Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-01-25
STRANGER THAN FICTION,
Divorce Proceedings Stopped by a
Reunion at what Seemed a
Death-bed.

and for many New York excursionists
as well, in the last dozen years, has
been the Central Hotel, on the old
plank road in Bayonne. It was kept
by George II. White, a tall, broad
shouldered, handsome man. in the
prime of life, whose genial manners
made him well liked and brought him
a profitable business. Not a little of
his success was due, it is said, to the
admirable tact and management ofhis
wife, a tine-looking, matronly woman,
who carefully attended to the comfort
of the guests and presided over the
cuisine. Mr.. White was devotedly at
taehed to his wife, and from the day
they were married, in 1865, until about
a year ago, they lived happily and pros
pered. Suddenly one day Mr.. White
quilted the hotel, and the rumor spread
that husband and wife had parted in
a quarrel. The report was verified by
the filing by Mrs. White of an appli-
cation for divorce, based on an accu-
sation of Whites alleged intimacy
with a woman living in the hotel.
Counter afidayits were fled, and a
legal contest followed that was marked
by excessive bitterness. Mr.. Whites
arrest was caused by his wife, and he
was imprisoned for several months.
Mrs. White got" possession of the hotel
property, and after his release from
prison, Mr.. White went to New York
and obtained a situation in Hewlett
Brothers paper bag factory in Fulton
street. He boarded with Mrs. Sarah
Brooks, on Ovington avenue, Bay
Ridge, and lived in daily expectation
of a final decree ola New Jersey court
that would forever separate him from
his wife. Neither expected to meet
the other again, But they we're
brought face to face and to a full re-
cancellation again on Tuesday last, by
a mistaken Geographic summons that
informed Mrs. White that her hus-
band was dead, and called her to the
bedside where he lay sick but not dy-
ing.
For many months Mr.. Whites legal
entanglements have greatly worried
him, and he suffered from sleepless-
ness and nervous attacks. He has
complained of late of severe pains in
his hand and arm, which he could not
account for. When he was not feel
ing well on several occasions, he told
Mrs. Brooks. his landlady. of his af-
lection for his wife, and suggested that
she should go to BayOnne to ascertain
Mrs. Whites feelings toward him. On
Monday evening Mr.. White retired as
usual to his bedroom, a small room at
the head of the stairs in the second
story, Mrs. Brooks sent a servant to
summon him as usual at Z o'clock on
Tuesday morning. Mr.. White re-
sponded to the rap on the door by
saying that he would be down imme-
diately. In a few minutes Mrs. Brooks
was startled by a groan, and she sent
her daughter at once to Mr.. Whites
room. The door was not fastened. and
on opening it the daughter saw Mr..
White lying motionless on his back,
his face swollen and his limbs rigid.
As he had nearly finished dressing he
was stricken down, and he fell back
ward across the bed.
DIR. }. G. Morgan, who lived near
by, was hastily summoned. When he
arrived Mr.. White was cold and his
limbs had become stiffened. His pul.
sation had ceased, and life seemed TO
be extinct. The physician applied the
usual remedies, and there was a
twitching of the limbs, but he had
little hope of resuscitating the pa
tient. He told Mrs. Brooks that there
was apparently no chance Of restoring
animation that if not already dead,
there was only a Pickering spark of
vitality left in the body. Mrs. Brooks
hurried to New York to inform Robt
5. Hudspeth, Mr.. Whites lawyer.of
Mr.. Whites supposed death, stopping
a neighbor on the way to the car to
request him to send an undertaken to
the house. When she reached Mr..
Hudspeth's Office she fell in a swoon.
Mr.. Hudspeth ~telegraphed to Mrs.
White in ByaOnne
Your husband died suddenly in
Bay Ridge this morning"
Mrs. White was utterly Frustrated
by the shock caused by the sudden
news. Ii was some time before she
recovered sufficiently to start for Bay
Ridge.
In the meantime, while Mrs. Brooks
was in New York and the tidings of
Mr.. Whites death were being spread.
DR.. Morgan, aided by two or three
strong men, were striving, almost
against hope, to restore animation to
the seemingly lifeless form. The BODY
was rubbed and the limbs were chafed
and blisters applied from head to foot.
BY the time Mrs. White arrived. late
in the afternoon, there was a feeble
pulse, but yet only a spark Of life.
Mrs. White is a woman of remarkable
self-control, but she was completely
overcome with emotion when ushered
into her husbands presence. She held
his hand for some time before he
showed any sign of consciousness.
Then he opened his eyes for an in.
slant.
DO you know mc?" Mrs. White in
quired anxiously.
Mr.. White gave a feeble assent, and
Mrs. White bent over and kissed him.
Mr.. White relapsed into unconsci-
business again, and seemed to know
what wal going on about him only at
brief intervals until wednesday morn.
ing. Then he became conscious again,
but was very weak.
He held his wife's hand and smiled
as he looked up in her face. 81 would
have died yesterday if you had not
come he said. 1T saved my life"
There was a mutual agreement 10
forget the past, and husband and wife
pledged themselves to cling to eacli