DIGGER HOUNDED BY CRUEL FATE

NZ Truth, Issue 1183, 2 August 1928, Page 3

DIGGER HOUNDED BY CRUEL FATE

His

Sydney Nunn Tells " N.Z, TruthJ' Exclusive ; Story of His Battle With Specti^ idl St^wation DRAINED QUP OF ffITTEp ■ (From "N.Z. Truth's;' Special Christchuroh Representative.) -' ■ \ ._.: '• , - ".'..' IN THL LITTLE ROOM, their eyes dimmed with ""tears^^husband and wife suffered the greatest blow a cruel Fate could give them. Little Herbie, seven years old, their pride and joy, lay dead,' gathered m by an illness which had afflicted him for some time. ;, N V ■ : The hearts of Sydney Herbert Nunri, soldier-farmer, and his wife, were, well-nigh breaking. The death of their boy was the* anti-climax to ten years of struggle, soiil-searing toil, poverty and trouble which had hounded them on their farm at Fairlie, South Canterbury. * '..,.»

AND even. afl" the child lay still m death,, there were gathering about the heads of this unfortunate family dark'jclouds of further trouble. Three \y;eeks later. Nunh was forced off his farm, penniless, the labor often years a barren. tree, with no prospects and little hope. ■ His only assets a high courage and a devoted wife and daughter, Sydney Herbert Nunri «walked out into the world to face the ordeal of trial by jury, humiliation— and later the satisfaction of a complete acquittal at the hands, of his fellow-men. . *■ Hounded by; a Government Department. into the ' criminal dock, there to answer a charge of selling sheep held under \ a chattel security. Nunn's name was cleared of all stain. . No trial that has been staged m , Chpißjchuroh was suoh a travesty of odtirt procedure as, his. The' Grown witnesses themselves cleared his name and the proceedings evoked strong comment from Judge Adams, who remarked that no proceedings, should be taken by responsible officers without sufficient reason and advice. I The story of the. trial has already been told m detail m, Ithe columns of : "N.Z. Truth," >and, as previously remarked, the proceedings were GII--bertian to a degree. There was no evidence produced that m any; way- s upported the charge brought against Nunri — atid the Crown proved it out of the mo.utli ; s of its own< witnesses. - , ■ .v .Browbeaten, 1 harried, humiliated, subjected to all the agony of mind incidental to criminal proceedings and forced into heavy '' legal expense to fight a case that never should have been brought, Nunn, through D. G. 'Sullivan; M.P., asked the Minister of Justice m the House last week If, m view of the circumstances, ,the Minister would pay Nunn's legal expanses. Tjhe answer of the Minister was emphatically m the negative. ■. •i '■ ■'• • ' The Silver Lining He stated that full inquiry had been made by responsible ; police officers; the magistrate had committed Nunn for trial and the 'grand jury had returned a true bill; this , justified the action of the police. In any case, added the Minister, it was not the practice of the Crown to pay. the legal expenses of people acquitted and* there.' was no reason why an exception should be made m Nunn's case. ; All very well, this,' out Nunn's case was not a usual case; it was the reverse, for if ever a man was '•wrongly put on trial, he was. Nunn has now given his own exclusive story of his ten years of struggle and battle on a Government farm. . ; " And his story crystallizes the hardships and sufferings that have afflicted many unfortunate diggers who went on Government farms after serving, their 'country through' the years of war. ' • : ,'. "Can anything be done for me with regard'to my-, legal expenses?" was Nunn's first question when interviewed by "Truth's" Chrlsfchurch representative. ,: ." . And then he unburdened himself of his story, which reads more like a page from, fiction than real life. There is nothing < of the whining-man-with-a-grievance air, about Nunn. '.' Slowly, but , surely, . "he is winning his way back to economic independence, saying every penny he can, and, with a ready smile, he tells you that he has now roynded the' corner, of his troubles. , . • /Nunn is an ex-Imperial Army man, having served three years with the Coldstream Guards before the war and with that unit during the years of the w,orld conflict. - .. •■■ ' A reservist, he came out to Ne!w Zea- .. ' ' ■ . .i land with his wife arid ■ daughter m ; • . . .;.■■..; "•'/..> y-;-; 1 ; Vv. ' : '\ :; ,,. ■ Less than- two "years-later^ when the war drums rolled* he joined- up with 1 tiie Main Body of the N;Z.E.P.'! :. But /instead of proceeding overseas with the Dominion force, he proceeded to England, where' he, rejoined his regiment. ' ' V v./ .- ; •■'.' ■ ' ' • ■■'■.-■ Of his war service Nunn would not speak, as it was no different ffrom that of millions of his bro-. •thera-in-arms, .. . . ' ; Towards the end of 1917, he was invalided from the army and returned to New. Zealand. " ' . In Christchurch he ballotted for a farm and secured one of. 145 acres at Fairlie, hear Timaru. .Here he went with his wife) and daughter, his heart full of high hopes arid determination to win for himself a substantial niche m the community. 'In those dim arid distant days, Nunn, like so many hundreds more^ was • not to know that' he was building his dreams from .material no more substantial than air. Disillusionment had / not .then come to him; every day^he worked his farm, putting m improvements wherever he could.'. Life was" not difficult for the first year or so;*S.So well did he prosper that m 1920 his bank-book was sho\ying a credit of £300. Every penny he could scrape together he sunk m his venture. And then came the slump. When he went , on the farm the Government advanced him £500, and, with some money of his own, he had been able to put up his house and buildings and generally keep things moving." "■-.' ' • ' 1 But when the slump hit the country like the breath of a plague, it was not -long before Nunn began to feel the pinch. As time went on things became more difficult. Mrs. Nunn, brave woman that, she was, stood shoulder to shoul-l der with hep man and worked with - him on the farm- like any laborer. Their 'daughter, too, threw her energies into the fight to keep the home above their- heads and pay their way. From early morning . until late at

