BIRD, V. C.
On motion to strike out parts of bill for impertinence.
A bill was filed for a divorce from the husband by the wife, who alleged desertion and abandonment, which had been preceded by acts of cruelty. There were several statements in the bill which counsel for defendantmoved to strike out as being impertinent. They were as follows: "That, soon after her marriage with the said Price, he inherited and received about $100,000 from his father's estate, which he squandered in dissipation, gambling, politics, and riotous living; that the mother of the complainant had permitted the defendant and his family to live in her house for the last 14 years, and had received no rent therefor; that the said mother-in-law had mortgaged her property for $3,000, which sum she had advanced to the defendant, and which he had spent, and never repaid any portion of it to her mother;" "that up to this time she had never doubted her husband, but when he had received this money he said he was going on a business trip; but she received a paper from Buffalo, dated July 21, 1881, which contained among the list of arrivals at the Mansion House in that city the name of 'E. L. Price and wife,' which greatly astonished her. She also received a letter from New York about the same time stating the same thing, upon which she confronted her husband with those facts, which he at once said was a put-up job, and indignantly denied the story. That although she was not entirely satisfied, and somewhat suspicious, for the sake of her children, and to avoid public scandal, she said nothing, and things went on that way until December 12, 1881, when he abandoned her, and went to live with another woman in Newark, with whom and where he has lived in open adultery ever since." The bill also alleges, commencing at line 7, page 4, and ending at line 17, page 7, that the defendant came home drunk one night, and that a memorandum book fell from his pocket, which the complainant picked up, and discovered therein an account of his ramblings at Washington, D. C, Niagara Falls, Albany, New York, and New York city, with one Teressa F. Eberhardt, whom he designated by the figures 20, 6, 5; that he was with the said woman over three weeks, they occupying the same rooms during the whole trip. "And thereupon she consulted counsel, and that counsel communicated with her husband, and asked him to support her; that the said Price said he would if she would get a divorce from him on the grounds of adultery; that she repelled the offer with scorn, and said it was his duty to support her and the children, and she intended to compel him to do so." The bill also relates how the complainant agreed to pay her $25 a week to support herself with, and how he cut that down to $17, and finally paid that very irregularly; commencing on the nineteenth page, fifth line, and ending with the nineteenth line same page: "that she has even had to employ a lawyer to try and collect these sums, during which time he was living with and supporting another woman in this city." "And she further charges that he owes her over $300; that she is behind in her bills for the necessaries of life, and owes rent, and has been served with notice to pay the same, and that she and her children are liable at any day to be turned into the street." She further says that her husband is a lawyer by profession, and "is a politician of some prominence in the state, and claims to be intimate with the leading statesmen and politicians of the state and nation, and claims great influence with the present administration in securing appointments."
Samuel Kalish, for the motion.
Ludlow McCarter, contra.
BIRD, V. C. I will advise an order to strike out of the bill all that portion commencing with the words: "that soon after her marriage," in line 23 on the first page, and ending with "any portion of it to her mother," in the twelfth line on the second page; and all that portion commencing with the words "up to this time," in the fifth line on the third page, and ending with the words "went on that way until," in the twenty-seventh line on the same page; and the words "in open adultery," in the fourth line on the fourth page; and all that portion commencing with the seventh line on the fourth page, and ending with the seventeenth line on the seventh page; and all that portion commencing with the words "and thereupon she consulted counsel," in the twenty-third line on seventh page, and ending with the words "to do so" in line 9 on the eighth page; and all that portion commencing with the fifth line on the ninth page, and ending with the nineteenth line on same page; and all that portion commencing with the words "that she has even had," in the twenty-sixth line on the tenth page, and ending with the words "in this city," in the second line on the eleventh page; and all that portion commencing with the words "and she further charges," in the third line on the eleventh page, and ending with the words "the street," in the twenty-second line on the same page; and also all that portion commencing with the words "is a politician" in the fifteenth line on the twelfth page, and ending with the word "appointments," in the twenty-first line on the same page.
Of course no costs will be allowed.