MARITAL MISFORTUNES OF SURGEON SKEET

NZ Truth, 5 October 1918, Page 5

MARITAL MISFORTUNES OF SURGEON SKEET

WIFE WENT WRONG WITH WHITTLE

Sis "little Oae," His " Darting," " Pet," and " Teddy Bear"

Sydney Divorce Cafe, oi New Zealand interest

A surgeon m the Australian Im- £ perial Forces, Jack Garland Skee.t,; big i and massive, though partially bald at i 29 years of "age, brought' a suit f6T i divorce against, his young" wife, Olive i Ivy Kyrie • Skeet,- • formerly • Edwards, 1 the daughter of a guide and native of 1 Jenolan Caves, New South Wales, ;_at 1 the Divorce 'Court, Sydney, recently. 1 Skeet charged his wife with misconduct with orie. James SerVice Whittle, - a lieutenant m the- Navy, at the * Hotel Metropole, Sydney; at Beufah Flats, :North; Sydney, and elsewhere. Mr. Boyoe ■ (instructed, jjy Mr. F. Marsden) acted -' for ''petitioner; ''and - Mt. • Chubb (instructed- ~by -'Mrr Hbldship) ! appeared ■ for respondent's";, "guardian :. ad litem, the Master,, m Lunacy. „ A second co-respondent; Cecil Wil- -, liam Bartram, had been joined, and ; Mr. MaxweU;..(instructed by Mr. A. S. ' Boulton) appeared to defend. _ Mr. Boyce, however,, said, that Bartram was ] notified some time -ago that no- cvi- •; dence would be given against him. Mr. -; Maxwell asked that the, charges : against his client be dismissed, with costs. And this was done. . Petitioner Skeet; m curiously smiling: humor, a native of New Plymouth, New Zealand, wearing the l khaki uniform and gold buttons of' a medical officer m the Army; said that he went over to New South Wales a fortnight before the" declaration of war, m August, 1914, and enlisted ..on vwar breaking; out. He first met his wife on the »V ■'.. ■-. '.".. STEAMER AT TAHITI, whilst' he. was on his' way back from San Francisco," arid' some few weeks afterwards on August 19j 1914,; he married her at Christ Church, Sydney, the Rev. C. Mv.-.Statiham- .celebrating ,the nuptials. Shortly afterwards he sailed with, the forces to Rabaul, and .--his wife ■went to reside, -at- Rushcutter's. Bay on an allowance of £'3*5 per mbnth which he gave b.er.,. On. board .the .vessel,, was the co-respondent, ' Whittle, who was. attached to the Navy. ".They ; became friendly, and .Whittle knew, that he was married . Later, op,, said Skeet, he returned" from. Rabaul, and after living with'ms' .wife for. a week they went~do;wri l t6 Jeryis Bay. to, the "Naval College, 'until July, when .he was despatched on bther duty afloat. Coming ashore • once more, they liVed at BeUr iah Flats,' Nortft Sydiiey,. and he com: mence'dVcivilApractice. J At . . .Beulah Flats -at "this time.' lived Whittle arid his young 'wife, I " arid. later on respbn-. dent "accompanied Mrs. over: ,to Melbourne. Skeet * added" that he 'had not seen,. his wife. sinc<e,. August, 1916, .through' his being quari.ere.d at Rabaul. ail .. the ' time." When . .pe.v.saw. her it Melbourne, hp/weyer, .he noticed. ..a. degidjbd"oc6olness -•■"■ ■■■-. between her and Mrs. Whittle, andI learning the reason, he told his wife 1 that ? Whittle" Mad r; been- f seen- -kissing \ her; "but: respondent retorted that such' was -merely tHe^vaporings 'Of a jealoUs 1 womari/^and" he believed her.- - Skeet thought" Whittle was r : an ::; intelligence officer, having no- reason to believe that he was 'connected." with .the secret service of any Tiation. ■:. ; •■ • • Mi*. Boyce said: that respondent, after 1 the was ..served • upon her, was to Callan- Park Asylum. — • ' '- His Honor said that proving the respondent -irisarter when "adultery -was committed, rested- on tthe defence. Skeet'-ideritifled~:- photos. , of ; his wife and " Whittle, ancl..- m answer to Mr.. Chubb, said that. Mrs., Whittle told' him she had seen Tier -husband: kissing, respondent. ■.