LAN THE HUSBAND WAS NOT THE REAL MACKAY

NZ Truth, Issue 1177, 21 June 1928, Page 8

LAN THE HUSBAND WAS NOT THE REAL MACKAY

Costly, Anyway I AWYER DICKSON (Auckland): * J "Divorce is a luxury ..." Magistrate Hunt: "I don't know about that — it is more often a necessity I" fliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiii} JUST what that may mean, it is difficult to say, but maybe this "journalistic" work constituted the penning- of delicate little love lyrics to the three ladies with whom Mackay was imputed to have embarked upon some indelicate adventures. Maybe, lan, who appears by no means to emulate the real M'Kay, considered he was afflicted by a "temperament" from which most scribes are supposed to suffer, and I that little liaisons and frequent drainings of the flowing bowl — In which, of course, Doris Constance Mackay, his wife, did not join — were essential. Of course, the specious fan denied that there was more than one other woman, that he ever rolled home m a frightful state of intoxication or that he neglected his family. But Magistrate Salmon would have none of him, and although Mrs. Mackay has been granted £3 per week, as well as full control over the children, it appears that for the present she will not be very much better off m point of actual cash receipts. Beyond the few shillings which his "journalistic" work is supposed to be bringing him, Mackay will riot have very much money until the opossum season commences, but when it does 1 open and those tremendous cheques begin to flow, Mrs. Mackay will have the delightful pleasure of collecting the arrears which will probably fall to her lot. Piecrust Promises ? In the l|ght of Magistrate Salmon's review of. the situation, it seems that for a few weeks, at any rate, Mrs. Mclntyre, the mother-in-law. will continue to come to the rescue, otherwise Mrs. Mackay's cupboard may be very bare indeed. The Mackays were married eight and a-half years ago, but when it came to removing- his coat and buckling to m the matter of providing decent subsistence, the best the husband could think of was dumping his family with Mrs. Mclntyre, for which he made the generous allowance of £4 a week. With most men who marry, the provision of smart clothing for their wives, a comfortable home and wellregulated children is their fount of continual satisfaction, but Mackay had some individualistic notions on the subject, possibly as the result of his "journalistic" attributes. Counsel Percy Jackson, who led Mrs. Mackay by the hand through the more, intricate shoals of narrative, asserted that Mackay had mesalliances with at least two other womon, to whom he paid varying sume of money arid made presents, yet he Uad been able oSfJj. to pay £14/10/- to his wife sln<*& he flung out of the house 18 weeks ago. His wife said that often Mrs. Mclntyre had to buy clothes for the three children. Apparently, her husband was possessed of the flair fbr making airy promises, inspired, maybe, by his liter-

AMOROUS ADVENTURES OF AUGUSTINE A> " ■ tJkJ^Bfs Bankrupt Skin Broker In W^^^a^ A* Romantic Role" - IfP -■ fliy COURT STORY OF PELfTpELTS AND PROMISES (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Wellington Representative.) If one half the tales of Wasters and unfaithful husbands m court are to be given a/rp degree of credence, there must be a wealth of undiscovered literary talent resting its tired feet on the rails of hotel bars. Lan Augustine Mackay, a bankrupt skin broker who neglected his family and permitted his mother-in-law to keep them for an extended period, airily told a magistrate last week that: Oh, he was doing journalistic work*

ary imagination, and on a number of occasions he talked of a little home of their own, which he had selected at Day's Bay. B\it his more practical wife pointed out the impossibility of doing this until he was clearly out of debt; that it would be futile to talk of buying furniture until he had the means. Perhaps, though, this had not . occurred to him. Early m February last Mrs. Mackiy and her mother went out for the afternoon, leaving the children m the care of their father. When they had gone to town, Mackay collected his fishing tackle, took the children down to the river bank and left them there to play by themselves, while he went away to Ash. When the womenfolk returned they were amazed that Mackay should have left the children to play by themselves oh the riverside, Mrs. Mclntyre remonstrated with him, charging him with neglect. Whereupon, he lashed himself into a fury, collected his clothes and rushed out of the house, but- not before he flung them the windy assurance that he'would pay his wife £4 a week towards the support of herself arid the three youngsters. Save a few driblets amounting to £14/10/-, she had not received anything more from him since that night m February. ; Although she had ' learned certain things m regard to his conduct, she refrained from taking any legal action until he was able to get on his feet. Some time ago. they lived m a . house at Taita, a hamlet removed some ten or twelve miles from Wellington, but his conduct with other women was such that she felt constrained to leave him. ■In addition. to this. indignity, he, carrie home the worse for drink almost every night. ' She was separated from him for a time, until one day he came and asked her to take him back. He'would reform, he would buy hdr this and that, and — oh, things would be ever; so different from what they had been. Four months after she signed the deed of separation m 1924 he was readmitted to the affections of his family, who were then living with Mrs. Mclntyre at Lower Hutt, for by this time Mllll/lUIUIIlMHUnilllllllU1«IMMI1l(lr|IMinilHMMIIIIIillinMmiMlllllHMlllMl .....llllll.tllMtlfW lllllHllHlllllHllllMlllMllMllHllltlllllllllllHllHlllllllMitlillllllttlliiilltlHllllllllllUlhllllllHlltlllllllHW

