Farmer Henryer Meant Well, but He Didn't Deserve a Good Wife

1895

Old Ripley Henryer is a well to do farmer with skinflint tendencies whose life has been passed without an emotion except what may have been engendered in getting money together and holding fast to it.

When his father died a quarter of a century ago, his mother concluded she could not get along without him, so she quickly followed the same way, and Ripley, coming into possession of the homestead, felt the necessity for a good cook and washerwoman. Then he prevailed upon Hetty Mercer, an affectionate and pretty girl of the neighborhood, to assume those duties, first making her his wife.

It is possible he said nothing to her of the obligations attendant upon the wifely relations, but that made no difference as to results. Ripley was strong as an ox, and, a hard worker himself, he had no use for lazy people and no excuses for those who were weaker than himself.

As time passed little Henryers, one, two, three, five in all, came into the family fold, each one adding to the wife's cares, and meantime Ripley added to his acres.

The number of hired men increased, but in all the years it never occurred to him that the mother of his children might need help in her department. Hired girls were "scarce and awful high," as he put it when one of the neighbors reminded him of his remissness.

Hetty bore her yoke in silence and might have been contented even but for the man's utter lack of sentiment or affection. She had never felt the gentle pressure of his hand in soft caress, and he had never kissed her in his life. She grew old fast, faded and drooped, and finally even the stolid, sordid husband saw the necessity of calling in a doctor.

When the latter was leaving the house, he called Ripley aside and said:

"Suppose you show your wife a little kindness. I think a bit of affection will do her more good than medicine. She's in a bad way and may die."

The selfish fellow was frightened at the prospect of losing his cook and faithful housekeeper, and after some deliberation he entered her bedchamber and awkwardly approached her side, then stooped over and kissed her pale, cold brow.

The poor woman, who for 25 years had been dying for sympathy and love, was so startled at this exhibition of feeling on the part of her husband that tears of thankfulness gathered in her eyes and then rolled down her cheeks.

The lubberly fellow started back at sight of this evidence of weakness and blurted out:

"Gosh! Hetty, you needn't mind it. I didn't mean nothing by it. Doc, he said it mebbe'd make you feel better."

Then the tears dried quickly enough, and the woman turned her pallid face toward the wall.

When Ripley came back an hour later, all the kisses in the world could not have brought moisture to her eyes. The office of cook and laundress was vacant in his house. — Chicago Tribune.

Kills Wife, Shoots Self

1916

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — In a fit of jealous rage Ben Cowley shot and killed his wife, a widely known beauty, and then attempted to kill himself. He is in a hospital with a bullet wound in his head, and is not expected to live.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 3.

How Accidents Become Habits

1901

As to our mannerisms, says a writer in the Baltimore Sun, at first they are accidents, and afterward they become habits. It is singular how easy it is to convince a credulous public that a misfortune is a gift, just as an eccentricity is a mark of genius.

Your correspondent knows a lady who was asked in marriage by several gentlemen (for where one pastures others will follow), although she was neither beautiful nor clever nor rich but because she was affected with a trembling of the lids. In her inmost heart she who addresses you believes the trembling began with nervousness, but it was universal, and after a little what was curious began to be regarded as fascinating.

At any rate I know a well established, portly lady, married to a man who secured her, not without difficulty, whose only sorrow is the necessity of keeping up the girlish habit which procured her a spouse. He is not a sentimentalist, but he wants what he paid for. He married her because her eyelids trembled, and not unnaturally he wishes to be possessed of the same treasure.

Duties of Brides Taught In College

1920

CLASS NOW LEARNING "HOW TO STAY MARRIED."

Engaged Girls Strive Hard for Immunity Against Grouchy Mates and Alluring Vamps.

DENTON, Texas, Jan. 1. — A school, unique in its purpose and unprecedented in the Southwest, is being conducted under the auspices of the College of Industrial Arts, a school for women here. "How to stay married" is what it teaches, and eighteen young ladies, from various towns in Texas, whose engagements have been announced, are the pupils.

For the purpose of giving these and other young ladies who expect to make homes for some good men, proper instructions in the art of housekeeping and home making, two cottages have been rented by the college. The members of the "How to Stay Married" class are actually keeping house in these cottages, and under the tutorage of a very successful married woman, are wrestling with the various problems which confront the housewife from the altar to the grave.

Right Down to Brass Tacks.