■'■;"■■ ".:■-,•>..'■■.,' .'■' ■ •"•'"•' Then came the procession, of .quondam friends and servant girl friends of the • unfortunate ; ; Mrs? Skeet ' with damning 1 evidence. - ■ ' "••■ Beatrice Poole. , a single miss, now living m Balmatn,' recognised the' portraits of Whittle and respondent, and said that while she lived at the Hotel Metropole for fourteen v months - she knew both.; In December, 1916;' she spoke to respondent; Who -was sitting on the roof all alone, and respondent said she was' watching -for r the appear- '■- ance of a gunboat; saying that her brother was aboard -it.' She further said 'her husband' wasa clever doctor at Rabaiii: A lieutenant; giving his name as Whittle, -arrived later,- and respondent introduced him to her as HER BROTHEiI : JIM,' who usually . called her the "Little One." One day she accompanied the supposed., brother; and, Mrs.., Skeet . ... on a trip to Lane Cove, and after leaving the ferry-boat they hired a small boat and rowed .as. far. -as -they,, could go. Here \ she - stayed reminding the. boat, while Mrs.,. Skeet,,, 'and her .brother rambled away into the bush m search of flowers, "and they remained 'away for half an. hour. -Furthermore, one day early m January, she was m respondent's bedroom.' and Whittle entered, paying, he was looking for her. , Some weeks later she again, saw respondent, who said she 'had not seen Whittle since he -leftCarrie Hopkins, now married and living' m Palmer-street, after having been a housemaid at the Metropole for 5%' years, said she knew Mrs. Skeet, whose room at the hotel was on the fourth floor. She had noticed Whittle frermently visiting respondent; and Bitting on the couch with her, Mrs. Skeet say m? he Was her brother Jim. She believed she cautioned Whittle not to «nter respondent's room. Mrs. Skeet W£M3 ALWAYS VERY NICE* and nothing strange m: her manner was ever noticeable. ■ William H. Roberts, a Blayney accountant, who had been employed to watch respondent and Whittle, told how the gallant sailor had whittled away time carting her around the city arm m arm, and how they visited pic- " ture shows and .salons. ,- Whilst he lived temporarily at the Metropole; one particular night- m December, 1916, on rushing up to the fourth floor,' he saw Whittle enfolding- Mrs. Skeet m his arms and kissing her. When Whittle, whose back happened to be turned to iiim, saw his approach, he sprang up, and the canoodlers parted from each other. ■ ■ ■ Sophia Frost, another- single miss, living with her sister at Little Coogee, who was at Beulah Flats until the end of 1917.- said that Mrs. Skeet engaged a flat there for twelve months commencing February, 1917. Afterwards Whittle would call with his wife. Mrs. Skeet went over to New Zealand for a' few months., and after her return Whittle engaged a room at the flats, but on a different floor from that occupied by Mrs. Skeet. Once she saw Mrs. Skeet IN WHITTLE'S ROOM, }; and they went out together. Mrs. Skeet r*' Said that' Whittle liked her, and that, this was known to her husband, who also thought the world of him. She. called him Jim, and confided to her that at the Metropole people thought he was her brother., though he was rot. The witness told how sometimes she slept m Mrs. Skeet's room along with her, until Mrs. Skeet told her one- morning that she evidently had a cold, r« 3 she coughed all night,, and advised her to sleep elsewhere. There was no cold about it, however, for she must have remembered had she coughed She remembered that once Mrs. Skeet went to Whittle's room ' and staved there an hour. Yes, she noticed some peculiarity about respondent last year. ' „ „, , Jessie Whittle, a neatly attired, comely young women from Melbourne, the' Wife of the r.o-resDondent Whittle,