the house at Taita. and all its intimate him to retire for the rest of the night." little personal possessions had gone. Lawyer Jackgon: You were asked A sense of shame and humiliation whether Mrs. Mclntyre was the cause which ordinarily would be the lot of of the' trouble ... A very cruel most men who might have been thing to say. Is that true? — No. obliged to sponge upon their mother- What was the real trouble?— His in-law, was an element m Mackay's conduct with this woman while I was character which does not appear to at the home with our third child. That have presented itself. was the commencement' of any serious For a period of six months after he trouble with him. returned to his wife, he did not pay Yes, and that has been going op ever anything towards their maintenance, since? — Yes. In a sudden burst of affluence, he !s t h is the only woman?— No, gave her a cheque for £20, but after even since we came together after that his contributions were few and the d j ed of separation there have, spasmodic. been ot hers (tearfully). His fjood resolutions were flung to the winds. The combined effects of his Who was the lady with whom he drunkenness and continued neglect of went to Fullers'? — His little landlady. his children result- Apparently flnded m his again ing money for that, leaving the house. . t-rri , j""| en ? — Yes - A few weeks ago, A I nPfltfP HfIYTII Ada Theresa said his wife,' .-* 1 * «CUI/C i "/tt/ Marie Mclntyre, Mackay borrowed . - the mother of Mrs. £5 from a man Mackay, had some named Webb, whom he told he desired very definite remarks to, pass concernto give some money to Mrs. Mackay. ing the foibles of her son-in-law, yet at He went out to the Hutt, but when the same time she passed judgment m he learned that it was the intention of a very fair manner. his wife to institute separation pro- But lf the narration of his marriedceedings, this time through the court, history by Mrs. Mclntyre and her he kept the money, leaving her abso- daughter is worthy of credence— and lutely stranded. ' the bench was positive m his declara- ',_■-,', . . , tions. against Mackay — then his shortcut for the assistance, given by comings as a husband and a father my mother, I would have been on were all too many. the streets," murmured Mrs. Mac- At the time of the fishing incident, kay, pathetically. when he left the children to their own devices and his _wife's mother charged He. once bought her a fur coat, but him with being neglectful, lie replied: she subsequently suffered the ignominy "Mind your own business, you have no of -knowing that the garment had never more brains than a fowl." been paid for. Her .husband was sued She retorted that she would not alfor the purchase price. ' low him to insult her m her own home Counsel Bert Egley: (for Mackay): and that the best thing for him to do You know that your husband has had was to get a home of his own, so that

his ups and downs m his business? — Yes, but his downfall has been due to his own foolishness. The first separation was on account of his alleged misconduct with women. Did you say "women" or "a woman"? — A woman. You condoned that when he returned? — Yes. for the sake of the children. Didn't your mother make some insulting remarks to him at one time, concerning his mother's house m Auckland?—No, I said it. ! Didn't you say the police- were! watching the house, that they were very suspicious of . what was going on there? — Yes. And you believed it? — Yes, I did (vehemently). Didn't your mother interfere a good deal — No. On one occasion she told him she thought it would be better for us to live m a house separate from her, *>ut he said: "I'm quite happy here, mother, and, anyway, you can't very well do without us." Is it.,. a fact that he went out to Lower Hutt to give you _£ 5, but you told him you had been to see your solicitors concerning a separation? — Yes, and when I told him that, he refused to pay me the money' which had been advanced by Mr. Webb to give me. Half-crying, Mrs. Mackay continued: "When -he oan afford to give, another woman thoney and pay an account for her, he could afford to pay me money, but he didn't." - ' ■ Counsel Egley: That was three years ago, wasn't it? — Yes. Has he been out with any women since then; since he left you 18 weeks ago? — it seems so. Only a fortnight ago N he took" a woman to Fullers' and they went to supper afterwards. He seems to have enough money for that! Is- it not a fact that since February you have been Intimate with him on two occasions? — That is not true. I put it to you, Mrs. Mackay, that the whole trouble- has been caused by the Interference of Mrs. Mclntyre? — That is absolutely untrue. His drinking, his unfaithfulness and the worry "Why, his own little^ child fell into the fire as the result of his carelessness. "There was never a night last year, but that he came home drunk, and immediately after dinner he often had to lie down and, sleep till it was time for

he should realize the responsibilities of a family.