Those young ladies are making up the beds, mopping the floors, preparing sample meals for the prospective husbands, sweeping, ironing, dusting, arranging pictures on the walls, setting the table, washing dishes, polishing stoves and brushing the ceilings. Also they are preparing for receptions, entertaining guests, giving dinners, presiding at social functions and doing a little of any and everything which may fall their lot in after life.

But the mere drudgery of housework does not compose the entire course of "How to Stay Married." There are courses in the business of housekeeping. The students keep accurate sets of books showing imaginary expenses their "house" involves. They do the buying of groceries, complain about the prices, battle for reduction and full weight. They wrangle with the ice man and argue with the butcher. They skimp here and there and deposit their "earned" savings in the bank. They make old gowns over, Johnny's pants from father's old ones, convert worn out dresses into aprons for the girls or themselves and even make dishrags from old flour sacks.

Find Delight In Their Work.

They have their meals for "husband and the family" on the dot and they are all prim when the time for "hubby" to come home from work or the office arrives. It's a strenuous life, but the students declare they like it and are learning things which will be useful to them.

The matron in charge of the class and the president of the college have told the girls "that if they complete the course arranged for them and carry out the practices inculcated therein they will have husbands when they have grandchildren." The teacher said "girls who complete and follow this course of instruction need never fear any vamps, late nights, grouches or divorces."

The college expects to increase its activities along these lines during the next term of school. It is said already a number of young ladies have applied for the course next year. Those who graduate are given special diplomas.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 8.

Girl Wife Roughly Seized and Carried Off By Force

1919

Sensational Cave Man Tactics Charged Against Young Husband — Brother of Alleged Kidnaper Said to Have Rendered Strong-arm Assistance in Strange Affair

CRESTON, Iowa — The sensational kidnaping of a young wife who was stolen from under the very eyes of a watchful brother-in-law, who, worn by his vigil, nodded and then slept, is alleged to have taken place in the southeast part of this county, and resulted in a hurry call for Sheriff E. C. Young, who early in the evening arrived at the scene of the excitement and placed under arrest the parties to the affair.

Clifford Bullock is charged with kidnaping his 16-year-old wife, from whom he had been separated, and carrying her to the home of his sisters, where they were found by the sheriff and brought to Creston.

The brother-in-law of the girl-wife, named McGuire, told the sheriff that while Mrs. Bullock was staying with her sister, Mrs. McGuire, Clifford Bullock and his brother arrived at the house in a bobsled. They asked Mrs. Bullock to go with them to a rehearsal for a play by amateur talent. She refused to go and the Bullocks retired, but it appears did not go very far.

McGuire, scenting trouble, decided to stick around and watch, but sleep overcame him, and he says that the first he recalls was hearing screams of the girl, who was calling upon him to come to her help. He rushed to her rescue and found her in the hands of her husband and his brother, who were forcibly taking her from the house, which they did despite her screams and kicks and struggles.

McGuire says that when he attempted to interfere he was shot at.

The Bullocks drove off, and McGuire says he could still hear his wife's sister screaming far up the road. Evidences of the struggle in the bobsled, he says, were also found, as several comforts and blankets which had been thrown from the sled were picked up.

Sheriff Young says that when found the young wife of Bullock declared she would never live with her husband, but still was reluctant about being the cause of his getting into trouble.

It has not been determined what disposition will be made of the case.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 7.

Note: The article says "comforts."

He Gets No Pie or Custard

1919

Such Is Hubby's Plea in Cross-bill for Divorce.

FINDLAY, Ohio — It was all right for the wife of Larson L. Brown to take hubby's pay envelope every Saturday and out of the contents pay a premium on the life insurance of her former husband, but when Mrs. Brown fed Larson side meat and boiled potatoes about 365 meals each year then he balked. This was learned when Brown's cross petition to his wife's petition for a divorce was filed. Brown intimated that a little pie and cup custard would have appeased things.

Gypsy Sells Docile Husband To Woman For $5,000 In Gold

1920

Wife Says She's Selling Mate at a Bargain as She Had Paid Same Sum for Him Herself — Declares It Is Tribal Custom and Perfectly Proper

DES MOINES, Iowa, Jan. 1. — Peter Guy, gypsy, formerly the husband of Mary Guy, another of the wandering tribe of Romany, is now the property of another woman.

Peter was sold by his wife for $5,000 in gold, in addition to the property the two had collected in their wanderings.

