Eagle is Not a Kidnapper

1914

Infant Found, Protected by Dog; Birds are Acquitted of Stealing Baby

Belvidere, New Jersey — Eagles making their homes in the cliffs of Jenny Jump mountain have been exonerated of blame for the theft of two-year-old Michael Dunal, who was missing for 24 hours. The child was found in the woods half a mile from his home. He was unconscious, and his hands and feet were partly frozen.

Young Michael's parents were working in the field and left him on the porch of their farmhouse. When they got home at noon the child and the family Newfoundland dog were gone. Searchers hunted all night, some of them even visiting the eyries of eagles on the mountain, suspecting that one of the birds might have stolen the baby.

A party from Danville came on the child. The Newfoundland dog was standing by and would let no one approach. Mr. and Mrs. Dunal had to be called before the dog would give up its threatening defense of the baby. It is believed the child will recover.

Comment: The Dunals might have a problem today with leaving a two-year-old on the porch and going away to work in the field until noon.


Marriage of Daughter Declared Legal

Denver — The marriage of eleven-year-old Martha Elizabeth Wilkins to Harvey M. Pugh, a boy of fourteen, was declared legal by Judge H. P. Burke. Annulment proceedings had been brought by the boy's father.

"Goodbye" to Doctor Costs Polly a Leg

1920

Door Nips It Off and Now Bird Must Wear a Peg

JEFFERSONVILLE, N.Y. — Dr. Cyril Mydole of this village has a parrot. The doctor bought the bird when she was a year old and gave her the real parrot name, Polly. Polly displayed much intelligence from the day he purchased her and in a few months developed startling vocabulary "cuss" words. Today the parrot is using her profanity freely and the doctor says she is justified.

Polly has been allowed the freedom of the physician's office. She would follow the doctor to his office door and bid him goodbye. On a recent afternoon the doctor started to leave his office. Just as he closed the door he heard a scream. He looked around and found Polly's leg had been caught in the door. Upon examination he found that the leg was so badly mangled that he amputated it at the second joint.

Polly is now forced to stand on her right leg. She says it is "damn hard luck," and hurls invectives at the doctor. As soon as Polly's injured leg heals the doctor will provide her with a peg leg.


Washboard Salary Halts Honeymoon

ST. LOUIS, Missouri — "On his salary she would have to use the washboard for a piano," said George W. Windmuller, in discussing the suit filed in the Circuit Court by his daughter, Mrs. Georgia Chembra, 16 years old, to annul her marriage to Albert L. Chembra.

She was married to Chembra by a justice of the peace in Clayton Jan. 28 last. He is 20 years old. After the ceremony she returned to her father's home, and he to that of his mother. When the girl's father learned of the marriage through the newspapers he refused to allow Chembra to see his bride.

Mrs. Chembra in her suit says her husband misrepresented his financial condition and his earning capacity.

Woman Traps "Spirit" Hand

1920

Boy "Dip's" Exploit in Movie Show Lands Him in Jail

CHICAGO — While watching a film drama entitled "The Spirit Hand" in a Chicago movie house, Mrs. Samuel Marks felt a phantom mitt steal gently into her purse on her lap. Though aware that the spooks are hard to catch, Mrs. Marks grabbed the hand. The owner, a 17-year-old youth, broke her clutch and danced over many bunions in dashing from the theater. He was finally cornered in a restaurant, where he declared "the picture had made his hand absent-minded."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Feb. 28, 1920, p. 8.


Eight Is Too Many Wives

Last Bride of Ex-Soldier Has Her Marriage Annulled

WORCESTER, Mass. — Mary W. Cooper of Worcester told Judge Lawton in Superior Court that when she married James W. Treat, an ex-soldier in the Army, she never dreamed he was such a much-married man. She learned, she said, after she went through the ceremony, that Treat has gone through a similar ceremony with seven other women, and that he had not taken the trouble to divorce any of them. She asked that her marriage be nullified, and Judge Lawton granted her petition.

40 Year-Old Wife Of Boy Husband Will Fight Divorce

1914

Des Moines, Iowa, Jan. 14. — Mrs. Maude Kinney-Patrick-Bates, through attorneys has signified her intention of contesting the application of Charles Bates, her 16-year-old husband, to have the marriage to his 40-year-old wife set aside.

The case was to have been heard yesterday by Judge Hugh Brennan of the district court. Until yesterday Mrs. Patrick has remained silent and it was presumed young Bates would secure the annulment by default.

