RUNAWAY ROMEO ELOPES IN STOLEN CAR

NZ Truth, Issue 1080, 12 August 1926, Page 7

RUNAWAY ROMEO ELOPES IN STOLEN CAR

Claude Once Thought that Youth Could Mate With Age

Silverdale sheik Saw No Silver Side, So Slipped off "Somewhere South "

(From "Truth's" Special Auckland Representative.) QNCE upon a time there dwelt a woman at Thames by name Emily Helena White and the tally of her years was many. Her business was a sweet one, for she sold confectionery. And fate so ordained that a man. many years her junior crossed her path, he being a butcher by trade and Claude Hill by name. . . * . '

THE friendship ripened and the woman sold her business at ( Thames and opened a store at SilverdalQ, not far from Auckland. It was a double-barrelled a ffair m more ways than one.

UILL ran the butchery and Mrs.C ** White the grocery store, while the young man, for the sake of the conventions, and —as he admitted m the Auckland Supreme Court —to cover his identity, took the name of White. To the touter world they were man and wife. But the partnership which began m June crashed m December. j \

IE course, of love or partnership did not run . smoothly. White, having driven his lady to Takapuna a few days before Christmas m a car which she had purchased, saw her safely aboard the ferry boat and went to the right about. Having collected several spare tyres, a quantity of benzine, and with. his pockets nicely warmed with £ 20, he made tracks m the Hudson for "somewhere south." % Alas! TKere was another lady m the case and she went with him. Though the deserted woman advertised m- the dailies on two occasions, for Claude, he answered her not. It was not until July of this year that the two met again, this time m the\A.uckland Magistrate's Court, when Claude stood m the dock charged with the theft of a motor-car. , RUNAWAY LOVER Mr. Justice Herdman heard the case last week at Auckland. Lawyer J. J. Sullivan held the brief for the runaway lover, while Crown Prosecutor Patterson appeared for the Crown. ; Emily Helena White, a well-preserv-ed woman, who gave her evidence very clearly, but seemed to feel her position keenly, was the first witness. She admitted that she was a - "married woman living apart from '.her husband. . She became friendly ; with Hill at Thames and he per- *_ su'aded her to sell- her business, which was the reason she later bought interests at Silverdale. At this time Hill had a car which the witness purchased from him,'giving him m payment a cheque for £50. It was later converted into a truck and used/ m the business. fHRISTMAS GIFT v» — ; — : -, : The cheque: was- produced as proof that Hill had received the money m June, 1925. Mrs. White said the acpused put no money into the business. Any cash which came m she took • possession of, but,' she tolJ the Court, "there were never enough takings to put m the bank." "Did" you get your half of the profits?" asked Crown Prosecutor Patterson.- "Never any profits over," replied Mrs. White:- -. "You lived together?" Very quietly the. witness replied: "Yes." ■'■ She went on- to say that she had purchased the Hudson car on a hirepurchase agreement, paying £75 down and terms. ' , When Hill drove her, to Takapuna on December 17 she gave him ' £20 with which , to buy stock for the Christmas butchery 'business. The Crown Prosecutor produced a letter which was dated December 23 from Hill to his late partner. He proceeded, to read extracts: "No doubt it will be a shock to you to hear from -me, but I think I've done the best possible thing for me. . . . "Never a day but we were squabbling over something or other. . . . "Don't think, Em, that I went back to that woman. . . . People used to say things to me. . . . I'm going to my uncle m Brisbane. ... Do not try. to play any tricks with me. . . .

"Em, I think a great deal of you. . . . It's not you so much as the people of Silverdale. N . . . "After that night things can never be the same again." He remained "hers as ever." Mrs. White said she had given, the accused no authority to take the car. A very searching cross-examination was made by Lawyer Sullivan. Mrs. White supposed it was of her own free will that she followed Hill. He had never given her any money. "He had a horse and trap?" asked counsel. "Which I bought," re- . plied witness. Who suggested the name of Clem White?— He did to hide his identity. What did he get m wages? — All he could take. , Mrs. White said she paid for two suits for him, "to make him respectable," as she put it. • The Court laughed. •«''■. JHE OTHER WOMAN "How do you stand with him?" asked Lawyer Sullivan. "He left me with nothing; he ran around with another woman m the afternoon," said Mrs. White. Counsel: I put it to you that this man made a profit of from £10 to £12 per week? — Nonsense; it's a poverty district.

