The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-14
E~X.BANKER'S WIFE
WINS DIVORCE SUIT
Referee Recommends Decree
for Mrs. william Hill Hunt
After Years Delay.
QUIT PRISON BY HER AID

pointed a. q referee In the supreme
Cour, nea riy q yea ago to take testi-
mony In . suit Of Mrs. Matte Mitchell
Hunt for a divorce from william Hin
Hunt. president Of the United States
Industriais Company Of IS Nassau street
and promoter OF the $4,000 Hanover
Farms Company, of which ex-Gov, Ed
ward e. Stokes Of New Jersey and ex-
Secretary Of the Treasury Leslie M.
Shaw were directors. has completed his
report and recommends a divorce for
Mrs. Hunt.
Mrs Hunt, who Ia the daughter OF
DR.. l.. c. Mitchell OF Minneapolis. one
Of the hest known physicians OF the
Northwest. married h defendant In
1894 when he was a successful banker
ir Alabama. The testimony in the case
showed that Mrs. Hunt and her two
children, Lester. now 20 a old. and
Siloma. II years old. left Hunt In 1912.
after Mrs. Hunts cousin. Cortlandt F.
GA rrIer, chemical engineer OF st.
Louis, had furnished her with proof
Of her husbands unfaithfulncss. She
has since been living with her chill
dren AZ Hamburg. y. Y. while Hunt
has had apartments OF late at the Royal
ton, ~ West Forty-fourth street.
Mrs. Hunt vas the last person to
learn Of her husbands wrongdoing. wilt
nesses said. She stood by him Loyalty
when he was accused In 1905 OF violat-
ing the banking laws OF Illinois, which
resulted In his indictment. He pleaded
guilty to accepting deposits az an Of
ncer Of the Pam American Banking
Company, which he had promoted and
which had ofnces here and In Chica 20.
after he knew Il was insolvent. He
was sentenced to an indeterminate term
In the Joliet p~enitentiarS.
obtained Pardon for Him.
Mrs. Hunt always believed in her hus-
bands innocence of criminal intent. and
after he went to prison she worked SON
s;antly to have him p~ardoned. She
finally succeeded. and then through her
father she gave him financial help In
starting a new business career. The
ac,e for which Referee Morrison recon-
mends a divorce began soon after Hunt
o out OF prison.
One OF the witnesses against HUM
was william Schaumberg. a process
server, who said that he first saw Hunt
at the waldorf-Astoria In 1911 when
Hunt, was dining there with Mrs. Hunt.
On September 10. 1919. Schaumberg wa
told to follow Hunt when he left his
Office al IS Nassau street. as his wife
learned that he intended going TO Phila-
delphia that day. Schaumberg trailed
Hun, there and after seeing him register
at the Hotel Walton with a woman ne
notified Carrier. Mrs. Hunts cousin. who
had gone TO Philadelphia to aid In get
ting the evidence.
Both Schaumberg And Carrier testified
TO following Hunt and his woman com
panion to a house At Thirteenth and
Master streets. They attempted to follow
the couple into The house. but were
denied admission by a woman. who said
she had to protect her guests. The
testimony Of a nearby tradesman showed
that this house had been raided by the
police as disorderly. The couple re-
manned in the house two hours.
Another witness was Arthur q.
Roberts, a mining engineer. who testified
that he FIRST met Hunt in Mexico city
in 1895. When he was investigating
railroad concessions In Santo Domingo
In 1909 he again met Hunt. who was
staying at the same hotel. He testified
to various acts Of Hunts In the Colonia
Hotel there and also In Havana, &c
which city Hunt and Roberts went to-
gether. He said that Hunts conduct
with women was notorious"
Reasons for T%estifyinG.
Explaining why ne volunteered the In.
formation about Hunt. Roberts said
"Mrs. Hunt came to ms >and said hei
husband had attacked her character
and asked me II ] knew anything of his
acts. told her what ! knew. because
she wal the last one to nnd out that M
was unfaithful TO her"
Hunt came here from Alabama "
1909 and opened an ONCE As a private
banker at 81 Wall street. Shortly after,
ward he organized the l~nternationa
Bank and Trust Company. with head
arters in New York and branches II
Mexico and on the Pacific coast. A
one time Congressman ]. Sloat Fassett
william Aston Chanler and George f
Foster. former Canadian Minister o.
Finance. were directors.
The International Bank and Trus
Company. with a supposed capital o.
81. SOC. 900. ven into the hands OF re
ceivers with a loss Of about 1000. 90,
In December. 1903, Hunt r~eorganized |
In 1905 as the Pan-American Securities
Company. with $4,000. 900 capital. anC
later formed the Pan-American Bank
ing Company. with 100000 capital AM
$500. 900 surplus. The collapse Of thes,
enterprises kept Hunt away from New
York until 1910. when he returned her,
and has since been promoting various
companies
The law firm OF Greene. Hurd 4
Stowell represented Mrs. Hunt in he
suit.