The Washington herald., 1909-01-06
ODD DIVORCE CASES
Unhappiness in the Excessive
Piety of Marital Mates.
a DEFENDANT WAS TOO JOLLY
His Merry JestS and Lightsome
Jokes Were Not Appreciated by
Unique Way OF Providing His
Wife with Real Pin Money.

! AihoECcS may De ODkdliltU VIII greater
or less ease. depending on the locality.
nature Of grievances, unaninity Of opin-
/ ion, practice OF the court, and ether cir
eumstances and conditions, says the In
dianapolis Star The grounds for sepa-
ration are based on reasons and excuses.
of which the latter are perhaps the more
common. After an excuse has been men
tally housed for q sufficient period II be-
comes "a reason. or, failing in that, It
/ generates a reason on the other side.
Since the result is the same, the variation
IS not material
IN TWO cases recently dragged into pub
LEFTY. strange as II may seem. the allega-
tons were that the offending spouse was
too religious. Il had hitherto been sup
| posed there could not be too much Of
that commodity 10 cement the family
structure. but in two cases at least. If
Econplainsnts are 10 be believed, the de-
yotionaI atmosphere became too heavy.
IN the two cited Tessie Brennan and
John Haney are alleged to have devoted
too much attention to spiritual things,
which greatly grieyed their matrimonial
opposites. Tessie lives IN St Louis and
John IN South Dakota, and so far as is
known. they have never met. one an
other. They are brought into close prox-
Unity merely because Of their happening
to be in the same boat. as il were There
( is this difference, however. that Tessie
IS complaining because her husband
made fun OF her devotons, while in the
South Dakota case John IS the defen-
-. 80. 4 -f-
ration she asks; Tessie is awaiting the
courts decree.
Suatched Her Prayer Book
Tessie-or Mrs. Brennan as she should
perhaps be caIed-aHeges the most sur
prisInS conduct on the part Of Clifton.
iher husband. II seems they had been
married only SIX months when he began
10 become annoying He would laugh al
her when he found her reading the Bible
and would tell her it was no better than
a novel. At other times he would accuse
her Of being hypocFiuc3l and would
mock her She stood this until one morn
ling be snatcbed prayer book from her
+ hand just as she was dressed ready for
/ church. and that capped the climax. She
left him.
dssecration OF the Brenmans and Cliff
[ ton shows as no hero. according 10 the
/ evidence. In the case Of the Haney i'm
Z broglio there IS q numerous side that
! cannot be overlooked. Mrs. Haney asked
/ for q divorce because she could not
stand johns everlasting praying. she
said.
7 was the victim Of two match-mak-
ing families. she told the court, but
Fl took sne only five weeks 70 get enough
Of my husbands preaching
/ Il appears that John Haney wore a
! long face about the house whenever he
/ happened 20 be there. which was rather
more frequently than desirable When
ever Mrs. Haney looked out the window
and remarked that the sky was blue.
! John in a lUgubTioUs tone. would reply
l that al things were vanity. and that
I life was short II the devoted wife hap
/ pened % mention millinery and the pre-
/ vailing shades, John was almost certain
/ 10 m0ralize on the siufulness Of human
/ ornament On one point. however. John
Haney was at least consistent; he gave
I a third Of his income 10 the church.
That must be true, because Mrs Haney
says so herself.
. He did give that much 70 the
church. she remarked. teaTfully. but
{ had TO suffer deprivation because OF il.
! Besides. he prayed every night for the
soul Of his wicked wife. and I am just
[ as good as he is
/ It Is understood that as soon as all the
/ little odds and ends Of the proceedings
are settled Up. Mrs Haney viii leave for
/ Sioux City. Iowa. where she and Gus
/ WestfalI. an old friend, VIII be married.
Got Real Pin Money.
There was indignation n the voice OF
1 Mrs. Caroline Jones when she testified
/ IN a Boston court how her husband.
/ Frank n, had treated her It seems
that Mr.. Jones had a little way Of his
own with regard to the support Of his
wife. Once in a while-no oftener-he
would slip into Mrs. Jones' room and
pin q tWo-GOllar bill on the pincUshion.
Mrs. Jones could spend this just as she
liked. and waeu It was gone. she could
whistle until some more was pinned on.
lin many WAYS il is he only authenti-
/ Gated instance OF real pin money One
/ day AIRS. Jones grew bold and asked her
/ husband II he couldn't pin something
/ bigger 10 the cushion, or pin a little Of
( tener. Do you suppose Jones gathered
( her 10 his arms and explained that he
/ was merely testing her-as they do on
I the stage-and 70 come around 20 the
{ back yard and he would show her where
/ be had a whole barrel Of money hid? BY
/ no means. Jones simply threw a clothes
wringer. which grazed her cOifure.
/ Mrs Jones that was now receives a
/ little allowance from her former hus-
/ band She gets il by mall and If there
] Is any impaling 10 be done, she does IL
with hatpin-
/ Mrs. Matte Holmes. at Bellville. IL.
( doesn't allege IN her divorce proceedings
that John Holmes was stingy or that he
/ beat her-she simply declares he ''poked
/ fun at her" MaledictiOn on his Jolly
soul, He just couldn't leave her alone.
John had a fund Of humor for every day,
/ joke for every hour, quip and a grin
/ for every Minute; he teased and ne tor
mented. It was unbearable, she de-
/ clared-
/ Finally one day It became more than
she could stand. so she sw.,c,.-G right
out Of the house and stayed for sixteen
years. This is no typographical error-it
/ took Mrs. Holmes lat long TO decide
she wanted separation without any con-
ditions. She admitted in court that If
1 Holmes had made overtures ten years
/ ago. there might have been a reconcilia-
/ ton.
Sayings of a Cynic.
From the Philadelphia Bulletin
He isn't much OF a baker who eats all