Thelma's S.O.S. to Henry

NZ Truth, Issue 1063, 8 April 1926, Page 5

Thelma's S.O.S. to Henry

she Left Hubby Five Times, but Always Went Back! Tale of Drink, Blows and Ma-in-Law ■ ■ '„ ■ : — ' \ ■ .-••...- --(Prom "Truth's" Special Christchurch Representative.) To have her face smacked good and hard by an inebriate hubl?y, then to suffer the indignity of having her nightdress and singlet ripped off her back, is not exactly the . kind of treatment that a married woman appreciates.

fET that is what Thelma Stella Foster, a pale-faced Christchurch wife, alleged against the man who wooed and won her and led -her to the altar three short years ago. t Had nothing' 7 worse befallen her . Thelma's tale of sorrow might never have been given .to the curious world, but according to her a good deal more did happen, until human endurance could stand no more.It was a sorry story Bhe told In the witness-box. Of course, what she had to say was flatly denied by her husband, Phillip Henry Foster, who had his own view of things. So conflicting, m fact, were the v two stories that it is no wonder the Magistrate decided to adjourn the case for a month. ;' In the interval the storm may blow pver» but Thelma is going to see to it that she has a fair deal. J ! In all she left- hubby on five occasion's, but always came back "for the sake, of the children." • What induced her to leave the ' connubial nest m the first place was due (so she said) to a certain little excursion hubby made to Timaru m company with a lady. Of course hubby denied that he had strayed from the path of marital rectitude. ,' ! ■ He had merely met the lady'casually and. there was never anything about the, meeting that anybody could take exception to. \ , But when he got home. Phew! "When I got back," said Phillip Henry, "she was mad and ropeable." But it seems, if Thelma's story is to be believed, that her hubby's relations are really the fly m the ointment. She had been living at hia mother's place, and there had been trouble. MA-IN-LAW BLAMED Sometimes his ma was with her and then behind her back she was against her. It was not true that she had rowed with her husband one day because she had insulted his mother. "But I did call her a b— — old b—v" (laughter). "What," stormed Thelma later, "he says that he only hit me once? I hope he will drop down dead j when he gets into the witness-box with his hand on the Bible and says, that." N Then she went off at a tangent and declared, among many other things, that Her husband always waited until she was m a delicate state of health before he started m with his games. He knew then that she was not m

a position to go out into the world and. battle for herself. "Yes, he is a bad lot, but his mother is largely responsible for it. Yes, he is a drunkard. With what I have had to put up with from him it's a wonder I haven't taken to the drink myself, but I have got more respect for myself." She admitted that she had received the bulk of hubby's screw of £8 14s 2d fortnightly, but "what has he had back from me out of it?" She had got on fairly well on the money, but when Mr. Tracy (for the husband) recited a long list of bills she blamed her lesser half for deceiving her In not telling her he had not paid them. She did owe a little money, but some of the bills had been incurred while she was away., Phillip Henry then had his say. If appearances go for anything he looked quite a meek and mild individual, and when he spoke it was m a tired voice. All he had kept for himself out of his wages was 7/- per week. He denied that he was m the habit of getting drunk. . ' . "How could I drink like she says I do? I have never had the money to make a habit of it!" AND SHE WENT He was drunk about two months ago, but he had only struck his wife on one occasion. She had insulted his ma by calling her, if he remembered aright, "a b interfering old b ." It was all very well for Thelma to say that he had .hit her, but what about him? ( "She has- hit me with a few things," said Phillip. "Anything she could get her hands on. More than one cup and plate has gone over my head." When she had cleared out he had never had any warning of her intention. "M am going; I am going.'. That, was always her cry," he said. "I got it every night I came home from work. That wjis all I was getting.". On the last occasion she ,had cleared off to Dunedin and he later brought her back from Wellington m response to a wire she sent him telling him that she was ill and wanted to come home. When he arrived m the Empire' City he found that she was not ill at all. / ' . • lie denied that he preferred his mother to his .wife. That was not the cause of the trouble between them; the trouble was due to his wife's temper,. ' : The question of separation, guardianship and maintenance was not decided by the Magistrate, who adjourned the case for a month.