St. Paul daily globe., 1892-08-21
IN MINNEAPOLIS.

The records of the district court in
| the Fourth judicial district seem to in
dicate that change is coming over the
| atmosphere of Hennepin county. The
divorce micrObe is being killed Off. The
winters have been warmer the past few
! years, and it is possible that the dsap-
| to that cause. The warmer winters,
through the agency of smaller coal
bills and lighter expenditure for winter
clothing, are more favorable to the de-
Velopment and propagation of DomeS-
tic Felicity bacteria. This is a fact
Well-knOWn in science that the multi
plicaton of Domestic Felicity bacteria
is attended by the decimation of the
divorce bacteria. And there you are.
1t is fact that the number of di-
vorces begun and tried in Hennepn
county IS smaller now than few years
ago. Time was when Minneapolis, as
divorcial city, could run close race
with Chicago, Minneapolis being given
the proper weight for age handicap, OF
course. 1t is possible, though scarcely
probable. that the rise of South Dakota
as dlvOrce-grOwing country is respOn-
siOle for the decline of this industry in
Minneapolis. That theory IS scarcely
tenable. because South Dakota divorce
Soulto CuJOy d Lar QluGTelll Oh
patronage from those of Minneapolis.
In Minneapolis plain John Jones, Sam
uel Smith and Bill Brown occur most
frequently on the bills of lading. Out
III South Dakota these names give way
to Reginald Pate DefOigraS and AdOl-
phuS Clicquot Sec POmmery. South Da-
kOta's divorce mills use none but the
finest raw material, selected from the
choicest preserves of the East. or i'm
ported under a tariff burdensome to
fond papa; while the Minneapolis mills
grind little but the raw material grown
at home, nearly always inside the city
limits.
About three years ago the Hennepin
divorce mill did rushing business. a
dozen divorce complaints a week was
merely fair planting at that time.
Usually some one of the judges had a
divorce case on Ill the middle OF the
week, and special term day always pro-
duced long list. Judge Rea was on
the bench then. Some way, he was im-
mensely popular with the fair appli-
all the petitioners for divorces are
women. Judge Rea caught the majority
of the cases. He had so many cases of
that sort before him that he came to be
! regarded as the divorce judge. 1t ac-
tually seems, at this date, as if the
| crop of divorces harvested while Rea
was on the bench was larger
| than ever before or since. 1t seemed
that people used to get married for the
| one purpose of enjoying the exquisite
pleasure of being divorced by Judge
Rea. Some of them were fooled,
though. Sometimes the number of d-
vorce cases hanging out in the wet and
suffering for care became so large that
| the other judges were compelled to lend
hand to Judge Rea in garnering the
| product. Special term day was the reg
ular harvest day. Over half of the
cases passed upon at such times were
divorce cases. But that was two years
ago. Now. while the special term cal
endar always bears number of divorce
cases. the number is far below the
standard of three and four years ago.
| 1t isn't such hard matter, this get
| ting divorce. Nothing is easier if YOU
have an attorney who knows the ropes.
| Of course. if your husband be one of
| these disagreeable, obstinate fellows,
determined to act ''nasty'' whenever
possible, he can give you some annoy
ance. He can go into court and fight
your petition. and bring all his friends
along to swear that he did go to the
lodge every night he said he did. But
they don't act that way as a rule. If
you're suing on the ground of desertiOn
you have no trouble at all. All you
have to do is to swear that you
are ignorant of the where
abouts of your gone-and-goo
| dance husband, and the Judge will
sign an order allowing service of the
complaint by publication. You have
the notice published in all obscure
weekly paper, buried in the center of a
score of other legal notices. Your bus
band never sees that paper. If he does,
the chances are that he won't see that
notice. He fails to make all answer
| within the allotted time. Then. Oh the
appointed day, you put on your best
bonnet, dress modestly but neatly and
interestingly, throw sad look into
your eyes, drape yourself in an
| injured tair, go down to the court
house and tell the story of the
| desertiOn in a sweet voice, with slight
ring of indignation in it. Your lawyer
will make the necessary, and the judge
Will give you the divorce. But perhaps
your husband ill-treated you before de-
serting you-muSSed your bangs or
pulled your dear little FidO's tail. The
foregoing formula will do very we'll for
that sort of a case. too, with this addi-
ton: Pencil circles undeE yOur eyes,
intensity the sadness of your optics,
cultivate slight quiver of the chin,
and SPEAK in a low, grieved
tone. Then you will have the
sympathy of the court room loungerS,
and the reporters will say: Mrs.
Blank, neatly dressed, pretty little
woman, with look of silent suffering
On her classic face, told the story Of her