St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-01-20
Hennepin County Is Getting
More Than Her Share
Of the Cases.
Some of the Cases Tried Be-
fore the Jud ges Of the
Court Yesterday.
A Graphic Description Of the
Scenes When the Cases
Were Put On.

Minneapolis is fast gaining reputa-
ton as divorce center, and unless some
thing is done in the near future, Chi
cago. the Mecca of all unhappily mated
couples, will be left in the distance.
Every Saturday sees the district court
business clogged with divorces. the par
ties to them coming from all over the
state. The t$2uble is with tho law, aud
not with the courts themselves, as many
suppose. Under the present law a per-
son can bring suit for divorce after re-
siding in the state for one year. Moth
Ing is said at all about residence in the
county. Thus it will be seen that man
or woman can come here, or to any part
of the state, from New York, or some
other distant city, and after residing in
the state a few short months, begin suit
for divorce. 1t would seem that the
legislature might rid the Minneapolis
courts OF few of these divorce cases by
requiring residence OF three years in
the state and at least three months in
the county where the suit is brought.
Now entire strangers come into court
from some outside county and tell a
heart-rending story. They bring their
own witnesses to prove the truth of
WhdJ UHCy say DuU IL llC law lCQuiACO
that divorce suits should be brought in
the county where the parties to the suit
live and are known, it is safe to say that
there would be fewer divorces.
SHORT HAPPINESS.
Mrs. Jennie Ripley, young woman
with fairly goOd-lOoking face and a
wreath of heavy black HAIR, was the
first applicant for relief from a matri-
monial misiit in the district court yes
terday. Her story was a peculiar one.
and attracted considerable attention.
81 married George Ripley under some
what peculiar circumstances" said she,
in this city on Dec. 9, 1856. We lived
together just two days and nights, and
then he went away and left me, and has
not been near me since. A few months
after my marriage my baby was born,
but George has never been near him as
yet. Soon after he left me he grew aw-
FULLY disslpated, and spent most of his
time among bad women"
''HoW do you know that?"
ooh, different people have told me
SO, and one even told me that one
woman he was mashed on was called
Carrie, and lived at 226 First street
south. George has never contributed
oneDcent toward supporting me-"
Mrs. Ripley's main witness was Ed
ward Pike, good-natured young man
with small forehead and big nose.
He SWore that before he knew George
Ripley was MARI man he had fire.
quently painted the town with him. and
had seen him III houses of ill-fame. A
divorce was granted, and Mrs. Ripley
was given the custody OF the child, now
twenty months old. The woman and
her main witness were remarkably
"SWeet' on each other. and it is not at
all improbable that marriage license
will be issued to them inside of a week.
IT WAS SENSATIONAL.
Mrs. Bertha Staples, handsome lit
tie woman of twenty years, with pink
and white complexion and black eyes,
was the next complainant. Her pretty
face wore a hard smile, which her dark
veil half concealed when she took the
stand. She married f. w. Staples she
said, at Hastings in 1885, and lived with
him until last fall, when he deserted
her.
''He was cruel to me all the time"
said the witness, land frequently threat
ened to strike me. We were boarding
at 725 Seventh avenue, and there was
party there one night. spoke to one
of the boarders and he hit me in the
face and called me names"
What kind of names did he call
you?'
II don't want to tell"
"But you must"
'Well, he called me all kinds of
names. The second time he hit me was
in April. He met me on Seventh ave-
nue., south. and hit me on the head.
Then he went into the boarding house
and told the landlady he would not pay
my board any longer Then he went
away.
On being pressed to tell what names
her husband had called her. the witness
broke dOWn.and began crying. 1t then
came out that he had called her the
vilest sort of names, and had said she
was not true to bin.
ale used to cuss me every day on the
slightest preteXt, and several times
when he went to strike me | made my
escape before he could do so. The only
reason l know for his acting so was be-
cause he was jealous of me-
Mrs. Hubert, the proprletress of the
boarding house at 725 Seventh avenue,
was called to the stand and told what
she knew about the case. She had
heard Mr. Staples call his wife names
and had seen him strike her.
''He was so Jealous" continued the
witness, that he used to make her go
up stairs TO her room while he was not
at home. | was frequently awakened
Once told him if he did not stop abuS-
ing her he would have to leave my
house."
George N. Mcfarland, a handsome
young man of about twenty-eight, was
the next witness. He knew Mr.. and
Mrs. Staples, he said, and had seen
Staples strike his wife. This was on
the corner of Sixth street and Seventh
avenue south. He (Staples) was some
what under the influence of liquor at
the time, and had considerable difficulty
in walking on the sidewalk. The wit
ness had seen Staples under the in
fluence of liquor several times since
then.
"How comes it that you know so
much about this case?" asked Judge
Hicks, somewhat disconnected at the
smooth talk Of the witness.
We'll" was the reply, II lived right
across the street from where Mr.. and
Mrs. Staples boarded, and | saw them
every few days"
Ibid you have any idea why Staples
struck his wife?''
We'll, he told me that he thought /
had been out with his wife, replied
Mr. Mcfarland.
IL thought so! [ cannot grant di-
vorce upon this evidence" replied
Judge Hicks. settling back in his chair.
"a divorce cannot be granted on the
T. stimOny of man, who, it appears,
was the cause of the trouble between
STAPLES and his wife | will leave this