Believed Him

NZ Truth, Issue 1174, 31 May 1928, Page 7

Believed Him

WILLIAM BACH can feel very . " thankful that he was able to convince- a Christchurch jury he was so drunk on March- 12 as to be incapable of going through the pockets of an old man named Smith and robbing him of his money, wallet and papers, not to mention a gold-watch and chain. Otherwise, he might have struck trouble. On the day m question, looking out from a window overlooking Wardell's right-of-way, Ernest B'eauyais saw, so he said, two men "ratting" the old man. One of them was alleged to have been Bach and the other was a man named O'Meara, who pleaded guilty to the charge m the lower court. Bach, however, elected to go before a jury and told the court that he remembered nothing about it, as he had "been on the drink for a fortnight." He had no need to steal, as he could always earn good wages when he kept off the liquor. He could remember nothing about it at all. The jury believed him to be innocent and gave Bach a verdict of not guilty. Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll]

GORDON PLAYER and Elizabeth • Kamps were married two days before Christmas, 1912, and having lived for a time at Hamilton, they later came to Auckland, where, according to Ihe petitioner, they lived happily for Come years. But m October, 1927, the wife,, for reasons unknown, left home. ] . Taking advantage of her husband's absence, at ; work, she removed the furniture and sold some of it. Player, a man about forty, swore that he tried to induce his wife to return, but she positively refused and went to live m a house-which belonged to' one of her sisters at Volcanic Road, Mount. Eden. In spite of this, the deserted husband was, it appeared, still on I friendly terms with his wife. He was paying her £2 per week and doing some work at the house where she lived m solitude. Some , concreting work had been spoken of.. Player rang up on Saturday, January 14, to know if it would be convenient to measure it up that evening, but his wife told him to come on Sunday morning 1 . This nbt being convenient, Player and his contractor friend, Southgate, to the house that evening about feight-fif.teen. No lights were burning. . Having tried the doors, Player and his companion .took cover under the house. They had not been there long, according to . petitioner, when they heard steps coming up the path — a man's footsteps. . . The front door was opened and the crouching husband heard his wife's voice. Then steps sounded overhead m the house and presently the two observers «rept out. Their • investigations led them to a 'Window, which was curtained, but the Mind was not down. Southgate hayIng had a peep, Player made a more investigation. , , There was a settee with its back to the window, on which Player saw his ■wife sitting with a, man. They were on (terms lof great intimacy. \., ■ Player pushed the window up and 3>ut his head inside the room. His wife, however, was every bit as prompt Jrs her intruding husband. She called to her visitor: "Go for your life! It's my husband!" — then pulled down the window on the neck of her lord and master. Until the unknown co-respondent was well clear of the premises, it •would seem that Player had to remain m this ignominous position, his wife standing before -him m the delicate flimsies so beloved of her sex. Having apparently released himself with the consent of his spouse, there followed a brief interview m the front I room, during which Player accused his ' wife of intimacy with the elusive one. To this she retorted: "Anyway, who would ' believe what you say ?" ■niiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiliniiiiiiiiiiinniiiriiiiMiiiniriiiiiiiiiiriiniinriiiiinniiciiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii