A “SOCIETY” WOMAN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 60, 12 March 1913, Page 7

A “SOCIETY” WOMAN.

HUSBAND SEEKS A DIVORCE

Melbourne, February 28. The troubles of a man who married a society woman were told in the .Divorce Court, when Henry Macpherson Bird < .19), agent, of Vic-toria-parade, sought divorce from Constance Rachel Bird (48), of Loudon, on the grounds of desertion. Petitioner said that the marriage took place. in England, and there were no children. He was a member of the London Stock Exchange when he married, and his income amounted to between £3OOO and £SOOO a year. He dealt largely in “Kaffir” stock, but the outbreak of the South African war caused a slump in that stock, and ho failed. Then he discovered that his wife had neglected to pay bills for which ho had given her money. He described his wife as an extravagant woman who loved grand dresses, who had a particular fondness for dinners, and the theatres, and who was, in short, a society woman. When the slump came he borrowed a £IOO, but could not repay it when due. He was declared insolvent, and thus lost his seat on the Stock Exchange. He made efforts to get a living by going on the stage, where ho earned 30s per week. When he rejoined his wife after a six months’ tour she received him coldly, and gave him to understand that, as he had no money, she did not want him. “A man withp out money is no good to me,” she said.

Continuing, petitioner said he came to Australia and took up a farm iu Gippsland. He saved £6O, which he sent to England to pay his wife’s faro to Australia, but she did not comeC Ho went to England to induce her to come with him to Australia, but she refused. His wife received him coldly, talked to him for a few minutes, and then, remarking that she had an appointment to keep, strolled off and left him. Eighteen months later, when ho was in London, he was riding on top of a ’bus, when his wife, riding on top of another ’bus, passed within a few feet of him. She stared at him for a moment, and then turned her head. Mr Justice Cussen, who heard the case, reserved his decision.