Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-21
WOMAN WINS
HER CHILDREN
LEGAL FIGHT ENDS IN FAVOR
OF MOTHER
Man Who Journeyed from ohio to
Los Angeles TO Take Girls from
Former Wife Is Defeated
In Court

BY order OF Judge Borrower III ue-
partment nine of the superior court
yesterday the long quarrel between
Edward Godfrey and his wife was
settled and the custody of their two
little girls was given to the mother.
The troubles of the Godfreys have
been interesting many people in Los
Angeles lately and the decision has
been generally accepted with much
favor.
In detail the controversy over the
children was simply the old story Of
playing battledore and shuttlecock with
the children of divorced parents. IL
was the penalty of unrest and trouble
imposed by the law upon those parents
who forget their children's welfare to
follow their own instincts and become
divorced, and in the Godfrey case two
beautiful little girls bore the brunt Of
the disaster.
Continue Contest in Los Angeles
Edward Godfrey of Ohio came all the
way across the continent to hght fof
the possession of his daughters In
1901 he had been granted divorce
from his wife. Alice Godfrey, by the
courts of Indiana upon an allegation
of indiscreet conduct.
The woman alleged she had never
heard of the divorce until after it had
been granted and her little girls had
been awarded to her husband. Then 1t
was too late. Coming to California two
years ago with her two little daughters.
whom she had won after desperate
legal battle she became engaged to a
Long Beach business man, and she is
now Mrs. Alice Lutz.
The children were being well cared
for by her They were being carefully
watched, trained and reared. Both
youngsters were going to school and
becoming strong and healthy under the
fascination of the beach life
Their existence was the NOSE desir-
able one until one day Godfrey made
his appearance and demanded his chill
dren He had just received last award
by the Indiana courts giving him the
guardianship of the children He also
had remarked and the judge went
deeply into the testimony regarding
what kind of treatment the children
might expect were they given to this
other woman.
Makes Winning Fight
Godfreys appearance broke up the
happy little circle in the Long Beach
home. Like a tigresS in defense of her
young Mrs. Lutz prepared to fight the
case in court. One of her little girls
other at that time was ill with a cold.
Goldie, the eldest, despite her cold,
was taken into court, where she testi-
fed that she wanted to stay with her
mother. With her pretty little cheeks
flushed with fever little Ruth, scarcely
more than baby, also made her ap-
pedrance late in the trial to fight in
her mothers behalf.
1t was a mans word against a
womans and the future happiness of
two innocent little lives at stake III
the game, and Judge Bordwell recog.
nized it.
Mrs. Lutz was their mother and in a
position to care for them. The young
sters were doing well where they were
and had every prospect Of happiness
before them, and yesterday in the de-
cision of the suit Judge Bordwell sim
ply ruled that although the Indiana
courts might have ruled to give the
children to the father, the Indiana
courts We're too far away to have
much to say in the case, and the two
little girls will remain with their
mother at Long Beach, while the
father takes himself back across the
continent, alone.