Before the 1857 Matrimonial Causes Act allowed divorce on the grounds of awfulness, a couple had to spend the equivalent of $15,000 to get the government and church to let them break up. Working-class couples who couldn't afford it, but also could not listen to their spouse prattle on about Dickens or whatever for another second longer auction off an unwanted wife to the highest bidder. The "item" was probably just as eager to get away from her "owner" as he was to be rid of her. One man was reported to describe his wife to the crowd as "a born serpent" who he "took for [his] comfort" but "became [his] tormentor; a domestic curse, a night invasion, and daily devil." He then announced, "Gentlemen, I speak truth from my heart when I say - May God deliver us from troublesome wives and frolicsome women." He did concede that she could, "Read novels and milk cows ... laugh and weep with the same ease that you could take a glass of ale when thirsty ... make butter and scold the maid ... [and] make rum, gin, or whiskey," although probably just because he realised he might have been underselling her. Honestly, that was probably as amicable as it got in the 19th-century divorce court. (Via cracked.com)
Second last word
A reader writes: "In response to the photo of the Audi R8 with the number plate OTAX.The Audi belongs to my accountant. Interestingly his business partner has a Porsche with the plate NIL TAX. They pay enough tax to repair the harbour bridge."
Last word
"Stuck in bridge-induced gridlock in Freemans Bay, and having not moved for five minutes, I looked around the tree-lined street for inspiration. And there it was - a placard with Jacinda smiling back at me saying 'Let's keep moving'!"
