BREAKING THE BONDS.
A CHRISTCHURCH MEDICO'S
AMOURS.
Shone Versus Shone.
A Victim to Cocaine.
Levants from Christchurch With
Another Woman.
(From "Truth's" Hobart Correspondent.)
HOBART (Tas.), April 30
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Vandemonia (Sir John Dodds) took an extreme step m the Matrimonial Jurisdiction to-day when he ordered that the evidence m the petition for divorce m the case of the Christchurch medico, Dr. Shone, filed by his wife, should not be made public, or, m other words, that it • should not- be freely reported m the press. The general public opinion, and indeed it is shared m by the legal fraternity as well, is that the C.J. .went out of his way to suppress a case which has given rise to more than ordinary curiosity. When the solicitor for the petitioner, Mr N.- K. Ewingr. a lawyer who at one time occupied a seat m the Federal Parliament, as a Senator of Western Australia, faced . Sir John Dodds and the puisne Judge, Mr John Mclntyre, who now. comprise the Full Court of Tasmania, he rose with venom m his eye and requested that 'an order be made PROHIBITING THE PRESS from reporting the case m full. The application was no doubt the result of a rumor that had gone abroad to the effect that "Truth's" correspondent had been specially commissioned to give the evidence of the petitioner and that of other witnesses m detail, and to make the • proceedings of the Star Chamber order, the Chief Justice complied with the rqquest. Ife did not do so, however, without a short consultation with his Honor Judge Mclntyre, and even then not without pointing, out that the request was a most unusual.; one, the more especially as he was informed that there would be no evidence forthcoming which would be unfit for publication. Anyway he granted the application, and to the disgust of tho great unsoaped, of whom we have a plentiful m Slowbart, the Court was . cleared, and outside the hall of justice the position taken up by the Chief Justice, who no doubt was legally within his rights, was discussed at some length. Pointed reference was mtfde to the Tact that six months or so ago one of the most shocking divorce cases that had ever come for trial* ih Tasmania' was heard with open doors, and the sordid details of the ' v WRFCKAGE OF CONNUBIAL BLISS published daily to a thirsty population. In that case a man of less than thirty summers was adjudged guilty of adultery with a woman over sixty. The female had sons and daughters older than the co-respondent, but still she was found willing to live vfrlth nim m adultery. In this case, however, it is only right to state that Judge Mclntyre was the only presiding Horsehair. The Dr. StrongRuby Wallace, divorce wag also, discussed and the general conclusion arrived at that there was* absolutely no necessity to shut the doors of tlie halls of justice against the press, and through them the public. Lawyer Ewing made a great froth about the possibility of a full report of the proceedings doing harm to Dr. Shone m his profession, but as that individual had hot thought fit to* defend the action, it is hard to say how he could haye been more injured than the wife whom he cruelly ideserted. Anyway, without transgressing the Chief Justice's mandate, sufficient is known of the case through the petitioner's friends to disclose some of the sordid facts. * ' SHONE A COCAINE MANIAC. Mrs Shone has been m Hobart during the past couple of months instructing her lawyer m the details of her divorce proceedings. She put up at the Orient Hotel and rapidly made many friends, with whom she was wont to discuss the forthcoming proceedings. During the past few she has removed to the tony hash establishment—Pressland House. Her story is a pitiable one. She wis born m England — modesty prevents her spying hoAV long ago, 'but it could not have been 30 years— and was married to Dr. Shone m 1891. For some r time they lived m Adelaide (S.A.). where the medico was particular ly cruel to her. They then removed to Christchurch (N.Z.), where the doctor held a large practice. Here renewed cases of cruelty occurred to such' an extent that Mrs Shone feared for her life. SHONE DID NOT DRINK, but was addicted to cocaine, and at times his violence towards his wife was maniacal. Some time m 1907 he levanted from Christchurch with a local woman and came to Tasmania. He bought a practice at Geeneston and has resided there ever since m adultery with the new-found New Zealand love. After hearing a number of affidavits, all of which bore out Mrs Shone's statements, the. Court granted a rule nisi, returnable iri six months, and ordered Dr. Shone m the meantime to contribute one pound per week alimony. It may be ment.oned that Geeneston is a waterside settlement on the Huon River, m the southern part of Tasmania, having cewnmunieation by coach and small river craft. It is the home of the hardwood timber miller and numbers a population of something like six or seven hundred adults.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTR19080509.2.25
Bibliographic details
NZ Truth, Issue 151, 9 May 1908, Page 5
Word Count
869BREAKING THE BONDS. NZ Truth, Issue 151, 9 May 1908, Page 5
Using This Item
See our copyright guide for information on how you may use this title.