The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-12-30
O'BRIEN DIVORCE CASE
Prosecutor Gourley Tells of the
High Kicking Antics of
Father Hickey.

Prosecutor William Gourley of Passaic
county began his argument before Vice
Chancellor Green at Chancery Chambers
yesterday afternoon, for Thomas O'Brien of
Passaic City. who is suing for divorce from
his wife Margaret, charging her with inf
deity,
Ex-senator John William Griggs Of Pat
erson appeared for Mrs. O'Brien. This is
the suit in which the Rev. Father Thomas
Hickey of Passaic played so important a
part. The parties live in that city, and
when Thomas O'Brien was in New York
attending to his extensive liquor
business there, the reverend priest
was visiting his wife, and as
Thomas swears, ~''indulged in high kicking
and whiskey from night until morning.
Father Hickey admitted the whiskey, but
kicked at the charge of high kicking. An
other person mixed up in the suit is a young
man named Oakley Wood, son of a T. r. r.
yardmaster in Jersey City, and once a pupil
of the High School here, He was accused
with Father Hickey of trying to teach Mrs.
O,Brien the art of putting out the gas with
your toe II drinking whiskey from ''dewy
eve til rosy morn.n Then another man of the
name of Sullivan was charged with undue
familiarity, and these formed the trio whom
Prosecutor VIM. Gourlcy of Paterson, coun-
sci for Mr.. O'Brlen, raked over the
Goals in a severe croSs-examination
some months ago. On that occasion
O1Brien produced a female detective, Mrs.
Simon, who had Swallowed his wife. This
interesting creature, possessed of nearly $50
lbs. of female loveliness, wormed herself
into the un%suspecting Mrs. O'Brien's conf
dence, drank whiskey with her and Father
Hickey, and even was rash enough to at
tempt the high kicking, and then let out
everything to Husband Tom, who had paid
her handsomely for her services.
MR.. GoURLEY'S ARGUMENT.
Mr. Gourley recited the allegations
against the wife and three correspondents,
and ridiculed the statement made by the
opposite side that the witnesses who OBJ
served the antics of the parties in the whis
key-drlnking, high-kicking bouts referred to,
were paid. Counsel next proceeded to dis
miss the evidence denying the charges.
Concerning one witness, Murphy, who is
now a conductor on a motor in this city, but
who, at the time of the trial in Jersey City,
posed as a law student with Counsellor James
D. Manning, guardian of one Of the CO.
respondents, Mr.. Gourley said:-sThat
miraculous young man, Murphy, committed
absolute perjury on the stand, and | can't
find words sufficient to characterize his
black crime"
Then turning to the main facts in the
case, Mr.. Gourley eontended that the charge
of adultery had been amply proven by the
testimony of people in the neighborhood.
why, sir, this priest had a latch key to
to Mrs. OBrien's housed Just think of it q
latch key! Then, whenever this man in
priestly garb visited the house, it was when
Thomas OBrien was away, and then this
man Hickey sneaked along in the shadow of
the fence, and tried to step into Mrs.
O'Brien's house unperceived by the neigh
bors.
"Then as to this reverend gentleman's per-
%for1nances in the moral fantastic terpsi-
chorean exercises: this clergyman who hangs
up his priestly garb in another mans house:
this man who steals in at night and steals
out in the morning; this man who perjures
himself, is such a creature, who mocks all re-
ligious feeling by kissing the word of God in
this court, is he to be believed?D
Counsel then summed up, asking for a de-
cree of divorce to "a man tied by an ever
dragging chain to an unfaithful woman.n
THE DEFENSE.
Ex-senator Griggs then summed up for
Mrs. O'Brien. He gave an utter denial to
all the compliments charges and set up
that that these were cooked up. He con
tended that the witnesses against the wife
were of bad character and the husband had
bribed witnesses to swear to trumped III
charges. O'Brien, counsel said, had beaten
his wife and then left her, and started in to
rake up charges against her chastity. He
wanted to get rid of her and told detectives
whom he had bribed that he wanted a di-
vorce, and if anyone OF them would swear
that he had seen his wife in a compromising
position he would give him 81 1000. This was
the rascal's offer.
Counsel entered infinitely into the charges
and insisted that each one of them had fallen
to the ground. The case was then sub
InIff0d M