The herald., 1896-09-01
CLARK'S KINDERGARTEN
Suing Dellnquents for Assessments on
Street Work by Wholesale
The Providencia Water Company Seeking to
Recover Some Valuable Land
Frank Bequette Has q Grievance Against the
City Poiice-Evangeiist johnson, Of Fresno
Fame in the United States Court.
The Sontag Capture

whenever man announces his In
tention of suing a woman for breach
Of promise of marriage, the public in
dulges in a chuckle in the imbecility of
any mans imagining that any Jury could
be got together that would be foolish
enough to award him even one cent of
damages. Also, when a man sues his
wife for support the world looks on
wags it's wise head and thinks the poor
fellow might do better with his money,
such as he may have, than give it to an
attorney to make an impossible fight.
And yet it is a poor law that won't
work both ways, and there are cases
where the man suffers very real hard
ship.
suit Is now in the courts wherein
Samuel W. Livingston is suing his wife,
Mary A. Livingston, for support. These
are aged folks, he being SO years old and
his wife 79 years, and until recently both
resided at Pasadena.
1t appears that the couple were mar
fled in Minneapolis in 1881, when Mrs.
Livingston was divorce in possession
of $4,000 which she had received from her
divorced husband. Mr. Livingston pos
sessed only about $4,000. The wife's money
was well invested, while the husbands S
was in the bank, so it was agreed that
the $4,000 to be utilized first. After coming
to California he got nice little place
and, presuming that he had some inter-
est in it, filed a declaration of home
stead. From thence on his home, as
ne alleges, was anything but paradise.
Mrs. Livingston has insisted upon hav-
ing her daughter, by her first marriage,
to live with her. This daughter. Mrs
E. Wheeler by name, is firm believer
in the Ralston health cure, and as she
ran the household she concocted so many
curious compounds as to put the old
gentleman's stomach to severe strain
He claims that she and her mother
tried to provoke him in every way
possible in order that he might clear
out.
Last March he instituted proceedings
for divorce on the ground of cruelty,
but his counsel advised him that while
it seemed certain that he would get his
divorce all right, under the California
law it would most likely be held that all
the property was separate property of
the wife, and that there was no COM
munity property, in which case he would
be penniless. For this reason Mr.. Liv-
ingston had the action dismissed.
Previous to this, however, in February,
Mrs. Livingston swore to a complaint
charging her husband with being in
sane. He was brought into court for
examination and was discharged. About
May the old man discovered that his
wife had employed DR.. J. S. Hodge to
examine him by stealth for the purpose
of having that insanity charge substan-
tiated somehow.
The home was getting too much of
hot house for the old man; there was
too forcing climate about it. This
seemed particularly true when he was
forced to go into the garden and do a
good days work among the flowers and
shruberry. Things reached a crisis when
the daughter, Mrs. WHEELER, nearly scald-
ed him by pouring hot water into a
tub that was r6stng close to his chair
The steam choked him, and this was
one of many tricks adopted for his
especial discomfort. He quit the house
then and is being supported by friends
Mr.. Livingston asks that inasmuch
as his means have been swept into the
common purse that the court compel
his wife to grant him SIS month, that
in his old age he might not be reduced
to penury and dependent upon strangers
for support.
The matter was transferred by Judge
Clark to Department Three.