"Why did you get no receipt for the £50? — I didn't expect him to do what he has done. I trusted him. What were you doing with a revolver behind the wardrobe? — I never had one. i ■ ■ ' ■ Wasn't he frightened towards the end of the time ?— Nonsense. "What happened that night he refers to?" All the Court was anxious for this answer, but it was disappointing: "I complained to him because his body was dirty." Evidence was given by the motorcar salesman and 'Detective Barling. Hill had stated that he had £150 when he went into the business at Silverdale. He was a married . man living . apart from his wife. Hill's version to his counsel was that Mrs. White had lent him £50 to help. him meet current- expenses when he went up from Thames. She never bought his car. • » The proceeds of each day's business were handed over to iffs partner each day, and she put them' m a bag which she kept m her possession. He thought that the car was fully paid for. . Towards the end he got frightened. Things were not too happy, j " Mrs. White, he statad, said: "I suppose you'll leave mo some time 1 , but when you do I'll follow you and shoot you." , "Where/did she keep the revolver?" asked Lawyer Sullivan! "Behind the wardrobe," said Hill. '

'•'Truth's" cameraman snaps Michael Keady, proprietor of the Britomart Hotel, Auckland, discussing his fate with Lawyer Singer (left) outside the Supreme Court. (See story on this page).

, Claude had written the letter, he said, because she had said she would follow him and it frightened him. "I thought if I wrote she'd think it useless." One advertisement read: "Come back and don't be mad"; the other: "Come back; there won't be any trouble." * He thought he was entitled to the car for what he had left behind. Claude was subjected to a close examination by the Crown Prosecutor. One important point came out m his evidence. It was the question of sausages. He used to make them. "What did they cost?" asked Crown i Prosecutor Patterson. "Only the skins and seasoning," was the reply. "Where did the meat' come from?" Possibly his Honor did not want any postmortem; he interjected: "That is always a mystery." And the solution was lost to posterity. . . But the cause of the trouble was arrived at by Mr. Patterson when he said: "Well, a serpent came- -into Eden?" "No," replied the young man. "Well, a temptress — a lady of greater charm?" Hill seemed doubtful' what to reply. You took a lady away with you m the ccar? — Yes!e — -es! She was a passenger to Te'Awamutu.. She was a school teacher ?^rTes. Was it not a coincidence that "she decided to go the same day as you ran away from Mrs. White? — She was going on her holidays. And she kept house for you at Hawera?— Yes. Hill^ acknowledged m the letter that he was "a rotter" for , leaving Mrs. White. jy[ORALS OF THAMES Some amusement was caused by a couple of letters which the Crown Prosecutor read, m which Hill impugned the morals of Thames. "Surely you don't think I would ever get angry at your giving me orders, as you say they were m. your letter, because as long as I live, I will never be able to do enough for you, darling, for what you have done for me. "I will always try my hardest to' help you and I am sure we will get on well here. "Some time there will come a day. when-you will need me and then it will be my turn to do my share and pay you back just a little of what you have done for me.. ■ '- "You heard all sorts of bad things about me and thing 3 that I know that it was the hardest thing m the world for you to think were untrue. "And yet you are coming here to me and have trusted me with, I suppose, £ 100 of yours, and everything else I cared to ask for. . "I love you darling and some day , you will find out how much. "I think this is the worst corner of the island for women; if there are any good ones here I don't know where. "Every second one you meet here is separated from their old men and no wonder, but the men are just as bad as the' women." After a long and careful address to the jury on the part of counsel, Judge Herdman summarized' the case, observing: m conclusion: "Are these the letters of a love-sick country, butcher or the bluff of a dishonest man?" After an absence of over thre.e hours the jury brought m a verdict of guilty. fAOL FOR SHEIK The sheik of Silverdale came up before Mr. Justice Herdman on Monday for sentence. Briefly addressing the judge, Lawyer Sullivan stated that his client was only 28 years of age. ', While regretting that it was a • case, with several sordid aspects, no doubt jealousy was the cause of the trouble, .as there was another woman mixed up m the affair. Equally short were the remarks of the judge, who observed that it was no case for probation. "You took the car to which you had no right and sold it, putting the money m your pocket. "The woman had the money .and you made the most of your opportunities. Six- months' hard labor."