THE RUSH FOR RELEASE.

NZ Truth, Issue 181, 5 December 1908, Page 5

THE RUSH FOR RELEASE.

THE DOMESTIC DRAMAS OF THE DIVORCE COURT.

Husbands aiid Wives Who Wanted Relief.

THE UNRELIABILITY OF BEATRICE RICKARD.

Preferred Step-Brother to tier Spouse.

A hatch of petitioners who desired to be switched off the matrimonial track in* to the realms of single blessedness presented themselves before his Honor Mr Justice Cooper at the Wellington Supreme Qb'urt op Monday, which, being a saint's day and no less a saint than St. Andrew was a coincidence remarkable m itself. The. first petitioner was Caroline Neame, who. was represented by Mr Young. According to Carrie's account, she was switched to Percy Neame at Eltham on August 18, 1880, and afterwards resided at Blenheim • and Pelorus Sound. She alleged that Percy had treated her cruelly and unkindly and she had left the man she had sworn to "cherish m sickness and m health, for better or for 'worse 1 ' m 1895, and had lived apart from him lor thirteen years and had supported- her four children herself. JPercy had been . LIVING IN ADULTERY with another • woman, named Ai*s Wilson, and had actually -written and told. Oar-, rie, his wife, all about .it. Cop. King, stationed at Havel ock, stated that he knew Percy, who wais living openly, with Mrs- Wilson as 'his wife. The cop. further added that Mrs Wilson had had two children to Percy and the circumstances ol the sinnirtg' pair were known to residents of Pelorus Sounds '■ district. His Honor granted a decree nisi on the grojtmd ot adultery, to be made absolute m six mpnths, and awarded; costs on the lowest scale. ■ ' . y T '. ' ■'"'■ "'; -I Robert Charles Reid, for whom Mr Dunn appeared, applied for a dissolution jbl his marriage with his wife, j Elizabeth Reid, on the ground of , desertion. It appears that Rober t ; Chaifies looked upon UJlizabeth as the sweetest thing on God's earth, or at anyrate, m God's Own Ooftmtry, about the year 188a, and when m August he and Elizabeth entered the hands oi hply matrimony, he felt thui ,he Was to be envied by all men, but on Monday he "wais willing to part with the " wife -of- his bosom ' for two drinks, nay, even 'ready to Rive her away. Any way, Robert and Elizabeth, after taking on the irrevocable contract at Wanganui,. m August, -1889, went ; -'to reside at Marton. In 1:897' Eli/afce'th > apparently did not like ; Marion and She left the .home OF HER LORD AND MASTER on April Ist; a most auspicious .day, "and went to Wanganui without permission and had, ttevet returned to her, 'isorrow■ing hubby. Robert had -kept a house for two years and had made frequent request* to Elizabeth' to return, but she had failed to (lo So. He had seen her on' two :or three different occasions arid had endeavored tp persuade, her 1 to return,' but ,ali without avail. ' ' ' . Douglas Alexander Reid; petitioner's brother, said that Elizabeths had toUu him she did not intend to return- to Robert, and' in reply to his Honor she gave as her'eason that she could not agree with Robert. His Honor granted a decree nisi, returnable ;in six months. ' Wnen Ada Patt o n suavelled David Pat.tori- at I.ongburn m October, 1899, she thought she had captured the best man m Seddon's Own' Couptry and jumped for joy at the beautiful prospect before her. -The marriage was. blessed with two children, who at the time of the application , were) seven and eight years of age reSpec-, tively. ' The .cooing doves removed from the peaceful surroundings of Lonb-burn anil started housekeeping m Wellington, and all went well until David, like unto the •slayer of, Goliath, saw another female who- tempted him, and he fell, and he fell heavily, too, worse