night, Nunn, his wife and daughter slaved away on the farm. . , "My wife was a <flne woman when we first went on the farm, but When we were at last kicked, off the place, wfteri the Land Board notified me . that my lease would be forfeited, she was noth-' ing but skin and bone. "She was at it with me and our girl, night arid day . . . arid she worked herself to a, standstill." " Nunn pictured the dally scene on his poverty-ridden farm. \ . . Mrs. Nunn and her daughter, slaving- away tat his side, until sometimes they were ready to drop. ]-, v And even when the dayfs work was done, he said, they all three had to turn out at" night to ; cover over wheat and chaff that had been sold, to protect it from getting wet m the s rain. Long -yearst of grim struggle. . . . Things went from bad to worse. Rent fell badly m arrears. He applied to the Government, telling them that the farm he had. was too small and at the same time asking them to reduce the rent of the place. "They did so and postponed the arrears of rent for 3,8 months;" said Nunn, "and they also gave me some mor.e land, but it was not much good to me, as I could not arrange' finance with which to stock it. •'

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"They kept me waiting so long that the postponed rent fell due -before- I could stock the extra land. • "I :again told, the department of . rriy circumstances . and they advanced me £400, for which they took a chattel .security on my assets," .: ■ ■■'■ . And still Nunn and his family battled away m their hopeless attempt x to make good, ' • ' '..But. as though economic circumr stances were not sufficient to .contend with, sickness crept upon Nunn and laid him iow for a time. The clouds of despair were gathering, but with dogged determination his wife and daughter did their part to keep going. ■ ' Barely had the principal breadwinner recovered when the, grim shadow of death crept round the farmhouse and hovered over the frail form of little Herbie. Desperately the fond parents clung to the hope that the Grim Reaper would pass by 'without exacting his toll, but it was not to be „ . . and came the sacl day when their cup of sorrow was full to overflowing. Death blighted the little home and the agonized v parents knew not from what quarter the funeral expenses were to come.

