GRABBED AT GREYMOUTH.

NZ Truth, Issue 62, 25 August 1906, Page 8

GRABBED AT GREYMOUTH.

TWO DEPUTY HUSBANDS AND ONE DESERTED WIFE

Occupy One Concupiscent Couch With jthe Heavenly Twins*

The Blaketown Washer-lady Shown to be a Shameless, Boozy Bawdi

(From Our Greymouth Correspondent),

About a week or so ago, one of the small coal tramps which trade between Greymouth and a North Island West Coast port left the coal harbor without her full complement of officers. The giddy second mate failed to put m an appearance when the stealer's last toot had sounded. There's nothing very, unusual about such a happening, especially, amongst the free and easy sailormen, who are reputed to be ardent worshippers of Venus. The ' noteworthy thing, however, about this particular tar's devotions was that they ultimately, led to some dreadful disclosures m • the Greymouth Magistrate's n Court on August 18. ■.-•.-'■ 1 As the court-loungers listened openmouthed to the tale- of depravity outpoured, they began to think that the town they, had hitherto thought so rigidly righteous was only . a few removes from those seething cesspools of vice— Chicago, Paris or London. On the date mentioned a married woman, -by name Annie Maude Carter, was called upon before Magistrate Kenrick to answer a charge of having - KEPT A DISORDERLY. HOUSE at Blaketown. This is one of the marine suburbs of Greymouth and. looked at from one aspect it might be described as the local Sharity town. Its streets are chiefly composed t oi beach gravel, and are rough and Unformed. There are several well-built cottages lining these "streets," but there are also a number of tumbledown shanties that give the place a more or-, less disreputable appearance. The Tasrrian Sea bounds the suburb on the west and it is divided from Greymouth proper by the lagoon, a tidal basin, beautiful, , perhaps,, at high tide, but undoubtedly otherwise at low water. For some time 'past the residents of Blaketown have had their sleep disturbed and the peace of the marine* suburb broken up generally owing to the "goings on" at Mrs. Carter's, and the intelligent police force, being called upon, acted with great promptitude and last week ran m a gentleman named Kane, who had left His Majesty's Hotel at Hokitika about the end of last month. He was found on Mrs Carter's premises, and the police satisfied the Court that he did not possess any "lawful visible," etc., and that he was consorting with a certain class of female, and thc Court thereupon sent him back to Hokitika for two months' free board and residence. He figured, howeveir, m the by-law case which was heard on the 13th inst. The tale of the

SKITTISH MARRIED WOMAN of Shaniijytown as put before the Court by Police Inspectdr Wilson, out of the mouths of police constables chiefly, was to the following effect :

One afternoon last week there had been an extra special flare-up at Mrs Carter's m which Kane, the second mate and the skittish Annie Maud had taken part. Kane had, apparently, objected to the attentions of the second mate and had dragged him out of the one and only habitable bed that the shanty possessed. The- Inspector's suggestion' was that when the constables appeared on the scene the second mate was m bed with the woman, Iwt this, she stoutly denied. Further evidence for the prosecution was to the effect that the house consisted of five rooms, that there were two beds m different rooms but that only one had hed-clothes on it and that the assumption was that the woman, her two children and the two men i

OCCUPIED THE ONE BED. The children, a boy and girl apparently between : the ages of . eight "and ten, were with their mother m court and were deeply conoerned as to why their mother was crying so much. Mrs Carter was, however, composed enough when she got into the witness box. She told how her husband had deserted her m -February last— a fact, she alleged, of which the police knewbut knowing had not done anything to try and restore her errant husband to her. Since she had been living m Blaketown, she continued r she had been supporting 11 herself by taking m washing— and she gave a list of a number of persons whose washing she had done— and m addition she had received money from her brothers. -She had also taken m boarders, and the second mate of the coal tramp had paid her 18s per week. She knew Kane but he had never slept at herhouse. She was making sufficient from the washing and boarders to keep her. Such w,a s the story her counsel, Mr Joyce, elicited from her.

Inspector Wilson, m, cross-examina-tion, got from witness some interesting facts. Her husband, she believed, had gone to Wellington and "m one way" she was glad that he had gone. "Didn't you clear out with a fisherman and live with him?" the 'witness was next asked. "Never m my life," she replied ; "he stayed m the house, but he had a separate room." The Inspector then referred to a previous exploit of witness's m regard to which she ' appeared before the Court on May 27 last. On that date she was convicted of having kept a disorderly house m Willis-street, m Greymouth— a fact put m evidence by the police though strongly, objected to by witness' counsel.

"Was there not a succession- of rows m Willis-street ?"' queried the Inspector. "No," replied witness.