luck for David. it happened that the tempter of David,' con-, veyed to Jiim a nameless disease, which his wife discovered, and taxei Jiinv with being unfaithful and clean. David admitted the' charge and Ada took up. her togs and hooked it and had not gone back to him since. Ada was chaperoned m Court by No-license Atkinson, and iiJ reply to his Honor, said she .did not think that ' Davjid had ■'■■ • COMMUNICATED THE, DISEASE TO • : - . ; HER.. Ada's father testified to having served the . necessary papers on the unfaithful spouse and the old man was taking no " chances, but delivered' the papers m the presence ol another lady who was residing with David as his wife and who has just given birth to a youngster, of which David was the father. Elizabeth Tozer, sister of petitioner, produced a letter from David, m which he admitted living with another woman as his wife, "whom he intended to. marry if he ever got the chance." David will soon have an opportunity of carrying out his intentions, as his tionwt gran- | ted Ada a. decree nisi, to toe made aoso- ; lute m three months. Costs on the' lowest scale were granted and Ada was given custody of the children (until further or.d«r of the Court. . - Ada Lucy Mureh applied for dissolution 'of her marriage with George Francis Murch on the ground of desertion. Mr Young appeared for petitioner. Ada Lucy stated that George was at the time ot the Wedding a member of the firm of Murch and .Parbrook^ electricians, of Welv Hpgtoa, and the hitcliing-up- took place m April, 1892; Geoige disappeared from View m July five years afeo, and although! ■a • ■■■■■■'■.■■..?■'."' --; WARRANT WAS ISSUED FOR HIS .'■.' ARREST, the police were unable to execute the warrant. Prior to the warrant heing issued, a maintenance brder had heen issued against George on account of 'his chilr area. Ada Lucy had maintained all six of the children for a time, but subsequently, the. State took charge of four of them land she retained possession of two. inf I'fepectbf Ellison gave evidence of the issu& "of , Abe warrant: It was " believed by the police that George had gone to San Fraiir qiscio. A decree nisi was granted, with custody of the two children and of the i>ttier four if the Government consented. Charles ' Demr/ster congratulated himself immensely when m December, 1902, he led Eliasa Jerriima, trs httle bit of good goods, to the altar and was bitched-up to her m great style But alas, the lodger intervened, and Charlie's blissful married life ,was suddenly, made miserable. Mr Hindmarsh represented Charlie before his Honor and brought out the facts upon which Charlie ' relied. Charlie stated that he had never had any "reason to doubt his wife's bona fides until long alter the advent of one Walser Goodman, the lodger. All . , : WAS AS MERRY AS. A CRICKET / ' Until Charlie one day noted- his wife's condition, when for some reason or other Charlie felt compelled to say something, as he did not understand it at all r— why, Charlie did not say, and "Truth" can only surmise as to possibilities or evep probabilities. Anyway, Eliza Jemima said that Goodman, the lodger, was the cause of her condition, and Charlie fit once wrote out a statement to that effect, and Eliza Jemima . signed the damaging admission jleorgnia ' Beatrice Oracnoa, sister of Eliza Jemima, gave evidence of the service of the writ, . and incidentally said that Eliza Jemima had admitted to her that she was m trouble to Goodman. His Honor granted a decree nisi, to be made absolute m three months. ■ George Riclcard is a cheese factory man- . ager at; Palmerston North, and his matrimonial venture has not turned out all -toter *nd skittle*. Still, m spite ol the

