The New York herald., 1879-02-12
DIVORCE MADE EASY.

HOW A PHILADELPHIA LAWYER ACTED "wITH-
OUT PUBLICITY" OBTAINS BOGUS DIVORCE
AND LEADS A CLIENT TO COMMIT B1GAMY.
PHIIADELrHIA Feb. IL. 1879.
well known Arm Of lawyers recently received
letter from Providence. R. l.. from man whose
nan,e it may be said. is Smith. The writer very
earnestly asked for information concerning
one o. p. Trsvers. who claimed to be
Philadelphia lawyer of large practice having
office at lao South Fourth street. located
i'll the centre of the business quarter where the lesa
fraternity Of Philadelphia "most do congregate."
After thorough search Of tho locality, the Law Di-
rcctory and every other source of information. the
Philadelphia legal hrm were compelled to answer
their anxious correspondent that Mr.. Ira
vers was not to be found. Ellis late
ofaoe." they wrote, els closed, and all be-
longing to it is gone. and we could hnd
vestige Of him his. Then we hunted up the pro-
prietors of his late Office. whom found after
search who say he was there but suddenly disap-
peared few months since. leaving his Office rent
unpaid and shortly after received letter from Bos-
ton Tor 80 postmarked) saying he was dead and to
sell out the furniture take it for the rent. We
then found another person who knew him,
who assures us that he him long utter
this letter written. and two three weeks
ago only. on Walnut street, in this city; that he
knew him well, but that Travers declined to recog-
nixe him. Perhaps he is wanted and is pevdwe for
while search in our directories and in lists
of members Of the bar fails to disclose any such
person. We think he has never been admitted here.
Probably he is lawyer ut all. We will follow him
mp and may stumble upon him at any moment II
we can discover other facts we viii at once inform
you of the same"
Ii HE MARRIED. DIVORCED OR A BraAM1sr?
The Of Mr.. smiths anxiety to find the "ab-
squatulated Travers is curious story. 1t IL rather
interesting to the public revealing the frauds
practised by divorce lawyers, but it has deep and
personal interest Mr. smith, who is the singular
position of not knowing whether he is properiy
married man. divorced husband OF bgs-
mist: On this point he is ''mi1ed up" as
dren which she 'nussed-" Mr.. Smith several years
ago married o wife whose companionship, for some
patibls" It appears that he endured domestic
misery for some years and then determined to seek
%rss should sSs ns sas
OF this "drama of contemporaneous human
interest' Is not accessible here that Mr. Smiths
version given TO the Philadepha lawyers, Is the
ono followed by the veracious chronicler.
Whatever the cause of his unhappiness may be Mr..
Smith not long ago saw AN advertisement in sChicago
paper Offering to procure divorces without publicity.
and ho Ut wrote to the advertiser asking him IL
he could get him decree without the knowledge of
his wife. Tho divorce lawyer. who called himself ..
p Travers of No. lao South Fourth street. Philadel
phia. sent the following reply
DEAn sR-Yours Of the 10th to hand. Enclosed please
yoS md the of
ssss ' al s Il. II as
yass psses pG% 'Ss
ho % Po 6e o Go
Ssar costs v AZ sSss. s % d0- send The v,S balance
An :nps:nso Of eleven yc.rs me
copy = sSss IL e
Eur'hsr than This no publicity T,sR SyeT T1siy
SMITH Is HAPPY.
Mr.. Smith sent the $50 demanded. filled up the
blanks required and sent them TO 1ravers, and In
remarkably quick time. considering tho usual laws
delays, received what purported to be the proper
divorce papers. signed by the Clerk OF the Circuit
Court Of Washington County. Ark. Smith. rejoicing
greatly, forwarded the balance due the lawyers
bill, and. believing himself to be free man.
lost no time In marrying again this time young
the designing Smith had fixed his eye upon the fair
maiden Ucfore he was frce The bridegroom wrote
hm with the fact of his sscoed msr
riage and expressing his satisfaction. Travcrs
answered briefly that he had been rather imprudsnt
in vcnturing q second time. The tone of
this note made Smith uneasy, and, when he found
that his hrst wife had never received the papers
which the law requires 10 be sent that she did not
acknowledge the divorce and that he threatened
with arrest for bigamy, Smith became very badly
frightened man. He wrote again to Tr"vers;-
SMITH - NOT HAPPY.
siI an anxious in regard TO the bill you obtained me
notice Of the bill received by defendant You wrote
would attend to that part Ny former wife Is
advised By counsel. as am told, that my bill was not
legally obtained and threatened with mplants for
bgAmy Can anything be made out against met PIoase
reply 1t your earliest convenience JOHN SMITH.
This letter never reached Travcrs, he could not
be found and in due time the post office people sent
a back to smith, In the meantime Smiths first
wife his only legal wife. In fact-brought suit
against him for bgaIny, aud poor Smith found HIM
self in a large quantity OF hot water. He had to ON
garo counsel and the nrst thing they set about, of
Course was 70 mud tho divorce lawyer. The legal
Arm In this city written 10 and the unfortunate
result of their search La told in their letter given
above.
SMITH Is wnETcnKD.
How Mr.. Smith will get out OF his trouble can
not be said, but he console himself with the
Fiction that he is only of many others who have
been involved In very serious complications by un-
scrupulous LAWYERS who procure divorces without