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HE BOUGHT EXPERIENCE But Castles Had Been Building Gastles In The Air

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative.) "I got none of the profits. " These six words from the mouth of William Castle sp§,ak Volumes, for he has been unlucky if the price of his experience m a business Venture — £280— is taken into consideration. TPHE impish gods, whose job it is to He always had an excuse for not 1 keep that commodity termed cash producing the profits, though he m cumulation, gave another' Wil- showed figures on paper. - :'" liam, with the addition of two other „;,.., . ,'-,,', , , names, Freney Keegah (2.6), an Intro- ... William, .=. who .had the cash, finally duction to Castles last February. became peeved; after all, business is William the' go-getter, is a tallish business and profit is the soul- of it. ■ young- man with a predatory&handle He took the police . into his confito his face and -smooth red l&ks of denee: they m turn, took *he other hair; he has all the air of a iSnart William into custody: then, and not business man, though' he did not h>ve till then, did the adventurer m the much opportunity of .displaying of commerce discover that he while m the dock. • ' - • ■ , >^ i trU l y , " s Poofed.'' + • His ability to speak his piece seemed, „ W while the plausible buyer of the for the time being, to have left him. gboa><whlch had not been bought, was • • , ... dragghr^s. out the hard-earned dough If he had done the spruikmg on Qf willianSihe drawer Of cheques, the more - auspicious occasions, he casher of thxNi was cutting his dash m showed no disposition to do so Easy Street. >^S.. under the changed conditions. ■ It was shown t^st practically all the It was rather William, the giver, who cheques had beenNse&shed .at the had his say before Magistrate McKean. Shakespeare Hotel, 's^' A linotypist,' living m St. Albans .Literally,. William Ru'fus, had been Avenue,* he related that William, the sinking his verbal -partners- funds m go-getter, had great notions of doing communion with the spirits. ; , ' business for hi s - ; Telling., his sad new-found friend • . . tale from.th e wit--with the minimum ' r\ . S~i , «v ness-box, . William, of trouble. . ' , O//S//265S \l&flltLS r °£ the Castles: (m All William, with *->UZIIIZOd W#«UO .- air) .^ ( ,^ ..the cash, had to do, ■': ■■■■-■■• ■•; .- accused gained ■my was to sign cheques . „ -.■«■'■ . ' > . ... confidence and \I for' goods, which his namesake would trusted him with, any amount -of money use to purchase articles. of trade; .of he wanted." ;. "■■..,; .. course,, there would be profits -...,- All was grist which came to William and these they would share. the finesser's. mill, for. he contrived -to William, the go-getter, was just the convince John Edward Hutchinson, man to "do all the business — even from indent agent, of Shortland Street, that the cashing. of the cheques. . 'he had > rf buyer for a - pair of field Nothing like being businesslike; they glasses, valued at £ 5 10s. . . ' entered into an. agreement— a verbal ; prf those representations he carsafe enough between men of ; [o!^^^^^^^^^ ' honor; everything promised to be : t hem for £7 10s ' ' ' lovely. William, with the cash, passed over But he was ■' telling a naughty unto William, with the ideas, cheques for truth; what he had really done was to £5 to £25, with which the latter- was take them to an "uncle 1 ' m Victoria to buy the goods '" ' Street and pop them for £2. „ feu,, a,a, ; a,, that Wm.am, with the X^ n cash, saw was an occasional sample of byt that he pleaded guilty, and 'all the what the other William brought him. 1 cash from his enterprises had been It was quite another matter to tie converted to his own use. . . ;' Ham /down to, a business statement or w here he has been committed for such a dull thing as a balance-sheet, sentence. . ..:<■■■ '".-'■■

