CRANKING UP CRONK'S CONNUBIAL GAR

NZ Truth, Issue 1128, 14 July 1927, Page 9

CRANKING UP CRONK'S CONNUBIAL GAR

Why Henry Stalled At Margaret As His \. ''a ;'.,'■' - — — — -r— . ■■■■'%. 7 '

"~ — ~*-*-~-^ Y TjtFrom "N.Z. Truth's" Special Dunedin Representative.) A BRIGHT example of black husbandly pots hurling; abuse at dark wifely kettles peeped through the chinks of the Dunedin Magistrate's Court on a recent "Agony Day. "

MARGARET desired children, Henry' had a passion for them, but the. five-year-old marriage had .proved, unfruitful and th'e sting of * dissatisfac*-' tion bit deep into Henry's soul. The spirit was , undoubtedly willing; the flesh — it was Cronk. He said it wasn't fair that the country should forte him to go on paying £2 weekly to such a woman and so he hadn't honored the order made against him m 1922. His backslidings m .this respect amounted to, £480, and .Margaret Mary Cronk, his wife, didn't see why Henry should be permitted to cut loose with her £2 a week. Magistrate Bundle also thought so. ■ Although, m reducing the amount to 30/- weekly and the arrears to £50! he partly acceded to Henry's plea for the arrears to be blotted, out and the order varied, the S.M. added the precautionary "six months m default'Vas, well he. might. The long rope ]of maintenance / default which Henry James Cronk weaved during the last five years ! has at last coiled itself around his unwilling person, the resultant jerk — as Magistrate Bundle caught hold of the loose end— bringing Henry up with a round, turn. : ■ '. Law Chauffeur Hanlon opened wide the throttle of his legal car . and kept to the middle of the road so that Margaret Mary, his fair passenger; might have a clear run tp victory. Neck and neck ran the "bus" of SteeringrMastor -Neill, . who, with Henry as an irate passenger, showed one or two good "bursts" of legal speed, which, owing, to the shakiness of the whole vehicle, ! could : not be maintained. Result: Henry could riot stay the distance and Margaret proved an . easy and justified winner. , Each pointed the finger of marital scorn at the other; neither would shoulder the blame for a childless union and on this accounf it seems that they heaped abuse" on each other with an exceedingly large shovel. Lawyer Neill tactfully submitted that a medical examination would have solved the problem, but the man on the bench said "Tut, tut," and reminded the bright young lawyer that euch proceedings were not for the ears

7'oC' I the Court at that particular junctures .'. -7 •--,-'■ • -,■■-.•; •When Lawyer Hanlon chided Henry for .fcis failure to. pay even a sixpence towards the stocking of Margaret's larder, he elicited a volley of explosive remarks, f "Do you think it's a fair thing/ hooted Cronk' "to pay a woman i £2 a week when she's' no use to me? , I can't understand .what the coun- - try's coming to when the law permits this sort of thing. What use is she to the community, I'd like to ask!" . Margaret's champion then suggested that the reason for'Cronk's application m the Supreme Court some time ago for restitution of conjugal rights was so that he could secure grounds for divorce. Margaret had agreed to i*eturn provided hubby made a home, said counsel, but Henry had given' her the ah-ha instead of a home and there they were — back on scratch/ again. Moreover, Henry had the disarming cheek to blow up to the dais of justice and ask for the remissidn of his sins as a house-ahd-home-provider. •He maintained that the -whole business was a, ruse of the woman's-— as he tenderly described, his one-time best-beloved-^to get money out of him. "She hasn't got much but of ypu so far," " interjected Magistrate Bundle. * "I am quite agreeable to maintain the woman"— how bitterly he must have .been disillusioned — "and pay a pound a week. That's quite reasonable. .But £2 a week . . ." shrilled Henry. "I reckon that's criminal . . 7". and. his voice grew shriller and! ; ; more piercing still as he! pictured ' ! himself td be the victim of legal injustice. Counsel, had a little argument be-! tweeh themselves as to, the merits of the Cro.nk application for remission of arrears and reduction; of the present allowance}- but the wordy struggle .was cut short by the bench. ' He assured Henry that, if he didn't pay 30/- a week to his wife, as well as a weekly contribution, of 10/- towards the £50 of back money, there 'would be an airy little cell and plenty of good hard exercise awaiting him.