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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1907)
"5 - - VOL. XLVI. NO. 14,403. PORTLAND, OREGON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1907 PRICE FIVE CENTS. 6 l WORST FL000 IN YEARS IMPENDING Snow and Ice Melted by Chinook Wind. WILLAMETTE RISING RAPIDLY Lower Docks in Portland Will Be Under Water Today. STORM BLOCKS RAILROADS X. Tt. & X. Suffers Most Complete Tie-up for 20 Years Southern l'acirie Trains Hun Without Regard to Tithe Schedule. PREDICTION BY FORECASTER SEALS. 'All our stations on the Upper "Willamette report rapid rises in the river and its tributaries. It has risen one foot at Portland during the 24 .hours ending at 5 o'clock yes terday afternoon and by the end of the week I expect It will reach 20 feet. Tho gauge stood at 13.6 at S O'clock. "Warmer weather with continued rains Is expected for Western Ore gon for Tuesday. It looks now as if there would be no cold snap fol low the heavy precipitation of the past few days. This alone would stop the Impending flood. "The high stage of the river may result In considerable damage to goods stored in cellars In the busi ness district." Rising rapidly at every point throughout the Upper Valley, the Wil lamette River is at the flood stage an,: threatens to reach the highest point In years. Warm .chinook winds, with further rains, are predicted to day, which will bring down the snows ' that have piled up throughout Western Oregori during the past tew days. Hopes, of a cold snap, that would congeal the "ush now melting into tha Valley streams, have been abandoned. Fears of serious damage throughout the Val ley are entertained. District Forecaster Beals predicts a stage of 20 feet above the low-water mark in the river at Portland by tha end or the week. The danger point Is regarded as 15 feet, and this will prob ably be passed today. The lower docks were awash In some cases last night and many will be well covered today. The high water is endangering rail way bridges and embankments and Is covering lowlands. In some cases sur rounding dwellings and marooning tho inhabitants. The main line of the Southern Pacific Is threatened near Milwaukie by the rising waters, and the track will probably bo covered to day. Blockade on O. R. & X. The O. R. & N. Is in the worst plight the operating department has experi enced for the past 20 years. The line Is blocked completely for 50 miles. No trains have gotten through since last Saturday, and the prospects were last night that several days will elapse be fore the line is cleared. Snow, sleet and rain have combined to block the P"rse of the Columbia, and the storm has successfully defied the efforts of snow-fighting machinery and large crews of workmen. General Manager O'Brien will leave his morning for Bridal Veil by special train, and hopes to open the line to Bonnevillo and establish a steamer service on the Columbia to ferry pas senger? around tho points where tha tracks are covered. No reports were received yesterday from the territory blockaded by the storm, for half a mile of telegraph wires went down, and the exact conditions are unknown. A stalled west-bound overland train etarted from The Dalles yesterday with 3 55 passengers, for Bonneville, where the steamer Harvest Queen went to take them on board and bring them to Portland. The train passed Shell Rock, near Hosier, a short distance from The Dalles, when It was again blocked by snow and landslides covering the track. Retreat to The Dalles was then found to be Impossible because of snow-slides In the rear. With the Columbia booming along at flood stage, filled with floating Ice within a biscuit toss of the car windows on one side, while on the other towered over hanging cliffs which threatened to hurl down avalanches of snow and Ice upon the train, and overhead howled a storm of-sleet and snow, the passengers spent an. uncomfortable day and still more un happy night- They are doomed to stay in their lonely" position until a snowplow can dig the train out. Another Rotary Ordered. As the rotary snowplow buried 'by a lide near Oneonta Sunday night is still out of commission, another plow was or dered from La Grande yesterday and has tened to the rescue of the stormbound train. Streams along the O. R. & N. were ris ing yesterday. The Sandy River at Trout dale rose nine feet yesterday. Operating officials feared last night that a chinook was making lteelf felt in the higher ele vations, where the snow lies thick, and say this Is evidenced by the