SPORTING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3104, 15 January 1889, Page 2

SPORTING.

.;:..'.' v ,i WELLiNoiON,Tuesday. little Scrub and. British Lion were sratohed this morning for all engagements at the summer meeting of the Jockey Club*,',;';:. ['.,'■; ''Eoooh M ßats." ■,' • ',, Clearsroutrats,' mice|; roaches, flies, atits, bes-buga", beetles, insects,' nkuukr, 3aok.rabbit3,' ? sparrows,':; gophers, -: M ?h«W!iita and druggists;.' ,''-'';"■:,

THE (JREATvBREACHOF

';: On November 29th Baron Huddiji Blono,; and, the. special .jury ■ Qneen!s Blncli'Divisionbrought sensational • termination;: the hiring;/ of tils afislvocratio breschiof promise'.?'. Waipole r in v/hioh wor'6': lftid,at;£iO,OOO.v::Tlie plaintiff, ; Misa;!? Valerie.'Wiedemann, is a Geniiariliy'v birth, aild the'daughter of a Silesian'| pa^pr.;: She. is built, lady,.;aged^bom^liVeeor'four-.•' and thirty,; although the trouble and;: bitterness of the last six- years' of her: : life .have;doubtiess unduly'aged her v. appearance.-; She -is decidedly foreign ■ in her looks, sharp-featured, and darkhaired; She could hardly bo said to f be abeautiful, woman,butboreindis- ; '. : putable traces:of having been dis: tiuguished. looking ana" attractive in. ; ' happier days. :Her manner 'was; engagnig, but;, her/conversational powers .werenmrred by theveryjmj..: perfect grasp she has of the language She to dressed in broWr satiuwith a tulle-draped toque hat to: correspond,- her style being distinctly. \ suggestive of the Eastern. life whiohi brought her the tri.troductionHo the defendant'. . She fidgetted nervously with_ her black,kid gloves -while she gave" evidence, and pulled at a long brown ribbon, which, in her agitation she had probably .torn, from her costumo. The defendant,is tlie Hon'; Robert Horace .Walpole,'heir pre' siimptivo, to the Earl of Oxford, a .;' nobleman" .75.-years'of age,.,whose '• surviving' issue Consists of-ail only daughter married to a Spanish r grandee, Robert Horace isanephewVof the present earl. "He is 84 years of age, has been in the navy,'and: a' captain of militia, and is reputed to be extremely well off. notwithstand- ' log his : mother's anxiety that hj should marry a'rich girl. HeisJt course, a descendant of the famous '" Sir Eobert Walpole, and the even more lamous Horace, the-statesman and the letter writer of the last century.

It appears that in 1882 the Hon Robert Horace Walpole was. engaged' in some service in Bulgaria, and at , the end of September he found him- 'i self at the Hotel de l'Angleterre, ' Constantinople, where Miss Wiede- " maun was staying. He fell violently in love with her, according to her story, aud seduced her. under eiroumstances which the judge said wouldconstitute a rape if true as detailed ■ .by the weeping plaintiff. It was then that the alleged promise of marriage was made; Shortly after, however, the defendant gave the plaintiff the Blip by putting her oh a vessel for • Cannes, andfailing to turn up himself "•' in time to catch the boat, Then it was alleged lie sent after her a private iuquiry agent under the assumed name of Captain Darsington.who led ''' her a lively.dance over the Continent'' to keep her out of the way of lover, and it was insinuated in examination that he importuned tie- ■ plaintiff and attempted ■to tlo her wrong. This, however, ho einpliati-•-' cally deuied, pointing out that it was: •: impossible in such a big hotel as the ". Parishotel in theJYencb capital. .;-■ So : the ■. matter stood when Misß' Wiedemann .entered the box ion November2othto submit tefurther;: cross-exaxriiuatiou: by the SolioitorGenoral (Sir. Edward Clarke,) Poet' cards were now produced which the plaintiff admitted sending. The. , judge read one as a specimen: ."you ' know that I ourso you from'the ■ bottom of my heart, and I shall do so to all eternity for the endless suffering you l,havo brought to me, and also you runaway, whenever I come. I shall meet you once, and you shall hear my curse. Evory minute of nry_ life I curse you with , the most frantic curses ever being has pronounced, and it wiM leave you no rest, horrible woman. Sir. E. Clarke wanted to know, if she did not know that Mr Walpole was recently; married when she sent those postcards, and in lier broken • words, with' a laugh which was pain My.like the opposite emotion, she answered, " I do not consider him married at all; it is no question to put to mo." ,■'. '