Attorneys C. C. Dowell and John McLennan have entered their appearances in the case and Bates was denied the chance to secure the annulment without a fight.

The case attracted considerable attention some time ago when Bates alleged he had been lured into marrying a woman twice his age through continued protestations of love on her part. They went to Chicago and were married under assumed names; he as Charles Buford and she as Frances Kinney. Since their return to Des Moines they have not lived together.

With the entrance of the two attorneys into the case it is probable Mrs. Patrick will file her answer to the charges made by her boy husband in a short time.

Is Bride Only 11 Years Old? Dentists Helping Find Out

Nebraska, 1921

TO EXAMINE BRIDE'S TEETH

Believe That Maria Gollardo Is Eleven Years Old, But Facts Are Lacking

HASTINGS, Neb., Dec. 3. — Examination of the teeth of Maria Gollardo by Hastings' dentists will be resorted to in an effort to determine her age. Maria, a Mexican girl, was married to Jose Gonzales on November 21 and because the school authorities are convinced she is only eleven years old, the county attorney has been trying to establish the girl bride's age with a view to beginning action to annul the marriage.

Miss Clara Altman, teacher of Spanish at Hastings college, has been drafted as interpreter in the investigations but nothing definite of the girl's age has been learned. She is the foster child of Butamio Gollardo and all they can say is that when they got her in Oklahoma four years ago, Maria was losing her first canines.

Meanwhile Maria and Jose are seemingly happy and can't understand what the officials are wrought up about.

—The Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln, Dec. 4, 1921, p. 8-B.

Mars First Aid to Cupid; Parents Split Them...For A Time

Ohio, 1917

Mars First Aid to Cupid

Couple Parted by Parents Are Reunited in Marriage When Man Becomes Officer.

Gates Mills, OH. — The whole world loves a fighter — not a lover. That's the way the adage goes now. Second Lieut. Charles S. Bailey of the Ohio Field artillery and Addie Schmunk, eighteen, daughter of Robert J. Schmunk, motorcar magnate, have found it out.

Two years ago the young folks, very much in love with each other, defied stern parents and were married in the office of a justice of the peace. The parents, however, were not to be outdone. They had the marriage annulled and broke a couple of hearts for the time being.

But since that time Bailey has been graduated from Ohio university and has been made an officer in the artillery and he's going away to France, and that changes things. They have been married again. The first affair was rather lonely and only two witnesses besides the contracting parties were present. The second event was one of the social events of the season in this little city.

—New Oxford Item, New Oxford, PA, Aug. 23, 1917.


The Bride and the Cynic

"Yes," said the bride of a week. "Jack tells me everything he knows, and I tell him everything I know."
"Indeed!" rejoined her ex-rival, who had been left at the post. "The silence when you are together must be oppressive."

Was This Girl Married Without Knowing It?

1920

SAYS SHE THOUGHT HER CHUM WAS THE BRIDE

Court Is Puzzled By Strange Story Told in Connection With Annulment Suit

BOSTON, Mass. -- Gladys M. Browne seeks an annulment of her marriage to Grady M. Raper on the ground that she did not know she was being merely a witness to the marriage of another couple. She told Judge Thayer that after she left the office of the officiating officer in Lynn she learned she had been through a marriage ceremony, but she had nothing more to do with Raper.

She was 16 years old then. The ceremony was performed in December, 1917. Just after the ceremony, Raper left for France with the American forces. Judge Thayer said he was not sure that this 16-year-old girl went through a marriage ceremony without knowing what it meant, and in reply to the argument of counsel that minority was no ground of annulment.

The judged asked if the official who performed the ceremony asked questions, and she said he did ask questions of Raper, but not of her.

"Did he ask you if your name was Gladys Brown?" inquired the judge.

"Yes."

"He asked you if you were the bride, didn't he?"

"No, he didn't. I was thinking all the time it was the other girl."

The girl did not know where in Lynn she went. She said she thought her chum was to marry Raper, and the judge asked: "If she wanted to marry him, why did she substitute you?"

"Well, I was with this fellow and she was with another," she replied.

"Can you get a deposition from the other girl that you were a substitute?" the judge asked, but no reply was made.

The judge said to counsel: "I wish you would get the officiating person and let us see what he knows about it. Before I extend a helping hand to this girl I want to be sure that her story is true. The justice of her claim must be established before I extend a helping hand." The judge left the case open for further evidence.

--The Saturday Blade, Chicago, March 27, 1920, page 5.