Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-03
STORY Of CRUELTY
IS TOLD IN COURT
WOMAN RELATES MANY ACTS
OF BRUTALITY
Wife of Railroad Man Is Granted a
Divorce After Reeounting Many
Inhuman Deeds on Part
Of Husband

Following the trial Of one Of the most
remarkable divorce cases in the history
of the local courts Mrs. q. r. Metcat
of Sunset boulevard yesterday was
granted an interlocutory decree Of di-
vorce from Harry Metcalf by Judge
Monroe i'm department six of the supe-
rior court on the ground of cruelty.
The allegations set forth In the cruel
ty charges. which were contested by
the husband. were astonishing.
The couple were married in Los An
geles some years ago and now have
two children. The husband Is an en-
ploye of the Southern Pacific. He Is
out on desert runs for the greater part
of the time. while for the past year
Mrs. Metcalf has conducted a millinery
establishment at her home.
So strenuous was the alleged cruelty
of the husband that on three different
occasions, according to the allegations
of the wife, she filed suit for divorce,
only to withdraw the suits for the
sake of her two little children
In her testimony yesterday Mrs.
Metcalf stated that her husband, after
returning from his trips to the desert
was often in an i'll humor. She testi-
fed that on one occasion Metcalf tied
a string around his little boys throat
and threatened to choke the youngster.
He was further ALLEGED to have beaten
the little girl in the face.
Millinery Girls Annoyed
"The establishment of the millinery
department seemed to have an i'll effect
upon my husband" was the statement
of the woman.
"He would arrive home and sauce
the girls l had employed there. He
would tell them that they did not know
how to trim hats and that any one
could do better work than they did.
On one occasion, when the girls COM
planned that it was too cold in the
room where they were. working, my
husband said he would make 1t warm
enough for them, and he promptly
filed the stove with coal and made the
room so fearfully hot that the girls
drenched out the fire with water and
raised all the windows. so that it was
too cold for them to stay in the room.
whenever he would eat breakfast
in the room and any of the girls hap
pened to be around he would get very
cross.
"He alleges that we worked in his
bedroom and that he could not sleep
as he wanted to, but that is mistake,
because he had his choice of any room
in the house.
Most of the time he was fussing
and frequently he would come home
intoxicated. l told him that he ought
<
settle down, but he said he was gam
bling every night and making money
that way. so that he could make more
money when he was drunk than when
he was sober. He told me he caught a
sucker nearly every day.
Had to Kill a Chnaman
"One night he came home and he
was so intoxicated he could not go
farther, so I said l would let him stay
there if he would let me lock him in
his room. He consented but said that
he must be awakened at II o'clock, be-
cause at that time he would be COM
PEELED to kill Chinaman.
HE frequently cursed me, beat me
and kicked me, and on one occasion,
after having thrown me over the back
of a chair. he left me to lie where I had
fallen and refused to get a physician
to attend to me.
~Often when l had prepared the meal
he would slip down and eat 1t all up
before we had chance to eat any of
the food"
One of the witnesses against Metcalf
was a servant formerly in his wefe's
employ.
When Metcalf was called to the stand
he stated that the servant had been
employed against his wishes when he
could not afford to keep girl and that
when he discharged the girl she refused
to go, saying she was working for Mrs.
Metcalf
He stated that the girl never left
the house until the baby caught the
measles and the girl contracted the
disease and was compelled to leave
and go to the hospital.
Following the recitation Of all the
allegations of cruelty, many of which
Metcalf answered, Judge Monroe
granted the woman a decree of divorce
and stated that she would be allowed
to keep the children.
He removed the restraining order re-
Gently issued against the husband and
warned the parties to keep away from
each other in the future, in order to
avoid trouble.