3 .■ The plaintiffs volubility and i inability to understand tho procedure i of the counsel, caused some irritation ) to manifest itself early in the . demeanor of the judge, whom she ; interrupted over and over again, ; drowning by_ her excited declamation i his more quiet and graver tones. At i length her counsel, Mr Cock, came r to the assistance of the Court with an 5 order that she must answer the questions, whereupon tho judge sat very heavily on tlieQ.C. "I am ruling this Court," he said, " bo donjL interfere." . Mr Cook thereupon sided, and the judge was left to ! manage tho lady how he could, She flatly defied his lordship's ruling, • refusing hotly to have put to her I what she called the "insulting ques- [ tions" of the Solicitor-Goneral. "Do yourself justice and answer the questions," said the judge, and,' after many minutes of porsißtont catechism, the plaintiff answered a question ivbich had been put.to her, but she'characterised it as ridiculous; 1 This aroused the anger of the judge, 1 who warned the plaintiff that if anything of the sort occurred %ain he should seudher out of tho box into, custody, ' "I suppose I mußt go then," said the plaintiff, desperately,' "I pray you,", said the judge, gravely, "dp not put mo to the digagreeablo necessity of exercising my authority"-.. »I ivill- not Lave it mentioned anything aboutthe child,"' persiated the witness, angrily; and ' so saying, she turned her back on, the judge, lifted up ■ the seat of the ' ■: witness-box, and prepared to leave*! the stand. ' ■ ™ "If you go out of court, you will, be nonsuited," said the judge warningly.'" Well, well, I can't help it," was all • the answer the plaintiff vouchsafed;'" Now.llr Cock,".said the Judge, with the idea of handing " the:puzzling foreigner over to.tho mercies of her "own counsol to see what ho could do with liar; But tins Q.C., smarting under the rebuff given ■• to him a few_ minutes previously, did not fall in' with the suggestion of bis lordship. After what Lis' lordship said when he.attempted to.assist tho court,.he didnotjoare;to ! try again. ; i The awkward' pause which'' followed ' this rather bold independence of the learned counsel, jwas brpkenjby the plaintiffs indignant deofamation, " No human being has a right to put such a question! after Six years h aye • elapsed, and no gentleman would put them," she shouted to Sir Edward Clarlte; if\ joii '■ refuse" \to answer;;¥.'" then/^said.-'theijfudge. said thejloiutitt; with'a starnp of lifer I foot, i at; the.same time giving- addß ■ tibial emphasis: tolierresolutionby the rajttjf Jihejivithess 'box; '3s #M:*'- :■■. "j What;'coufse?-^yb^-mtend#;S-adopt, Mr Cook'?'' asked the iudgiC • evidently w $ Bp¥to :.;; deal, .with. ■•■•■. the -dilemma - whioh l»m.; JlrcCppk, aofryetrS

mollified, did hot givo his lordship . much assistance." '.'Your lordship oan take whatever coarse you ithink I proper," ho said, "1 decline to answer any questions rolating.to tbo ohild," again asserted the plaintiff. " I oonsider those quostions proper," ■' said the judge," and I call upon you to answer them, Don't oblige me to'take the course I must otherwise take." The witness gave no indication of having heard his lordship, who continued, " ¥ou may go and your counsel, but if you refuse to answer the quostions I shall hold it to be contempt oi court —" "It is not contempt of court," interrupted the plaintiff—"and I am bound to deal with it accordingly," continued the judge, not noticing tho interruption, Here the fair, but irascible, plaintift was, after some persuasion, induced to go and speak with her counsel, Mr Cook, He consulted with her for a few minutes, gesticulating in a manner which plainly t indicated the emphatic way in which p ho was putting his views, before hor, The attempt, however, was fruitless. "I have given my advice," announced the learned counsel, " but rathor than answer the questions relating to this mattor she would retiro from the case. I cannot proceed further if your Lordship insists on these questions being answered." Certainly his lordship insisted, and Mr Cook assented, as if he could not have expected any other course. "The questions have nothing to do with the case, and I complain ol breach of promise of marriage," bore put in the plaintiff from her place in the Queen's counsels' seat. Without more ado the judge directed tho jury to find a verdict for the defendant, and the jury immediately obeyed, Sir Edward Clarke had a word or •; two to say before tho case was entirely Undismissed from the judge's mind, and that waß that he was extromely anxious that tho case should have been tried out completely. He had . both Mr and Mrs Walpolo in Court to give evidence. The judge ordered all the letters and photographs in the case to be impounded, presumably in view of some further proceedings, and then left tho Court to cool down bofore going on with tho next case on the list,