said that she stayed at Beulah Flats with her husband in 1 I*l6/ when Pr, and Mrs. Skeet were . staying there also, and she noticed, the -very first night the doctor left, Jierlown husband kissing Mrs. Skeet just before she re 7 tired. Hub~by "addressed the woman m terms of endearment, such " as . "l^ar^ ling," "Pet," ■■'--.-■•■■• -■••- ■ • - - : TmD-''"*Br>p^;:BßASi f %'^ t ' >r; ' >: " and would put his" arms around" her, Of- course, she- : remonstrated jwitn hubby for kissing the woman, and then , he explftin^ that he... belonged^ to the Secret Service, whioh he Bald. Mrs. Sl^eet belonged to at one-.timej and^ thjpit such b'ehaVi(otir- v was" I permittßd him, with thtTobJect' of getjUrig into lier.corifidences. ; He further said ,that Skeet" h'ad' .much to*" do' iwjth German^ . arid "requested -witness -to stay^ on"- at the flats', Curglng-uthat : her doihgTßa.' iriight confer great beneflton. the country. So she- stayed-. on, belieyingv-aU that her husband toid her, and "faid nothing : when she saw him {visiting Mi's. Skeet's room the first-^fcftg of a morning. When they all went to Melbourne together by train, .her husband bid good-night to Mrs. Skeet at her berth, and kissed her fervently, and clasped her m his' arhis.' This^sort ; of conduct -became top hot, however, and just before Dr.- Skeet parted -fronv-his wife she mentioned the kissing biisi-

ness to him. Now she did_ not know where her own husband was/ "though she was aware that. lje .ha^d Eeturned!- - FROM,:. THEJ ..SOLOMONS,- " and was in' Sydney a fortmght" ago. To. Mr. Chubb: She "Said 'she- never noticed anything "strange -m Mrs. Skeet's behaviour, apart from' her amatory conduct.' In fact, she was ever a merry party. r : .?' : ;• . " : L The defence ■ called Dr. -Andrew Davidson, a- mental' expert) %ho f said that respondent camfe under" his- observ&.tiori'ih: November 1 last year, and her -co'hdition • -was^' that" of delusional insanity, which; his' experience ; told him, "had; been coming "#1 for some time before. "Whether she was responsible was a difficult question to answer, being problematical. • - ; ; ' '.■''"/■••;'■': His Honor: Do" you iqeari" that she did not know"' she' was .committing adultery, or know the Vcpn'siequ'ences ? — She'knew, but she had no 'power of restraint to prevent h6r' doing so; ' To, Mr. Boyce:. The 'doctor said he did not see respondent until after the petition had been served upon Tier. Mr. Boyce, Did you 'diagnose the : case as neurasthenia ?^-r-N6 ;• . I always diagnosed her \ .."".;. „.' : '.' ""-, 7 "/ AS MENTALLY DEFICIENT. 1 saw her- at the Fines Hospital.--Where she had been sent by Dr. Isbestor? — Yes. ■ When she was at the Pines she was not under restrairit?r-No/she was not, and I had no power to restrain: her; but I wrote informing her husband that she had left arid had riot recovered. . '".■■:. . „ . The witness produced a report given by Dr. Smith, another mental"" expert, but objected to its contents being given to the press.' V^His Honor then said it need not be read aloud. His Honor, m 'giving judgment, said that the co-respondent Whittle had not considered it necessary to give evidence m support of the woman's honor or his own. and the only conclusion he came to was ' that- "an improper intimacy existed between them. He found adultery proved against both. Regarding the question of her insanity at the time,- it was suggested that she was not responsible; but to show that, it must be proved that her insanity was such . • •. THAT SHE DID NOT KNOW what she was doing. If a woman was capable of appreciating' an act/ and knew its consequences, insanity" was no defence. In this case, however, the respondent had showed deliberation m carrying on with the co-respondent m the. guise of his step-sister; and' as for insanity, m one sense of the word nobody was absolutely mentally sound. He - granted petitioner a decree nisi, the "costs of the suit to be borne by the /co-respondent. ' .". Mr. Boyce intimated that petitioner undertook to maintain respondent to the extent of £90 a year while she remained m the asylum and probably longer. ' ' '