The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-21
Aged New Yorker Appears In
 Wood Divorce Suit :.
NOT WEDDED 10 PLAINTIFF
Senator Declares That There Is No Ground for Divorce Between Him. self and Miss Wood as They
 Never Married.

New York. May 2o-Physically so weak that practically he had to be carried in and out of the court room, United States Senator Thomas C. Platt was at times a spirited witness today when he appeared to testify in his own behalf in Mae c. Woods suit for absolute divorce from him. His denial of all the charges brought by Miss Wood in her suit was empha, e, and when prodded too hard by the ! 'aintiffs counsel, the aged sem ator proved himself capable of vigorous response.
 While the defendant in the action was in the court room much of the day, Miss Wood. the plaintiff, did not attend the trial today. The presentation of the case for the defense, aside from Senator Platts own testimony was marked by a sharp attack on the authenticity of the marriage certificate which Miss Wood offered in evidence to support her conten- tion of matrimonial contract with the senator. This was followed by an effort to show that letter in which Senator Platt 1; said to have admitted his mar riage to Miss Wood was written over his signature on blank sheet of paper, to which he previously affixed his autograph on request of two women applicants for it, while he was stopping at the Hotel Arlington, in this city, in 1906.
 Senator Platt himself in his testimony categorically denied that he ever married or promised to marry the plaintiff, re- pudiating the signature purporting to be his on the marriage certificate and the genuineness of several letters which Miss Wood testified came to her from him. On the conclusion of the afternoon ses- sion, Justice O'Gorman announced that the trial must conclude with tomorrow's sessions, no matter how latet sitting of the court that might involve.
 Signature Obtained.
 In support of Senator Platt's conten- ton that his signature to statement acknowledging Miss Wood as his legal wife was obtained by deception, counsel for Senator Platt today submitted to the court an affidavit by Mrs. Dunning, in which she said that she secured Senator Platt's autograph by sending a book to his room in the Arlington hotel with a request for his signature.
 Mrs. Dunning said she gave the auto graph to Miss Wood and Miss Wood was delighted with it. A deposition by Thomas R. Porter, a newspaper man of Omaha, was given in evidence by Senator Platt's counsel today. Senator Platt's counsel gave the substance of an interview which Porter had with Miss Wood. Porter quoted Miss Wood as saying that she vas at work for LesHe's publications m New York in 1901, and was sent to inter- view Senator Platt, who gave her an in- terview and invited her to call when she wanted another. Later when she wanted an appointment as a teacher in the Philip pines she went to. see Senator Platt again with a woman friend, who also wanted an appointment. Afterward this woman Miss Wood was quoted as saying, she made herself so disagreeable that Sem ator Platt thought i've would have to elope to escape her. But my sense of humor would not permit me to elope with a 70-year-old bridegroom, whom 1 would have to support as he walked
 Reporters Testimony.
 In deposition by Frank Haight, Chi cago reporter which was read in court to- day, Haight quoted Miss Wood as having told him in an interview that she was un- able to find Edward W. Rice, whose name was signed as officiating clergyman to her marriage certificate, and that she sometimes believed that the man who per- formed the ceremony was one of Platt's secretaries. In this deposition Miss Wood was quoted as saying that she was as- taonished when Senator Platt came to the Fifth avenue hotel in 1901 and an nounced that he was going to, marry her." butt Knowing his craving for dra- patic episodes,'' she agreed. She said the ceremony was a mere marriage contract.
 Edward Rowland, assistant janitor for the United States Express company, but in 1906 valet to Senator Platt, testified to the senator's furnishing an autograph. saying on blank sheet of paper two women applicants at the Arlington hotel in this city in 1906. The witness was shown the letter in which Senator Plart is alleged to have admitted his marriage to Miss Wood and identified the page on which the senator's name was written as the paper to which the senator had affixed his signature on the occasion in question.
 Court adjourned until tomorrow, when the testimony, 1t is expected, will be con- cluded.