LEFT IN THE LURCH.

NZ Truth, Issue 507, 6 March 1915, Page 4

LEFT IN THE LURCH.

Touching Tale from Te Aroha V: ' TteiMwifcUdy Who Was !^~*~ Hoaxed. •YY.jn -f. Ifhe Town of "The Mountain of Love." There was I waiting at the church, Waiting at tho church, waiting at ttte xhurciv Y^ . .When I found he'd left me m the lurch. Lor* how it did upset me; .All at once he sent around a note, Here's the -very^note; this is what he -wroTeY" *" ~ " "Cah't get Way to marry you to- ■ 'day, 1 * • •;■""" My wife won't let me."

_ , i . ....-., ... „ „,_ ._ . ... , The above well-kppwn chorus of an' kqually well-known song might Very well be said to adequately describe the j .unfortunate position, of a young woman iltho quite recently found herself left VERY MtjCH .IN THE LURCH, not at a > church, but , at the office of the Registrar of the "Hatched, Matched and Snatched" department at Te Aroha, It is not, of Course, accurately Stating the position to, declare that the ''hero" of this little "comedy- drama" fcent around a note to say that his wife would not let him, but the Interesting fact remains that the existence of a •wife, and, it is credited, six children, provided very good reasons why the aforesaid .'hero",-. did hot turn up to go through- the matrimonial mill, and risk the pains rand penalties of Bigamy. It , Js true .that the- individual who makes it a practice of. pursuing the ever-sus-«eptlble.female> and builds her up with all- sorts of, fairy talesr is hot over- j particular m. the manner of methods! employed by him, and though he might go to the extent of promising to make an "honest -woman" of her, he naturally -.. hesitates, particularly Jf a martied man, with a tribe of youngsters, to '^^B'TOM:ADANIEI.. ,, le„ to make her -honest by marrying, her* or at any rate going through a form Of- marriage her, running the risk of a big "stretoh" which Judges have a nasty habit of prescribing when they have such- scoundrels before them. "Anyhow, the well-known tourist resort of Te. Aroha, ,or; rather those resi4ents of .^e Aroha Ywho were well m the know, have, beeii quietly giggling for i- week or:? two foyer the unfortunate plight of'"a sweet young thing whb the? other day , haunted the precincts of the office of the local registrar, waiting, as. s itj happened, for a man. who did not turn up. As the registrar has hjjj^ experience enough, to teach him many things, and who, perhaps pardons the bridegroom for tarrying by. tho roadside, realising that .the road ahead of him is b^und to be rocky enough, the- dilatoriness of the lirldeproqm t elect caused him.no great eonoerri~aV flr^t^. put (the patience' of tiile/?brXdpp;to^bCnthali-'WaB-not appealed to him.'.and . one, thing leading to another, and hours slipping by,: the registrar himself got inpatient, and a few inquiries caused him to fear the worst, kn'd' Soy it happened— the -worst happeAbd~tire ttfideferdom elect made no appearance' f . "-' s^ff. '.','. Nojy.*i)efoVib "Trjflih" proceeds TO TBJLIj THETOJJCHING TALE It feels that a few -tvords on To Aroha will not beaiiilss, and when lacking to'_^ : khbwiedge'pf any country district li,'ln,Variiiliiy -'0$ I tbat the N.Z. Index tan, as a, rule, supply all that is necessary.., To. Aroha, we find, is> described las "one of the most. favored health resorts, of the Dominion," that' it has long been famous for its mineral springs Which are jreihißtj'kable' for their curative properties for various complaints. It, is 115.. m11d& fcodth- west of Auck- | land, '1t, .1? pecujlarly pertinent to point put that at. the back of the town there rises a' huge mountain, 3126 ft high,- and Mt.' Te Aroha, we might mention, "/ means the "Mountain -of Lqvfe." ; Thcr ..' JST.Z. index ' is, however, singularly silent oh the fact that the mineral waters of To Aroha are potent, and it is generally recognised that a course of Te Aroha mineral baths aro Just the thing- for those either content-

plating matrimony, or who have taken the fatal PLUNGE^ liV THE SEA OF LOVE. At any rate, residents of this delightful spot have on several occasions explained to this rather unbelieving journal that there is more than meets the eye m the reason why Tc Aroha is much- favored by honeymooning couples. If Te Aroha springs possess peculiar qualities, perhaps their popularity with those about 'to do it, or "have been, and gone and done it" is now explained. Now, however, reverting to the sweet young thing who sat patiently waiting for the man who was going to make her supremely happy, it might be mentioned that the registrar eventually lost his patience, and, smelling a rat, he unwinded the sweet young thing aforesaid and elicited from her that the man of her choice was an acquaintance of four months' standing. That he had promised'to meet her on the day m question at Te Aroha, and that they were ,tp be married at the registrar's office, and that after the blissful honeymoon had, been spent m the town which, has such wonderful love philtre mineral springs and a Mountain of Love at the back of it, they were going over to Australia to .■'■''- . .•",'■,? LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTERWARDS. : Further inquiries, also elicited the very interesting information that the "hero" was engaged m palming off; to, unsuspecting housewives some valueless stuff which was .alleged to work wonders with old clothes, and which bore the wondrous legend; "Made m France," which we might mention is quite a variation from "Made m Germany." It, however, happened that just about this time . the local "Jo.hn'darms" (and country policemen are generally pr.etty wideawake and on the look-out ' for the smart chap from the city), took a tumble to the operations of a pair of Itinerant hawkers or pedlars m the district; and gave them the '.'chat" to vanish/ This well-intentioned advico was not followed, apparently, and ah one or two housekeepers had bacnvictimised, one of the pair was blue-pa-pered to appear before the local justices for hawking without a license. The other got before he was blistered.' Both got, m fact, and the man Who was blistered failed to appear, and was fined In his absence. The individual fined, add who was not present to pay his fine, and who is wanted m connection with that fine, was, it might bementioned, ■'■■-, THE PARTNER OF THE "HERO* who did not keep his appointment. The registrar having heard all that* there was to be heard, and recognising that there was nothing doing m his line, condoled with the young lady, In his official capacity of course, and the next thingthat happened Was that the "Johns" took the gWEET YOUNG, THINQ IN HAND, heard her sad story, gave her certain advice, mentioned that "Love's Young ■ Dream waS O'er," that the man shn wanted was tl)e property ot another, that he had four or five kids, that he lived In the city, and that if she went to , the address given her she might find the man of another's choice. . It was, naturally, a very piuch disappointed young woman who left To Aroha. Whether she went to the address given, "Truth" cannot 3ay. If she did thero should have been something doing. 1 * •- ' ■■ ■■><■.-. . <