Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1893-09-25


Congressman BreckinridSe's Answer.
Congressman William c. p. Breckin-
ridge, of Kentucky, through his attor-
neys, Enoch Totten and Philip B.
Thompson, jr., in Washington on Sat-
urday filed bis plea in the celebrated
suit brought against him by Madeline
V. Pollard for $4,000 damages for al
legged breach of promise.
In his answer, the court having pre-
viously overruled his technical de-
murer, the Kentuckian denies categor-
ically all the allegations of the plain
tiff in regard to PROMISE of marriage.
The plea in full is as follows:
1. For plea to the first count of the said
declaration he says that lie never promised,
as alleged.
=. For plea to the second count of said dec
laraton he says that he never promised, as al
legged.
3. For plea TO the third count of the raid
declaration the defendant says he never prom
i5cd rs alleged in the said third count of said
| declaration that III the spring of 1SSi the
defendant, being on the train from Lexington
| to Frankfort. was accostcd by yonng woman
between twenty and twenty-five years of age,
| who introduced herselfto him as Miss Madeline
| Breckenridge Pollard, saying that her father
| was such an admirer of John C.. Grcckinridgc
| that he named her after said Brccknrdge;
that subsequently the defendant received
! letter from the defendant Lplaintif-evident-
iy Il clerical error saying that she was IN
great distress, and desiring his legal adv .ce,
| aud asking him to see her at Wesleyan Col
ege in Cincinnati, which tie defendant
answered was inconvericnt, upon which
she notified him that the matter about
which she was distressed was and engage
ment to mary, which had assumed cor.
dtion wo. sc than Il divorce suit. and reitel
atipg her request to see him personally; that
the defendant did see the plaintiff at clid col
leae, and she gave him ull recital Of her re.
lS.ops Win one James G. Rodes, and there
ur on tire defendant adv .sed her to cousun-
mate the contract between her aud said Rodes
by marriage, and, subsequently, ailer n full
cJnveE'ation with the said Rodcs. the defend
ant renewed MS advice: and the defendant
denies that he then, or at any other time or
place, by wiles and III ,fices and protcstatious
of affection, or by any uFher means. attempted
to take advantage OF The youth aud inexperi-
ence of The plaintiff, and denies that he then.
u
tiff: and he dcuies thai the plaintiff was at
auy time pregnant by tbe defendant, or that
he at any time prevented her from going
abroad or from entering upon any career that
the plaintiff desired to enter upon, or that it
was through any protcsSatiops, ipfuenr,, or
request of the defendant that the p'aintiil
failed to go abroad or u enter upon any career
she desired: and be denies hat there was at
any time any agreement contract, OF under
standing of marriage between the plaiItifPnd
the defendant, and the plaintiff Knew during
her entire acquaintance With the defendant
that marriage between the pla. and de-
PENDANT was Impossible.
Within an hour after the filling of
the above document Messrs. Jeremiah
NJ. Wilson and Calderon Carlisle, at
tornevs for Miss Pollard, filed notice of
ioinder of issue, and the cause was put
on the calender for the October term of
the Circuit Court. While it is hardly
probable that the cause will come to
Trial during the next term, such an out
come is not impossible.
The number of cases set for the Oc-
tober term is smaller than it was year
ago while there is the additional adj
vantage by the Encouragement of the
District judiciary of having two Circuit
Courts. The new Court of Appeals also
relieves the justices of their periodic
sittings in general term, which delayed
the regular work very much. Both
sides profess to be ready for trial, so
that it may come sooner than predict
ed by some
Those who cared to express them
selves in the matter of the defendants
plea stated their belief that the defend
ant had in going into details commit
ted grave mistake, for the reason that
it divulged considerably more of the
line of defense than it was safe or wise
to do. The plea, they asserted, should
have been the one said to have been
first contemplated, that of the general
issue, which in the briefest words pos
sible denies the contract or promise,
and in that way discloses no line of
defense. By so fully answering Miss
Pollard's allegations in his plea, it is
believed that the difficulties naturally
attendant upon the defense in a suit
eff this kind have been greatly increas-
ed. It is also stated that the extended
plea gives the plaintiff greater oppor-
tunities of attack haa 81 0 would have
possessed had the plea been one of SIM
pie denial.