Los Angeles herald., 1906-02-02
POSTED LETTERS
STARTLE COURT
HUSBAND ANSWERS CHARGES
OF NEGLECT
Hotel Guests Fed Starving Family,
Divorce Plaintiff Alleges, but
the Accused Says He
Had Reasons

some tiny scraps OF letters, thrown
into a waste basket and afterward
pasted together, proved important evil
dence for the defendant in the sensa-
tional divorce case of Anna Cora
Lewis against James d. Lewis, heard
yesterday before Judge Trask.
The case will be concluded today.
Mrs. Lewis, twice married and
handsome, well-groomed woman, ac-
cused her husband OF alleged acts OF
terrible neglect, She said that she
had wellnigh starved for lack of food
and that her daughter often cried
herself to sleep for want of nourishing
food, while her husband regaled HIM
self. In the cross-complaint the de-
fendant sprang a surprise upon the
pretty plaintiff by producing a dozen
or more letters purporting to have
been written to Mrs. Lewis by Jack
Wilson of Goldfeld, Nevada.
At the close of the session Mrs.
Lewis became hysterical and lay back
in her chair half fainting. To her
counsel she exclaimed: "Those letters
are not genuine. They were cunning
ly put together by Mr.. Lewis for the
purposes Of this case, and It is an
insult and outrage upon my feelings.
Before the case was opened counsel
for the plaintiff asked that all news
paper men be excluded, but the mo-
tion was denied.
Husband Lives Well
Mrs. Lewis, daintily gowned in gray
with a fetching green hat, took the
stand and after telling of their early
married life in Newburyport, Mass,
said that she and her husband moved
to Los Angeles several years ago, and
from the very first he had allowed
her and the little 9-year-old daugh-
ter, Nancy to almost starve.
lit a,,,,,,, fn,, 1N,,f
ter on her bread while my husband
was back east dining and wining his
friends at the Touraine in Boston,"
said the witness.
"That man could have got work #
he had tried, and he indeed told me
that he was at work, but / saw none
of his money.
when at Redondo, he pawned my
engagement ring to get money and
afterwards l had to let my rare
antiques and wedding presents go to
help provide for myself and daughter
He always had money for his nasty
tobacco and his breath often smelled of
liquor when he came home. / have
gone all day without eating, only to
see him come In with q cigar and an
aroma of whisky
Mrs. Lewis said that on the last
occasion that he had visited her he
had offered her a silver dollar, but
she had told him to leave her and
never see her again.
Guests Share Food
On cross examination the plaintiff
admitted that she had lived much Of
the time at Hotel Mum and also at
the Abbotsford inn, but while there
she. said her friends had brought her
food which her husband was not too
proud to share.
'And he always got the lions share,
too,' added the witness.
Didn't your husband try to get work,
madam" was asked.
oh ! don't know about that. He
soil his hands. If ] were a man had
rather dig post holes and work in the
bitches than live on the crusts that
We're doled out to my wife"
Mrs Sarah Muncey, a real estate
woman, told about taking food to Mrs.
Lewis and said that the plaintiff had
been very III at one time and that only
the care of her friends saved her life.
Mrs. Lottie Noyes told of assisting
Mrs. Lewis with money at different
times. Then came the sensation of the
day.
Mr.. Lewis was put on the stand and
shown some pieces of paper,
do you know what these papers
are?" was asked him.
From Waste Scraps
'Yes, they are papers upon which
pasted scraps of letters which found
in the waste basket at the Abbotsford
Inn," was the reply.
The letters were offered in evidence.
They were supposed to be from Mr..
Wilson at Goldfeld and they contained
many endearing epithets and bits of
"reminiscences of former meetings that
were highly sensational.
Meetings at San Pedro were referred
to and lot was said about some pill
lowcases that Mrs. Lewis is alleged to
have sent to her friend at Goldfield.
One letter, in a womans hand, called
the one to whom it was written a
darling" dearest" Sweetheart" and
closed in most affectionate terms.
Besides Offering these alleged letters,
Mr.. Lewis denied all the allegations of
neglect and said he had supported his
wife as well as he could until he found
out certain things that made him leave.
He slaimed that the affections of his
little girl were being alienated from
him d id that Mrs. Lewis was widow
with three children when he married