DAMAGES IN FULL

Otago Witness, Issue 4031, 16 June 1931, Page 6

DAMAGES IN FULL

A PROMISE OF MARRIAGE ROMANCE ENDS IN COURT. WELLINGTON, June 11. Claiming that she had come to Wellington from Johannesburg at the request of Wolf Rozentai, of Wellington, a draper, and relying on his promise of marriage, Chaia Zak, a milliner, sued Rozentai in the Supreme Court to-day for damages, stating.that he had refused to carry out his part of the contract. She asked for £ll2 special damages, and £75 general damages. Mr Justice MacGregor awarded £175 full damages, with costs on the owest scale. The plaintiff claimed £2O, the cost of her passage from Johannesburg to Wellington, less £5 contributed by the defendant; the cost of a return passage to Johannesburg, £35; the loss of earnings for four months, £5l; accommodation m Wellington. £6; and general damages, £75; —a total of £lB7, and also the costs of the action The defence admitted that the question of marriage had been discussed, but stated that until the plaintiff and the defendant met at Wel'ington their knowledge of each other was limited to the impression each had formed of the other from correspondence and an exchange of photographs. It was further stated that the plaintiff came to Wellington under an arrangement' by which the defendant paid a proportion of her expenses and subject to the condition that if, after a personal interview, they were both of a mind to marry a contract of marriage should take place. The defendant denied that the plaintiff’s passage to New Zealand was made for the purpose of marriage, alleging that she was lodged free of charge at his home at Wellington and with her friends until she procured employment at wages equal to her earnings m Johannesburg, and that she had since become domi-

ciled in Wellington. ] Mr Mazengarb, in opening the plaintiff’s . case, said that the parties were Polish . Jews. The match was arranged by the defendant’s mother. The romance commenced in 1929 when Rozentai, who had • ■established himself in business at New , town as a supplier of ladies’ frocks, following the precedent established by his forefathers, Isaac and Rebekah, wrote to his mother, who was still in Poland, to choose him a wife from among his own kindred. The mother had no hesitation in picking out a capable, pretty milliner I named Chaia Zak as being one who could not fail to please her son. The girl was willing, and carried out her intention to emigrate to Johannesburg with the know ' ledge of Mrs Rozentai. The mother spoke of her as her daughter-in-law and secured a photograph upon which the would-be bridegroom could gaze while opening up correspondence with the original. The mother, as matrimonial agent, had told the girl that her son would be contented with the one she chose, but the girl naturally expected to be asked by the man him self. Shortly after her arrival in Johannesburg she received the first of a series of letters which led to the formation of a contract to marry. Rozentai also wrote to the girl’s parents in Poland. The early letters were in Russian, but his subsequent letters and all hers were in Yiddish, that being the language which furnished greater facility of expression in a Polish courtship. The letters bad been interpreted, but the translations did not agree .Although there were inevitable differences. a comparison of the versions showed a definite offer of marriage and a burning desire on the part of the defendant to complete the nuptials immediately upon the girl’s arrival in New Zealand.

• “He tells her, for instance,” counsel proceeded, “ that he has a very nice house and furniture and not a bad business. He instructs her to say on her application for a permit that she is coming to her fiance. He tells her not to buy any clothing, as he has got everything in his shop, and that all she will need is £23 to add to the money he is sending her for her ticket. Furthermore, he wrote to her parents for a loan of 100 dollars, and he joined the Synagogue here, because, I am told, one can be married much cheaper in a synagogue if one is a member.” The plaintiff came to Wellington under the protection of a male friend of Rozentai. She was met on her arrival by Rozentai and his mother, and was taken to his home, and also to inspect the shop at Newtown On the following day he informed her that the marriage would not take place, and that she was to go back to South Africa. His explanation was that he had fallen in love with another girl. The plaintiff was naturally upset, and asked why he had not told her that he had another girl before she had left Johannesburg. Evidence was given on these lines. His Honor, delivering judgment, said that for more than one reason he would have preferred that the case should be tried by a jury. Had the case been heard before a jury there was little doubt as to how the verdict would have gone.

“ I am satisfied,” said his Honor, “ that in the first place the defendant agreed to his mother picking for him a wife in Poland. I am satisfied -that the defendant agreed to marry the girl when she arrived in New Zealand, and I am satisfied that the condition raised by the defendant, that the plaintiff came out on approval, has not been proved. The defendant was not at liberty to play fast . and loose in this way. I do not believe the defendant’s story that he repudiated her because she did not come up to her photograph, as I do not believe that the photograph does the girl justice. There is no doubt that the girl has suffered very serious injury by being treated in this way, and that she also was put to considerable expense in coming to New Zealand from Johannesburg,” His Honor awarded the plaintiff £175, full damages, with costs on the lowest scale, disbursements, witnesses’ expenses, and interpreters’ fees to be fixed by the registrar.

