Daily south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1881-18??, 1885-10-02
IN LUDLOW STREET JAIL.
Arrested for Breach of Promise-Fronl
Frying Pan to Fire.

Arrested for Breach of Promise-From
Frying Pan to Fire.
Civil suits for breach of promise are
among the common incidents of this
great city. The unlucky defendant in
case of this kind is likely to find him
self locked up in Castle Ludlow. As
the leaden hours of incarceration slip
by, ample time is afforded him of view
ing the two horns of a very disagree
able dilemma. One way to accomplish
his liberation is to marry the lady; the
other, to pay the damages she claims.
A mans natural inclinatlons would
hardly lead him to select for wife a
woman who would imprison him; but
on the other hand, man lodged in
prison cell is, as a rule, in no position
to pay the heavy damages which a
sympathizing jury would consider a
fair compensation for wounded ailec-
tons. The result is that many poor
fellow langushes for months in con-
tinement, the more harrassing inasmuch
as he holds in his own hand the key
which would unlock his prison doors.
1t may occur to him that this key
| (the marriage of the woman), may
open the door of one prison into nh
other, from which the chances OF es-
cape are very vague. Many man
stands Whispering on the brink of
matrimony when the dangers are far
less defined than in the case of our poor
prisoner. As time drags slowly on the
conviction that something must be
done" becomes at last so strong that
he nerves himself for desperate action.
The money he can not pay. He can
marry the woman. He must be free
Following out this line of argument he
sends for his counsel and requests him
to notify the other side that he has
given in and is ready to make
the fatal plunge. The only thing
that remains to be done is to ar
range for the wedding. The
lady is presumably consulted at this
stage of the proceedings, and many
valuable suggestions are given by her
Everything goes smoothly now, until
the prisoner, who in effect has said
"Give me liberty or give me death, "
asks very reasonably for his discharge.
Here he is met with a shock which
must be most distressing to his finer
sensibiltieS. He is informed that lin
order to obviate the danger of his
running away before his compulsory
nuptials, the marriage ceremony is to
be solemnized in jail, and that he will
be expected to remain quietly there UNI
til the happy day arrives. This is n
blow from an unexpected quarter, but
it can't be helped, and his only re-
source is to hasten the preparations
for the coming event.
On the appointed day there is a per-
ceptible ripple in the dull routine of the
jail. The warden's parlor is dtlsted
over, the furniture placed in suitable
positions, number Of chairs are bor-
rowed for the occasion and the invited
guests throughout the prison can be
seen preparing themselves for the fes-
tivity. A carriage at last drives up to
the door and deposits a lady, a clergy
man and perhaps friend or two of
the former, The party is shown in
and the reluctant groom sent for.
What the feelings of the couple may
be at meeting under such trying cir
cumstances is generally left to conjec-
ture, as it is the exception when any
demonstration is made on the part OF
either the man or the woman. The
ceremony is e-eminently matter of
business. and is conducted with n due
regard to the pressure of other engage
ments. The guests depart; the wife,
leading her reluctant spouse, is placed
in the carriage, and the surrounding
of the jail lapse into the customary
dizziness, with nothing to indicate thai
a prisoner has been released from one
captivity and remanded to another
the last life sentence in all probable
ity.-N y Herald.