AND SOCIETY TOOK HIM TO ITS BOSOM!

NZ Truth, Issue 1189, 13 September 1928, Page 11

AND SOCIETY TOOK HIM TO ITS BOSOM!

Aristocratic Flying Corps Captain Sets X Thames On Fire With Sorne Thrilling Stories of His Prowess As Soldier and Athlete

UNCLE'S PORTRAIT GIVES HIM AWAY

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Thames Representative.)

"My car and [my farm; my crest and my rich, aristocratic relatives m Yorkshire; mp flutters m Rugby, when I played against the 1924 All Blacks, and my prowess as an exponent of the hockey code." These and other similar high falulin* phrases are familiar to many of the elite of Thames, tqho have a peculiar disposition for absorbing anything with a "ha~ ha" about it, hugging to their bosom anyone with an accent savoring of Oxford Thames has really so little to entertain it that when something new blows along m trousers, J wearing the mask of cultured gentility, the specimen is not long m being rushed. Soon it is to be seen gracing the tables of the first estate of the gold fields—the idol of petting parties.

TO their cost, on' several occasions, the gentlefolk of Thames have found themselves woefully misled by the guile of . silver-tongued strangers. But. previous warnings are forgotten or ignored as something. fresh comes along m male attire, with nicely, oiled hair and well-creased Oxford bags. . It was not long after his arrival that' Geoffrey Edward Gibbon Forster young, suave and debonair, was adopted by Thames society. ' He stayed only at the best hotels . . . and created around' himself an atmosphere of and affluence. "My car" and "my little farm at Morrinsville"-^the "little" gently emphasized to leave the inverse impression of vast acreage— fell quite freely from the lips of Captain Fqrster, late of the Royal Flying Corps. "You are. looking at the scar on my jaw; oh, merely caused by a crash with my bus, my dear," and. then would follow thrilling stories of hair-raising escapades m the air. t .-_ ■ ■■■ . • It was nof long before 1 the entertaining young English airman found himself holding the floors of . the drawingrooms of "the very naicest. people and was-the favored guest at their tables. "And to which part of England do you belong, captain'?" "Oh, yes; er . . . the West of Yorkshire." The question was sufficient to set fire to the .gallant captain's imagination." He would relate tales of the Yorkshire moors and dwell upon the exalted position which his family held m the northei'n country. , "Did you ever come across So-and-So?".,he is alleged to. have been asked on one Occasion, when he was enter-

Hearts are no-w fluttering m Thames over the appearance of the following Press Association message m the local paper: . "Geoffrey Edward Gibbon Forster, an Englishman, aged 26, charged with fraud at the Auckland Police Court yesterday rriorning, was remanded to appear at Whangarei. "The detailed charge was that at Whangarei on April 20, Forster, with intent to defraud, obtained from Jennie F. Syme a motor-car valued at £150, by falsely representing that he. was substantially < financial and possessed assets m a farm at Morrinsvllle." When Forster appeared before Whangarei justices of the peace last week, Detective Robertson, conducting the case for the po- " ' ' lice, called Jennie . Syme, a. clerk em- ' ployed by the Whangarei Dairy pompany. Last Easter she had driven her three-seater Buick car from Whangarei to Auckland, where she intended to spend her holidays. While m Devoriport, she met Forstew, who was staying at Mrs. Niall's board-ing-house. They became friendly and m the course of conversation she confided that she would sell her car if she could obtain a fair price for it. The genial Geoffrey. declared that ho would like a car. just like hers, and, on hearing that she wanted £150 for it, said he would consider it at that figure. In any case, he would call on her when on a contemplated trip to Whangarei and let her know his decision. He went on to explain that he had just sold his car and mentioned his land interests ; supposed to exist at Morrinsville.

Her holidays over, Jennie returned to "WThangarei. True to Tils word, her new-found friend turned up thefe later and asked to be allowed to have the car for a week's trial. If he decided not to purchase it, he would give her £10 for its use, but' otherwise he would pay her £150 cash. This offer evidently appealed to Miss Syme, for she told him to go ahead and take it, little guessing what long months were to elapse before she was to see. her runabout again. ' Geoffrey, it appears,: motored gaily off to Mata, some twenty -miles from "Wliangarei, and. stayed ; there at a friend's farm. This was on April 10 and at the end of the week's "trial" Miss Syme re-; > ceived a letter from accused, stat--ing that he would be unable to get m to see , her, owing to the state of the clay roads where he was then living, but advising .-= her that he had instructed his solicitors to make arrangements for payment. . . The epistle was a plausible and pleasant one,' concluding with a request for her to send him a case of benzine— at her own expense — which request the trusting lady complied with. The next occasion on wfhich she heard from Forster was on April 21, by letter postmarked Whangarei, m which he stated that he. would call on her on the 25th of that month and would then pay her for the car and the case of benzine. i However, the 25th came and went, with no appearance of Forster, but a third apologetic mis- ■ sive soon arrived, explaining that

he had quite overlooked the fact that the 25th was Anzac Day— the j date of a jolly little fishing excursion organized for him by his friends at Mata. v ßeastly awkward* of course, but evidently quite unavoidable. . The letter went on to say how Fqrster had obtained an expert's opin-. ■lon on the car— just to satisfy himself before paying for it, don't you know— and this gentleman had declared it to be worth only £75 or £ 80. Accordingly, he begged Miss Syme to reconsider her price and offered £100 m full settlement. The letter concluded with an entreaty for another case of benzine! Jennje refused to consider the offer of- £100 and suggested, a compromise at £135. < There was no reply to this, and, as she was then unable ,to locate him at Mata, the fair damsel's patience became exhausted. I • , : She sent a registered "threat of police proceedings to Box 48,« Morrinsville, which Forster had given as his permanent address. ; This k stung Geoffrey into activity, for two days *later, \Tune 13, she received a wire from him, asking her to suspend proceedings and promising to be m "Whangarei to settle oh the' 24th. A little soft soap m the form of his kindest regards was included m the wire. ■/■'■.. . However, Miss Syme intended to.be m Auckland from the 15th to the 23rd, so she wired accused asking him to meet her there. •.... ' ' ; • . ; Again Geoffrey was conspicuous by his absence; but — like the good correspondent he is— wrote her from Thames with the threadbare/ promise of a cheque, at the end of the week. . ;

Incidentally, he denied .having received any reply to his offer of^£loo

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