The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-06-12
Integrity of RawlinS County
Judge Is Involved.
s. j. Craig of Atwood Brings
Suit to Topeka.
HE ASKS COURT FOR $42, 700
Claims Alienation of His Wife's
Affections.
Says Defendants COnspired To
Get Her Estate.

The integrity of the district court
of Rawlins county and number of
prominent bankers and lawyers of
western Kansas was checked up to a
jury in Judge George Whitcomb's divi-
sion of the district court today when
trial of the $42,7O0 damage suit
brought by S. ]. Craig, of Atwood,
Kan. was begun.
Craig is trying to collect damages
for the alleged alienation of his wife's
affections. The defendants in the suit
are: c. A. P. Falconer and W. S.
Langmade, the latter of Oberlin, and
both former judges of the Rawlins
county district court; Dempster Scott
and his son, Charles Scott, Atwood
lawyers, the elder man having been a
prominent member of the bar in west
ern Kansas for forty years; Frank
Howard and Earl d. Howard, Atwood
bankers, and 7. d. Kirwin, Ben +.
Brown. Leila Howard, c. f. Henneber-
ger, James w. Buck, Mollie Mccain,
Taylor Mccain, Mary Frost and Aus
tin z. Frost.
Wanted Her To Leave Him.
Craig claims that the defendants
conspired together to ALLEVIATE the af
fections of his wife in order to get
about $1,000. Craig claims that he
and Mrs. Craig, who was then a widow
Sc years old, and considerably his
senior, were married october 2, 1916.
Immediately thereafter, he asserts.
certain of the defendants launched a
conspiracy to ALLEVIATE her affections
from him and induce her to will them
her property. They succeeded in get
ting her to leave him and start divorce
proceedings. says Craig, but she final
ly repented and came back to him.
They again induced her to leave him
September 5, 1919, the Atwood man
avers and to file a second divorce suit
a week later. She charged him with
many acts of cruelty. Craig hired
Dempster Scott and his son, Charles
Craig declares that Judge Lang
made, who then occupied the
Rawlins county bench. disqualified
himself and called in the Judge
of another district to try the
case while he secretly managed the
cause and "bribed the Scotts'' to be-
tray their client and play into the
hands of the alleged conspirators. The
granted Mrs. Craig. The Atwood man
says the. defendants spent $500 of
Mrs. Craig's money in trying the case.
Kept Her Away From Home.
]. NJ. Stark. one of Craig's attor-
neys, stated to the jury that the de-
PENDANTS kept Mrs. Craig travelling
about from state to state in an effort
to keep her from returning to her
husband. He says she wrote letters to
Craig and asked to be taken back, but
that because of the influence of the
defendants, had not yet returned to
him at the time of her death in
April, 1921.
Col. A. NJ Harvey one of the de-
Tense attorneys, declared in his open
ing statement to the jury this morn
ing that Craig mad treated his wife
with the utmost cruelty during their
married life. He pictured the Atwood
man as an intruder, who sought out
the widow. who was living alone on
her farm, all her children having
grown up and married. He married
her, said Colonel Harvey, and took
possession of her home.
He said they conducted their bust
ness enterprises separately and that
she leased parts of her farm to him
to work on shares. The attorney al
legged that in making the division of
profits Craig frequently gave Fis "ife
the worst of the deal.
Mrs. Craig frequently came to
Judge Langmade while he was serving
as county attorney and complained
of her husbands treatment, said Har-
vey. It was because he was familiar
with the case that Judge LangE1a de
declined to try it, his attorney as
cd