New-York tribune., 1910-12-19
HUSBAND SUES A
MAYOR FOR ALIENATION
Railroad Man Wants $4,000
from Chief Executive
of Bogota, N. J.
NAME IN DIVORCE CASE. TOO
William N. Smith, Director il
American Paper Company,
Has Warm Defender
in His Wife.

IN his W1te.
The town of Bogota, Bergen Count,
n. j., is in a state Of ferment over mat
ters which intimately concern the Mayo
of the settlement, William N Smith. Be
sides being Mayor of Bogota, Mr.. Smit
is a director Of the American Paper Com
pany.
County Circuit Court Saturday showe
that Mayor Smith was defendant in
suit for $50,o0o for the alienation of tn
affections Of Mrs. Lillian Higgins eau
He is also mentioned as correspondent
in separate suit for divorce, papers il
which have already been filed in tn
Chancery Court at Trenton.
Ray Gaul, chief Of the engineering de
partment Of the Delaware, Lackawann;
& Western Railroad, appears as com
plainant in both actions Mayor Smitl
was served with papers late Saturda.
afternoon by Sheriff Brewster
Mrs. Smith, wife of the Mayor, is he
husbands most ardent supporter in tn
case. When Mayor Smith endeavorei t
tell a reporter about the case last nigh
she interposed and said that she woui
d" the talking for the Smith family-au
she did.
When a reporter called at the Smitl
home last night Mayor Smith was alon
in the parlor. He drew up chair an
began to tell what he knew of the suit:
Our acts to the Gauls,' he said. b
way of Introduction, were those Q
neighbor to neighbor; they were acts Q
kindness"
Wife Enters the Room.
This was as far as the Mayor got. A
that moment his wife appeared from an
other room and interrupted her h.Is
bands recital of the facts. She almos
shouted at the reporter: Il know wha
you have come for. I know what this
all about, and I am going to stay rigl
here in this room
Mayor Smith begged his wife to le
him tell the facts, but his argument
we're in vain, and thereafter he had llttl
chance to say anything.
yze--J have heard OF these ruInors. Mr.
Smith said. land I think they are out
raseous Mrs. Gaul was a neighbor c
ours and she sang in the choir OF IN
First Reformed Church, OF Hackensacl
which we also attend. We went to an
from church in our carriage AS MI
csuI was q neighbor of ours. we did nc
want to see her go home alone, SO
brought her home in our carr1ae
Things have come to a pretty pass Wne
Won cannot take your own nelghpofs
vo,1r carriage without there being som
possip about it. My husband was ne"e
alone. / was always with him.
When Mrs. Smith finished this state
mon, Mr. Smith made an attempt to ez
n,ain things to the reporter, but his VIII
again took the floor.
1.-THE Gauls. visited our house ofte
and at one time they stayed for Dime
Rut we knew little of their domestic al
fairs In fact we did not know tina
they had separated until that bungalo7
enjsode. Mr.. Smith built bungalo
here and MI and Mrs. Gaul wanted
b,,v IT. One day Mrs. Gaul SAID 81
wo1,ld be unable to take it, because ST
had left Mr.. Gaul. She did not tell L
the cause of the trouble We have COZ
timed to be friends, however. Mrs. Gal
was here only last week, while Mr. Smit
was in New York
Never Out at Night. She Says.
Referring to Mayor Smiths daily mod
of living, Mrs. Smith said:
.-wbv. Mr.. Smith has always bee
home before the curfew rang. Haven
vo,;. WHIP she asked, turning to IN
Nayor. and the latter acquiesced silentl!
Mayor Smith and his wife have alwaS
been interested in the work of the FITS
Reformed Church, known as the 'Churc
on the Green" and 1t was through tn
church work that the Smiths and IN
Gauls became acquainted. The Mayo
and his wife had known Mrs. Gaul be
Miss Lillian Higgins, daughter OF re
tired merchant Of Ridgefield Park.
She was popular among the youn
men of Bogota, and 1t is said that man
sought her hand. When Ray Gaul al
rived in the little town, however, a fe'
wears ago. from Albany, the others ha
to give way Miss Higgins and tn
voune engineer were inseparabie, an
thew were married on December %. 19O
in the Church on the Green
In the papers In the suit it is charge
that Mrs. GauI and Mayor Smith wer
often seen in each others compan,
Rides in automobiles and carriages
nearby inns and New York hotels ar
binted at. These took place, II Is charged
while Mr.. Gaul was away from home
night at work. The time is given as
the period from January l, 1909, to Dc
cember i, 1910.
When Mr.. Gaul, who now lives in Pal
a,so, WAS seen last night he did ne