MARY HAVES' MISERY.

NZ Truth, Issue 252, 23 April 1910, Page 6

MARY HAVES' MISERY.

Mary and John Hayes have spent nLue- | teen years together, ana raised a, family oi eight, but now nnd that their roads must diverge, with unpleasant resiilts 1 for both. On Tuesday m the • S.BA's. ! Gourt, Christchurch, Mary, backed % by ; Lawyer Donnelly, applied for a separation | order on the ground of persistent cruelty. ■■•■■■.■ ■ ■ .• iSoMoitor White, for John, was m hopes that the middle-aged pair would make ! rt up, but Mary uad armed at that last straw which is supposed to fracture j ■the weight-lifting part oi the camel's j \ anatomy, and she had chosen another j j conveyance. \ i iShe mentioned m the witness-box ■ that I she had seven .youngsters under sixteen, t and crying for bread. One. of John's worst slabs of cruelty was the threat to sever ail their windpipes with a sharp implement, and they lived m fear 'of Mm. That was only* last Saturday night. He didn't lay his bands on them, but he hurled tea-cups at the partner of his sorrows. Also, he went temporarily mad, having read of ■ Powelia, perhays, and uotnfearded t!ie itouse with a saot gun. Pellets were even now discoverable m the wood. That sort of thing got on the nort-es of the missus,.' and the spectacle oi ghastly corpses about tlie premises was apt to arise before the mind's eye anil discourage sleep. Yes; it was the drink. She was afraid of him. and wouldn't go back and live with him m any circumstances. He didn't work at anything m particular, but he had earned £2 10s a week on a thxesiiing machine, and was capable ox earning more.. When he drank he used obscene language m iront of the young girls. • In reply to! Mr Leathern, she said that Hayes had seized '• her by the throat 18 months ago. She couldn't stand iti any longer. She stood it long enough. . She now had all the children with hci except ing the two boys, and she supposed they were working on the threshing mill at Springston. Counsel remarked that with the work he got at Sptiingston Hayes couldn't earn sufficient to keep two homes going. He would have to do what he could, she said. She supposed she would have to go out and work herself. During the last five months he hadn't been earning more than 30s a week, and she didn't see :it. • • His Worship : He poured it down his 4htoat ?— Yes. VFwo pretty, gentle-mannered girls named' Annie and Ethel gave evidence corroborating the father's cruelty to their mother. Mr Leathern remarked that if there /was no chance of a reconciliation he would not put Hayes m the box. The difference of opinion was the result of a little drink on the occasion mentioned by the "woman. His Worship commented very- favorably on the appearance of the girls, which rejected credit on tbeir mother, and said fthat the father had been m. the habit of acting liUe a blackguard m the presence of those children. In view of the evidence .about tlie man earning only 30s a wee?:, be would have to halve it with his wife, .■furnishing an adequate sum for both, and his Worship assumed thafc if the woman 'had to go out and work he would have <.to work also. A separation -was -granted, ,and Hayes : was ordered to pay at the rate ripf 15s per week' towards the support of fyiis wife and family. Also, a prohibition ..order was issued against him.