The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-12-10
.BROKAW CHARGES
MiIIiOnaire'S Wife Tells
Story of His Cruelty
SAYS SHE ATTEMPTED SUICIDE
Husband, Insanely Jealous, Accused
Her Of Flirting, So She Tried
to End Her Life by Poison
In Turkish Bath.

Mineola, N. Y, Dec. 9.-That Mrs.
Mary Blair Brokaw attempted to end
her life by taking poison in a private
Turkish bath after a row at the North
Carolina shooting lodge Of William
Gould Brokaw, her multimillionaire
husband, was one of the sensational
features Of the trial of their separa-
ton suit before Justice Putnam of
the supreme court here.
The occurrence was recited by Mrs.
Brokaw's counsel, Arthur ]. Baldwin,
who declared that the millionaire's in
human treatment of his wife in Feb
ruary, 1908, worried her to distraction.
Mr.. Baldwin charged that in May,
1908, at the Astoria hotel in Paris,
Brokaw threatened to blow out his
wife's brains with a revolver which he
fiourished.
Mrs. Brokaw was called to the stand
and was asked to relate an incident
that occurred at the Hotel Seville on
Nov. 2, 1907. She said:
my husband brought me a box Of
flowers and expressed hope that they
would please me- He was very ugly
two hours later for some unknown
reason, and he called me liar, idiot
and other terrible Names"
Mrs. Brokaw declared he had &C.
cused her of flirting with his uncle,
Fred Gould Of car coupler fame; with
DR.. Potter of Asheville, N. c., and
with guests at the Brokaw estate at
Great Neck, N. Y.
"Mr. Brokaw continually accused me
of flirting with strange men in dining
rooms of hotels and with guests at our
own home" she said. "He would call
me fool, idiot and worse, only to beg
my forgiveness. on the next day.
HE often threatened to blow out my
brains in these jealous fits"
On Christmas, 1907, Mrs. Brokaw
testified, they were entertaining about
twelve guests. 1t had been Mr.. Bro
kaw's custom to have ginger ale served
in champagne bottles. On this occa-
sion some one for the sake of a joke
had changed the bottles to all cham
pagne. When she lifted the glass to
ucI llpS, SuG Sulu, every OAC luuShCu.
Perceiving what had happened, Bro
kaw rushed from the room in anger
and sent his valet for her. He said
she had herself perpetrated the trick,
according to the testimony, and called
her a liar and an idiot when she de-
MED his statements. The rest of the
evening was spent in her room.
Shortly q ftarxya Ara Prnlxo III
her husband came to her and an
nounced that he had a gun in the
other room that could blow out what
little brains she had and asked her to
go in and look at it.
Mrs. Brokaw, who is asking for $780,
600 year alimony, came to the court
house accompanied only by a maid.
She wore brown fur turban trimmed
with black velvet, a plain frock of
olive broadcloth and a neckpiece and
muff of silver fox. Mr.. Brokaw sat
near her in the courtroom.
Arthur ]. Baldwin, Mrs. Brokaw's
counsel said:
"W6 will prove that Mr.. Brokaw was
madly jealous of his wife and made
life miserable for her by daily and al
most hourly accusing his bride Of f1irt-
ing with men in various walks of life.
They only took four full meals togeth-
er during their thirty day honeymoon.
He many times ordered her to remain
in her room all day long, and at other
times he forced her to dine alone.
"Br0kaw broke into her room at all
hours of the night for absurd reasons.
He was habitually intoxicated and ran
about various hotel corridors In his
pajamas.
"Once when she happened accidental
ly to bang the door on his forehead he
cried like a spoiled child. He smeared
red ink on his forehead and shrieked
until bellboys, porters and maids came
| to the scene.
"'Look what she has dOne!' he cried,
pointing to the red ink spots"
The present Mrs. Brokaw, who IL
William Gould Brokaw's second wife
was Mary Morris Blair, daughter Of
James A. Blair. They were married on
Sept. 16. 1907, at the Blair country
place at Chittenango, N. Y. His first
wife was Corelie g. Coudert, a niece
of the late Frederic r. Coudert. The
first Mrs. Brokaw obtained a separa'
ton in 1908.
Katherine Poillon In 1903 sued Bro.
kaw for $250.000 damages for alleged
breach Of promise. The case was set
tied by Brokaw paying something like
$4,000.