Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-05-19

and had q narrow escape from the peni-
Tertiary, whittier he should nave been
sent for his perjury and general cussed-
ness.
Cases are often reopened in this city,
the law of the state providing that cases
may be reopeDed within three yesrs ct
the date Of decree. This is supposed to
give absent defendants q chance to cor
rect the Injustice Of ex parte proceed
ings, but the provision Is one ef doubtful
public policy. Serious complications
sometimes arise from the reopening of
cases, DEGREES being annulled after the
petitioner has married agsin. Could you
imagine anything more UNPLEASANT
than state Of affairs like thai? 1t is
not absolutely safe to remarry after
q Chicago divorce till three years
have pa5sd, but in q vast majority Of
cases one or the other OF t1s emancipated
parties is welded again In three months
In fact that is what grest many OF the
petitioners want divorce for. A few
months ago the newspapers announced
that after hearing certain csse the
Judge hsd granted decree. That WAS on
Sunday. On Monday the wife, who sup
posed she had been divorced, married an.
other man, Tuesday started on her we'd
ding tour, and on Wednesday WAS called
back by q telegram announcing thst the
newspaper was mistaken, that No decree
had been granted, and that none was
likely.
Usually five or six months are required
to get divorce csse through the Chicago
courts, though OF course they are often
put through in much less time. Some
pass in few weeks, and now and then
one is ratified through in twenty-four
hours. There is divorce lawyer
in this city who boasts Of getting
8 decree in ten minutes after fling
his suit. l. is no. necessary to say that the
professional divorce lawyer is pestlfer-
Gus nuisance, ranking with that other So
cial reptile, the private detective. Chi
cage divorce lawyers used to advertise all
over the country and guarantee to get
DEGREES for clients, no matter how distant
their residence or how flmsy their evil
dence. The Legislature has made 1t a
penitentlery offense to advertise for d.
vorce clients in this state, but the law Is
evaded oy of sring to mail copy of the d.
vorce laws for postage stamp. Hundreds
of letters are received In this city every
day from persons who want to know II
they can get divorce without coming
here in person, and some ignoramuses
even go 30 far as to send along q history
of their case, with their marriage certif-
Gates, asking that decree of separation
be sent them by return mail. Not infre-
quently 8 postscript like this is added:
"Please attend to this without delay, for
I am engaged to be married on the - day
OF next month, and you can see that l
have no time to lose.b
A Chicago divorce court In operation is
an interesting study. There is usually
great crowd present. In nine cases out
of ten the complaining woman appears in
court gayly dressed, no matter If her
CD .rge against her spouse Is failure to
provide for her wants. The unfortunates
are often vuluole, and they are prone to
unloose the walls Of their wrath. They
also Ike to bring their children into
court, inssinctivelY believing thar the
presence of the little ones will gain them
sympathy. Sometimes the court
room looks like foundliDgs'
hcme. Most of the Chicago Judges
are literal in their queries and insist
upon literal answ ers. They want spade
called g spade. Contested cases are
sometimes fought with great bitterness,
but IS per cent. Of cases are not con-
tested. The courts rattle of these default
cases with surprising rapidity. On
recent Saturday Judge Jameson tried
three dozen at the rate Of ten an hour.
The fees are Sc to begin suit and 81 for
writing up evidence. ALI testimony is
taken down in shorthand, aud that in de-
fault cases ls written out in full in the
records, 80 tnst ii the defendant ever
comes around and wants to knew on what
grounds decree was entered against him
his curiosity may be satisfied.
It is very difficult to make people
understand that they cannot get divorce
by agreement. The fsintest sign of col
fusion is generally sufficient to throw
case out Of court. The law does not
recognize the right Of persons to practice
q sort of legal free love in tnat manner.
Even when the defendant confesses to
desertion, cruelty or adultery, the court
usually requires corroborsting evidence.
People also find 1t very difficult to UNDER
stand that mental torture Is not cruelty
under the law. A man msy SO annoy aud
torture q woman that che will want to go
of and die, but this is not cruelty In law,
unless the direct and natural tendency of
this mental suffering is to ipjure her
physical health, or threaten to do 80.
The law assumes to protect the physical
only.
Desertion mus. be voluntary. II hus-
band drives wife out she does not desert
him; but II he invites her back, and seems
penitent, and promises in apparent good
faith to treat her better in future, she
must return to him or be guilty in law Of
dese-tion. Removal to the next house or
even to the next tenement, Is desertion
Just as much as II the removal were to q
foreign country. Again, even though 8
husband pays for his wife's support, he is
guilty of desertion II he refuses to live
with her. But the husband has the right
to choose the home, and where he goes
his wife must follow, no matter how
much against her will, or be guilty of de-
sertion. These are general interpreta-
tons of the law, epplicao Die to other states
as well as Illinois.
There is no limit to the number OF
times Q man or woman may be divorced.
An attache of the district court in this
city remembers q woman who WAS in her
day divorced six times, once as the
plaintiff and five times as the defendant.
She was o buxom, handsome, artful
xuousp -hoco proskoot dolfnhf e saov,ad