WOULD PAWN HIS SHIRT

NZ Truth, Issue 1211, 14 February 1929, Page 4

WOULD PAWN HIS SHIRT

Wife's Story of Husband Who Behaved — -Sometimes "TOO MUCH BIBLE STUDY" (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative.) "Are you the man who, with tears streaming down his face, told the magistrate that you had decided to lead a Christian life? s '' William Richard Bryant, clad only m a pair of dungaree trousers, a blue shirt and a pair of shoes, was quite unabashed by Mr. Clark's question. "Yes, that's me," he admitted with a smile.

" A GONY" day m the maintenance Jt\ court had lasted longer than usual, and Mr. Qutten; S.M., had spent many hours m hearing the old wives' tales, which were told with little 'or no variety. But the proceedings were not to ho without a lighter side, for near the end of the long list was the case of Bryant versus Bryant. - The hearing of the matrimonial tangle m the lives of. this, elderly couple introduced some unconscious humor into an otherwise dull day. Christianity seemed to be the peg on which their unhappiness t was hung, for Martha's Bible reading and William's supposed reform figured largely m the case. Martha, a woman with a somewhat vacant stare, and who was said to be not quite normal mentally, told the court .that from the time she had married William he had been drinking a good deal, and, despite a separation order which she had obtained against him m 1927, he persisted m sleeping m her house. He had been convicted several times for trespassing on the property, but he would not leave her, and .she was frightened of him because he had assaulted her. "I took him hack because he said that the ministers had been praying for him, and he was reformed, but six weeks later, he started drinking again,"

I other things just as well, for, according to his wife, he made life so unbearable for her that she ' threatened to wreck the house, and ■ she even went so far on one occasion as to throw some crockery about. "They were only a few cracked cups he got from Jasper Calder, the city missioner," she said m reply to counsel. An elderly woman who had hoarded with the Bryants entered the box to give further testimony regarding William's habits, and she caused further amusement when cross-examined. "Now, I don't want my name m the paper, sir," she told the magistrate, who smiled as he commenced to take her statement. "When was Bryant drunk last?" asked counsel. She then told of a time, quite recently, when William "danced a Highland fling on the front lawn." "If he wasn't drunk then, he was very near it," she added. Bryant was then placed m the box and questioned regarding the alleged assault on his wife. A pillow slip, covered with blood, was produced to substantiate the allegation.. Bryant laughed at- the idea that he had struck her. "She fell down when she went to get a Bible. She wants me to study the Bible all the time and I