FEMALE FIDELITY.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 37, 23 April 1879, Page 2

FEMALE FIDELITY.

'Ov!iiU' > th6'.-mattors\ittcomproliQnqible>;*.to.'.'aß!i'' there is none ; so difficult ?pfr solution' as to ;account for the almost dpg-likb fidelity of some women; to ■ the monsters :Hi human form , who exercise': a.;' Bvray rj brev them. ;Every week instances crop .up/ Tfbere •wretched wires aro literally; -beaten, put of 'existence^- orj chopped i'ajad jmaimed into ; /!: xAasSes ; ! T** ; with 1 their, last, ijreatHtrT^to "screen the fiends'- by : whom, thev have been tiurried put of the world. ; A few weeks since an ; . tinfortunajbe Creature in Tasmania, , the . mpth.e,r.pf- eight children, to save her head from being,bjsaten tpa jellv by her /brute 1 oft'a, husband-^ot into S the empty fi^e'plfifKe* arid placed her head 1 up the qhimnev fpr'proteßtion-.: With an oath the ruffian s^vore Tie would soon have her 'out of v that,;a,ndvorder?nff. ; one of, .the , children to brine a newspaper, lie \). deliberately placed ■it at the feet of $he wretched woman* and set-it, aliififht. ; .As; jnigh t i have .been, .expected, the flames licked round /her body and she .teceiTedisnch injuries, that she. diedindreadT ful agonies within .twenty-rfour hours, yet in her dyine depositions an path she solemnly: swore that he tos •perfectly, gtiiltless, and her injuries' tTie reWlt'bf Tier own carelessness..; With ■ this . lie upon ,., her, lips, she passed into..e t tprnity, thus yielding up body rnn/J jjspul in order to screen the inhuman monster at whose hands she "met :her death. At the inquest her son, a child of thirteen, whp,hadat his .fnther's command jbrp^ught ,the paper,; testified to the true facts :pf the 'casej,and it is mcire than probabWthatv the miscreant will i yet- ] pay .the/.: penalty- .of his 'atrocious crimev If ever there ; wiis:a case where a lie would not bring 1 its penalty, it fihould.be in the' case; of the • heroic but misjled deTption exhibited by his erring martyr ;' or if the tear pf # the Reqording; Angel could' wash away the entry as it .was being made, that p^ejof the" Judgment Book wouldappear withoxit a blot. JB"ut r the case of .JjlAiY Q-ibboks in.Tasmania, 19, we regret to say^' . by no means an isolated one., and has a counterpart ifi Ifew Zealand iii that of IsAßEiiiiA JoHNSTONB. Three years agQf.the -writer of this article attendedrwith : ~la Justice, of Peace to take down whatiwere supposed to be then ; her dying" depositions, and never will lie forget the pitiable looking object she appeared, scarcely bearing the semblance of humanity. Her brutaliparamour,' a man 'named 'John 1 Ij MoBEiB6N-had baptised her in kerosene and then set it alight and as she lay;', swathed in ''wadding, with merely one eye' exposed to view— Mr. ' Moetiisok liaying preyipusly. playfully rpoked • out the other'with'a dtick— the^sigh|i was 1 one to create a shudder to that! a' human creature 'Cduid become such. .ajßpectaole. ;Mobbi3ow was, standing by, and his presence seemed • to^ have sptne mesmeric influence upon his victim, who "could not be forced to say brie word to criminate nim. Being allowed oiit on bail, that nighf. he broke into the^hbspifcal and wrappirig 7> tne unfortunate wpnmn in a blanket cbnyeyed her to a distance^ so that slie would; be put of the pow^r of the police, ai^dfw ; hen tried for that offence, his : willing tool swore that it was at her request;Bhe» was romoyedi, iThreo years., have .paiss'ed;-< since, then, and'she; still survives, nofcwifcfe's'tandihg that no doubt she has had her share of whips, and kicks, and blows. However.' > Mr. MORKTSO^f has again , been seized with the laudable desire to expedite .matters, and from ■-, ;'a . sputhjarn paper we learn the following is the^lan adopted on' this OCCasion ?r— ;■ •:..-,■.; ':. '■>.•• .'•■?■ :■ .;,, « ; . . FHariiE 'ENDTTBAWdB;— John Morrison of Gsmaru, seems- determined to put: female tpithe^test.v. Three years ago he tried the effects of ignitedik&rosene'; on a woman hame^ Isabella Jphiisb^n,. with whom hq lived. 'Subsequently" he remWed the half • i roaste~d woman fpbto the hospital Land thus escaped the cbrise^uences of his' conduct. Since tben.hohas. continued his iHtreatraent, but. he has always contrived to get^^ the; unfortunate; creature 1 : /put of the i*oad . when ' she wants to. : prosecute; ; Tlie latest, experunent of" this modern Bluebeard has, been ,w|th ; ariaxe*. , On. Tuesday he was brought befpre',the,lßench' 'an the woman, Johnson appeared in J tile witness box. : Her face was literally one complete mass V;of bTni<<es,.the whole of one t side of it; being as. black as, coal, i . He'evid^iice r; Bljowed that he' Tiafi usfid ; a hammarv a ''small axe 1 , boots, a pote,^aTid hiafiot in the coursD- of ; the "two wsatrttS'COtnplamed l of, that he, had ftruok her with those all over the head and all parts of the body, drawing blood from her head^ ayes, and nose, and that he threatened to cut her head off. When she begged for heriifeh* said. "You are a coward and are afraid to die.'? Tbe''pr,ispttp^. y,as re-

And this was a tenderly-reared, highlyeducated woman, a clergyman's daughter, and at. one time as far above her brutal, tyrant in the social scale as the sun is above the earth. So far this brutal ruffian.;; has 5 , been allowed to pursue his donlishhwork without punishmenfr^tiufc ijb jg to<beh,Qped that this time.be will get his A few Hundred stroke^ of the cat-o'-nine-tails -wo.uld..Berye togive lfiunataste ..of physical torture, and prove whether; he is the hero he pretends to be, contemning pain, and punishment. We have seen this brutal | craven glower at his unfortunate victim ! when she was under examination, and then adopt a hypocritical whine when the fear of his misdeeds rose uppermost in his mind. To him the lines of Otwat in his " Venice Preserved;" could have no reference, , Oh, woman! lovely woman! nature made ;■ £hee h . iTo temper man : we had been brutes mth- : ; oUt you, : ';.' -,' -,■ :• ■ •■ , ,•: >: .-' for evidently Mj?. Moehison's nature ; was incapable of the refining process, and his gentle companion transformed him into a demon.- '■'-■ "_'" : ')'.' : - ■' ;. : ; *' /; '. i: ■'''." ''■''''"■■ .: