The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-06-17
"FLYNF VS.. COOLIDGE.
riie g Miserable Sinner - who Would
Not Foot his Wife's Little Bill,


,IFrom the New York Tribune, June d.ls
The Superior Court of Boston has re.
Gently been engaged in the trial of q
cause lFlynt VS.. Coolidge) which has
created much excitement in the dress
circles in the Tri-montane region
Mrs. Flynt, the plaintiff, is the most
fashionable artistic, we may say esthe.
tic dress-maker of all who clothe and
glorify tie ladies of the Hub. Mr.. Coo.
lidge, the defendant, is an eminent
merchant. Mrs. Coolidge is the spouse
OF MIR. Coolidge. She had manufac-
tured to her order, by Mrs. Flynt, raj
ment for which that costumer charged
sl,sll. The court, some time since,
sent the whole matter to an auditor,
who reported that the gowns furnished
We're worth 81 ,263. Mrs. Flynt declin-
ed to accept this report, and so the case
was given to jury. The ingenious
plaintiff testified that there was no
workwoman i'm Boston who could make
gowns to equal in beauty and taste her
own. Then she caused all her girls to
be called, FROM her Miss Knagg down
Though we don't see any Miss Kate
Nickleby mentioned) and they unani-
mously deposed that the prices of Mrs.
Flynt were exceedingly moderate
Then she called three dry goods deal
ers, but they were shy, and averred
that many of the goods used in the
dresses had no market value-which
we think extremely probable.
Then came the outraged husband,
with long lot of ress-makers i'm his
train, the said milliners not being i'm a
very good temper by reason of Mrs.
Flynt's boast that she was the only
person in Boston who knew how to
make a gown. 1t was perfectly natu-
raj for them to whittle down the char
ges of the self -complacent Flynt fright
fully. One swore that the work for
which 81, ,0S6 was charged was really
worth about S193; another reckoned IT
at S2iS; still another at S236. Then
came great many witnesses from IA
NOUS dry goods houses, and they, one,
and all, united in swearing that the
great Mrs. Flynt had charged from for
ty TO seventy per cent too much for her
brilliant and beautiful silks, and satins,
and laces. Then came Mrs. Coolidge,
wife of the defendant, for whose use
and wear the gowns were wonderfully
and fearfulIy made, and she testified
that formerly Mrs. Flynt had been
reasonable in her charges, but that
now, alas she had become most mer-
ciiessly unreasonable. Then came the
injured husband, who deposed that
when he went to the plaintiffs house,
in the desperate hope of effecting a set
tlement, she had turned him out of the
door, eXclaiming as he fed: You
miserable sinner, youv' The lawyers
argued the case beautifully. The plain
tifi IS lawyer extolled, in the finest Ian
guage, her genius for dress-making.-
He spoke scornfully of the dress-mak-
ers called experts by the defendant
They "bore no comparison, in point of
ability, to the plaintiff, than a cobbler
on North street to the most expensive
and fashionable boot-maker in the
city" Mrs. Flynt was "an artist"
He didn't say-we wonder that he
missed the point-thatyo you might know
that she was an artist by spelling her
name with a "y." The defendants
lawyer began by observing that "most
of the jurors were married men" "-if
they were, not, the disclosures in this
ease might prevent them from ever be-
coming SO. He declared that from all
the dress-makers i'm Boston-all save
the fiinfy Flynt-one consentaneous
cry had gone up to heaven, and that
cry was "Extortion ~ He reminded
the jurors that if they allowed Mrs.
Flynt thus to raise the general prices
of dress-manufacture, they would have
then TO pay for all the fine robes order
cd by the Mrs. Jurors. Then, after be-
ing lucidly charged, the jury went to
their den, and stayed there pondering
and debating, and discussing ard esti-
mating for twenty-four hours. Unfor-
tunately nothing came of it. If Mrs.
Flynt's bill had been for breeches or
boots, or for waistcoats or hats, the ju-
rors might have jumped at verdict
with the alacrity of grasshoppers; but
SO many mysterious vanities for ladies
did dreadfully bother the poor men-an
excellent argument, by the way, dear
Miss Anthony, for women jurors The
more the twelve men considered this
business, the farther were they from
agreement. Strange to say, majority
of them favored Mrs. Flynt. But the
obstinate ones took strong grounds and
maintained it.
The Bostonian husband has evident
ly determined to he no longer victim.
The moral influence of courage like
this can hardly fail in elevating many
lowly and down-trodden husbands to
the rank of freedmen.