The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-05-22
NAE WOOD
ARRESTED
HER SUIT FOR DIVORCE FROM
SENATOR PLATT is DIS.
MISSED.
ALLEGED
Handwriting Experts Declared That
Alleged Letter From Senator Platt
Acknowledging Her as His Wife
Was Written Over His Blank sigma
ture Court Scores Miss Wood.

New York. May 21.Mae G. Wood,
whose suit for an absolute divorce
from United States Senator Thomas
q. Platt of New York, has been on
trial in the supreme court here for
several days, was committed to the
Tombs prison late today after Justice
.O'Gorman had dismissed the com
plant in her action and ordered her
held in $4,000 bail on q charge OF per-
Jury. 8s
The decision in Senator Platt's ia
vor and the sudden and sensational
ending Of the suit came after a day
which the defense occupied largely
with the Introduction of expert and
other testimony attacking the authen-
ITCHY Of the documents by which the
plaintiff was seeking to establish her
alleged marriage to Senator Platt.
Experts Testify.
A handwriting expert testified that
in his opinion the body of the letter
in which Senator P1att was alleged to
have admitted his relation as husband
to the plaintiff was added after the
senator's signature had been affixed.
More telling still for the defense were
the depositions by engravers and sta
tioners, called by counsel for Senator
Platt, that the blank form upon which
the alleged Platt-Wood marriage GER
tificate was prepared was not litho-
graphed until three months after the
date upon which the marriage Of Miss
Wood to Senator Platt was alleged to
have taken place. I'D
Miss Wood was recalled to the
stand in rebuttal. Shs was asked If,
after hearing the testimony about the
marriage certificate, she still reiterat-
ed that the defendant gave her the
certificate, as she previously testi.
fed.
Il still reiterate it, she replied.
Justice O'Gorman turned to Miss
Wood and pointedly questioned her.
She repeated her assertion that the
marriage occurred as she had stated.
She admitted that Senator Platt never
supported her, and when asked by the
court Il she did not consider 1t the
duty OF husband to support his wife.
she replied:
II do not as long as he was not
enough Of a gentleman to do 50.
never asked him to-" .ss
Motion 10 Granted. VI
Senator Platt's counsel then moved
for dismissal OF the complaint. It
was forthwith granted by Justice
O'Gorman, who, in rendering his de-
cision, said:
Il cannot credit the plaintiffs evi-
dence as to the alleged marriage and
the testimony as It impresses the
court is that this is a most wicked de-
sign to support false and fictitious
claim BY forgery and perjury"
Forthwith Justice O'Gorman or
dered Miss Wood committed to the
Tombs on q charge Of perjury, fixing
her bail at $4,000. She was obviously
staggered by the sudden turn of af-
fairs and the shock caused by the or
der of arrest which the court made.
She quickly regained her composure,
however, and by the time she reached
the city prison had resumed the air
Of, confidence. which she held practi-
cally throughout the trial. &
At the district attorneys ONCE to-
night it was said that Miss Woods
case would speedily be presented to
The grand jury and pressed for trial
il an indictment was found. At late
hour Miss Who'd had not been able to
furnish the bail demanded in her
case, and was still locked up the
TOmbs.
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