Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-08-19
Lieut.. Commander Rodney Responds
to Wife's Suit for Divorce.
ALSO PRESENTS A CROSS BILL
Tells Story of His Marriage With
Margaret Edith Owen.
PART PLAYED BY TELEGRAM


commander, United States navy, retired.
Annes Church. Dufferin street, Toronto,
November 3, 1900. In his answer and cross
bill to his wife's petition for divorce, which
he placed On record this afternoon, Lieut..
Commander Rodney asserts that the mar
rage was brought about through tele
gram from the petitioner, which lured him
thereto, as follows:
Dear Robert: All trust and love. Come
at once. Margaret"
His reply was: with whom do the mer-
maids firt? With the swels of the ocean,"
Yet they soon iopelessly quarreled over
her having brought along Miss Cole. with
whom, he says, his wife insisted
stantly asseciating. not only all day, but
all night. to the complete exclusion Of the
husband
How came he to marry her. anyhow
sets forth the retired naval paymaster in
his cross bill. 1T because of the
union of the titled families Of Owen and
Rodney in England many years past; and
he was influenced ny the fascinating memo
ries of his early youth there. But this
Margaret Edith Owen (see Burke's Peer
age) came to Canada when child, and
was raised apart from the gentle condi-
tons of her ancestry"
Lieutenant Commander Rodney declares
to the court that his wife does not wish a
divorce unless it carries alimony
She has alimony on the BRAIN he con-
tends, and she says, Were she ever to
bear a girl infant she will have it christ
ened Alimonia, to commemorate the tri-
umphs OF her beauty and magnetism ="
The Suit for maintenance.
1t will be recalled that several months
ago Mrs. Rodney filed suit against her hus-
band to compel him to provide for her
maintenance. During the tendency of the
suit he was required to pay her S45 a
month. The proceedings were ultimately
dismissed, however. at the instance of Mrs
Rodney, the explanation being that the
parties had reached an agreement out Of
court. The troubles of the pair were again
called to the attention of the court the 3Oth
OF last month, when Mrs. Rodney asked
that she be granted an absolute divorce.
She appealed for alimony pendente lite and
after a hearing Justice Clabaugh of the
Supreme Court Of the District of Columbia
the 10th instant, renewed her allowance of
SO month.
Additional Charges.
Lieutenant Commander Rodney charges
mat his wife's utterances and practices have
been and are that "a husband has no rights
whatever and that wife is always to be
supported to the utmost expense possible,
and without her having a thought of keep
ing any vows performing any duties or
rendering any equivalent whatever. That
is, marry man, however kindly and low
ing and patient and virtuous, and then
n,
wifely duty and do nothing but SANDER
plumber, betray and ruin him. All which
extreme cruelty the plaintiff has wickedly
done, and to her utmost opportunity"
During the temporary almony period,
which ended April Is last, so the defendant
maintains, his wife expended on strangers
the alimony wrung month by month, under
alternative of the prison, from her de-
serted betrayed and outraged husband"
1t was cruelty in the extreme of baseness
he asserts. Furthermore, 1t Is stated. by
har duct Aln n rn1 Inn
the generosity and trustfuness Of which
had been so freely displayed toward her.
According to Lieutenant Commander Rod
ney, he was a martyr to his wife's deliber-
ate cruelty and heartlessness and declares
she said her only use for him was to sup
ply her with money, and she strained mer-
CHESS ingenuity and persistence of provo
cation to snatch legal occasion against
him.
Makes General Denial.
In his answer 20 Mrs. Rodney's petition
for divorce, the defendant makes general
denial of her accusations of cruelty and
failure to properly provide for her The
cross bin is fled he says, to protect him
self. He adds that he Is q member of the
church and opposed to divorce on prin-
ciple, and simply Is acting under the ad-
vice of his attorney
Briefly" says Lieut.. Commander Rod
ney, referring to his wife. she is a beau
tifui devil" He goes ON to say, however that
1t Is with sorrow aid despair that the cross
bill is brought, for he dearly loves her
Still, he adds, she, being possessed of an
ungovernable and satanic temper and losing
control of it at the least chance, and with
out any provocation whatsoever, and with
out fault on the part of this defendant. has
Deen guilty or extreme cruelty in that
commencing Immediately after their mar
riage, she has always treated this defendant
in said manner"
The defendant points ont that his wffe's
petition has to support it only two little
loving letters of her husband. He charac-
terlzes as the very refinement of her
cruelty, heartlesshess and shamelessness"
the action of "a wife, the supreme GUS
todtan Of a husbands honor" who. wan
tOnly, runs to lawyers and the court and
the public with that husbands confidential
love letters, relating to nothing else than
his ardent love for her.
Alleged Premium on Weakness.
In concluding his cross bill, Lieutenant
Commander Rodney takes occasion to state
to the court las fact terribly pertinent
hereto, that alimony is simply a standing
premium the law offers for wifely weak
ness. treachery and worthiessness But
for its seductions. his beloved wife would
not have fallen, nor have deserted him. He
does not presume to say here that aIimouy
is widely demoralizer of Iriatrimony; but
this much is both certain and relevant
that it has wrecked and destroyed his own
ma rried life q.
Lieutenant Commander Rodney asks the
court TO grant him a divorce on the al
leeeo sfOdA0 OF Cfuei treatment OF MIN by
his wife. He Is represented by Attorneys
Devices & Devices.
AT the instance Of Attorney NJ. j. Colbert
OF counsel for Mrs. Rodney, Justice Bar
nara this afternoon signed order IL
recting Lieut.. Commander Rodney to show
cause the 23d instant why he should not
be adjudged In contempt of court for hav-
Ing failed to pay his wife an allowance Of
alimony due the 10th instant.
Sudden Death of q BOY.
Malvin Burton, colored, aged thirteen
Years died very snddenIy In Cardozo,s drug