The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1904-02-25

dlted eHuSlve love letters to the plain
tiff, telling her how constantly he
thought of her while awake and how
he dreamed of her while asleep, touch
ingly adding, while | am tossed t6
and fro on THIS wide ocean, | love thee
STILL"
Yet notwithstanding all this the mad
lover broke off his engagement.
The plaintiffs ''courting'' was fully
as successful as had been that of the
defendant, for she recovered a judg
ment for 81, 800.
In a Vermont case the plaintiff and
defendant were neighbors, and the de
PENDANT paid neighborly visits to the
plaintiffs family. 1t was shown that
these visits were at first to the entire
family and that they were gradually
narrowed until they were confined tC
the plaintiff alone. This fact, together
with the proof that during the periods
of the defendants visits lights were
frequently seen burning in the parlol
on Saturday and Sunday evenings and
some other circumstances, led the jury
to find for the plaintiff.
A very cruel case occurred in Michi-
gan. A man who strange to relate
bore the name of Constant while en-
gagged in counting had his financial eye
open and borrowed money from the
lady. On his last visit to her he re-
newed his notes for one and two years
,;<oJ al
er girl The court held that it was
proper to allow proof of this money
transaction, holding that ''an engage
ment broken off suddenly and without
warning would very naturally create
more pain and modification than if
ended under any other circumstances,
and if a jury were to regard this con-
duct concerning money matters as cal
culated, under the circumstances, to
have caused additional grounds of pain
or grievance to the defendant in error,
we think they would not be violating
ordinary probabilities
Where the defendant asked the hand
of the lady in the presence Of the lat
ter'S mother, who consented, and the
lady said nothing and the defendant
thereupon gently took the hand of the
mother and touchingly said, Hence
forth consider me as your son." it was
held sufficient proof Of the lady's con-
sent, and in New York case the lady
was permitted to show that she had
procured a wedding dress and had
gone so far as to get wedding cake,
as showing her acceptance, while in
Iowa the plaintiff was allowed to prove
in support of her acceptance that she
was making preparation for her mar
rage 'piecing quilts and doing fancy
work, and that when she heard Of de-
PENDANTS marriage ''she hated it aw-
full BAD
While the law makes it easy to prove
a proposal by the gentleman and equal
~ easy to show that the lady accepted,
when it comes to evidence showing a
release on the part of the lady the proof
must be strong to sustain the defense.
In one case a bachelor of fifty-three
had been paying his respects to a
maiden of forty-three summers for the
unlucky period of thirteen years. Dur
ing all this time she declared to others
that she would never marry him and
spoke of him in terms of derision and
contempt. After thirteen years of
courtship the bachelor summoned suf-
ficient courage to propose and was
promptly accepted. After the engage
ment he heard of the double dealings
of the maid and refused to marry her.
The court held it was no defense to the
action, although it might go in mitiga-
ton Of damages.
In a Pennsylvania case the lady
wrote the defendant letter in which
she said: 81 don't want you, for know
that I would have devils life of it.
If you were any kind of gentleman,
you would not act as you have. pray
night and day that you may never
prosper in this world. just pray for
every hair in yeur head to come out. "
And yet she recovered judgment for
$4,000.
In looking beneath the surface for
the reason for this verdict it is quite
evident that the jury believed that the
lady was goaded to desperation by the
attentions of her fiance to her rival
and that she did not in fact mean to
say that she did not want to marry
him ana did not really desire that he
lose all his hair, for in her letter she
says cruelty Of her rival, ''Well, if
am poor / do not wear the one hat for
five or six years, like she does, and
turn it hind part before, like she does.'
Under the weight Of authority, then,
if a party does not want to find him.
self in the eyes of the law an engaged
man he must look we'll to his daily
walk and conversation. for if he has
so conducted himself as to be estopped
from denying the engagement he will
have difficult problem to convince a
judge and jury that the lady has duly
released him.-Green Bag.
Wine Bath.