The Topeka state journal., 1911-04-17
TELLS OF GIRLS.
Plaintiff in Divorce Case Asked
About Them.
Mrs. Smith, Oakie, Connie and
Valdie Mentioned.
COURTS A COUNTESS.
Irish Girl With Spanish Name
Is Forgotten.
Florence Offered to Marry Him,
He Says.
COURTS A COUNTESS.

This is a dark. gloomy day for John
G. Cooper and the defendant in the suit
for divorce and $4,000 alimony is
having a hard time keeping af1oat un-
der a blistering cross-examination. In
ten minutes Ed McKeever barred Coop
er's marriage record. Then he waded
into the defendants relations with
countess, an Irish lady with a Span
ish name. and dozen other ladies or
| lesser walks in life. This afternoon
Cooper is trying to connect incidents
| that will preserve the salient points in
his amended answer.
Cooper had progressed famously un-
der the direct examination. He had de-
MED emphatically every damaging al
| legation in his Wife'S testimony. he
| pictured himself as fond and affec-
| tionate husband who provided the needs
of the household without scrimp or ar
| gument. In fact Cooper showed that
| he had expended almost $50 on his
| wife in IA months. He denied bathing
| her in cold water when she was SICK
| and said he tried to humor her and
| respect her wllims and follies. He SAID
| Cora sometimes flew off the handle"
| and at such times it was necessary to
comb her down Bit But in all
! Cooper declared his regards for his wife
had been very sincere. The real trou-
| BILE, he said, occurred when he SUD-
| scribed 500 to the white elephant cam
| paign to aid in the building of the new
| Y w. c. A. Then on cross-examina-
| tion Cooper admitted that he belonged
! to an atheist society, but thought II
was all right to aid the fund, althougn
/ his wife did complain. AS Cooper told
! about his property rights, the prose-
! cution made careful notes of the vari-
/ Gus tracts and will use them in the
! cross-examjnatiOn.
Her Last Meal.
Speaking of his return from Texas,
! Cooper said:
'I went to the house with Mr.. Lind
say and Mr.. Hutton: She let US In the
| house and 1 introduced the men. l
stayed there all night and the next
morning after breakfast my wife went
I'D town. When she returned, she pre-
pared dinner. AS we were about to
sir down, she said, John, this is the
If you want to know any more about
| it. go talk to my lawyer. After din
ner I left the house"
what had been said about the Y.
w. c. A. subscription?' asked Carr
| Taylor.
"Well. when we had first gone in the
house. / asked her what was the mat
ter and she said 1 had no right Civ
| ing them $100 when she and the baby
needed the money I explained 1 had
4 only promised 1t and hadn't given any
money. Then she said that was all
! right. Lindsay then said, Well, if
1 that's all right, you can dismiss your
suit We thought she intended to do
How many times have you been
married p asked McKeever.
"Three times,'' replied the witness.
How many times were you di-
vorced?"
Twice
.The decree was in your wife's
name both times"
Yes"
Attorneys for the defense objected
to opening old cases, but McKeever
claimed that former children had been
| provided for in the old settlements
and that they held other property
rights than those Cooper possessed.
This McKeever claimed. was an i'm
lportant issue in the division of the
present estate. Judge Whitcomb per-
mitted the questioning and Taylor
| took exception to McKeever tactics in
examining the witness.
isn't it fact that your first wife
received about $4,000 worth of your
property. and that it was to be divided
among the children ?"
| II don't know how much she GOT
said the witness, "but there was a
ouarter section of land for each of the
was to be my wifes until she died and
then was to go to the girls.
''Didn't each of the children receive
about $1O,OO0?"
something like that"
Cooper Under Fire.
|
within the railing and was crowding
the witness with short, sharp ques-
tions that didn't suit the defense. They
objected and the court ruled Nc
Keever back of the railing.
did you tell your present VIE
about all of this?''
'Yes, / did
Isn't it a, fact that none of your
children but one daughter will have
ANYTHING to do with your"
|
..feu the court if the boys didn't
Jump on you one time and beat you
up?"
"Were you ever arrested?
| 'tYes"
wasn't you arrested in Usage
county one time for making your
daughters work in the fields on Sun
day?"
hut Iudge Whitcomb wanted to know
an of the trouble and told Cooper to
answer The witness denied the
charge He also denied he was con-
lvicted and paid fine for the offense
Then McKeever spent a half hour in
Ivestigating Cooper's female acquaint-
ances.
"Who's Mrs. Smith?"
.sWho is Mrs. Smith? ?" he asked.
"She's Mrs Smith, so she told me-"
what business had she with you?"
| None"
..Didn't you agree to loan her s2o?"
ssNever told her so.''
who is Connie MetZger?"
She's Mrs. Smiths daughter"
Didn't she come to your house last
| winter and sit down and go to playing
the piano?"
"She was with a friend and might
have played some 6o2't know"
What was she doing there?"
Come to see my wife, I guess
Did your wife know her?'