New-York tribune., 1909-04-02


,,cztson in japanese of literature assailing and
-idic,rng the religious faiths. the laws and the
-c.,s+orns Of the people it has lust put IN the
bars against the works of Count Leo Tolstoy Ac-
co-dng 10 a decree issued by the Toxic govern
-,.n+ in the name Of the Nikado. all of Tolstov-s
,-orks already in Japan to be seized and con-
scated wherever found their circulation is penal
szed and their importation forbidden The reason
given for this decree is that Tolstoy's works are
-sof a character 10 demoralize youth from which
a. would appear that for once in wav the GOV
ernments Of Japan and of Russia are in accord.
DIVORCE TANGLE OF A BARON
Baron Hermann Won Eckhardstein, who was for
e. number Of years attached TO the German En-
rsssy al Washington, and who will be remembered
there in connection with legend according to
which he is asserted to have jumped dropped
out Of 2 second story window Of the old Metropol-
5s1 Club after midnight for the sake Of y wager
without sustaining any injury. has just obtained
from the Berlin courts a decree Of divorce from
his, wife in which her medical attendant. DR.. =
! Williams. is named the Don Juan guilty OF
4rreckinE the baron's hearth and home
More than two years ago the baroness who $
tne only daughter and heiress Of the late Sir John
BlundeH Maple Of the Maple retail furniture en-
porium of Tottenham Court Road. London oh
tained from the English courts decree Of judicial
separation the ground Of her husbands hru-
-fality. cruelty and gross misconduct on that oc-
cssion the English tribunals pronounced the bar
oness innocent of the charges brought against her
BY her husband in his efforts t. have judgment
given in his favor rather than in hers
The English courts would nor grant her a divorce
They took the ground that although there was
plenty Of evidence 10 warrant decree Of divorce
against the baron. yet the fact that he was a
German who had his residence in Germany, with
HIS legal domicile there, had the effect that the
British courts had jurisdiction To dissolve en-
tizely the marriage. though il had been con
saeted in England under English law. The pre-
suing judge Of the English Divorce Court Sir
John Barnes, who has since been raised to the
5eerage, decided that while he had authority
grant divorce he possessed the power de-
wise measures for the protection Of the baroness
SO long she remained in England by according
her a decree of judicial separation
II ] cali attention this fact il is because il
has bearing the cases Of marriages between
American women and Europeans that have result
Cd in sfipwreck The American wife as often
has conten1ed herself with returning to the
United States. and after having obtained divorce
here has been astonished that validity was de-
MED by the courts Of the country 20 which her
husband belonged. Indeed, there have been
number Of instances where American women who.
after obtaining American divorces from their for
eign husbands and marrying again the strength
thereof. have been pronounced guilty Of bigamy
By the courts Of tie country OF their first husband.
Now, according 10 European law American
woman who rnarries alien always, re
turning here 70 live obtain from American Trib-
unsIs a decree Of judicial separation which will
be regarded valid abroad. and which Will insure
her protection. not only here but also there. But
she remain satisfied herewith. and matter
hcW badly her husband has behaved to her she
only secure complete dissolution of union
10 him from the courts of the land which he
belongs or in which ne has established his legal
don1icile.
p While the Baroness Eckhardstein has been q very
foolish woman, never more so than when she
forced her father into giving reluctant consent
10 her marriage foreigner whom ne cordially /
disliked. and whom he knew 10 be gambler on 1
he Stock Exchange the turf and At cards. sym
pathy has been with her rather than with her hus
band throughout the case. for the evidence pro I
duced IL the English courts showed MIN up in par
ucularly brutal and altogether extremely coarse
and vulgar light, much indeed ALLEVIATE T!
from him not only English society but also his
countrynen Of birth and breeding. such for /
instance Count Wolff Netternich, the present Ger !
Ambassador in London. who insisted that /
Eckhardstein's connection with the embassy in /
London should be completely severed. The in /
stances Of brutality seem mostly TO have been in
connection with his extortion of money from his /
wife 10 pay his gambling debts, and it was shown (
that n 1876 alone she had been obliged 10 give up
100000 OF her large fortune to save him from ruin
and dishonor.
4 somewhat ridiculous attempt has been MADE in /
connection with this Eckhardstein marriage to de-
scri5e it having been mesalliance on the part
the baron. But Il the baroness Is the only chlld
CT old Sir John Maple. the retail furniture dealer
whose good nature and business acumen were only I
equsIed by his appalling and picturesque vugarity /
and his lack OF aspirates, the baron on ms sloe i
descended from man of much the same stamp I
namely, Ernest Eckhardt, who made fortune as .
army contractor In the early part Of the last cen
tury and who was ennobed By way OF part pay
rnent Of sons pecuniary claims OF the house OF /
Eckhardt & Co. against the Prussian War Depart |
raent. The only strain OF nobiary blood III has I
veins comes 10 him through his mothers side foT /
she grandchid Of the famous Prusslan held /
marshal Count Kleist one Of rhe most heroic hg-
ures Of the Napoleonc wars, and is the last sur
v.yor Of the great soldiers family
LORD wIIIOUGHBY DE ERESBY'S ACCENT. /
The marriage Of bright American girls 70 Britons
Of birth and rank instead Of curing the latter OF
their pecuarites Of language and exaggerations
Of accent seems on the contrary TO develop these
10 such degree lead TO the belief that their
Transatlantic wives take pleasure therein 1hus'
Lord WIloughby de Eresby, who contracted four
years ago a matrimonial alliance with Miss Elolse
Breese. Of New York particularly beautiful and
brilliant girl delivered a speech the other night IN
the House Of Commons where he sits for one OF
tbs divisions OF Lincolnshire that 10 those who had
never heard him before would have sounded as a
piece Of e,travagant buresque had it not been for
the sound sense contained in his remarks Like the
traditional English nobleman or the American
stage. he spoke as Il he had not ''r' or g in
MS composition He pronounced matter as mat
tan. ''eKchequer'' ''excheQuah,' and "aEricul-
lure as agwiculchaw." and having In his adVo-
oaey OF the access TO mountains bill occasion TO
nentiop that his family have two wather decent
piaoes IN Wales and in Scotland, that had always