MOTHER-IN-LAW HAS A SAY

NZ Truth, Issue 1213, 28 February 1929, Page 19

MOTHER-IN-LAW HAS A SAY

"He Was Anything but The Right Thing In His Own Home" 1 (Prom "N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative). . ' ' ***», ■ ■ ft ■ ■ . . . . ■• • ■ ■ ■ , .'.■•■ Mrs. Margarite Pachaud, of Auckland, according to John Biilcraig, was the typical mother-in-law of the joke columns. But the joke, he thought, was on him or rather would have been, he said, if he had been prepared to put up with her. Bulcraig, who was described by his wife's counsel, Mr. Allan Moody, as a husband who had transgressed against at least one of the Commandments,, told Mr. Cutten, S.M. that his wife would never have taken proceedings against him for separation and maintenance had it not been for the interference of her mother* (I : v

MARIE Bulcraig, the complainant, alleged that her husband drank a great deal, and that he had generally done a number of things a good husband should not do. Once when they were living m New Plymouth, she left him and went to Auckland. From . what she had to say, Mrs. Bulcraig forgave her husband and shielded him until she could do so no longer.. . She then took proceedings against him. ' ■■ A small, delicate looking- woman, Mrs. Bulcraig told the court that she had been unhappy practically from the day of her marriage, nearly nine years ago. In 1923 her husband had become - "tangled ' up with some woman," and she had forgiven him. He had been prohibited from obtaining liquor. She had left him on previous occasions, but the trouble, she said, came to a head m December last, when he took to staying away from home "until all hours." Once he had not come home at all, and she decided to leave him for good. When she went to Auckland, he sent her no money. During their married life '. he had repeatedly promised to mend his ways, but had not done so. "Was I an inebriate?" asked Bulcraig when he was told he could question his wife. "Yes, you were on many occasions," was the reply. To a further question she said her husband \ need not necessarily have had a bad name m the . district, because she had shielded him. The people m the neighborhood did not know of his drinking habits. When asked how Bulcraig had behaved m the home during the time she had lived ' there, his mother-in-law, Mrs. Pachaud, replied that it had

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been "anything but the right thing." "He would come home drunk, and the way he used to treat his wife was shocking. Once he stayed out all night. He stayed out late every night I was there," she said. "It wasn't because you were there" that he stayed away, I trust?" asked Mr. Moody with a smile. "Oh, no! But he has never treated me as he should," was the mother-in-law's reply. ■ "Didn't you and your sister come between my wife and I?" asked Bulcraig, and the old lady's reply was a decided negative. "No. I think I have helped you more than your own people have. I never interfered when you were drinking," was her answer. A woman who said she had known the husband' and wife for . about ten years, stated that Bulcraig was addicted to drink. His. wife suffered

Brewing For Years

with bad nerves, and he neglected her. "On what occasion did I neglect my wife?" asked the husband. "You used to go out a lot and leave her." •■•■■. Bulcraig, a thick-set man of medium height, entered the box to vow that he had "always led a decent life," and his statement brought a loud gasp from nis mother-in-law, who sat m: the body of the court. "I do have a spot./but I am none the worse for it," he . told the magistrate. "This trouble has been brewing for years, owing to interference by my mother-in-law, and the wife's sister. "The Sunday before Christmas , Day the wife told me that her. mother was going, and I said I Was pleased, little knowing that when I returned from work the wife would /be gone as well.". He said that he and his wife shared a house with another family, and he could produce a letter from the owner of the house, claiming 1 that, as far a? he knew,'. 'Bulcraig was a sober man. '•■ ■' - ; .'. ; v- ./■■.'.. ■' '■ "My wife has ;had ' a 'lot 'of sickness,

and suffers from delusions. All I can say is that I came up here and asked the wife to return, but the family has stepped m between us," added the husband. ■" ■■ As a reason for being out late at night, he stated that he had been m the habit of catching crayfish, and he had always obtained his wife's consent before he left the house. / Mr. Moody: Why didn't you send your wife some money? — I didn't have any. Counsel: How many drinks would you 'have? — Two or three, or four or five? Bulcraig admitted that he might have four or five drinks "if there was a celebration on." Counsel: What did you celebrate about? ; The husband was ti-ying to explain with a vague statement of: "Oh, you know," when counsel cut him , short. "I -don't know. Your reasons for celebrations may be quite different from mine," said counsel, and it was left at that. When the wife was put back m the box she stated that it was possible that anyone living m an apartment house with her and her .husband might not know of his drinking habits^ "The owner of the flat did not know everything, for I used to shield him," she said, and added that the whole trouble m their married life was caused by her husband's drinking. Counsel: He looks like a man who would not refuse a drink under any circumstances. Defendant: Thank you. ■Mr. -Cutten, S.M. was of the opinion that the evidence produced did not support the allegation that Bu^craig was ' an habitual inebriate. "That is- the real ground for the application, and the wife cannot magnify it. The application will be refused," said His Worship. MORTGAGES BOUGHT Will buy or lend on Mortgages, Bonds, Shares, Fixed Deposit Receipts, Securities any kind. Apply agents fpr purchaser. National Investment Co., Ltd,, Huddart Parker Building, Wellington.*