perilous voyage George made on the barque of double cussedness, he came up smiling at every reverse and treated his spouse Beatrice Amy m a most loving, forgiving and amiable manner; indeed, George has acted on the biblical instruction to turn the other cheek to the smiter, and Beatrice Amy smote right merrily and lustily, of course, metaphorically speaking; that is. "Truth",- would not suggest that Beatrice Amy is; a hjusbandbeater, but she displayed unlimited affection for the other fellow, who m this instance is George's step-brother, Jim, whilst candidly informing George that though he is a good, kind, forgiving husby, he can ONLY PLAY SECOND FIDDLE m regard to her affections. Mr Mowlem piloted George through the intricate channels of the Divorce Court, and brought out the fact that George considered .. he had drawn a valuable • prize, from the matrimonial lucky bag when he . , annexed Beatrice Amy m January, 1902 . All went well up to 1905, when Beatrice Amy's affections ' .became alienated, and George's step-brother, Jim, ,who is .a beauteous, brazen bounder, stepped" in -and; played hell m the. dovecote. George did not at firs* become alarmed, but he listened with , an, amused smile of sweet contentment to the remarks of the scandal-monging brigade, who talked of the manner m whicii Jim and Beatty flirted, but eventually George mildly and 1 m a sheepish sort of half-protesting manner suggested to his darling Beatty that it might be well if she didn't spend so much time m Jim's company. Beatty} however, did not like George interfering in 'her private arrangements and forcibly /told him so, adding that she would Apu just what she liked; and she did. At a later date George and Beatty had a- long; heart-to-heart talk, and Beatty, realising that confession is good for the soul, candidly' and fervently : admitted ; that . SHE WAS IN. LOVE WITH JIM. George felt grieved, but did not despair of rescuing the brand, fxprn the burning, and .being still convinced that there was no other woman oh this terrestrial glqbo the peeress of Beatty, he ; devised m his mind a means whereby lie could regain her- immaculate affections, but alas, , as events; turned out it. proved to be a, case of "love's labor lost'" George suggested iio' his dearest Beatty that she should go to Ohri.steh.urch for a, time, is- by that, 'fleahs, : being ' away from Jiitj, she might rci'ient of her folly and realise the mistake she was making Beatty, npthiiig oth; accepted ' the spondulicks ;and went 06 the city of sin, sweat and sorrow, fuliy determined to see if She could see matters m a different light. Before she Avent away she fell lovingly ■on George's neck' and said that if she could not come back as she should do she would not come b\ack nt all. In' three weeks' time the rest-cure cvuiQutly began to work as Beatty wrote vto s say that she desired to return to the ARMS OP HER .LORD AND . 'MASTER. George, who was qiuite pleased at the result of the rest cure, prescribed a. further period of absence, . and m all Beatty ; remained m the soulless city for seven weeks, a,t the end of which period she re-, turned .to George, who received her joyfully and killed the fatted calf— not tlie greasy pig JJimm — m her honor, if such a thing exists. Beatty was very penitent and expressed her sorrow with a cohtrite heart and promised to make amends , arid recompense George for the trials she had pift him to. And the dutiful wife, be it said, kept her word well and true— for a fortnight. Then George discovered- that "Jim was again m evidence, and he told that slippery, slimy son of a gun that Palmerston North was too small for the pair of t'nem, and Jim agreed with him and departed to Wellington. Beatty,'however, Werit to the- railway crossing; where she spied Jim' m, the train, and her heart went out to him m his solitude and she yearned to comfort him m his sorrow and loneliness. She returned to George and told that long-suffering, if Silly, gentleman that "had Jim said, the word L would have left the children inthe 1 street and gorie with him." George was grieved and Heart-broken, but did not despair. He' offered to 'sell out his business and take the wife' of bis bosom to * a far-ott country, where she would be removed from 'the temptation OF THE TERRIBLE TEMPTER JIM, but she said she could not do it as she still loved Jim. From time to time George saw letters from Jim to his wife, 1 and Beatty took to visiting Jim at Wei-/ ling ton during* the week-ends. George tried to convince Beatty of the error of, her ways, but all the satisfaction' he got for the display of his fulsome , love for a worthless woman was the remark:, "I, would prefer to live with Jim m a tent than m a palace with ybw." Latet on Jim revisited Palmerston. m connection with a death, and evidently saw the beauteous Beatty, as she said to her hubby, "Well, George, 1 have sponged \on you ; long enough and am now going to clear out," and she did. But Ge,oxge still yearned for the wife of his bosom and interviewed her father, who brought; pressure to bear, and Beatty once more' returned to her forgiving hubby and she remained with him about nine months. But alas, she was not contented, apfl Kept up a clandestine correspondence with Jim. . Beatty finally left home on September 5, 1908, and took her wedding presents and a quantity of bed linen with her. A She went to the residence of Mrs Stark,' m Turnbull-street, where Jim was also located. After the service of the petition had been effected Beatty came up to Palmerstoa to see her hubby -and then confessed that she had never, come to her senses until after the writ was served ; she added that JIM HAD BURNT THE PAPERS. As far as George knew, Beatty was still m Wellington and had one child with her ; he had the other. ; • ; : •■ James Stanley Hazelwood, "a pimping person posing as a private detective, stated that he occupied a bedroom at Mrs Stark's place, jointly with Jim .Rickard. Jim, however, spent most of his time m Mrs Rickard's bedroom, next dOor, and on the night of October 4 and '5 he 1 spent the whole of the. night m the dutiful Beatty's room. Another private pimp named Francis Gordon Hazelwood, brother of the previous witness, also gave evidence. His Honor . said there was no evidence to show that respondent or co-respondent had 'been served with citations, and he could not grant a decree. He ordered the case to stand over until the affidavits were filed showing that such service had been made: His Honor commented on the gross negligence displayed m the filing of the documents, adding that m cases like this he must insist on a proper affidavit of service. Upon the filing ol such affidavits the decree nisi would issue and be made returnable m three months. William Crichton, a well-known Wellington architect, was granted a decree nisi on the ground of his wife's insanity. An order was made for applicant to contribute the sum of two guineas per week for his wife's maintenance. 'His Honor ordered that the evidence m the case SHOULD NOT BE PUBLISHED. '•Truth" has received a complaint from persons who know Mrs Crichton intimately, and from their statements it appears to this, journal a case into which a searching inquiry should be made by the ■■' responsible authorities— that is, the Crown— before the decree is made absolute.