The Washington herald., 1912-08-29
SCIENTIST HELD
As WIFE-BEkTER
Robert G. schonborn, Collector Of
Butterflies. Admits he Had
Family War"
CASE MAY BE soILE pRossED

Accused cf sssaulting his wife. Robert
C. schonborn. fifty-two years old. SCI
enlist and expert In weights and meas
ures at the Bureau OF Standards. De-
partment Of Commerce and Labor. and
owner of one of the most complete col
lections OF butterflies In this country. was
arrested yesterday afternoon on q war;
rant issued at the request OF his VIE,
Mrs. Mary Schonborn.
Schonborn was INDUCING in private
devil crab feast when Policeman +. M
Dierkoph,- of the First Precinct station.
appeared at his home. 500 H Street North
west, and served thewarrant charging
wife assault As soon as Schonocrn
learned the mission Of the policeman ne
grew much excited and cried:
yes, / beat her. She hit me under
the eye with a shoe and left this cut
(pointing to q scratch on the cheek) and
I beat her over there IN that corner. 1
had to beat here in seif-defense I
grabbed her by the wrists and pum-
meled her good, and II she ever comes
in that door again I'm going to blow ner
up
Row Over wffe's Son.
I'm n cell at the station, Schonborn con-
tinued talking excitedly. He said he
married Mrs. Mary Schonborn three
wears ago. shortly after the death OF
his first wife. MY second vile has a
grown son and the trouble started when
he tried to borrow 800 from me TO pay
some debts" he said. He gets o GOOD
salary as o stenographer and told him
I wasn't finding dollar bilis In the stree's-
Then the war started"
Mrs. Schonborn called at the station TO
see her husband. Before going to the
cell room she exhibited her arms, re-
yealing black and blue bruises. Schon-
born was calm when his wife appeared
at the cell door and husband and wife
had a long conversation.
At the conclusion OF the conference
Mrs. Schonborn is said to have told her
husband she would try to have the
charge of assault against him nolle
pressed this morning. II Is said that
Schonborn agreed to sign paper con-
tracing to live apart from his wife AND
to pay her $40 a month. II can pay that
al: right" said Schonborn. My salary
in the government service is Nz3
month"
~ aSchonborn has been collecting outter-
flies moths, cocoons, &C., for years. and
at his home he has installed cases in
which to preserve his specimens. He es-
Inmates that his collection Is worth at
least $4,000 There Is no collection
south of New York superior to mine"
said Schonborn. .'The collection in the
government museum here does not COM
pare with II. I have thousands and
thousands of rare specimens. and my
home has been veritable Mecca for
students and visiting scientists"
Expert With weights.
Schonborn is an expert In the fashionl
ing of delicate instruments. He makes
the weipbfs that~are used as standards
by the United States government, rang
ing from 1-s2 of an ounce, weight less
than s-16 of an inch in height. to 10
pounds. He also has been employed by
the government In the manufacture OF
the delicate Instruments in the Federal
observatories, and is considered one OF
the most skilled artisans In this kind
of work In the country.
He is author of several pamphlets deal
ing with butterflies. and Is considered an
authority on the subject.