"I had no money whatever an<J I actually had • to ask the department for the money with which to bury my boy." •*■■ He did not get: it at the time, he said, as it was held that the department had no authority to pay money for such a purpose, but Nunn told "Truth" that he was asked later for the funeral bill and presumed the matter had been settled. But while the boy. was barely cold m his grave, the distracted parents were at their wits' end to find the money. : " % . "And then," said Nunn, "although I had not approached them personally, the association that looks after the interests of ex-Imperial soldiers m Christchurch.sent me £10 to help me along." .'; . - . ■ ._ Even at this tragic time kpew that he was about to be deprived of his home. After ten years' struggling, he was to be kicked out;. ' ; "In May last year," he said, "I received a letter from the Land Board 'notifying me that my lease was to be forfeited. "I appealed against this, but it did no' good. The reason given for' the forfeiture of the lease was that I was too deeply involved to be able to get out of the mess I was' m." j And so the end" came. Nunn and his wife could only look back on the barren labors of ten years which had yielded them nothing but poverty and trouble. ' f Quietly they packed' up their few sticks and left the farm, but, as events have proved, ■ it was the best day's work s they ever did, for even though it meant walking out of gloom into still deeper shadows, eventually they found the sunshine of happier days. * With a £1 note m his pocket, Nunn arrived m Christchurch one cold night with, his wife and daughter. They had no friends m the city and did not know what to do or where to go. The £1. that stood between them and '" •'■ ' ' ''. .. •„• •''.■■ A Hopeless Quest destitution was too precious to spend on a boarding-house bill. There was to-morrow to think about ... It was too late to 'contemplate lookIng for work, so the Nunns, weary and dispirited, wandered aimlessly through the city, ,.. .vaguely looking for -some shelter f-rb.iri the cold night. Arid so they came to Phillipstown, a little food and a pair of blankets between the three of them. Footsore and weary, they finally discovered an empty house. With quickened step, they proceeded to the back of the premises. ■ '■'.'." And there, m the cold, draughty 1 wash-house, they huddled together as they ate their meagre food. Then, on the cold, hard floor, they settled down .to sleep; covered by two blankets, one of which. the girl had to have for her own use. All night, long they shivered, with cold, all attempt at. sleep being prevented by the barking of a dog next door. " •*' , '. . .; ' Dawn at last, cramped limbs and bodies, aching with cold, the Nunn family rose to greet another day. They left their wash-house retreat and hurried put into the street. Then it was that they realized how near they s liad been to spending the. night m \he lock-up and facing a magistrate, for Nunn .discovered that the wash-house m which they had soughto shelter was next door to the police-station.: < . .; . ' ; The dejected family wandered out to North Beach, "where air the waif s- and strays get to," said' Nunn, with a reminiscent smile. . . - There they found a \furnished shack for ten shillings a week. They lost no time m renting it. '. . ''But barely had we moved m,", said Nunn, "than we were visited by the • ■-.:■./ Happiness Dawns Land Board's ranger, who wanted to know where the separator was. , ' "I have the ; separatoi", : biit I refused to giye it up,, as 'my wife had, bought it herself." > ■': ' ;.: • v Following the visit of, 'the ' ranger, said 'Nunn,' they were visited by thepolice. For.some time afterwards "we. were harassed a good .deal." .. • ' ; The strain of it, , he declared, was . wearing his wife down, butr.NUnn had to think about keeping the wolf from Jthe d.obr.. ' ' ■\- He. .did Iso by canvassing for odd jobs, including painting house's. . . >" Anij then came the dread summons, calling him to answer a charge under the Chattels Transfer Act. \ /.'■ . He appeared before the magistrate arid was sent "upstairs" for trial, bail being allowed him in^£2s. . Then the farcical trial, a complete . acquittal and vindication of 'his character. ;'' ■ . '_",.:,' '"■ ,■ . :" " '/He haft turned the ■• corner. Nunn settled down to' work m real .earnest,, ably assisted tiy his' wife , and daughter, both of whom are doing their share towards keeping the pot boiling. , Nunn has, saved his odd pennies and shillings from' odd jobs and has. now acquired' a taxi, which is earning a good crust for. him. =" r ' ; '. The smiles of happiness have returned to the , faces of his wife and daughter. ,'. ' . ;■-. ' . '.'"-. They are on the, w.ay to the complete restoration of their- fortunes ;and : firmly believe that the sun has' not; gone out of business. ■• •, " ■/. „'■ .'■"" . ' But the Minister of Justice will not pay Nunn's', legal expenses,' notwithstanding the, fact that he was the.victim of a depart'niental bungle. ■:■ As. previously pointed out by "Truth" there was not a shred, of .justification for placing Nunn, on trial. - ; The --evidence and the comments of the judge proved this/ but it apparently, matters nothing to^ the Minister, that an unfortunate digger-farmer -is hounded Unjustly into the, criminal dock. ' ... "*;-" : ,'■ ' • • ' A full inquiry is heeded. Nunn should certainly receive his legal expenses. Justice demands It. . '

Woods' Gresit Peppermint Cure First Aid for coughs, colds, influenza.*

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