Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-01


which sowned by Henry Phipps and is
one of the finest hotels In the state, as
serted Mrs. Hartje had never visited
tbe hotel either alone or in company
with a man. Mrs. Hartje said she had
never been I'm the place. Hartje was
ordered by the court to place the name
of the correspondent in his bill on the
record He refused to do so, and later
backed down completely. lie has not
attempted to present any of this evil
dence in the trial His attorneys an
nounced that he had decided to aban-
don it because the evidence, If submit
ted. would simply result In disgraclng
two more families and be the beginning
of two more divorce suits. They did
not wish to stir up such scandal, they
explained Then the innocent public
asked why Hartje was so careful or
the honor of these families when he
had damned his own by naming a negro
as correspondent In his divorce case,
when he declared he could name re-
spected white men of his own social
standing.
The case having come to trial. Hartje
is standing solely on the ground of the
alleged intimacy of his wife with Tom
Nadine. His attorneys produced a
great bundle of letters purporting to be
from Mrs. Hartje to Nadine. They
beyond doubt if genuine, that Mrs
Hartje was not only guilty. but insane
as we'll Not only did they seek to
prove the guilt of the respondent. but
they dragged in her sisters as well
and laid them UP as assisting this
wealthy woman in carrying on her II
lcit love with an ignorant stable hand.
on these letters hinge all Hartje's hope
for a divorce. After all the horrible
charges he made against his wife he
fallen back on this documentary evil
dence." Mrs. Hartje denies having
written them, Nadine denies having re-
ceived them, and handwriting experts
declare that they are forgeries.
Mrs. Hartje's defense is based on the
charge that this is a gigantic conspir-
acy. She will produce witnesses that
Hartje threatened to ruin her life If
she persisted in her application for
divorce. Even UP to the beginning of
the trial he sought to settle the case
out of court. but John Scott, father
of Mrs. Hartje, said:
"If 1t takes every dollar l have in
the world well fight this case through.
The charges this man has made
against my daughter cannot be wiped
off the record by settlement out of
court. This is not merely a fight for
my own child; it is battle for Ameri-
can womanhood Every man in
America who has a wife. sister or
a daughter is interested in the out
come of this case. | will not allow
my daughter to settle it even If she
would, and she would not"
The cost of the trial will be enormous.
Watson & Freeman, chief counsel for
Mrs. Hartje, is law firm of interna-
tional repute. David T. Watson, head
of the firm, was attorney for the United
States in the Alaskan boundary claim. |
Patterson. st rrett & ACheson, also for
Mrs. Hartje, are almost as well known, |
at least in western Pennsylvania. The |
lawyers fees will be a good-sized for |
tune. Then the detective agency which |
has been constantly at work for Mrs. |
Hartje since last summer will cost not
less than $5000O. There has not been
a time in all these months when there
was not at least seven men working
under the direction of Gilbert B. Per-
kins, gathering evidence for Mrs. |
Hartje. Some have said it will cost
Jchn Scott his entire fortune. He is
worth probably $25O,000. If it takes
every cent and he clears his daughters |
name he will be happy. "Tll just go
to work again in my old age" he said. |
Hartje is heartily sick of it, He has |
lost at least twenty-five pounds since
the case began last summer. He is |
almost a physical and nervous wreck. |
Hartje is said to regret now that he
did not agree to a separation when his
wife first left his house. This trial will |
cost him as much or more than he |
would have had to pay before he ever
made the charges he filed.
Despite the revolving allegations |
made by her husband, to say anytt ing |
against the character of Mary Scott |
Hartje in a group of men in Pittsburg |
Is almost certain to precipitate trouble |
Even women, who are generally most |
ready to condemn a sister who has |
erred, are with her. Pittsburg believes |
in her innocence and expects her tri-
lmphant vindication