persistent along the river lay on the ground without melting. In view of the generally warmer weather predicted today, great damage to the O. B, & N. may result. . Krom Troutdale east yesterday the trees and wires were covered with a coat of Ice, exactly like last week's silver thaw in this city. The encrusted ice brought down many trees, and a work train which reached the city yesterday from Bridal Veil reported it was delayed repeatedly until fallen trees could -be removed from tha track. Chinook Will Add to Flood. "The outlook tonight is worse than it has been during the present storm," said General Manager O'Brien last night. "It has been sleeting in the Columbia River Canyon, and our wires for half a mile have gone down. Repairers have been sent out and we should have the lines re paired by tomorrow. "What we most fear now ie a chinook that will melt the accumulated snows and send down torrents of water. This would undoubtedly cause great damage to our tracks. We hope to clear away the drifts that block the O. R. & N. at nearly all points by tomorrow, so that boats may be operated around the obstructions and thus get passengers 'and the mails through. "The Santiam River is at the danger point and all streams on the Southern Pa cific lines In the state are rising. We have lost our wires to Salem and cannot tell now just how much damage may already have been caused. We have instructed train crews to proceed carefully and take their time in making their runs." A fill on the Southern Pacific at La fayette was reported weakened last night. The high water at many points was hour ly expected to cover the tracks or render bridges unsafe and thus block traffic. High Water on O. W. P. The Oregon Water Power & Railway Company suffered from the high water in two places on its Oregon City division. A landslide between the Inman & Poulsen mill and the Oaks covered the tracks and blocked the line. Workmen were called out late last night and set to work to clear the dirt away. The Clackamas River reached the' danger point last night and the O. W. P. Bridge at Gladstone was unsafe. Passengers were transferred across the structure on foot. The Portland Railway Company had a force of men out watching the tracks at I points where danger threatened. Slides were reported on the Portland Heights line and employes prevented further dam age to tracks by digging channels for the surface water to run ofT without carrying rails and ties with it. The watchfulness of workmen was valuable on the Portland Heights line. The Vancouver, ferry was compelled to stop operations yesterday on account of the running Ice in the Columbia. Melt Snow for Drinking Water. The people of Middlesex, a suburb on the Mount Scott carline, have been com pelled to melt snow and Ice for drinking water. Since the storm of last week the feed wires-pf the 'Reservoir .Park .Water Company, which supplies the suburb with, water, have been out of order and the residents have been driven to extremities. The O. R. & N. traffic department has Issued instructions to Its agents to receive FLOOD SITUATION SUMMARIZED. The 'Willamette has reached "the flood stage, and every tributary is bringing down freshets. The lower docks at Portland will be flooded to day and the river Is expected to reach a stage of 20 feet by Satur day. The prevailing Chinook is melting the snow and sleet that fell during the past few days, and warmer weather with rains is expected to continue today. Both the Columbia and Willamette are already so high that the Cas cade and Oregon City locks have been closed. The O. R. & N". has not had a train through since Saturday and the outlook Is worse than at any time for -0 years. The Southern Pacific will probably be tied up today, as water threat ened the tracks in the lowlands near Mllwaukle last night. Trains are making no attempt to maintain schedules on account of unsafe tracks. no perishable freight or livestock for ship ment on account of the complete blockade. Eastern mails are held up and may not be received in Portland for some time yet. RIVER TRAFFIC DEMORALIZED Flood in Willamette, Ice in Columbia Hamper Navigation. At 6 o'clock last night the Willamette River stood at 14 feet at Pnrtlonfl T slopped over the' lower Ash-street dock and all local business of the O. R. & N. CO. WAS moved fn tho , 1 linn- riAtr nf wharf. A heavy current was running and it was a cumcult matter for ships to move In the harbor. The steamer Johan Poul sen went through the bridges during the afternoon and proceeded to Astoria. The Broderick Castle, which has been clean ing and painting on the drydock, came (Concluded on Page 7.) Everybody seem to have the grip; now, I never Bet It THAW'S DEFENSE STATED TO JURY Hereditary Insanity Ex cuse for Crime. DELUSION PROMPTED HIS ACT Believed He Was Instrument of Providence. EVELYN THAW TO TESTIFY Wife of White's Slayer Among First Witnesses Today State Offers Evidence of Killing and of Premeditation. NEW YORK, Feb. 4.