event, but failed to bring any particular kind of bliss. Mitchell has the reputation of being a very decent fellow, but apparently has not qujjbe fulfilled Margaret's ideal of a husband. At length, on Monday last, their dirty Matrimonial linen was washed before Magistrate Riddell at the S.M. Court. Lawyer Kirkcaldie appeared for Amelia, and I Mr T. Wilford for Robert. 1 Margaret, who has a face with a decided flavor of lemons about it, a sister, and the usual kind of female neighbol all gave evidence against William. On January 15th last, it seems, Mitchell, who was then employed by the City Corporation, had an accident, m which he broke his right leg and smashed his left knee. He was taken ,to the Hospital and remained there till the end of February. His sick pay amounted to £3 a week, half coming from the Corporation and half from an accident insurance company. But Margaret has a keen eye for, the oof, . and managed to, get the Corpora-; tion's thirty bob into her own imidhooks. Then lemon fice, sister, and land neighbor badgered Willi-am as the poor devil lay m the HospitaL Here Margaret's crafty mind came into play. While sister saw Robert the other two waited outside, , and the process was repeated with each of the other two. The lovely trio admitted that their sole intention was to find out what MITCHELL WAS GOING TO DO or, as "Tommy" Wilford put it, to badger him into threatening to desert- 'Melia apparently wanted the whole of the three quid. Anyhow^ she three beauties swore that the poor beggar had said that he was going to clear out. So that when William found himself out of the Hospital and hopping about on crutches, he c&so found a prosecution awaiting for intending to desert, and leave his isour spouse without lawful means of. support. Willie swore that he had never threatened to desert his woeful wife: The S.M. evidently believed him, for he dismissed the information. Thus 'Melia vhas been driven to fall back on other schemes for harassing her repentant hubby. i r . ;