STATE MATCHMAKERS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19202, 19 June 1924, Page 8

STATE MATCHMAKERS.

THREE THOUSAND i V Jk U» u. REGISTRAR'S RECOLLECTIONS. ifiliOM UUB OWN COKKESPONDENX.j SYDNEY, June 12. During his long * term as inss'isirar lor Souln musualia, .uf warier u.is oiucioied al ~-Uie Hull iiJi/J maii'idges, auu he says uiai lor va.iuus leauuns eivu raanlages ale uecoming inure ruu mme pupu.ar, -Do uiai mey altraci peupic rli ue.i-uO-oo e.reumnances, lor Wnuiu cue inexpensiveiieso vl U cannot be tne eunsiuerairon. " oumeumes uiey nave conscientious oojecUonu iu me Uneven ruuai, „iiu sumeUn-es iney sni'mK iiom .mi .Uas aim flutter oi a society vveuuiii 6 , preieiung lo be mi’-ineu quieuy in my nlUe salieUirn, Mr Garter lemuiKS. ‘ J-rua iii rne ease, lor ineianee, v, iin tile lienlo an DngKsn earldom wnoni X marneu lo "me uaugmer o_ an engineer. ' tin Wide an experience as State matchmaker nas supplied Mr vjauei with a rich iuud of a licences, wmen gain by his admirable powers us a raconteur. Marriage, in air Caiver's experience, is oilen eomewuat lightly eni-ned into, urn one occas-.ua a ycu.jg women, wiiom lie had luainen lo a larmei, a lorlnigiu beiure, came to the Registrars oruee and asned it me marriage could be cancelled. . Vvneu pressed ior a reason, all she could say was; ’i. don't like the reiiow." Mr Garter sought to argue hex into a more amiable name oi mind, explaining mat true iuve never did ruu smooln, and suggesting that there must have been many sued quaneis during tfieir courtsinp, but the lady cut him short, iniormmg lum that, she had only known her husband fox a week beloio tno marriage. '■Daily one morning i found,” says Mr Carter, 'three visitors in my office —two men and a woman. One ot tne men eseayeu m explain tnat the woman had been his housekeeper, but that his neignboui, a nevveom,, to tfie district, had made eyes at her, am. that she had promptly succumbed to the glamour ot ms glances, 1 was asked to dc cide me extraordinary question —“to whom did the woman belong?” As the rival claimants could not agree, and as tfie woman lierbcJi teemed unable to make up her mind, tins curious trio fiad decided to appeal to me as umpire, i explained mat 1 was not a judicial lunctionary, but that if they would accept my advice I would try and help lliem. 1 cited tfie case of the rival motfieis in the Scriptures, and quoted The Judgment of solo.non thereon; but finding tfiat neither party would be cement wita half a housekeeper, I induced them to agree to let tfie woman make ner own choice. Sue promptly selected the wooer with the pleading eyes, and iho oilier went sadly away. Mr Carter's experiences have not all been amus.ng. fie has had many a glimpse of tlie tragic side of lire, tie tells a sensational story regarding the marriage of a couple irom the goldfields. During the proceedings the bride, with a strained look on her lace, whispered to him that she would never live with her husband; she would explain later, alio said. TUe woman. w;,o struck trim as highly-strung and strongwilled, subsequently told Mr Garter that she had known her husband since his boyhood, and had married him to fulfil a promise made long ago. Before tier marriage, however. she discovered that her fiance whits on a visit to the Eastern States, had Income entangled with a cousin of hers. Some months later Mr Carter received an urgent message from the bride, asking him lo call and see her at a certain address, tie com plied with the request, and the lady, coming to him with a baby in her arms, asked him to register her child. There was no reason to susoect anything amiss, and the baby’s birth was registered accordingly, few weeks later its death was notified, and then tlie episode faded from Mr Carter’s mind. One day, however, he was startled lo road in a newspaper that the woman had been arrested on a charge of bigamy. His newly-awakened interest in her fortunes was not allowed to flag. Her two nusbaads called at the Registrar’s office ’together, and warned him that the woman, who was al large on bail, seemed to be nourishing homicidal intentions, and that he might be the victim. Somewhat astonished, he assured them that he was not at all nervous, as eni could have no possible grievance against him. Nevertheless, when ho was subpeenaid to attend the trial, he informed tlie detectives in the case that it would be as well to search the lady before proceedings began. The detective then showed him a telegram ■from the Boulder police tlia-t she had purchased a revolver, ammunition, and a box of cyanide tabloids. When the court was assembling the accused was taken into an adjoining T-oom to be searched. There were sounds of a struggle, and a fall, the door was opened, and the court was staggeiea by the announcement that the woman was dead. A revolver, loaded in six chambers, nad been found on her person, but the cause of her death was cyanide, self-administered. “Tiffs startling finale, said Mr Carter, “told me all. I understood why the sacrifice had been made, and saw that tlie oao> which 1 had been misled- into registering as heis was really her cousins, and that the purpose of the revolver had been to avenge her cousin’s wrong. Had she not been searched the court would have been the scene of a double tragedy. In my opinion that precaution had saved the life of the man to whom I had married her.