The bill of sale was drawn up in the office of a local attorney, and at the same time an agreement on the division of property was also made a matter of record.

The three parties to the eternal triangle appeared in the lawyer's office and stated their wants. After he had recovered from the shock, the attorney asked for explanations.

"Oh, not necessary," Mrs. Guy said. "This woman, she want to buy my husband. She have enough money, I don't want him any more, so I sell him."

Says It Is Tribal Custom

She went on to explain that it was the tribal custom, and all of them seemed to think that the proceedings were perfectly legal. The wife asked if her husband could now marry the woman who had bought him.

When told by the attorney that he would have to obtain a divorce, she merely smiled and nodded.

The sale was not the first one in which Guy had figured as human chattel, his former owner told the lawyer.

"Oh, I paid $5,000 for him myself, and I am selling him cheap," she is said to have remarked.

Besides deeding his property to the party of the first part of the sale, Guy gave her the custody of their three children, naming as the only condition that they shall not be taken out of the United States.

Are Dressed in Splendor

All three of the parties to the out-of-the-ordinary sale were dressed in barbaric splendor, with Mrs. Guy the most ornate, the attorney says.

Besides the usual trappings of her tribe, which included a vivid pink headdress, the wife wore a string of gold coins as a necklace which must have been worth at least $500, according to the attorney. In addition, an Austrian kronen hung at the end of each of her tightly-woven braids.

The gypsies live "all over the United States," they told their legal adviser.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 3.

Hit by Five Bullets; Hurt? Certainly Not

1915

Leaden Pellets From Revolver Strike His Breast, but Leave Only Slight Bruises

ATLANTA, Ga., Dec. 16. — A. W. Villard, 33 years old, signal operator of engine house No. 1, is apparently bulletproof. This was most convincingly demonstrated when S. W. Bacon, Jr., 36 years old, want ad manager of an Atlanta paper, fired five .32-caliber bullets "into" Villard from a revolver held a few inches from his body.

The shooting occurred in the Empire Life building, where Villard said he found Bacon in an office with Mrs. Villard, his wife, from whom the fireman has been separated for some time.

When Bacon started shooting at Villard, the latter was very close to the gun. Bacon fired at Villard's chest; the latter, said Bacon, instead of dropping to the floor, cursed him; Bacon fired again, and, he said, Villard cursed him again. This performance was repeated five times.

Then Bacon stood with the smoking, empty revolver in his hand, while Villard, somewhat dazed and confused from loud noise of the gun and the thumping shock of the five leaden pellets striking against his chest, reached down and picked up two of the bullets which hit him.

Later Villard picked out the other three bullets from against his skin, where they lodged harmlessly, leaving nothing more serious than blue bruises.

The police could not assign any reason for the bullets not taking fatal effect upon Villard, except that at the time Villard was wearing a heavy coat and overcoat.

Mrs. Villard, her husband declared, formerly worked for Bacon as a stenographer, and for about a year had been "going with" Bacon. For a long time Villard and wife have been living apart. He said he began to suspect recently that she was still going with Bacon. So, on the afternoon of the shooting he followed Bacon to the Empire Life building, and then up into the building and to an office of a friend of Bacon's, where the shooting occurred.

Display of Dead Wife's Ashes Angers Former Ballplayer

1915

Mike Donlin Demands Revenge in Court

Mike Donlin, who forsook the New York National League baseball club for the stage, asked Magistrate Simms in a New York court to punish Ray E. Frye for alleged desecration of the ashes of Mabel Hite, Donlin's deceased wife, an actress, who died in 1912.

The former baseball star charged that the employees of Campbell's undertaking establishment were guilty of disorderly conduct by utilizing the urn containing the actress' ashes as a "prop" in a "press agent frame-up" staged one night recently at Murray's restaurant in New York.

According to the testimony of Jack Best, coat room boy at the cafe, Frye came in for supper on the night in question, and left the carefully wrapped urn in his care with the admonition that he "Be careful of it because it may explode." Visions of concealed bombs prompted the boy to tell Patrick Kyne, manager of the restaurant, what Frye had told him. The urn containing the ashes was placed in a bucket of water and the police notified. Detective Egan got it and found it harmless and returned it. In the meantime Frye had left the restaurant without Mabel Hite's ashes.

