"IS SHE TAKING MY PLACE?"

NZ Truth, Issue 1035, 26 September 1925, Page 4

"IS SHE TAKING MY PLACE?"

He Had A Meet: She Had Hysterics

A Plighted Troth That Failed To Hold

(From "Truth's" JSltham. Rep.)

While she 'believed he was at the cheese factory making show cheeses one Sunday, he was extolling the scenery at Mt. Egmont to another young lady.

And while he -believed that she was as firm m her love to him as the rock of Gibraltar, she was keeping company with other sheiks, and was doing the blues and the tangoes at the danoe halls. Both she .and 'he made the accusations of a lack of honor to their betrothal vows. They both loved again and won. But by this time four hearts were involved, and he is now married to another and so is she.

The linen of the lovers' trials and vicissitudes was washed last week m the Eltham Magistrate's Court, when the young Romeo asked for the Court's assistance m making Juliet return the goods which were . intended for the "happy home." "This is one of the usual cases of a claim being made for the possession of goods, not really presents, but goods left m the charge of the. lady who, at the time, was betrothed to the plaintiff m the case,"' said Mr. T. B. Crump, when the case Gordon Leonard Taylor, cheesemaker, of Ngaera, v. Violet Maulder, Midhirst, wife of C. N. Maulder, laborer, was called. Plaintiff claimed a clock, dinner set, silverware tea set, set of jugs, and an afternoon tea set, valued at £17, the. property of the plaintiff, and allegedly detained by Mrs. Maulder since May 7 •last. In lieu of the return of the goods, which he had demanded, plaintiff claimed their value, £17, and. £1 damages for detention. THE TROTH BREAKS. The circumstances, continued Mr. Crump, were that the parties had been engaged for 17 or 18 months, but m the early part of this year the Lady had broken off the troth. During the courtship the plaintiff purchased the" goods claimed. The care of the articles was undertaken by the lady on the distinct understanding that they were not to be her property. At the beginning of the year the parties began to drift apart, as the young man found his lady love ; was tripping to dances with young men" and keeping company with them. "With this departure from the vows of their troth he ta^ed Miss Nairn, and more or less recriminatory passages followed- between himself and the girl's family, principally. the father and brothers. . The fractured romance proceeded Cor a while, during which time plaintiff was working at the cheese factory at Mangatoki. When Taylor paid a visit to them m February; the girl's eldest brother, Percy, warned him off the farm, and said that if he did not get off we would be put off. . Taylor reqtiested the reasons, and was informed that he would have to ■] wait till- Mr. Nairn, -sen., returned I from a visit to Palmerston North. j "After his return, Mr. Nairn made j no bones about it," said Mr. Crump, I "and said the young man was not a i -fit person to marry his daughter. The position 'did not improve, and they did not come together again. The young lady was married about two months ago. WERE THEY PRESENTS? Mr. Bayley, for the lady, Intimated that his client considered the goods •were presents. Giving evidence, plaintiff said he was engaged to the young lady at the time of the handing over of the goods. During last winter he lived at his might-have-been pa-in-laws house. The articles were given to the young lady to take care of. The Magistrate: How did you mean to leave them m her care? — I handed them to her. They were not presents. They were not to be used till we were married. To my knowledge the goods

were put away m a box I had made during my spare time. I have never seen them used <iri Nairn's house, When a question was asked as to who broke off the engagement, Mr. Hunt remarked., "Well, it's off. She is married." Mr. Bayley: And so is he. Mr. Bayley said that the defence was that the gifts were made by the young man to his fiancee. He had broken the engagement, and the 'law was. thai he could not recover the gifts. Mi-. Hunt: I am not too sure about that. You have to prove first that he broke the engagement. Mr. Bayley (to plaintiff): You told her you were making show cheeses. Were you making show cheeses on the Sunday? — I don't remember. Do you not know that she rang up the factory manager, and he said you were not?— No. Mr. Hunt: Instead of malting show cheeses he. took another girl out. "SHE JILTED ME." ' Did the girl jilt you or 'did you jilt her?— To my mind, she jilted me. Mr. Bayley: You made it so hot that the girl had to jilt you. She returned the ring on advice. Mr, Hunt expressed the opinion that the goods had been procured for the comfort of the pair,' and not for the girl alone. He suggested that she was only entitled to the afternoon tea set. The suggestion was not adopted, after a short consultation. Taylor's mother said she had had a conversation with Mi*. Nairn -at the end of December, and he had insulted her. Mr. Crump: What did he tell you about the engagement? — He said he could not see why his daughter did not have more sense than to go with a scoundrel and a mongrel like my son. He used other words which are too bad to repeat. She was proceeding to tell a little more when the Magistrate put on the verbal brakes. J Witness then said that on March 27 Nairn had come up to her outside the Post Office and said, "It is broken off between your son and my daughter, and I am- — glad." Nairn had. said that sooner than return the goods he would smash them and throw .them m the dam. Mrs. Maulder said that the last time she was out with her ex-fiance was on February 25 at the motor sports. When she heard he was going to \ Mahoe and asked him who he was j going to see, he had replied: "Miss Davy." WENT INTO HYSTERICS. To that witness said, "Is she taking my place?" and went into hysterics. Her brother had asked Taylor why he had told her so many lies, and he said he did not know, but it must be bred m him. The Magistrate: Did you throw him up? — I did not. Was your father waiting with a club for him? — No. I asked him to coma again and take me out, but he said: "Oh, no! My people would not allow that." tip to that Sunday night she was wearing his ring. "Six of one, half a dozen of the other," said Mr. Hunt, at the finish of the case. "I am satisfied that the goods were bought for the home." Judgment was given for plaintiff for the goods, with costs £5 10s 6d.