"Weren't you out screaming m the street m an undressed state ? " "No," she replied, "that was a row between my husband and myself."

"Wasn't it on account of a strange man m the house?" "No, there was no strange man m the house— only my husband .and myself," she -replied.

\ Reverting to the Blaketown rfiahty, the Inspector asked :

did .the children sleep?"

"They slept' with me," said the wifcness, "and nobody else with me. There they are," she continued, pointing to the children, "you can ask them." The defence called a weather-beaten old gentleman named Fredericks, who described himself as a carpenter. He resided next to Mrs Carter, his house being thirty feet from hers and four feet from her fence. He had resided there seven or eight months and generally went to bed at seven o'clock. He had never heard any noise whilst Mrs Carter -had occupied the house next door, to him, and he would have been able to hear a row if any, had occurred. No, there .fold been no disorderly noise and he had watched very particularly. He informed the Inspector that he was a widower. He had not heard the .row at- Mrs Carter's last week— what time Kane and the second mate fell out— but there had been a row at his own house when some person, to -quote the witness' own words, "had broken open his door with h-is drawers"— meaning evidently .that the man was dressed m drawers. He repudiated with scorn the suggestion that he had got drink for Mrs Carter and had helped to consume the same— "l am a good Templar," he asserted, "and have been so for a long while." ' In briefly summing things up Magistrate Kenrifck remarked that he was asked to believe that the last witness had not heard THE TERRIFIC ASSAULT, 'AND ■_" ( BATTERY Se lit Tt by Kane and the **ond mate. There was no evidence that hn^-5 9US \ WaS being carried °* as a eS S?r h0 + f 6> but there was evidence that there was only oiie hwi m t,e tht ou >; + He ™ * ***2 believe that prostitution was not car£SnSsiX. S f UCh circumsfc ances. It was said S, J ol ' a ?y° net ° believe that, sSL W^ sh 'P. who showed no 5£ __ ° f , wlshll1 S l "o be numbered with the hopeless minority. "There were ed°<S PPing there '" he C <™W eu and there was only one hed snri it is suggested that improper proceed SS tS? not Carri&d "* "wtoie that they .were carried on and that a bifiS " aS T duC % d Practically asaa biothel " He inflicted a fine of ask^d fnr ling f 'f? c^ts. a Counsel and a 5.5 Sh ° rt time t0 W the *™ and a week was granted. The police then applied to have the children committed to an industrial school, but as Mrs Carter's counsel had not been notified of this proposal the hearing ol the application was adjourned till the following day. cJr^r 6 T aS no 'appearance of Mrs Carter or her children when the Court sat .the next morning. James Carter and May Carter were then charged with being children found living mi n a brothel The Inspector thought that the matter could.be dealt with m the absence of the children. He explainej.ttat Mrs Carter had two other chtfdren, who had been taken ehorge of by her mother. He understood that she was not very well off and it would be a serious matter if she had to support the whole four children. Ihe children m, respect to whom the application was made were twins having been born on May 22nd . 900 ' Evidence given m support of the-ap-plication by Sergeant Egan was, as regards their, mother, similar mi n effectto that given m the case against her the previous day. The children were healthy m appearance, he stated, but were neglected m clothing and condition.. There was only a double bed m the house, an old stretcher m another room and very little furniture. There weire three rooms m the house and two of 'them were used for lupiber.' The mother was greatly addicted to drink and there was scarcely a house m Blaketown the occupants of which had not been disturbed by men asking for Mrs Carter. The mother had told him that the children belonged to the Church of England and Had also appeared anxious that the little ones should be committed to the Receiving Home as she would then be able to go out to a situation. Replying to the Magistrate, the Inspector said they had last heard of the father, of the children at Lyttelton, but, if the order were made they would take steps to find \hirn and make him contribute towards their maintenance. The Magistrate accordingly made the order.

Just as the Court was about to rise mother and children made their appearance. Mrs Carter, replying to the Magistrate, said she- had last heard of her. husband somewhere between Sydney arid Newcastle. "There's another child," she

SAID THROUGH HER TEARS; "I want him to go with these^"

The Magistrate : v "You will, have to see the police about that." Mrs Carter :' "Well, these are not going without the other." She wanttd the authorities to allow her to take the twins to see their grandmother m a neighboring township ; but, though willing that both mother and grandmother should have every opportunity of seeing the children the authorities would not let them out of their keeping. Consequently, a few minutes after the Court rose, two small children m charge of two constables and attended by their weeping mother marched along the street to the police station, the sorrowful procession arousing the voluble sympathy of several mothers m Israel who witnessed it.