Magistrate Simms dismissed the defendant after hearing the full testimony. Frye said that he was taking the urn to a new repository where it was to be left until Donlin gave orders for its disposal and that he had forgotten it when he left after his supper. He admitted having told the coat boy that it might explode, but said that he had done so to insure better care of it. Donlin and Kyne nearly came to blows in the corridor of the courthouse after the case had been tried.

Texas Bets Money on Slaying Trial

1920

Wagers Pretty Wife Will Be Freed By Jury

Most Beautiful Woman in State Will Soon Face Court for Shooting Husband

EL PASO, Texas, February — Two to one bets are being made in Texas that beautiful Mrs. Ida Ott of El Paso, who shot her husband in Dallas Dec. 23, 1919, will never be convicted.

There are two reasons for the bets and the odds. One is: Mrs. Ott is one of the most beautiful young women in the State. In fact, she is only 22 years old and has been pronounced by art critics as one of the most beautiful women in the country. The other reason is: Mrs. Ott has employed a firm of Dallas attorneys knows as "the sob squad" to defend her. This firm, it is asserted, makes a specialty of defending pretty women and their record of acquittals is almost without equal in the State.

Mrs. Ott shot her husband, Andrew Ott, an automobile salesman, late Tuesday afternoon, on the 23rd day of last December. The shooting took place in the presence of hundreds of Dallas Christmas shoppers. She shot her husband following a heated argument. After he fell, Mrs. Ott, bystanders say, bent over the prostrate form and fired four more bullets into his body. Then she collapsed over her husband's corpse and exclaimed: "Oh, Honey, have I killed you?"

Mrs. Ott's trial was set for last Monday, but no witnesses appeared and the case was indefinitely postponed. The pretty defendant is pleading self-defense, It was after witnesses failed to appear that Texas sports began betting two to one the woman would not be convicted.

The Otts were married in El Paso Feb. 15, 1915, by County Judge Adrian Pool. Mrs. Ott was born in Alhambra, Ill., and her husband was born in Des Moines, Iowa.

Mr. Ott had sued his wife for a divorce in Dallas. In his petition he alleged she had tried to kill him twice before, once in Albuquerque, N. M., and once in San Antonio, Texas. On Oct. 15, 1919, he said he gave her $4,000 on condition that she stay away from him and leave him alone. A court had enjoined Mrs. Ott from molesting her husband, according to Dallas reports.

The question now is, can a jury be obtained that will convict Mrs. Ott?

Would you convict her?

Note: She was found guilty and given a two year sentence. There was an appeal, a second trial, etc. A few details are here and here.

Mrs. McKinley's One Comfort

1902

"Her one comfort is in her daily visit to the tomb of her husband. She seems to be living only in his memory and for the purpose of honoring him."

The words were spoken of Mrs. McKinley by an intimate friend of hers. They tell in a nutshell the daily life of the woman who has not recovered, and never will recover, from the effects of the shock by the assassin's bullets that cost the life of her illustrious husband at Buffalo.

For her convenience at the vault a rocking chair has been placed in the house of the dead, near the McKinley casket. A heavy rug on the floor protects her from the dampness. When she enters the tomb she is always clothed with heavy wraps, so as to prevent any cold from getting hold on her system. The guards of National solders on duty have come to regard her daily visit to the vault as sacred, and they pay to the most profound sympathy and attention. — Philadelphia North American.

Gett Came So Often, Gaigg Just Got Out

Chicago, 1920

Now He's Getting a Divorce While the Getting Is Good

Ludwig Gaigg married Nora Gaigg Dec. 15, 1912.

Last year "Mr. Gett" got between them.

"Forget me, as I shall forget you," wrote Mrs. Gaigg to Mr. Gaigg.

Gaigg took the letter to Judge Sullivan of the Chicago Superior Court and got a divorce.

"We separated Sept. 1, 1919," Gaigg testified. "A man was there whenever I came home."

"Who was he?" asked his attorney, John V. McCormick.

"Mr. Gett," replied Mr. Gaigg. "When I objected, she told me to take my suitcase and get out."

Following is the "forget me" letter that Gaigg said he got from Nora Gaigg, his wife, Nov. 28, 1919:

"Mr. L. Gaigg: You will do me a great favor if you will stay away from me entirely, as I do not wish to see you or have anything to do with you any more. I am thru with you forever and would never think of living with you again. All the love I ever had for you has gone, and I hope you will forget me as I shall forget you."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Feb. 28, 1920, p. 3.

