The record-union., 1891-09-30
MARRIAGE A FAILURE.
The Troubles of the Lewis Family
Aired in Court.
The Husband Says His Home was I
Veritable ssHell on Earth -
A Nonsuit Granted.

The suit of Thomas Lewis for a divorce
from his wife, Margaret Lewis, on the
grounds of her extreme cruelty, was
heard by Superior Judge Van Fleet yes
terday.
The wife contested the suit, and had for
attorneys James b. Devine and Frank d.
Ryan. The husband was represented by
a. J. Bruner and G. c. Davis.
Lewis took the witness-stand and testi-
fed that the cruelty he had been subjected
to did not consist of personal injury, but
that his life had been made veritable
'hell on earth' through his wifes violent
temper. She was in the habit of nagging
him from morning till night, he said, and
when he spoke to her civilIy she would
not notice him.
TOUGH YOUNGSTERS.
But this, he said, was the least of
his troubles. Mrs. Lewis was consider
ably older than himself, and was a Cath
olic, while he was a Protestant. She
constantly chided him on account Of his
religion, and, he said, taught the children
| to look upon him as a heathen.
| When he married her she had four
| children by q former husband, and these
| had all turned out bad, and had disgraced
| him. Two Of these oftspringS were the
| notorious "Mulhag" Lewis and Bill
Lewis, who have frequently been ar
| rested for robberieS, larcenies, and other
crimes. The other two of Mrs Lewis
| children were girls, and were also tough
/ characters. All four had, alter the mar
rlage, assumed the name OF Lewis, i'll
preference to their former name of Burns
much to the new husbands S discomiit-
ure. Two children were the result of the
/ = l.. L.
gard their father and his religion as some
thing terrible. Lewis said he had a piece
OF property, which the wife without his
consent or knowledge, had converted
into homestead, thus virtually rObbing
him of it.
SAID THEY FELL DOWN.
Other witnesses were called to substan-
! tate Lewis statements, but in each case
! they acted as though they did not desire
! to say anything against Mrs. Lewis.
! This greatly annoyed attorney Bruner,
and he sought by questioning them to
! learn what had occasioned their reticence.
! lie declared that they had all made
strong and damaging statements to him
regarding Mrs. Lewis treatment of her
! husband, and he could not understand
! what had come over them.
The attorney took one of these wit
nesSes to task and CLEANED some inn
! portant information. The witness was
! William LeWiS-an empioye, but not a
relative of the plaintiff' sand he was
asked if anybody had been talking to
/ him about the case. He was very en-
phatic in his denial that anything of the
| kind had occurred. bat later on he re-
membered that he had discussed the mat
ter with man out in the corridor of the
| Courthouse. lie did not remember what
was said. The witness was then asked if
a man had not spent half Of a night with
! him recently talking about the case.
The witness replied, hesitatingly, that
a man had called on him at his room and
! had given him all the whisky he could
/ drink. He could not remember whether
or not this man had spoken to him about
the case.
That was because you had all the
whisky you could drink, was it not?''
asked Judge Van Fleet.
The witness said ne guessed it was.
Then be remembered that this man had
said a great many things about the case,
but what they We're he did not know.
Neither did he know who this generous
individual was.
EONSUIT GRANTED.
When all the testimony of the plaintiff
was in, attorney DeVine on behalf Of Mrs.
Lewis, moved for a nonsuit. He said
there was nothing in the testimony tend
ing TO prove extreme cruelty.
AIlOI Heg ipIuIIeI ODpOSGu the lnOIlOn.
He said that of all the cruelties that could
be practiced, that INDUCED in by Mrs.
Lewis was the worst he had ever heard
Of Men had been driven insane and to
suicide by just such women.
Judge Van Fleet, however, said that he
would be compelled to grant the motion
for nonsuit. While he was satisfied
in his own mind that the parties could
not live happily together, yet unfortu-
nateiy the law did not recognize this as a
ground for divorce. It was plain to him
that the cause Of all the trouble between
Lewis and his wife was the difference in
their ages and their religions, but it was
useless to advance these as grounds for a
legal separation, unless they led TO some
acts which came under the pale of the
law. People contemplating marriage, he
said, should be able to foresee the folly OF
these unusual unions and avoid them, as;
they were seldom successful. He ordered
that, for the present, the minor children
be cared for by the mother