The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-12-13
TRUTH sTANGER THAN FICTION
A Wife md Not n wife.


smack of the marvellous, are strictly true.
There was in this city last week seedy-
looking man, a tramp" in short, who
was, few years ago, one OF the most
promising young men in the State.
For convenience we will call him b
AT the close of the war, during which
struggle R served as an officer IN the
Federal army, he became the posSes'or OF
a small fortune He located with his
wife Cwho, by the way, belongs to a
highly respectable family IN one OF the
interior towns of the State. For q
year or more he applied himself
to business; but becoming somewhat dis
sipated, his funds began to run low. In
an attempt to avert the ruin which stared
him in the face he became addicted 10
gambling; and soon lost all he possessed
From being one of the most fastldious
gentlemen, he became confirmed topper
and sponge" For many months his wife
and children were cared for by benevo-
lent people; but finding that even their
charity to the children was appropriated
by R to provide means to gratiiy his
desire for whisky, they withheld their
contributions. During all this terrible
trial, his noble wife remained faithful to
him, ever hoping against hope-weeping'
watching and praying for the bet
ter day that never came
Finally, about the year 1869 or 1870
R suddenly disappeared. No trace
could be found of his whereabouts, al
though the strietest search was made,
and many supposed that he had commit
tod suicide In a few weeks, however,
he was heard of III Washington City,
where, by sponging on our members
of Congress and others, he made
raise" and entered upon
protracted bust On one occasion, u
man. very drunk. was "run in to one
of the station-houses, and no attention
was paid to him until morning, when 1t
WAS discovered that the poor fellow was
dead. Nothing could be found upon
the body by which to identity it, except
two letters, both addressed TO R. The
body was Inferred, and the Information
forwarded to tho afflicted wife, who
N good faith mourned her husband as
dead. and returned heart broken to her
family. Nearly two years passed, and
she was again asked to become BRIDE
and consented. While living happily
with her new husband, the startling news
reached her that her first husband had
been seen at one of the eastern stations
of the Baltimore and Ohio rail-
road, and that the story of his death was
without foundation. She Immediately
left her new husband, and acting under
legal advice, instituted proceedings
against R for divorce, on the grounds
of ill-treatment, desertion, &c. The
Judge before whom the suit was brought,
being fully aware of the circumstances,
threw no obstacles IN the way,
and the case was decided
more promptly, perhaps, than the judic-
ial settlement of any case of matrimoni-
al infelicity that has ever occurred in this
State. The much troubled wife, imme-
diately after the granting of the bill Of
divorce, again married her second hus-
band and is now living happily with him.
In the meantime, R quilted his ha-
bi,ation on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road, as quietly and mysteriously as he
had left his old home; and
was not seen again, by
any of his old acquaintance, until he APP
peared in this city few days ago
Whence he came or where he has gone
nobody knows; but in conversation he
stated that during his last absence he had
visited several ofthe European countries,
and had returned IN time to be at the
Centennial. He is pleasant, good
looking, intelligent fellow, well educated
and of fine conversational powers.