Los Angeles herald., 1905-11-23
-FOUR TIMES WE'D;
THRICE DIVORCED
MUCH MARRIED WOMAN SEEKS
ANOTHER SEPARATION
Wife Alleges Cruelty and Husband Re-
plies by Charging InfIoeIity-case
One Of the Most sensa-
tonal In Years

After more than six months of argu-
ment between contending attorneys,
| the petition of Mrs. Emma A. Elder
ton for divorce from her husband,
w. G. Elderton, was given a hearing
before Judge Oster in department three
of the superior court yesterday.
I1lderton, the husband, is proprietor
of the Boston restaurant and manager
of the Hiawatha lodging house. He is
fighting the case bitterly, and It Is ex-
peeted the hearing will take several
days.
According to Eldertons allegations,
his wife has the divorce habit. Four
times she has been married and as
many times an applicant for divorce.
Her first husband was named Mat
hews. He was a prominent business
man of Newton, Kan, and he lived
with his wife eight years.
The second marital venture of Mrs.
1Glderton was when she met Sam jack
son, railroad engineer. Jackson is
at present in Los Angeles, and it is
understood the attorneys for Elderton
will produce Jackson as one Of their
witnesses.
Scored by Second Husband
His deposition is in part as follows:
'I met the woman in Newton, Kan.
She was riding o bicycle, and as she
was nicely dressed and looked good to
me, [ spoke to her and went to the
house with her. I called often and at
last our acquaintance became so init
mate that 1 consulted some of my
friends, and they advised me to marry
her, which I did.
"From that time on my life was
n he'll on earth. There was nothing
that woman didn't do to annoy me.
She was the most jealous woman
4 1-.gA Nr lNA
barber shop but what she would fol-
low me and wait for me on the out
side. She even made me buy her
tickets over the road, so that she
could watch me constantly
"If she had been true to me it
wouldn't been so bad, but she went to
see a friend of hers, who lived in
South Dakota. She stayed there three
weeks, and, as / was informed, she
was visiting mold sweetheart.
"At last we had a row because I
would not let her accompany me to
the barber shop and she threatened
to brain me with poker and I knocked
her down."
Mrs. Elderton's third husband was a
newspaper man. He lived with her
at various intervals for two years,
and then he also went away and she
got third divorce and alimony.
Elderton married her last November
and in May she 1. ed suit for divorce,
alleging cruelty. Her husband imme-
diately filed cross complaint, alleging
almost every act of marital infidelity
on the calendar.
Restricted Wife's Appetite
He named a young real estate man
of Los Angeles as correspondent to one
OF his charges. He secured an order
of the court restraining his wife from
eating more than 25 cents worth of
food when she visited his restaurant.
Later he appealed to the court for
some sort of protection, alleging his
wife threatened to kill him and cursed
him twelve minutes by the clock.
Mrs. Elderton took the stand yester-
day in her own behalf and told the
court that Elderton had abused her and
had struck her in the face. She fur
ther alleged he had bored gimlet holes
in the walls of her room through
which he would peek and watch her.
The case will be continued today and
evidence of all kinds and descriptions
will be produced to complete the most
notorious divorce case ever tried in a
legal court.