Waterbury Democrat., 1902-12-12

NOOAS III iAaAAo NAlJ forty-two last year. That is, all that were heard were granted, with the possible exception of one. The infer ence from this is that this city is a pretty good place to marry in and just as good to live in. Whether it is that the city being off the main line of rail- road travel or that there are not so many enticements to break the matri- monial bond as there may be in other places, it is certainly a matter of pride that there were less diyorces granted in this city than in any other city in the state this year. ....
 Excepting very few of those heard this year the petitioners were women. This is not singular, in the view taken by lawyers, notwithstanding that the ordeal they may have to undergo on the witness stand is, to say the very least, quite severe. Every incident in the life of a petitioner for divorce from the time she was married to the time she appears i'll court with herNpe- tition is liable to be inquired into, and very often is. Usually she is drilled by her lawyer as to how she shall ap- pear in court, present her story to the judge, and various other matters that may not count for much i'll the gen eraI event but in detail must be taken care of. Not little depends upon the trial judge, for some are very care ful about granting divorccs and others seem to be satisfied with a general story e the case. Others question and question the petitioner and the witnesses and on the slightest discrep- ancy will order the case continued from week to week until every detail rpL,r, q fit into each other without the slight est chance of breakdown happening.
 X point that enters largely into the attorneys consideration of the case is the costume his client should wear on the day the case is set down for hear ing. During the present term of the court a lawyer had what he called a severe turn the day the case of young woman client arrived. Some time before, the judge had remarked that some Of the divorce cases that had come before him seemed to have been prepared in a haphazard way and should not have been tried until the at torneys engaged had everything>in con- nection with them fully and properly arranged. The petitioner in the case in question was a young woman, unus- ually good looking. \ few days be- fore the day for the hearing it occurred to the lawyer that he had not heard his fair clients story, so he sent for her to call at his office immediately. She told her story to him. It was a love story from start to finish, ending with an elopement plain and simple. All this happened in this town, except the climax to the elopement which took place in Tennessee, where the couple lived just a few months longer than the honeymoon lasted, when the bride returned home heartbrOken. The lawyer was satisfied that if the count would not ask where the mar riage took place in the south all would go well with him. At last the day for the hearing arrived and the moment the lawyer stepped inside the court room door he saw what seemed to be a very large bouquet among number of women. A closer look showed the bouquet was a ladys hat and under it beamed the face of Ghis client The sight struck terror to his heart If the court ever saw that hat it would be all up with his case. He felt confident there was not court in the country that would grant his eli ent a divorce as long as she wore that L. and ashes, indicating a wounded heart, Iacerated feelings and disappointed hopes, here she was dressed as though she was again a bride. -@
 Quietly her counsel informed her to get home as fast as she could and re- turn in black of the deepest dye. Pale and heavy-hearted she looked when she took the stand, and though the court hovered very closely around the vital question, why was she married in the south if she had lived with her parents here. it WAS not asked and she was granted decree.
 Sometimes, women, who generally make better witnesses than men. feel go confident and secure in their pre- pared tale of woe, they lose the thread of their story and get hope1essly con fused in the most important thing, the dates of the several happenings alleged in their petitions.
 There is a saying in legal lore that g woman never gets @ divorce but to marry some other man, and this was borne out not long ago. 4 young wo- man employed In a laundry was di- vcrced in the afternoon and that even ing she got married again. But there is a record better than this. When tEe superior court used to be held in the present city court room woman, after getting her decree. met a man in the corridor, where he had been await ing her. Together they went direct into the town clerks office. obtained a marriage application, and half an hour later were married.
 Judge Cowell holds the record for getting divorces. though as a general thing he does not practice in court. Tn the days just alluded to above he one day obtained three decrees in twelve minutes. But, as has been said above, it all depends upon the judge.
 Occasionally women weep on the stand when the scenes of hardship and suffering they have experienced are again before them. On such occasions there is nothing to do but whit until the emotion has passed. The memory or happy days. blissful expectations, serene hope and comfort arise before her. She remembers the gay party at the wedding breakfast, and the noisy but happy send-off she was given at the deDot when starting on her bridal