He was so obsessed with drinking | liquor, she said, that he would even have it early m the morning, although he was not properly maintaining- his wife and children. Often, she declared, when Counsel Egley questioned her, he borrowed money from her, but seldom paid her back. . • Although the sum involved was comparatively slight, she was more concerned with the principle of such borrowing. The night before he was married .he was hopelessly drunk. Her daughter ran weeping to her, crying: "Oh mother, mother, I don't think I can marry him to-morrow." Counsel Egley: "Do you know that Mr. Mackay has been m bad financial circumstances m the past year? Mrs. Mclntyre smiled, halfsceptically, half-deprecatingly, and hesitated' before she answerbd: "I don't know anything about his affairs." Counsel: You wouldn't care to see them separated, would you? — Well, at one time I would have said: "No," to that, but since I have seen him re-, peatedly drunk and known of his conduct, I wouldn't like to see her go back to him. Tall, thin, rather pompous and selfsufficient, bushy eyebrows f rinsing a pair of gold-rimmed pince-nez, an unctuous way of speaking m a deep, colorless voice — lan Augustine Mackay. skin broker, Lothario, wife-, forsaker, and, latterly, "journalist." ( He pleared his deep, aristocratic voice, posed m a pensive attitude, fingers delicately poised on the front rail of the witness-stand, pursed his lips and waited with studied composure for his counsel to take him by the hand and show him the finger-posts along •the road to a re- union. He considered his average earnings would be about £ 6 or £ 7 a week during 1927, out of which he paid £4 regularly each week to his mother-in-law, as well as an occasional pound or two extra to his wife, not to mention sausages, smoked fish and a few other things he bought for the house. "When he add r ed those interesting details about comestibles', his wife and her mother smiled somewhat ironically m the direction of each other, while

Mrs. Mclntyre said: "tssch, tssch, tscch," to herself. It was a vile exaggeration to suggest that he went home intoxicated every night, but, he contended,, the real reason why he slept after his dinner at night was that his day's work was so exhausting that "he simply fell asleep." Since he filed m bankruptcy last February, he had been doing: "Oh, just a little journalistic work," sharing the office of a man named - Neil Gow. "I would give the world to have my wife -back," he said dramatically, but without conviction, a statement which caused the magistrate to peer at him over his classes and his wife to exchange sceptical glances with her mother. "It is my desire to give her all I possibly can," he declared oratorically. He posed theatrically as he continued: "There has always been a feeling between my mother-in-law and myself, particularly since the fishing expedition, on account of her interference. "On that day I was never more than a hundred yards away from the children, but they went running home and told my wife than a man m the bushes had frightened them— absolute exaggeration," he concluded; patting the rail m his most correct manner. He denied that his wife had not continued their relationships since he left her m February. "My mother and sister have gone to Mrs. Mclntyre's house at the Hutt and have been insulted directly or indirectly by her. . . "As she is the cause of all this trouble, she should keep away from my wife, myself and my children," was the nonchalant way m which he dismissed the situation m which he found himself. By the time Lawyer Jackson had concluded his cross-examination, however, Mackay found his bland assurances blown to fragments. When it was imputed that he never had any prospects of settling his family m a house at Days Bay, he said, somewhat loftily, that he made definite arrangements with a nian named Kennedy to rent a. house at Eastbourne,' but his wife, refused to leave her mother.

Fowl Existence COUNSEL: "They are oh a small ** poultry-run — they're just scratching along." Magistrate Hunt: "I suppose they would be!" iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiini "You had no settled business, you were a bankrupt and yet you expected your wife to leave her mother's house! You could not have lasted a week," dej clared counsel. You didn't tell your mother-in-ljp. ! that she hadn't the brains of a fowl, did you? — No, I said she was a "y— fool woman." Although Mackay admitted that he fell into the fire with one of his small children, he denied that on one occasion he was so 'drunk that Mrs. Mclntyre refused to drive m his car. "Do you remember ' going to Mr. Webb and with a mealy mouth saying you wanted some money to. help your wife and children— and he gave you £5?" • Mackay theatrically, turning away from his questioner: "I won't answer such questions, Mr. Jackson." You say that the lady who has ; no more brains than a fowl; who kept your wife and children while you sponged upon her — you say that she. is the cause of all the trouble!" "So she was, directly or indirectly." Did you say that you could pick up better women than her m Haining Street?— l didn't say that. The New Commercial Hotelis rather a favorite little spot of yours, lsh.t it? And Barrett's? That's where you take your women, isn't it? — I don't know what you are referring to. Well, what about Mrs. ; McLaren? — Yes. 111 • — ; — -| '■ His Friend Peggy i You paid her board? — Yes. And paid her sums up to _£18?-^*Er-er, you said women. Well, I'll give you another name. What about Miss Bellingham; for whom you bought dress lengths and coats? — No, I swear I didn't do it. And Peggy Gillies?— A friend . ■of mine. Yes, but you also paid moneys to her, didn't you? — No, not a. cent m my life. Did you not carry on with her m a most improper manner and admit your guilt to Mrs. Mackay? — Yes, Mrs. Mackay forced me into that.' y Isn't that your trouble with your wife, your carrying on .witli these other women and drinking? — No. "Oh; yes it is, _md you know it, Mackay!" Magistrate Salmon's interpretation of the whole, (situation was that the husband had deliberately failed m his duty, but Mackay did not seem at all abashed at this pronouncement. He winked m 'the direction o£ the; Press bench, whilst his specious stories were, one by one, examined, disproved and scattered to the four confers of improbability. a It is to b e hoped that his "journalistic" work, has a nicer taste than the flavor of his own life story as a hus-. band, •otherwise he may find It'.dif&'cuit to secure a market for his literary Wanderings, „,._".:;•