Evening star., 1944-03-02
Joan Manners
Hay in Telling
OF Girls Father
Says She Can Recall
Only Two Persons
Who Knew Him

Joan Manners in District Court
today resumed her fight to regain
custody of her 10-year-old daugh.
ter, Joan Langan. She testified
that up to now she has been fight.
ing to keep the question of the
child's paternity out of the courts
The actress charged that Johr
Langan, her former husband, hac
taken advantage of this attitude ir
pressing his claims on little Joan
who has been in his custody for the
past two years. She denied she hao
ever told newspaper reporters that
Mr.. Langan was not the father OF
the child.
Miss Manners made her statement
while Attorney Charles Walker, rep
resentlng Mr.. Langan in the habeas
corpus action brought by his former
wife before Justice T. Alan Colds
borough, was cross examining her
In an attempt to obtain a clear de-
scription of the man she says is
the real father.
Never Discussed Writing.
The former actress said the man,
whom she named yesterday as
John Manners" was feet l inch
tall, had blue eyes and light brown
hair. She said he was trying to
be writer, but she was unable to
remember anything he had ever
written.
She said she never discussed any
of his writing with him and did not
know whether he had ever written
plays. She also declared she could
not remember exactly when she
stopped seeing him.
Did you ever discuss the child's
paternity with Mr.. Manners?" Mr..
Walker asked.
"Mr. Walker" she replied, May
make it perfectly plain to you that
all during my life I have tried to
keep the question of paternity out
of the courts? Mr.. Langan has TAX
en- advantage of this"
every Much in Love-"
Miss Manners also was unable to
remember the names of any persons
who knew Mr.. Manners, when the
question was asked by Mr.. Walker.
I'VE were very much in love-" she
said. "We didn't see any one. We
were by ourselves"
DO you mean to say" asked JUS
tice Goldsborough, you don't know
any one who knows Mr.. Manners in
Californian"
The witness pondered a moment
and then said there was a Mr..
Sergresta" who knew him. "Mr.
Segresta," she said, was Basque
for whom she once obtained work as
technical adviser on a film.
She said Mr.. Langan, whom she
described as only "a business asso-
ciate" at this time, also knew Mr..
Manners.
Reading from the divorce petition
filed by Miss Manners against Mr..
Langan in October, 1888, Mr.. Walker
asked the witness whether she stated
in the paper that she had married
Mr.. Langan both in 1881 and 1888.
"Is that in the petition?" asked
Justice Goldsborough.
Mr.. Walker said it was.
Let me see that" said the court.
ut doesn't sound human
Miss Manners charged that the
custody case here was being tried
in the newspapers.
Says Press Is Bribed.
"Mr. Langan had all the papers
bribed before I got here. He paid
$1,000 in the last two months"
Later Miss Manners said a Los
Angeles newspaper had arranged
things" for her when she was fight
ing for custody in California. She
said the paper never gave her any
money but that they helped her
in other ways and that a repre-
sentative of the paper investigated
the whole case.
Mr.. Walker questioned Miss Man.
nerS concerning a train Journey
she made from Chicago to California
last December, on her return from
arranging for the action in the
Montgomery County Circuit Court
in Rockville, Md.
Denies Discussing Case.
Miss Manners denied she had dis
cussed the case with people she met
on the train and said she was travel
ing incognito at the time.
Did you go into a compartment
with Hollywood producer, stay
an hour and half and come out
drunk with him?" she was asked.
Il didn't go into a compartment
with any Hollywood personality" ;"
she replied. And I didn't take a
drink on the train"
Mr.. Walker informed the court he
intended to take dispositions in Cali
fornia to substantiate his conten-
ton that the former actress dis
cussed the case with a number of
people on the train.
At the outset of the session TODAY.
Justice Goldsboro overruled the mo-
ton of jeff Lichtenberg, attornev
for Miss Manners, to eliminate all
of the witnesses testimony on the
paternity issue. At the same time,
the court allowed Mr.. Lichtenberg
to enter blanket objections, with au-
tomato overrulings by the court. to
q III Of