The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-03-19
BLUSH'S CHILD WIFE.
Ran Off With a Girl Is Years
Old.
A Most Unhappy Married Life
Being Aired
In the Divorces Court Today-Family
of the Wife Give Testimony.

1oIuSn, d OF ~, IS seeking a S6pdTa-
ton from Walter Blush, a man of 80,
to whom she was married four years
ago. Mrs. Blush left her husband last
July but went back to him in August.
In September she left him for good and
has since been living with her parents
in North Topeka.
The history of the Blush divorce case
is the same as a great number of di-
-vorce cases that have come before Judge
Hazen since he first went on the bench.
A girl of Is ran off with man old
enough to be her father, who had but
recently secured a divorce from anoth-
er woman, and in side of an hour after the
marriage there was a quarrel. From
that time UP to the time she left him,
according to the testimony of the wit
nesses, the greater part of the family
time was taken up in Quarrelling. with
once in while a fistic encounter or a
chase with shotgun thrown in to
break the monotony.
Both Blush and his wife were in the
court room yesterday afternoon, and
prompted their respective attorneys.
The greater part of their married life
was spent on a farm at Silver Lake,
and the spectators were mostly farm
ing people who live in that vicinity.
Mrs. Blush would be pretty if it were
| not for a rather depressed browbeaten
expression that her countenance as
sumes when in repOse, probably the re-
suit of her four years of welded I'M
happiness She is slight of build and
/
trial. Blush wears a fierce black mus
tache, is prone to smile at anything
having tinge of humor, and is not al
together uhprOpOsSeSSing in appear
ance. He seemed to derive great
amusement from the recital of the ms
| and outs of his married career.
The attorneys for Mrs. Blush at
| tempted to prove that Blush was a hab-
ituaI drunkard. worthless and abusive.
It was the endeavor of the attorneys
| for Blush on the other hand to prove
| that Mrs. Blush was the aggreSSOr in
all family unpleasantness and possessed
a temper effective enough to break
| down the patience of a saint
The witnesses for Blush We're mostly
Silver Lake people, and their testimo-
ny was Favorable to the defendant. The
testimony of man named Powers who
| lived in the same house with the Blush
! family, and DR.. Murray, Silver Lake
| physician, are fair examples of all the
| testimony given. The testimony of
| Powers was as follows:
Odd you ever see Blush drunk?
| Al never saw him drunk in my
Q.-Did you frequently see Mr.. and
| Mrs. Blush together after she came
| back last August?
| A--Yes, 1 saw them together quite
| often.
Q.-How did they act after Mrs.
Blush came back?
A.-Well they seemed to think a good
| deal of each other. They walked around
the yard with their arms around each
| other, and appeared to be pretty soft
toward each other.
Q.-Do you know how Mr.. Blush pro-
! vided for his wife after she came back?
A.-Wen, from the stuff he brought
home, I thought they had plenty to eat.
DR.. Murray testified.
Q.-HaVe you ever heard Mrs. Blush
| use any profane language to Mr.. Blush?
A.-On one occasion. yes sir. She
| also said, you ought to be shot
Q.-What did he say back to her?
Al didn't hear him say anything
back.
Q.-How long have you been ac-
| quainted with Mr.. Blush?
A.-Fifteen years. fsfsl
Q.-IS he a habitual drunkard
A.-No, sir, I think not.
Mrs. Norris, the mother of Mrs. Blush,
was the first witness called by her at
| torney.
Q--How old was your daughter when
she was married?
A.-Fifteen years.
Odd you know of her marriage?
A.-Not until she was married. She
ran off with Mr.. Blush and was mar
ried at Platteville, Mo.
Odd you ever visit your daughter
after she moved to Silver Lake?
Ayes, sir, once in awhile.
Q.-How many children has your
daughter had?
A.-TWO. l was with her when her
last child was born
Q.-How was she provided for at that
time?
A.-Not very we'll I thought her
husband was providing a heap less for
her than when they were married.
Odd you ever speak to him about
providing for his wife?
Ayes, 1 talked with him quite
often. When I would talk to him
about getting something to eat, he
would say: Let her eat 'taters" Some
times when 1 went to the house and
found there wasn't much to cat,I would
go out and kill one of his game chick
ems. This always made him mad, and
he would tear around.
Odd you ever hear Blush use Nn-
decent language to your daughter?
Ayes. He was always quarreling
with her I don't think he had good
sense most of the time, because the
whisky he drank got his head ratified.
He kept liquor about him and drank
all the time.
Miss Maude Norris, a sister of Mrs.
| Blush was the next witness called.
Miss Norris is a pretty. modest looking
young lady, and appeared to feel sadly
out of place on the witness stand.
Odd you ever visit at your Sis
ter's home?
Ayes, sir.
Q.-What was the fact about Blush
drinking when you were there?
A-Well he always had whisky and
always drank it
your sister?
Ayes, sir.
Q.-what would be the provocation?
A-Why she would ask him to chop
wood or get groceries, and he would
get mad and curse and abuse her.
Odd he ever abuse you?
Ayes, sir. went to my sisters
house one day and found him lying on
the floor dead drunk. told him to
get up and he told me to go to -.
Odd you ever see him strike your
sister?
A-No. but I heard him say he would
mash her face.
Mrs. Blush was next called to the
stand. Her testimony ran as follows:
Q.-When were you married?
A.-The first of April, 1893.
Q.-How old were you?
A.-Fifteen.
Q.-How long were you married be-