—England ranks fifth in the list so far as first-line strength in the air is concerned. —Glassblowing is a growing occupation for women in England, but it requires special qualities of fine judgment and command of lung pressure.

THE FOOD OF OPOSSUMS TO THE EDITOR.

Sm, —I am not a trapper of opossums, but, as a student of wild life, I have observed them closely, and have collected information as to their habits. Perhaps the following rather disjointed notes may be of assistance to your correspondents. I have myself found these animals tp eat the leaves, young shoots, and berries of fuchsia, mahoe, broadleaf, wineberry, ivytree, hinau, miro, and kohekohe. They appear to be particularly fond of young shoots, browsing on them so continually | as permanently to stunt, if not actually kill young trees in districts where the opossums are common. From the reports of Professor Kirk:—- “ Considerable damage is done to orchards by opossums eating the leaves and young, shoots of apples, lemons, peaches, and all other stone fruits; they bite fruit of all kinds, sometimes leaving it damaged on the trees or causing it to fall, ihey also bite off buds and shoots of roses and other garden shrubs, eat peas the pods are filling, and other vegetables. Tn the bush they eat the leaves and young shoots of wineberry, pate, karaka, mahoe, broadleaf, fuchsia, kohuhu, tarata, miro, nikau. as well as the fruit in some cases. By their weight they break the young shoots, causing them to wither. . .- • On Kapiti Island kohekohe, mahoe. ar.d the passion flower are amopg'the plants that most frequently show the marks ot having been attacked. As far as Kapit: and its welfare as a sanctuary is concerned, the only safe aim is the absolute extinction of the opossum. . . . 1 have found in their stomachs portions ot unfledged birds. . . - They occasionally l °Mr W Smith: " I have found opossums in captivity to be very partial to small birds’ eggs. They feed largely on the leaves of bonbon in the bush and used to come to the shed where horsefeed is kept and help themselves to oats.

A Wellington trapper: “I have seen an opossum catch and eat a bird. 1 nave known a pigeon’s nest to be destroyed by an opossum, and on one occasion 1 tound an egg in the stomach of one I dissected. Mr L. O. H. Tripp, president of the New Zealand acclimatisation societies: “ Opossums should not be released neai orchards and should not be permitted in bird sanctuaries.” . -. West Coast Acclimatisation Society: “ The opossum is destroying some of the larsrer trees. Foreman, Botanic Gardens, Wellington. “ I am much pestered with opossums eating roses and other plants. I cannot be convinced that they do not eat birds, as I find feathers of thrushes and yellowhammers at the entrances to their holes. An Otago trapper: “I have not been trapping this year, but from the look of the trees the opossums must have been plentiful, as the trees are badly barked. I am in favdur of trees, not opossums. Mr E. S. Allen, Waitara: “For many years I bred opossums in a properly constructed house and they would very quickly devour any bird that would get into their quarters. I have seen many a sparrow caught and eaten in very quick time, while birds’ eggs were a great treat.” Mr A. S. Wilkinson in the Emu: I have travelled down gullies in the Tararuas for hours without seeing a healthy tree of mahoe. fuschia. or fivefinger, most of them having all the leaves and young shoots eaten off and hundreds are dead. As fuschia and mahoe are much frequented ,by our native birds, the former by the honey-eaters and the latter by the native pigeon, it can easily be seen how much barm the opossums are doing.” Report on the Ross Creek plantations. Dunedin: “The opossums have badly ringbarked 20-year-old pine trees.” Mr F. Hart, writing to Mr Eustace Russell. Invercargill: “The opossum eats seeds of broadleaf, kamahi, fivefinger. supple jack, fuschia. and wineberry. Fed on turnips, 12 opossums would eat as much as one sheep.” An Auckland orehardist. quoted by Mr G. M. Thomson. M.L.C.: “If you want. to see how opossums and fruit trees thrive together take a run down to Motutapu. Opossums you will see, but it will need a guide to show you where the fruit trees were planted.” . . Enough here. I think, to show that, m New Zealand, the opossum is omnivorous and that, if numerous enough, he may cause considerable harm to both bird and plant life. If there is no restriction on annual trapping and if the price of furs makes it worth while to trap, we have little to fear from their depredations, but close seasons, combined with depressed fur i markets, may allow them to increase to i such an extent as to become a menace, i Overstocking of the bush with opossums will result in serious competition with the I bird life on which the welfare of the ; forests depends. A bird may. have plenty of food for 11 months and die of starya tion in the twelfth.—l am, etc., I Dunedin. June 11. Phalanges.