Has "Postal Cardomania"

1909

Cincinnati Man Gives Reason for Slapping Wife; Court Releases Him

Cincinnati — William Schenck of Elwood place offered a novel excuse for slapping his wife when he faced Judge Hoffman in the police court Wednesday. He claimed that he was a victim of "postal cardomania," and charged his wife with sending them. He presented several cards to the court.

On one was written, "All in and down and out;" another showed a handsome young woman with outstretched arms, yawning. Underneath the picture was printed the words, "I do not care if he never comes back." Another had written on it, "Come in, the water is fine."

The wife claimed that Schenck had slapped and then punched her in the face while he was talking with her Sunday night. He was released.


1900

Sounded Like Age Hint

Mary Anderson Navarro attended a bazaar in England the other day in aid of a religious community and was told by the father rector that she was a mother to them. "Our Mary" is, of course, no longer in the full blush of youthful beauty, but this remark rather startled her for a moment. In the course of a short reply she good-humoredly said that the reverend gentleman might at least have called her a sister.

Managing a Husband

1910

Men are like children; they want managing, although you must never let them dream that you think so. No child likes to be ordered about, no man will endure coercion. But managing! It is an art so subtle, so elusive, that few women understand even the rudiments of it.

Sisters mine, let us reason together, says Woman's Life. In every human being there is a spark of the divine; it is yours to fan that spark into a flame — that is managing a man — it is to get the very best out of him there is to have, and not two women in ten can do it. Do not think that there is anything unworthy in managing a man — to bring out the best is a high vocation.

Only let us see to it that we are worthy of it. There are women who have made angels of men, but at the cost of their own divinity. There is room for more than one unselfish person in a family.


His Bad Break

"Will you love me when I am old?" she whispered. "Didn't I tell you that I love you now?" he responded. And she didn't speak to him again for a whole week.


Not Risking a Quarrel

Heiress-Tell me truly, Arthur, is it your love or your reason prompts you to marry me? Arthur—Just as you like, dearest.


To Credit's Discredit

Business will have its periodical reverses so long as a man who couldn't pay cash for a wheelbarrow is able to buy an automobile on credit.

When a Man Marries He Marries Her Family

1915

Is He Supposed to Espouse Entire Family?

"Does a man marry his wife's family?" He claims he doesn't. But a prominent society woman declared not long ago that he does, no matter what he thinks about it, and more recently a prominent college professor made the same statement.

Looking around among one's acquaintances for evidence, it is a pretty general fact that the wife's family is more in evidence than the husband's. One hears more of the wife's kin, and the children seem to be better acquainted with relatives on the maternal side.

When mother's relatives come a-visiting they are made much of and given the run of the house. If any of father's relatives have the temerity to invite themselves for an extended visit there is a chill in the home atmosphere and nobody acts natural — least of all father, who is made to feel that he is imposing upon the good nature of his overworked spouse.

The wife's relatives feel that it is not only their right but their bounden duty to butt in, no matter what the circumstances. And usually the butt-in is accepted meekly and endured more or less amiably by the entire family. Any husband who is a gentleman will do his kicking away from home, or, if he cannot contain himself at the moment, go down and poke the furnace and commune with the cat.

And yet, on the whole, the wife's relatives seldom do the amount of damage that a husband's relatives can do, once they determine to make themselves felt.

When a husband's mother decides that his children are not being brought up right, or that his wife is extravagant or a poor housekeeper, etc., and that her interference is necessary, real trouble starts, not only for the man's wife but even more so for the man himself. His mother-in-law would never dare to attempt what his own mother will do to him.

The wife may have a ne'er-do-well brother who occasionally comes and camps upon her hospitality. But if the husband has such a brother, nine times in ten the brother has married and expects his more prosperous relatives to support a wife and numerous progeny.

As for fathers-in-law on both sides — they don't count appreciably. By the time a man becomes a father-in-law he has been so well-trained into his proper sphere that he wisely refuses to mix in any kind of family affairs that do not concern his finances. Anyway, there is usually a chord of sympathetic understanding between a man and his father-in-law, while every wife knows the wiles that will bind her father-in-law to her for ever and aye. — Philadelphia Bulletin.

No Soda Fountain on U.P. Trains

1911

Recently a story was printed in a number of newspapers to the effect that the Union Pacific would install soda fountains on its passenger trains this summer. Gerrit Fort, Passenger Traffic Manager, has sent out the following slip to all agents denying the story:

"Dear Sir: In response to your inquiry concerning the alleged arrangement to place soda fountains on our trains:

"The story in question is absolutely without foundation, and had its origin in the fertile brain of an Omaha reporter who was short of news on the day in which the story was printed. Yours truly, Gerrit Fort."


