The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-11-08

Malakoff avenue property The divorce proceedings, counsel said were due to the evil counsel of mischief makers. and es-
 pecially to the machinations of Edmond Kelly, the American lawyer, whose ob- ject was to obtain a big fee. Without adverse influences, counsel was sure the
 countess would return to her husband.
 Classes Them as Comedy.
 As for the tales of servants and chauf-
 feurs Maitre Bonnet said he classed such evidence mere declarations not made un-
 der oath. as d comedy, and consequently he insisted on the examination of wit
 nesses. which would permit the tribunal to judge of their creditabilty. M Bon
 net protested indignantly against the bit terness shown against his client in pie turing him as the brutal jailer of his
 wife. Counsel said:
 "The count has not been the brute he has been described to have been. He always has been a gallant gentleman, who has respectful affection for his wife. There has been nothing to shake or to de. stroy it. Tine counts only thought has
 been to give his wife the luxurious, queen ly existence of which she dreamed. If he exceeded his aim. it is to his honor only. As a result of his laudable efforts he has been saddled with the task of paying $24. .G00 annually" Gould Family Not Favorable. Counsel for the count declared that
 the Gould family did not look favorably
 on divorce. At any rate. George J. Gould wrote to Count Boni that he was profoundly grieved at what had happenei i. Had it not been for MT Kelly. who de- sired to secure the management of the immense estates, the countess would nave listened to her husbands supplcdtlons. Mir Kelly directed the campaign against the count employing the Myrmidons, a l detective agency, and supported their evl- dence with that of discharged servants and chauffeurs. Counsel instanced an ob- iective case in which an agent of M. Kelly gave money to witness to prove the counts infidelity and the person re- | ferred to- smitten with remorse, returned | the money.
 Another witness. continued Maitre Bon- net. told friend he was making enouSn | out of the case to buy villa at Deau- vile and live independently.
 The countess counsel asserted had known of some of the things complained
 of several years ago. and he hinted that she had condoned them and had taken no action until there had been outside pressure. Maitre Bonnet did not attack the count
 ess during the course of his remarks, but on the cOHlrdI Spohe ol hcA III Htoti terms.
 Claim Mind Is Poisoned. The feature of Maitre Bonnet's presen- tation of the counts side of the case was the charge that the countess lawyers had poisoned her mind. Freed from out side influence, he insisted she would have 1 returned to her husband. He argued that an inquiry was now imperative to give the count an opportunity to explode the flimsy evidence, according to which he had been pictured as cruel brute. Count Boni's only fault, according to 1 counsel, was his desire to have his wife realize her dream of becoming the queen of the French aristocracy and in his ef- forts to this end he had compromised | his own as well asher fortune. Maitre ! Bonnet savagely attacked the countess attorney, but he did not utter one word of criticism of the countess.
 In the course of the proceedings it de- veloped that the count has asked the court to grant him $30O0O a year after having rejected his wife's offer Of the same sum, annually and S290 900 down. Maitre Cruppi did not hesitate to inti- mate that it was the counts purpose to prolong the scandal in order to bring about a reconciliation or secure better terms
 k Maitre Bonnet's charge of the bribery of witnesses may prove successful in forcing an inquiry as a French court sell dom oyerlookS such allegations Mir Kelly this afternoon was served with 150 docu- ments in the creditors case which will be heard immediately after the divorce case is disposed of.