Omaha daily bee., 1883-03-03
A LEADING ACTORS WIFE.
Mrs.. DsBelleVijle Wins a Suit
Which HaS Had Wide
Publicity.
A Well Known Actor Of the
Union Square Theatre CON-
demned in the Su-
preme Court.

Anew IOhhD 20 JUG
Donohue decided yesterday, In tn
Supreme court, that Frederick d,
Belleville wa q william In private lif,
rs well al on the stage. In the sui
for divorce, brought by the actor
second wife, the Judge rendered q YER
dlct In favor of the plaintiff, and or
dered the defendant to pay $50 q weel
alimony. There will be another trial
Frederick de Belleville, In oonse-
quence Of the suit, has lost Q proftabl,
place In the Union Square theatre
where he received q salary of $l25 {
week, He has q fine presence ant
Was noticeable on the stsge for dignity
OF bearing, q gentlemanly face and
manner, and a powerful physique
which gave him an advantage of ar
inch or two owe every one else on the
stage. As q lover he was gentle, sym
pathetic and refined. ALI theae quail
tiles were reversed In his private life.
THE PLAINTIFFS CASE.
The plaintiff In the suit IL an OK.
peedingly handsome woman, Eand ap.
pears Ia, be about "a years Of aye.
She was plainly dressed and her eye,
looked a. though she had been crying.
There was q noticeable absence of any
OF Mr.. de Bellville's fello w-aoters In
the courtroom when the oase wa
called for argument. Ex.Judge Dit.
tsnhofer, who represented the de.
fendant, had succeeded In having the
case postponed three times, and now
asked for further delay. Mr.. Bird,
Mrs. de Belleville's council, opposed
the adjournment. 'tSuch are the ext.
g%encies of my client" no said, s'that
she cannot await the pleasure sof her
treacherous husband. I have two af.
fdavits to present to show cause why
an adjournment should not be made"
Judge Donohue said that he would
hear the sffidsvits. Judge Often.
hoffsr presented Mr.. de B~elleville's.
It gave a portion of the history of his
life.
HE wa, born In France In 1849.
About ten years ago he made his first
appearance 90 the English stage. He
married, In 1876, In London, Julia
Jouephs, q widow, who was about ten
years his senior. After his marriage
he learned that his wife's temper was
not amiable, and that she could not
write. He had not discovered Der
~illiteracy before, because she managed
to get him out of the room when she
signed the marriage contract by max
ing her mark. He had not been long
married when he went to Havre and
assumed the management Of the Al.
bion hotel. A very little experience
proved to him that his abilities were
not those Of ar inn. keeper, and he
sold ont his interest In the hotel. In
1879 his home life had become 30 un.
happy that he felt induced to leave his
vile and 60 to Melbourne In Australia.
He had..never een his English wife
since. At Melbourne he went one day
to q cafe where his attention was
attracted by a very pretty woman sit
ting at one of the tables. The woman
was dressed inmourning and hada bun.
die Of books with her. He followed her
out Of tho cafe and spoke to her, and
wal not repulsed. She told him she
was Q widow and lived In one of the
.uburbs of Melbourne. He visited
har at her home, and 1t was not long
before he knew her intimately. They
wee afterwsrd married, and went to
i've Ogether as man and wife, although
Mr.. e Bellville knew that the mar.
risge HAS illegal aslong as the English
wife he'd. He afterward brought
the plaintiff to New York, and nine
months ago separated from her. Then
wishing to marry another woman, he
consulted a lawyer, Mr.. +. A. King
and asked HIM to procure a divorce
from his wife In England. The law.
yer got for him q certificate of divorce
signed by q court In Arkansas, and
MIR. De Belleville wa married for a
third time. He defended the present
init on the ground that the plaintiff is
MT his wife, his first wife having been
living when they were married In
AHtralis."
srINGING REBUKE.
It's seldom that u defendant re.
ceivesa more singing rebuke thar
was aaministo..d by Judge Donohue.
He sais that he hnS never .aen -,
heard OF an affidavit mo, disora"afu1
to the psrson making 1t IT, tha,
which the actor offered In his own -
Tense.
As Judge Donohue has had q Ion
experience on the bench, he ooul
hardly have said anything more Sc
we're. The paper does, indeed, revea
a most painful lack of moral sense
and p%ittiless selfishness. The plain
tiffs aft iavlt wal In substance as TO
!, lows:
81 have not q relative In the worlc
. and I am absolutely penniless. l al
: indebted to the geptlemanly proprit
tor of the Morton house for my lode
ing and food, and l am anxious to pa
him as promptly rs possible. I hsv
no vocation, and my mental distre,