Mexico weekly ledger., 1885-09-17
CHURCH SCRAP.
Two laddonia Ladies Tongue
Lash in Church.
TWO WOMEN AND ONE MAN m THE
CASE.
ihe Judges and Referee Not Yet Heard
From.

We clip the following special from
the st. Louis Chronicle:
directly after services at the Baptist
church at Laddonia, Sunday, the liveliest
sort Ola scrapping match occurred be-
tween two ladies-one the divorced wife
OF James G.. Bruton, formerly postmast-
er, and the other, Miss Pearlie Hughes, a
highly respected young lady of the viii
iage. For fully ten minutes hair-pulling
was engaged in between the irate females
and the air was dense with parasols, fans,
h~ymn-boOks, etc., until the combatants
were separated. The trouble is alleged
to have grown out of jealousy on the part
OF the ex-Mrs. Bruton, who, it is claimed,
accused Miss Hughes of receiving and
sending notes to Bruton while he was her
husband. This charge, however. is not
believed by those acquainted with Miss
Hughes, who ~endeavored to avoid yester-
days collision. The trouble has been
brewing for some time. Rruton and his
"a 80 oSSh Oily u SlOEt tlIie,
he having married her in Illinois.
And the following from the St.
Louis Globe-D Democrat:
A regular old-fashioned fight, it is re-
ported, took place between James G. Bru.
toms divorced wife and Miss Pearl
Hughes, a young lady of high standing in
society and q member of the church in
which the row occurred, at Laddonia.
After considerable of a scufle, the combat
ants were separated and peace restored
without much injuryro either party. The
affair is all the talk in the neighborhood
and is reported to be the result of zeal.
Qusy on the part of the divorced wife,
who is said to have been the aggressor on
this occasion. Mr.. Bruton, who has been
postmaster at Laddonia for several years,
has been divorced from his wife q short
time and had at one time, before he mar
ried his last wife, took out q license to
wed Miss Hughes, but the young lady's
parents made such strong objections to
the match that it was declared off and
Mr.. Bruton sought a wife elsewhere,
finding her in the person of a widow then
living in Illinois. Miss Hughes is a lady
of refinement and responsibility, and her
self and friends regret very much that
such a d~isgraceful affair as that of Sum-
day should have occurred.
A LEDGER reporter, in order to get
the facts in the above case, took q
flying trip to Laddonia aud found
that the accounts above varied but
little from what happened. Last
Sunday Rev. Bib preached in the
Baptist church at Laddonia to q
large and fashionable congregation.
After he pronounced the benediction
and the crowd began moving down
the aisles a sensation took place not
far from the door. 1t appears that
Miss Pearlie Hughes and ex-Mrs ex-
Postmaster j. G.. Bruton are not
stuck on each other. Before Bruton
married the last Mrs. Bruton he took
out a license to marry Miss Hughes.
but for some reason failed to connect
There has been bad feeling between
these ladies ever since, especially
since Bruton and his wife were di'
vorced, and it is thought down there
now that Bruton and Miss Hughes
will yet get married. These two
ladies, feeling as above stated, go1
close together coming down the
crowded aisle and got to elbowing
pushing and tongue lashing before
they got to the door. No blood wa
shed and we are not able to stat
who should have the belt. We pre-
sumo the deacons will act as judges
and Rev. Bibb as referee. It is stat
ed that Mr.. Hughes, father Of Mis-
Pearlie, will have ex-Mrs. Bruton
who since her divorce signs her nam
S. Carrie Wilkens, arrested as 500,
as he gets home. All parties ar
highly connected and move on tn
top crust of society. Both ladies ar
dashing and beautiful and Bruton j
one Of the handsomest men in tn
state. How he will look when thes
two ladies get through with him "
are unable to even guess. E1-Mrs
Bruton is said to have given Mis-
Pearl quite q game of talk, asking he
"whose husband she was after an
whose house she was going to liv
in," etc. As Mrs. Bruton is divorce
we fail to see what right or title sh
has in the much-contested-for Bru
ton. We trust the matter will b
amicably settled and that, too, Will
out any injury to tie looks. or cha
!, acters of any Of the parties.