BILL BOYD'S BABY.

NZ Truth, Issue 142, 7 March 1908, Page 6

BILL BOYD'S BABY.

Who Was its Daddy? Lustful Ladies of the Laundry. William Boyd, a painter's apprentice, 17 years o£ age, .has had cause recently, to regret certain amorous adventures with a. tart called by the hißbrSOUttding patronymic of Emily Whvte-Currie. Beak Widdowson had the pair of them before him iii the Dunedin Police Court the other day, and amidst a plethora of' wit-nesses, perjury and angry-buzzing relatives, he conscientiously tried to sort out the paternal origin of a child to. which Emily auspiciously g;ave birth on Christmas Day last, and which ; is now squalling for maintenance m a cold, miel unsympathetic world. Walter Wlhyte,' an angry old hasbeen, brought the case, and he charged William Boyd with being the father of the brat aforesaid. He knew very well: that William and his st en-daughter - Emily Whyte-Currie ("Thank . Heaven, she wasn't his flesh and blood") had been doing what they shouldn't oughter, and if William didn't like to pay for it he would blank, blank; well see that he was made to. So there ! According to" /Emily, the tale of her misdeeds- was lurid. She was employed at the Otago Steam Laundry, , and lived m Woodhaugh. She be--came acquainted with "Bill Boyd about last . Easter, and went out walks With ; hini. Bill had curly hair ami nice dreamy, eyes, and he made her feel- a 'longing for things that are forbidden by Mrs Grundy. But she knew that she mnisn't be naughty, and although she continued to walk out late with Bill she resisted his insidious advances jfor quite a fortnight. Then, one purple niffh-t, when the air was full of-quietness and sus;gestiveness, and they were/ restins; m a lonely -spot, where the madding crowd seemed a million miles away, Bill made" a sudden assault upon her. Although she was two years older than the amorous Bill, she was unable to protect herself, and. after a fierce struggle. Bill got his own way. She knew then she' was a ruined maid, but she trusted herself to Bill, and Bill had his own way quite a number of times after that. Then the inevitable hap.pened. She found herself pregnant. She told Bill about it, but Bill, if he had nvueh affection for her person had little sympathy, with her condition, ahfl he absolutely declined responsibility. Then her mother found, nut how thjngs were, and there was •A" TOPHV,T OF A' ROW. Bill was interviewed by her angry relatives, and, .under fierce pressure, agreed to marry her. ; He said he wasn't the daddy of what was cqmr ing, but he certainly had been fooling about. Ennily, a-nd -foe supposed he Would: have to stand by the consequences. Negotiations occupied quite a long time, and it was the beginning of November /before the marriage was finally fixed up. Then Bill struck -his; Nemesis. He was only a kid, and seeing that a wedding was on <bhe orrder-paper he had to go to his daddy for financial assistance. His papa, who is an elder of the church, or a lay-preacher, or sonuethins else smelfully respectable, had the worst kind of an apoplectic fit when he learned of his son's disgraceful position. He fairly squealed m Ms justifiable - wrath, and the unfortunate Bill fared ' badly. Bill was summarily kicked out of the paternal mansion, a;nd warned that if ever he wiped his dirty boots on tha^ front door miat again he could look out for cyclones. Bill, being a wise youth, lit out for fresh climes, arid the wedding was declared permanantly off. ' The offspring of an illicit love duly made its appearance on Christmas Day, 1907,, and was harbored m the home of its mother. The ■wiay of the transgressor is hard. A warrant, issued on the iniative of the explosive Walter Whyte, was meanwhile floating round the country looking, for 'the elusive Bill, and it found its mark up Otago Central somewhere. Bill was promptly hiked before the Magistrate. That, m effect, was the sorry story toM by Emily and a lot of other witnesses. Emily was cross-examined by , -Downy Stewart, but she stuck woonanfully to her tale. She was a virtuous maiden before she met Bill. She was fond of a lark, but no man had ever persuaded her to the love limit until Bill's sudden assault upon her had overcome her scruples. No, since then, she had 'not misconducted herself with any boys. She had remained true to Bill, and she defied anybody to prove otherwise. The first time Bill had done anything to her was a fortnight after Easter, m the middle of April, just eight months before the birth of the child. The baby was perfectly healthy when bom, and it had lived and flourished. The next witness called whose evidence was 'of any importance was Sissy Knipe, a dark-eyed lotuseate,r, -who was Emily's workmate m the Otago Steam Laundry. Sissy said that Emily and Bill were very friendly, and were generally regarded as sweethearts. They first met about Easter of last year, and after that for some time were inseparable.

In reply to Downy Stewart, Miss Knipc said that she always regarded Miss Whyte-Currie as a young lady of RATHER A PAST DISPOSITION. She was always flirting round with boys, and she (Miss Knipe) had warned her more than once that she would be getting into trouble if she wasn't careful. But; Emily treated these 'remonstrances lightly. "Pooh!" she said, "I'm ■■ all right. These will soon fix me up ,if anything goes wrong," and she showed the interested Miss Knipe a small box of pills. Mr Stewart : Now, isn't it a fact Miss Koiipe, that you yourself misconducted yourself with boys at one time and another ? Miss Knipe (indignantly) : No, never m my life. Mr Stewart : If former witnesses have sworn that you yourself had sexual intercourse with Bill Boyd on more than one occasion, will you deny it ? — (No answer.) Come, Miss Knipe, did you, or ditl 3 r ou not ? Miss Knipe (m great confusion) : Ye-e-s. Mr Stewart sat down. William Boyd denied paternity, but acknowledged that he had received I favors from the plaintiff. He had first made her acquaintance some time after Easter. He was going along a road m the suburbs, and passed Emily- She accosted him, and appeared very friendly, and she offered ho objection when he made certain proposals to her. He ' became better known to her, and they met on several subsequent occasions, and it happened often. But he knew she was a hard case,' and from all he learned, he believed Bmily had been there often before . with other fellows. It was only eight months to the day when the child was born, and as it was a perfectly healthy qhikl ib could not be his. That was briefly William's evidence. Eventually the case , was adjourned for the evidence: of Dr. Roberts, whose- testimony was io the effect that an cieht months' child coukl be healthy: The harassed Bill was ordered to pay 7s a week towards the support of his mr fant, and also to shell out six guineas accouchement fee and find sureties for the payment of the amount of maintenance for, the next fourteen years. Poor Bill! His luxuries cost" him dear. , .