St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-09-02
WHERE WAS lola?
n Court Scene From Which He
Might HavesDrawn Material.

The hearing upon the writ of habeas
corpus by which Rosie Norton sought to
recover her six-year-old girl from James
Mathews yesterday was the occasion of
sad spectacle in real life that brought
tears to the eyes of several spectators
and prompted sympathy from officials
accustomed to seeing the dark side of
life.
Some days ago Rosie Norton went to
County Attorney O'Brien with a story
to the effect that her child had been alb
Quoted by James Mathus, a L TX
driver. Under advice of that officer a
writ of habeas corpus was sued out.
Judge Kelly heard the petition yester-
day. Rosie Norton, supported by two
sisters and one or two other ladies, tes-
tilted TO the effect that she is
the mother of the child and
wanted control of it. Mathus tes-
lifted that he is the father of the
child and asked that its custody be
given 10 him or to some capable author
ity other than the mother. he said he
had had improper relations with the
mother for some time prior to the birth
of the child, and that before its birth
the mother sent for him. He then
agreed to live together as husband and
wife, and they lived together as such
until few days since, although no mar
riage was solemniZed. Rosie Norton
admitted that she had sustained the re-
lationS of wife to Mathus for several
years, but denied that he is the father
OF her child, and asserts that its father
is Perry Chalmers. The child i'll dis
pute was present in court and was over
JOyed to see the mother, from whom il
had been separated for some days, and
played around the judges rooms in
joyful manner during the hearing of the
matter, occasionally going to her mother
and skiSsing her. Mathus motioned
the child TO go to him, but it Shrank
from him in a way that brought tears to
his eyes. After hearing the evidence
Judge Kelly said:
There are two questions raised one as to
the paternity of The child and the other as TO
its proper custodian. 1t is not necessary to
decide who is the father of the child. |
think the acts OF the parties have made it
one of legitimate birth. The claim that the
child should net be given to the mother be-
cause she had stated it was begotten out of
marriage is not TO her credit, but the. testi-
mony as to the character of Mathus shows
he is no better. In law the right of the
father to the custody of the child is perma-
nent, but the court has discretion i'll the
matter when the facts Justify. / can't take
the child from its mother in this case. and it
Is ordered that she have its custody'd
During the decision of the case the
mother, fearing she would lose her
child, was greatly excited, and she en-
braced the child in an adjoining room
with streaming eyes, aud the child cried
Justify to be allowed to stay with its
mother, and begged that Mathus should
not take her away again. II don't want
to go with that man again." the child
cried. II can stay with you" When
assured that it would not have to 90
with Mathus, it asked: 81 won't have
to go with him any more?' Being as
sured that it would not, the child dried
its tears and grew happy. After
Judge Kelly had announced his
opinion, he instructed James Ii,
Barnard to draw up an order giving the
custody of the child to its mother. The
order was promptly prepared and signed
and the mother, with her child and sew
eral lady friends, left the court house in
a happy state of mind, strinklngly in
contrast to that of few minutes be-
fore, when they were all shedding tears.
The mother asked Judge Kelly to pro-
tect her from the interference of
MathuS, but was told that all that could
be done in the proceeding was TO give
her the custody of the child.
Autumn Leaf Excursions to Min
netonka.
For grand tour of Lake Minnetonka,
leave st. Paul on Great Northern train
at sos a. M; Minneapolis, $40; con-
Meeting with steamer WayZata; return
ing home in time for supper. For half
tour take 1870 p. IN. train at st. Paul;
2o'clock train, Minneapolis, for Mime
tOnka Beach