ON THE EVE OF MARRIAGE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 28 August 1907, Page 4

ON THE EVE OF MARRIAGE.

STORY OF AN ELEVENTH - HOUR QUARREL BETWEEN LOVERS.

A verdict of C2j for the plaintiff and of £l2 3s Od fur the defendant with regard to Ms counterclaim was the result of the breach oT promise action which Miss Julia Sarah Boatman, daughter of a Totu-nluin blacksmith, brought against Mr. Alfred Robert Gleed, a coppersmith, of Stratford.

Mr. Gleed's counterclaim was for money which he had deposited with Miss [Boatman in anticipation of their marriage. The banns were published, the wedding guests invited, but, almost at the eleventh hour, a lovers' quarrel brought the engagement to an end. The defendant was not represented by counsel, and his case was that he asked the lady to wait for two months, until he was in full work, that she refused, and that, in consequence, the engagement was rescinded.

At the hearing in the King's Bench before Mr. Justice Pick ford and a jury, Mrs. Chapman, a relative of the plaintiff, described a long conversation she had with the defendant, in the course of which she asked why he had broken off the marriage. His answer was, "I have reasons." "What are they?" he was asked; and ho replied, "Well, one thing, I haven't seen Julia laugh for a week."

If Julia had ever refrained from laughter for a week, she laughed heartily enough at the statement, and even Mr. justice Pickford relaxed slightly from his judicial severity. The only witnesses called by the defendant were his father and mother, but they did not add materially to the facts previously laid before the Court. In addition to the verdict already recorded, Miss Boatman was ordered to return two vases claimed by Mr. Gleed.