Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1906-10-19
TWO WIVES AND UNHAPPY.
CHARLES SAGLR OF MADISON
TELLS STRANGE STORY OF HIS
MARITAL MIX-UPS.
BOTH VISIT HIM IN CELL.
Were He Single He Could Not Decide
Which One to Marry, for Love
Is Equally Divided.

MADISON, Wis, Oct. 12.-[Spe-
cial. Married to two women, apparent
ly in love with both Of them, the father
of two children by wife No. l, and now
| a prisoner IN the Dane county Jail pend
ing his trial on the charge Of assault
with intent to do great bodily harm,
Charles Sager is a most unhappy and
confused man.
He is a man Of many troubles and the
daily presence of his two wives at the
county Jail brings misery and pleasure
at the same time. Sager is charged with
| stabbing Ernest Woolever, a bartender.
! The evidence against him in the assault
case appears to be strong but both wife
No. ] and wife No. 2 seem to believe
III him still. Every day they come to
the jail, sometimes together. Sager,
who is fast growing old and careworn
in appearance, is called from his cell
to the waiting room. He kisses both
wives when they come and he kisses
them when they go. If the children are
brought along he kisses them too.
Sager Is Not Partial.
Sager divides his conversation between
the two women, and so far has not dis
played one sign of partiality or prefer
ence for one or for the other.
IF yoU were free and unmarried and
| had to choose between your two wives,
which one would you takeT" he was
asked.
He paused for moment, love and con-
fusion written on his face, and then re-
replied:
Really, l GonH know"
How did you happen to leave your
first wife?''
I'VE had some trouble he answered.
ut has always remained a secret. We
agreed to separate without going into
court for a divorce. You see that would
have made it necessary for us to tell of
our trouble, and we didl't care to do
| that"
But were you not afraid that some
one would find out you were married to
two womenY'
81 don't consider that l am. | thought
that if my first wife and myself agreed
longer man ard wife, even though not
divorced in court. You see it was mat
ter between ourselves. We didn't think
any one else would care
Loses Both His Wives.
"And yet you do not know which one
| you thing the most of nowF
Il can't say. Both of them come and
see me, both are doing all they can to
help me, and it wouldn't be fair for me
! to show partlallty.
"Now that you have two wives on
your hands and the public knows all
/ about it. what are you going to do about
| it?'
First of all I'll have to wait until
l am in a position to do something. |
! fear that if | do get out of this assault
deal | will be arrested for having two
wives. But you know, my first wife
has consented to get divorce from me
D Just as soon as this is over"
! If you would only explain that trou-
BILE with your first wife which you say
caused q separation, you would throw
light on your second marriage, and per-
haps the public would not think SO
harshly of you"
"Oh, l can't tell what that was. 1t
wouldn't be fair"
Sager's Confession Voluntary.
Sager and Sager alone is accountable
for the fact that the public now knows
| he is a bigamist. 1t was q voluntary
confession on his part previous to the
preliminary examination in the assault
case. Had he kept the secret, it might
not have come to light. He is not a
man entirely without sympathy. Only
few weeks ago he persuaded his first
wife to come to his home because she
needed help. And the first night both
wives sat down to the same table to eat
supper with their husband. At the time
wife No. 1 knew wife No. : sat beside
her. Wife No. 2 was not sure that the
other woman at the table was the wife
of her husband. However, she has since
said that she had suspicious to that eff
feet.
She says 81 have been deceived, but
[ can do nothing. 1 cannot even sue for
divorce because my lawyer says l am
not married. l must let them straighten
it out. l don't know what l shall do.
The Sager Families
Sager is a German, son of a farmer
near Lake Mills. His first wife is a
Norwegian, Bessie Knudson of Madison
and was married to him four years ago
His second wife was Margaret Mulhol-
land of Walton, Sank county, aged "a
to whom he was married lasl April
Both are handsome women, the former
a blonde, the latter q brunette.