Important Things of Life

Holiness is an infinite compassion for others. Greatness is to take the common things of life and walk truly among them. Happiness is a great love and much serving. — Olive Schreiner.


Wifely Devotion

"A man must have so much on his mind," is the belief by which a wife often supports a cheerful face under rough answers and unfeeling words. — George Elliot.


A Cracker Dainty

A friend in the Walton News tells of a visit to Wilkes county, where he was treated to a new dish, "rabbit sausage," which he declared was "simply fine." — Macon Telegraph.

She Shot Him Just for Fun

1911

The Editor Muses

A St. Louis woman, asked why she shot her husband, said she did it "just for fun." And yet they say women have no sense of humor.

The agitation to make the upper berth lower continues; but no matter at what figure they fix the price it will still be high.

A St. Louis man made his wife cut his hair. Barbering, however, will never be included in any domestic science course.

There is a woman wireless operator. The old saw must be amended to read: "What man has done, a woman can and will do."

Fashionable women in the national capital climb the Washington monument to reduce their flesh. Thus does the uplift reach society.

A woman of ninety-one in Massachusetts wants to go up in a balloon. Another example of how people are as young in times as they want to be.

If a girl has a grown up brother she acquires a pretty fair knowledge of men without having to pass through the agonies of matrimony.

Whoso neglects learning in his youth, loses the past and is dead for the future. — Euripides.

$25 Reward for Missing Wife

1911

Editorial Quips

An Illinois husband has offered a reward of $25 for the return of his missing wife. "That's all she is worth," she says. That is love.

The Marquis of Landsdowne's Rembrandt, valued at $500,000, may go into the National gallery and then again it may be brought to America.

A Chicago professor says that lack of money is the bane of wedlock. In the matter of feeling this lack as a bane, wedlock has plenty of company.

Nearly 2,000,000 brook trout fry are ready for planting in Wisconsin's streams. They will probably develop into 2,000,000 fish stories later in the year.

Australians have perfected the milking machine so that it milks a hundred cows in two hours. But the milkmaid will continue to live in poetry.

Flat-wheeled trolley cars and all auto horns are to be regulated in New York.

The center of population, unlike most of the sons of Indiana, remains in that state.

Happy Marriages Through Compromise

1907

Value of the Spirit of Compromise In Wedded Life

If marriage meant the wedding of a saint and an angel there would be no problems to solve, no perfections to attain, no progress to make. This may be why there are no marriages in heaven.

On earth it is different. Husband and wife are strongly human. No matter how lovingly united or how sweet their accord, they never have the same temperaments, tendencies or tastes.

Their needs are different, their manner of looking at things is not identical and in varying ways their individualities assert themselves. At any critical moment if both express at the same time a desire to defer to the other's taste the result is foreordained — happiness. This makes matrimony not merely union, but unison and unity.

The spirit of compromise does not mean a continuous performance in the way of self surrender and self sacrifice; it does not mean ceasing to be a voice and becoming an echo; it does not imply or justify the loss of individuality. It means simply the instinctive recognition of the best way out of a difficulty, the quickest tacking to avoid a collision, the kindly view of tolerance in the presence of weakness and errors of another, the courage to meet an explanation half way, the generosity to be first to apologize for a discord, the largeness of mind that does not fear a sacrifice of dignity in surrendering in the interests of the highest harmony of the two rather than the personal vanity. — Delineator.

Mayor of Racine, Wis., Disclaims Wife's Baby

1920

Attacks Mate's Character in Reply to Her Divorce Action

RACINE, Wis. — William H. Armstrong, mayor of Racine, testified, in answering an action for divorce brought by Mrs. Armstrong, that he is not the father of a child born to her in September of last year.

He asserted he had denied the child from the day of its birth and that when a birth certificate had been sent to him he had crossed his name from it and sent it to Mrs. Armstrong by his 11-year-old daughter, Evelyn.

Denying cruelty charges brought by his wife, the mayor insisted she had never taken care of his home or properly prepared his meals and that the children were frequently ignored during a time when Mrs. Armstrong was out late at night day after day.

He said he had been made ridiculous by his wife's conduct in attending a masquerade party in tights, and that her constant falsehoods had made his home life unbearable.