The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-25
LELAND RECIPES :.
 WIFE'SLETTERS
In One Of Them She Admits Kissing Pastor On
 The Lips
By HARLAN s. MILLER (l eassd Wire ts The Ase. Herald.)

CHICAGO, Jan. 24.-Here are the dramatis personae of the Leland di- | vorce case, who made the witness benches look like a front pew at the First Baptist church of Oak Park as the plaintiff took the stand to reveal evidence he has been withholding:
 Albert R. Leland, deacon of the Baptist church, manufacturer of toys and a secret service man during the war, suing for divorce.
 The Rev. Carl D.. Case, pastor of Leland's church, whom the deacon has named correspondent.
 Mrs. Charlotte Leland, the deaconess in charge of juniorwork for the charge, who pinned a confession" to her hus- bands pillow. As defendant, she con- cedes her husband has statutory grounds for divorce.
 Mrs. Case, wife of the pastor, who believes his assertion that Mrs. Leland, Victimized by hallucinatiOns, has con coeted the stories of what happened in his study
 Miss Mae Brown, singer in the choir, and Leland's stenographer until re- gently. Cases counsel accused Leland of suing for divorce solely because he wishes to wed Miss Brown. As the trial began a remarkable phe- nomenon might have been observed, in the courtroom and elsewhere, all over Chicago and Oak Park. Members of Cases flock. by an agreement reached the night before. dropped whatever they ! were doing at II a. m. and knelt or bowed their heads in prayer, in homes l and offices, for their pastor. Rarely have three more unlikely principals combined in a marriage drama than the three staid fragments of this parish triangle.
 If Mrs. Leland whispered the spir- itual confidences into Cases ear, which she declares were the foundation of their later intimacies: she whispered them into an ear trumpet.
 Typical Minister.
 Case, as he watched Leland intently 1 on the witness stand, appeared what might be called ministerial type" with thoughtful mouth, studious eyes and ascetic cheeks of the type, that is, found representing the cloth on the stage. though not necessarily predomi- nant in actuality. Case is scarcely the socially inclined pastor of English fic- tion.
 Equally improbable was Mrs. Leland, mild-tempered woman of serious as- pect in the middle years, in the role of | the divorce defendant who has con- fessed: Il kissed him on the lips be- cause I couldn't help it, and that was the beginning"
 She and Leland, a plump-cheeked business type, are parents of three chil dren, IF, 12 and years old. In the courtroom itself, where more of the Oak Park parishioners were crowded than have heard the recent sermons, scores were seen to move their lips devoutly as the gavel rapped for order.
 Leland himself testified most of the day. Stolidly he denied repeated in- nuendoes by Attorney F. A. Brown, representing the correspondent, that he intends to marry his former stenog rapher.
 "As a churchman, believe 1t my duty to expose Rev. Case and protect the other women of the parish from him." he declared. somewhat to Browns consternation.
 Left Another Church.
 He added unexpectedly that this was not the first time he had left a church for similar reasons.
 II had another reason for wanting Case removed" he declared. While l was attending the Fourth Presbyte- rian Church of Chicago, the pastor of that church ruined women in his own congregation and in two others. I left that church. With those incidents in my memory, felt it my duty as dea- con to protect the congregation"
 fingered by Leland's insertion of this reminiscence, Attorney Brown threatened to subpoena Miss Brown, but Judge Foell ruled that anything she might testify would be irrelevant.
 On the witness stand, Leland sup plemented his wife's ambiguous writ ten confession" by reading letterssbe tween her and the pastor he had in tercepted, and by repeating cOnver- sation with her concerning the extent of the improprieties. The first date she mentioned Leland declared. was September. 1922, and the scene the