Divorce Court.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 125, 1 May 1885, Page 3

Divorce Court.

At the hearin£r of the case Wallace v. Wallace heard m Wellington' on Wednes--day, the petitioner. James Wallace, \ deposed as follows :— 1 first formed the acquaintance of my wife :,in,.. New South Wales, where I was marjciedpto her. m 1875. I was at that tiwe^managing a station, and my wife iwas^v spinster. Came to the Colony about:, four) years ago, and took a farm m the liutt district.' ' Subsequently resided m- Nairn- " strain Wellmg'tori-, and was engaged • by Messrs JJro^h.and George to manage "a station near ;Fo;xton. . \Vas\ at that time on good ' terms, with my wife. She went with, .me to the station. .1 first suspected my wife when I got, this letter, which is dated. May 20, 1884. I got this letter two or three "days after the date of it It was addressed to George Nash, who was employed' on the station, and recognising my wife's handwriting I opened it. It was directed m a disguised hand, but I had seen my wife write m that way before. The letter ran thus :— "Wellington, 29th May, 1884. My dear George— Wo had a rough passage, and gob into Wellington at 10 o'clock on Monday night. I shall sail for Sydney on Thursday. How I wish you were going; the trip would seem nothing if you were with me. O, George, how lonely I feel. Every one of his friends knows I am fond of you, and that makes things very unpleasant, both for them and me ; Lizzie and Mrs S. told them all about it. Mrs Lawton is my only friend m Wellington, and if it were not for her I could not write to you my dear old fellow. Do come down before I sail if possible. Do you remember his telling me the passage was only £5. It is £10 to Sydney and £17 return ; and so George, if you can trust me for ever, please send to me that which I ask you to. It will not be lost, and I shall help to pay it on my return,, my dear. . . . Write me at once and tell me all. the news. Mrs.—— is well. The — Jba'byhas grown splendidly. It can sit up. It is not like you, old fellow, but I hope my first will be. ...... Address to one of the boyshere and then I will get the letter. I did not speak to Nash on the subject; and subsequently I got another letter written by my wife to him, which was, forwarded to me by a friend of mine. (The letter was road. It was dated Sydney, June 22, 1884, and said— " The trip was a very pleasant one. I was sea sick all the way. . . . I did wish that one friend of mine had been aboard. I think the sea sickness would not have been half so bad if he had been there. I shall be back m New Zealand, and to you, my dear love, very soon. . . .1 am not enjoying the trip — not a little bit. If you were here things would be much brighter. It is impossible to be happy without you. . ... Do you ever cast? a thought upon me, or dream of me by night ? Ido of you very often . I hope you and my husband are good iriends. . ... . I was five years married yesterday. I wonder whether another five years will see me your wife? If so, may God hasten' the time when I shall be with you,my darling." (Another letter was read, from the respondent to her husband, which was written m answer to a letter from him, avowing her intention to reform, and to be more religious m the future). My wife returned from New South Wales ha September, and I did not live with her aR my wife afterwards. I recollect Frank Jennings; he was a clerk at the station. In September, 1883, 1 had occasion to leave my home on a visit to Wellington, and was absent four days. I made arrangements with a Mrs Stevenson to stay with my

wife during that time. When I returned my wife said tome m the presence of Mrs Stevenson, " You see, Jimmy, I

have been lonely." Subsequently, on one occasion, Jennings came over to the station to take Mrs Wallace out for a ride, and I told her, m his hearing, that she was not to go out with him. They went out, however. From inquiries I made I added Jennings' name to the suit. By Mr Hankins : I accepted a gift Mrs Wallace sent mo from Sydney. There had been trouble before we left New South Wales. On the 14th November last Mrs Wallace came to the house, and I found her hidden m a corner between 9 and 10 at night. I asked her what she was doing there, and she said " I have come to see yon." No one else was m the house. She followed me into the bedroom, and stood m front of me when I went to go out of the door again. Will swear positively that I was ' not m the room more than half a minute. By Mr Brown: -I. believe that the letter addressed to Nasn is m my wife's handwriting. My wife, I believe, is rather fond of admiration, but I did not find it j out until she had left for Sydney. By | Mr Edwards : I had a difference with my wife m New South Wales, m consequence of the attention of a Mr Campbell, for whom I was managing a station. I threatened legal proceedings, and I lett Campbell's employ m consequence of the difference. There was a female servant m the house. After my wife laft, this girl on one occasion went out with me to muster sheep, and at another time she went out with me when I was duck shootincr. I have made no arrangements to marry her. Both co-respondents emphatically denied the alleged acts of adultery. Mary Wallace, the respondent, denied that she ever committed adultery with Frank Jennings or George Nash. Crossexamined : The letters to Nash (produced) were m witness' writing. Did not remember writing to Nash the letter produced, from Sydney. Did not remember anything about the letters ; and the statements m them were untruths. Mr Shaw : Then you ask his Honor and the \mj to believe that these letters were pure romances ? Witness : Yes. Witness was always writing these letters to imaginary people. This* closed the case for the respondent and co-respondent Jennings. Counsel having addressed the jury, his Honor summed up briefly, and the jury, without retiring, returned a verdict to the effect that there hadboen no adultery. The decree was therefore refused, and Judgment was entered accordingly.