"MEN! MEN! MEN!"

NZ Truth, Issue 890, 16 December 1922, Page 6

" MEN! MEN! MEN!"

Wife's Woefnl Wail

SAYS WARNE WORRIED HER

Sister Swears the Same,

Fireman Fred Warne, of the trawler Baroona, was given an awful name by his wife, Edith, m the Magistrate's Court at Auckland last week, but it is dpubtful whether the devil was as black as he was painted m this instance. Edith applied for a separation order, maintenance and guardianship of the six kids, alleging that her husband was a man who was guilty of persistent cruelty to her and that lie-was also an habitual inebriate. 'fAs" to the beer," said Edith (a chirpy little woman who didn't look to be the mother^ of so large a brood), m answer to a question by Sullivan, J. J., "Well,- Fred is very fond of it, and has always liked his beer." Having got this off her chest the lady continued that "Fred" was on a trawler and came home twice a week. He was never really sober, and he used frightful and frightening language. He said she was an illegitimate and that her youngest babe — of- 14 months — was likewise, and used frequently to refer to her 'as a woman who" obtained money by unchaste methods. Yes, there had been A BOARDER IN THE HOUSE, but her husband had brought him along and then he accused her of carrying on with this man, as if she would do such a thing! It was "men, men, men!" with her, husband, who seemed to have the subject on the brain, v - . "For breakf ast, dinner and tea he gives me men, men, men," said Edith; "I am absolutely sick of hearing it. In the last Police Court case he said he was not the father , of my baby. We haven't lived happily since August last over rows about the child. He threatened to split my head open with a beer bottle; but my sister prevented him. , I came home one evening with my sister, and my six children and found the door locked. When I got m my husband was lying ton the bed and, I asked him why he had locked me 1 out. He said, 'That's my business, s You're no good! You were seen coming out of the Rob Roy Hotel m the arms of men!' He had a bottle of beer and he said, 'Wait until I empty this and I'm going to use it to split your — -— head open tonight.' I never go home at night without my sister now when his ship's m port. I'm afraid to Gawd over his threats." Mr Sullivan: About this child he says is not his; is it?— Of course it iB, and it is registered as his. v (It, was stated and not denied that the two eldest of the six were not Freddy's — .that the lady' had 'em before he led her to the altar.) I have had nothing to do with any other man than my husband. What about this drinking?— He is always m drink; but it is not so much the drink as the talk he uses and the names he calls me. He is pretty fair to get on with when sober,' but even then he is always going on about the baby not being his. He referred to it one day to a visitor, saying, "THAT- B D IN THE PRAM m the kitchen is not mine." ~ Mi* Singer (for defendant): This man — his name was Moody — left your house on the sixteenth of October? Complainant professed not to know, but then she admitted to Mr Wilson that she did know, and was rebuked by the Beak for "hedging." Mr Singer: There were repeated rows from the time he came to , the house to the time he left, weren't there? — No. Weren't all tho rows ' about this other man being -m the house? — No; my married life has never been a happy one. I've heard all about that. Weren't there repeated rows between your husband and this man Moody from between August, when Mr McKean ■dismissed your first application for separation, and October 16, "when Moody left your house? — No." Wasn't your husband always good to you? — We never lived happily since, the last Court case — all over the baby. Oh, no! v All over this man Moody. Dr. Horsely, a lady doctor, has been attending you for years? — Yes. •Didn't she say on the occasion of the last Court case that you and your husband were perfectly happy up to ,the time the man Moody came to your house? Didn't she say Moody was responsible for the whole trouble?— No. The Magistrate: Come now. You were m the Court; did she say that? — She said words to that effect. Then the big sister oi the complainant — a very large lady — stepped into the box to reinforce Edith's story, and it didn't seem no If she liked her brother-in-law a bit. Freddy, she said, was always calling his wifie a female dog and a woman without virtue; also alleging m the vilest words that her sanguinary parents had not been married. On the occasion when he went to assail her with the bottle, he also threw her on the bed and caught her by the throat. "And I pulled him off and tore his shirt." added witness, amid laughter. Ho used to use terrible language to her sister, and to the children also. Hhe "was the mother of sevens and she never heard such terrible language m her life. He also said that if his wife took him to Court again he would have men to come along and swear her life away. For the defendant, Mr Singer called Police Constable Kelly, and he told a little tale that was not at all conducive to the interests of Edith. The constable said he had been called to the house of the parties on several occasions. On one occasion he heard Mrs Warne, referring to hor husband, say, "I'll scald the — — 's b— — eyes out with a kettle of boiling water." This was just after she had been refused a separation order iri tho last Court case? .-••■■ (Here the complainant gave a deep sigh and looked reproachfully at the constable.) The johnop continued that he got to the house once and found the defendant very excited. Ho and tho lodger (Moody) had been having a fight. Mrs Warne was sober, but also very excited, and she several times attempted to strike her husband m the officer's presence. Mr Sing/.-: And all the trouble was about this man Moody? The Johnop: That seemed to be it. Moody would not go out of the house. At this stage the Magistrate said ho didn't think the evidence of the wifo and her sister was reliable. Dr. Horsely evidently had a full knowledge of the facts, and the complainant admitted the doctor had said Moody was tho cause of all tho trouble. He did not think it a ease In which he could make an order. Mr Sullivan: Will you direct the defendant to take out a prohibition order? The Magistrate: Not on this evidence. If there was enough evidence for that thoro would bo enough to make an order for separation. Mr Singer: I don't think ho ia v drinking man. The Magistrate: I think all the trouble is about this man Moody. Now ho is gone lt may bo all right. Mr Sullivan: Will you adjourn tho case? Tho Magistrate: No; I do not like the evidence of tho women— it is too bitter. The case is dismissed.