The San Francisco call., 1898-04-09
CAPTAIN BRANT SEEKS DIVORCE Desertion Is the Ground Alleged for Legal Sep
 aratiOn. Twenty-Five Years of Married Life, but Little Har-
 mOny. Both Parties Are Well Known in Army and Social Cir

On Wednesday last divorce com plaint was filed in the County Clerk office by Louis Philip Brant agalnst Grace Paulding Brant, and back or this legal procedure is story running through several decades and lnvolVlhs the names of prominent warriors and one of the first families of New 1ork Clty- There is nothing sensational in the com plant mere recital of facts, the lcslcai deduction from which is desertion on the part of the wife. and for this Louis Philip Brant prays that court Of Call fornia sever the matrimonial bonds which have united him with Grace Paulding for over twenty-five years.
 Louis Philip Brant is at present cap tain of Company A, First Infantry, U S. A., now stationed at the Presidio. His martial reputation has been earned on the field of battle. and his record as brave and undaunted soldier places him well up. in the lists of American oIncers. His wife also comes from family the men of which have sought the bubble reputation at the cannons mouth. Twenty-Five years ago Grace Pauidns moved in the exclusive and wealthy circles of New York, woman whose hand was sought by the gilded youth and the more substantial specimens or the genus homo. Of her many suitors the fortunate one was the then Lieutenant Brant, just graduated from West Point. He stormed the citadel and carried away the prize in the face of many odds, for Miss Paulding was reared In luxury ana extravaganza and the young lieutenant had nothing to his name but the pay and military title which went with hls shoulder-straps.
 Soon after the marriage Mrs. Brant was left fortune of $200,000. The hus- band was then stationed in New York and the marital relations were all that could be desired. Then came an order Prov {I,o 1na W the lieutenant from the city, where metropolitan refinements and luxuries were a component part of his life, to the frontier, where the Indians were revel. the barracks was not for the wife, and the first estrangement occurred on her refusal to accompany him. Periodically the lieutenant returned to his wife on leaves of absence, but nothing could in duce Mrs. Brant to give up her life in New York. This continued until 1885, when she moved to Paris, making the gay French capital her home. For sev- eral years she remained away from home. On her return to this country she discovered that her fortune, whichh had dissipated by poor investments. But her old existence still went on. General Dodge, the husband of her sister. domi- ciled Mrs. Brant in his home. and the broken.
 For what reasons Captain Brant-for at this time the young officer through good conduct on the frontier had ad- vanced two pegs in the military system does not know, his wife wrote him a con- ciliatory letter expressing wish to live with him, but with the Droviso that he should install her in 9, home in the most fashionable part of San Francisco He was at this time stationed at Angel Isl and. This condition his slender re- muneration at the hands of the Govern ment would not allow him to satisfy, and his answer was made accordingly.
 All relations at this time ceased until several weeks ago, when Mrs. Brant brought an action for divorce in New York City for limited almony. The cap tain responded by bringing a similar ac- ton in this city. The lawyers say that he is out of the jurisdiction of New York; that he is domiciled here and personal service must be brought upon him be- fore the matter can be adjudicated. Both husband and wife are well-known people, the former for his position in the army, the latter for her connection with great military and social families.
 There is one child of the union, a young man, 21 years of age.