Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1874-04-10
be possibility. AT last the inconsolable

the possibility. At last the inconsolable
man had gathered what little worldly sub
stance was left to him and emigrated to
California, and now told the story of his
calamltles to her whom he besought to be
his second wife, Thus Mrs. Foreland
knew what Oades had suffered before she
gave him her hand in wedlock, and need
ed no further information from him when,
in year after the marriage-or only few
weeks ago-the first Mrs. Oades and three
children arrived at the farm in search OF
husband and parent. The woman and
little ones had been made prisoners in
stead of being killed by the Maoris; the
remains found in the smoking ruins were
those of savages who were slain by each
other in fight for the spoils; and after a
captivity of years the hapless Mrs. Oades
and her children had finally been released
and followed their natural protector to
California.
Upon hearing the piteotis tale from the
poor wanderers, Oades and his second
wife were of one mind about what to do
in the matter. They would not relinquish
their own union, for it had been entered
into in perfect good faith on both sides,
and was justified by the mutual devotion
it had developed; but the desolate new
corners must be received into the house
as legitimate members of the family, and
receive all the amends that could pos
sibly be made for their anomalous condi-
ton.
Not 80, though, decided the good peo-
pie of San Bernardino, who, on being
frankly told of the domestic situation, in
sisted that there must he divorce to &C
cOmmOdate affairs to civilized form. AS
neither Oades nor either of the Mrs.
Oades would move in the matter, the
public prosecuting attorney was con-
strained to institute legal proceedings.
And then began the judicial per-
plexities of the problem. Accord
ing to the Los Angeles Erpress, the
husband was first sued for retain
ing the woman from Australia un-
der his roof. He proved that she
was his lawful wife, and the suit was
abandoned. A suit was then brought
against him for unlawfully living with
wife number two. He was acquitted un-
der the law, which declares that "the
marriage of person having a husband
or wife living is void unless such former
husband or wife living was absent and
not known to such person to be living for
five years Immediately preceding such sub
sequent marriage-in which case the sub
sequent marriage is void only from the
time nullity is adjudged by a proper
tribunal" He was then prosecuted for
bigamy, but the law provides that "no
person shall be held guilty of bigamy
whose husband or wife shall have been
absent for five successive years without
being known to such person as being liv-
ing" So he again escaped. A fourth
suit was finally brought to dissolve the
second marriage That failed because
not brought by one of the interested par
ties. They were appealed to, but refused
to take action. At a public meeting
of the now fairly frantic citizens
it was proposed to petition the Leg
islature to pass special act
dissolviDg Oades' last marriage
But Oades, who was present, imm ediately
arose to address the meeting, and told
them that that was no go, for by the
twentieth section of the fourth article OF
the Constitution of California it is ex-
pressly provided that "no divorce shall
be granted by the Legislature AS Oades
produced the book itself this argument
was unanswerable. 1t was then proposed
that the Legislature should be petitioned
to call Constitutional Convention for
the purpose of annulling one or the other
of Oades' marriages; but Oades' pro-
duced the Constitution of the United
States and read the tenth section of the
first article, which expressly provides
that "no State shall pass any
law impairing the obligation
of contracts" and marriage" he said,
"was we'll settled to be q contract, and,
therefore, no earthly right could deprive
him of his vested power in his two wives. !"
And thus the case stands at present-one
of the most remarkable examples of legal
and social contradiction ever known in a
civilized country.