WHEN VINCENT VANISHED

NZ Truth, Issue 1186, 23 August 1928, Page 4

WHEN VINCENT VANISHED

The Girl, the Baby and the Address.". He Left Behind • . _ . . ; ■.'■•... ..-'■•! (From "N.Z, Truth's" Special Auckland Representative.) As an address, me Post Office, Sydney, is somewhat vague, but such is the modesty of Vincent .firnold Chatterton, so far as his place of residence is concerned, that this is the only address he has left his parents. ,

Eloquent Matron

THERE may, of course, be another reason — and it may, be due to the fact that Magistrate McKean, on February 24 this year, made an exparte order against the missing V. A. Chatterton, having adjudged him the father of Mary Catherine Ferguson's child. . , _£le was ordered to pay 12/6 a week towards its -maintenance, 'not to mention such' items as £15/15/- medical expenses and £11/16/6 past maintenance, with another £2/2/- solicitor's costs. But 'as Lawyer Les. Adams made clear to Magistrate Cutten last week, at Auckland, Vincent having modestly retired from the scene of his responsibilities, the onus of providing for Mary Ferguson's child devolved upon his father, Sydney Chatterton, who is m the grocery business m Parnell. Hence it was as defendant that grandpa was cited. He was, however, unable to appear m . court and his wife was there m his ,stead. Emma • Chatterton took her place m the witness-box. She explained that her husband was sixty- five years of :age and had recently suffered a seizure. They were m poor circumstances, though he had a share m the grocery concern, but like many other business people there was a mortgage millstone round their necks. They had two children of their own, besides the missing Vincent, to provide for, one being ten years old and the other twenty-one months. Lawyer Singer, who was acting for grandpa, asked Mrs. Chatterton: "Your son did clear out?" "Yes," she replied, "but it had nothing to do with this case at all." •' She also testified that their financial position was far from robust and that if it was not for herself they might be m a state of destitution, as she had to give her help to run the business. Her lawyer put m the Chatterton income-tax return to prove that they were not m good circumstances.

Vincent's mother said they were not m a position to make even a small offer. In reply to some very pertinent questions from Lawyer Adams, the woman m the box, who mumbled her words considerably, said that she had ordered the girl off . her doorstep at 1 a.m. on a certain occasion and had< threatened to have her arrested. "Yes," observed Lawyer Adams, "and at the same time we were endeavoring to arrest your son!"" Further, Mrs. Chatterton said there had been a lot of friction between her son and his father; she even suggested that this was the reason he went away to the Mecca of New Zealanders — Sydney. Lawyer Adams retorted: "Yes, but there was none between his employers and himself," and went on to say that he had been informed by an official/ of the Electric Construction Company that Vincent had left the country because of the proceedings arising out of the affair with this girl. But the witness denied that this was so; it had nothing to do with' it. She went on 5 -.. t0 murmur something to Lawyer Adams which was riot audible to the courtroom m general. . "Be quiet, please," commanded Lawyer Singer, but the good woman babbled on; it took three requests before the flow of maternal eloquence was stemmed. Having listened to all there was to hear about the state of things, and the finances "of the Chattertons not being sufficient to cope with the support of their grandchild, pending the return of the wandering boy, Magistrate Cutten announced that he was unable to make an order. . • ~- . Still, Mary Ferguson has the satisfaction that - the absent father of her child calls for his mail at the Sydney Post- Office— and no hews is, not always good news. '. . ■> _ .