Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-10-11
The Lindsay Divorce Case.

Howard E. Lindsay, a former
resident of Ironton, and well known
here, is sueing for a divorce in the
st. Louis courts. The following
from last Fridays Globe-Democrat
will be of local interest: "Sur-
prises developed so fast yesterday
at the trial of the suit of
Howard E. Lindsay of 2655 Wash
ington avenue for divorce from
Josephine Lindsay, which she is
contesting on a cross bill, that
Judge Reynolds exclaimed from
the bench: 'Mr. Sheriff, excuse
all witnesses in this case from
further attendance; let them get
into the pure air and sunshine of
heaven and away from such talk
as they have been subjected to,
through process of law, for several
days. Judge Reynolds stated that
with all his heart he wished the
New York statutes forbidding wit
nesses and spectators at such trials,
except upon order of court, were
in force in Missouri. 'There has
been some able-bodied lying here,'
he said, mixed with a few grains
of truth. If all the witnesses had
tried to tell the truth, as did the
good old mother of the plaintiff,
this case would have been finished
long ago. At 4 o'clock P. M, when
the testimony for Mrs. Lindsay
had been finished, Louis D. Good
man, attorney for Lindsay, placed
Mrs. Lulu Burge on the stand.
She had not proceeded far before
it became apparent to Judge Rey-
nolds that Goodman intended to
prove by the witness that Mrs.
Lindsay had been guilty of i'm
proper conduct with a man in Mrs.
Burgess house in July, 1903. The
petition alleged misconduct with
one man only. what do you
mean by this, Mr.. Goodman de-
manded Judge Reynolds. This
is no place for new testimony; you
should have introduced this wit
ness in your case in chief Good
man insisted that he did not know
what the witness would testify to
until it was too late for her direct
examination, and that under the
statutes and the allegations in the
petition he had a right to put the
woman on the stand. 'All right,
responded Judge Reynolds, you
have started this, and warn you
now that l am going to open the
door and hear it all Mrs. Burge
testified that Mrs. Lindsay and a
man had been guilty of improper
conduct in her house, July 8, 1903.
She said she saw them through a
crack in the door. Walter Thomas
was later put on the stand, and
corroborated the Burge woman's
testimony. He said he was a
manufacturer of corn remedies.
"A what?' Judge Reynolds asked.
Thomas repeated his answer, ald
Judge Reynolds wheeled in his
chair and asked: do you mean
that you are a corn doctor?'
Thomas replied in the affirmative
During the testimony Of Thomas
it developed that there was a dis
crepancy between the dates of the
marriage of the Lindsays and the
birth of their child. Lindsay
seemed uncertain about dates, and
Judge Reynolds told his attorney
that if the facts that seemed to ex-
ist had been brought out at the
proper time the case might have
taken different turn. Mrs. Lind
say was recalled to the witness
chair, and testified that she came
to st. Louis from Perryville, Mo-.
in the summer of 1908 and was en-
gagged by Lindsay's mother as a
servant at 2651 Washington ave-
nue.. Lindsay, she said, took hel
out the second night she was at
his mothers house, and had been
going with her ever since. The
marriage ceremony, she said, was
performed July II, 1904. Mrs.
Lindsay, ST., of 1851 Washington
avenue, whom Judge Reynolds re-
ferred to as 'the good old mother
of the plaintiff testified that she
knew nothing of her sons mar
riage until the day before Mrs
Lindsay brought the child to hel
house. She also said her daugh-
ter-law was very untidy and did
not know the first principles Of
housekeeping. She said her daugh.
ter-in-law asked her, after the
separation of the couple, if she
would adopt the child, with under
standing that the mother should
have it after the grandmother
death, to which she replied, 81 will
have talk to my son about that"
Mrs. Lindsay, Jr., also testified
that she asked the grandmother to
adopt the child. Among the wit
nesses who testified that they had
never seen any improper conduct
between Mrs. Lindsay and the CO.
respondent named in the husbands 's
petition, many of whom had lived
at the Lindsay home on Wash
ington avenue, were: Mrs. Weis,
a sister of Mrs. Lindsay, Jr.; Mr..
and Mrs. Charles Earl, Mrs. Scott,
Mr.. and Mrs. Michael and Mrs.
Pauline, with whom Mrs. Lindsay
now rooms. At the close of the
defendants testimony, Louis D.
Goodman, Lindsay's attorney,
stated that he went to the Lindsay
home Wednesday night and ex-
amined the gimblet hole in the
door through which Lindsay says
he watched his wife, and that he
would like to testify. Take the
stand and 60 ahead Judge Rey-
nolds said Gnndnnan tastifiad that