-The state laid its case against Harry K. Thaw today a plain, unemotional storv of tha Htin on the Madison-Square Garden roof. The aerense replied with a plea of hereditary insanity. It was asserted that Thaw In slaying Stanford White believed he was acting as an agent of Providence; that ieai or ianciea wrongs committed against him bv the Architect anil tninar- of his wife had caused the impulse to kill. w nen tne deed was done. Thaw made no movement to escape its eonseniienfes hut holding the fatal revolver aloft, he stood as ir mutely proclaiming to the world: "The deed is done: It was rlerht: it was not wrong." ThUS Thaw's counsel niltlfnori Hla a to the Jury this afternoon after the prose cution had occupied less than two hours of the morning session of the court in relating through eye-witnesses the narra tive of the tragedy. Defense, Hereditary Insanity. Tomorrow morning the first witness in Thaw's behair will be heard. "You will hear the story of this man's insanity," John B. Gleason for the de fense promised the 'Jury, "from his mother, from his wife, from his relatives and from his physicians. You will judge him by his acts; by the heredity and stress which entered into his madness, and, when you come to Judge him,' you will say to yourself that his act may have been one of Insanity, but It was not one of crime." That Thaw's wife was to be one of his most important witnesses had long been known; that his mother. Mrs. William Thaw, ' of Pittsburg, was to take the stand only became known today, when the court announced the rule excluding from the courtroom all witnesses save experts. Thaw's mother, his wife and May McKenzie left at the word of com mand. Thaw seemed dejected at this. Many times last week during the dull days of Jury selection he turned to his wife for comfort and found her ever ready with a quick responsive smile. Now that the serious work of the trial was to begin, he was to be denied her pres ence. Does Not Look at White's Son. During the opening address by Mr. Gleason, Thaw seldom looked up and then for Just bj fleeting glance now and then at the man who was making the Initial plea for his life and freedom. At one other time during the session Thaw did not look up. This was when Lawrence White, the 19-year-old son of Stanford White, occupied the stand as the first witness for the. prosecution. Young White, who is a Harvard student, said he was with his father at dinner the evening of the tragedy, but left him before he went to Madison-Square Garden. Story or Thaw's Love. Thaw's counsel told the story of the prisoner's love for the girl he was to make his wife. He met Evelyn Nesbit in 1901 and there and then began an honor able love and regard for the girl. He told her mother of his love. The girl was in a precarious condition following a serious operation !n a sanitarium and Thaw suggested to the mother that she take Evelyn abroad to recuperate. It was arranged that Thaw would accom pany the two as the open and avowed suitor of the daughter. In 1902 he asked her to marry him and she refused. ' "The reason for this refusal you will hear from her own lips," announced Mr. Gleason. "Suffice it to say, the reason had to do with an incident in her life with reference to Sanford White." Thus laying tne ground for the plea of insanity, Mr. Gleason declared brain dis I've too much will-power. I ah absolutely refuse to yield. People give to should ease had laid hold of Thaw three or four years ago. It -was alleged that there have beon many cases where a person had been pronounced insane upon one subject only. He cited Instances of temporary In sanity based upon a single act, but he added: Insanity on Both Sides. We will not base our plea, however, upon a single act. It will be shown that there was Insanity on both sides of this defend ant's family. Our case Is far removed from the much-discussed defense of emo tional insanity. You must disabuse your minds of all you have read in the news papers, especially of the idea that has gone abroad that we are to rely upon some high er or unwritten law. We rely upon the con. stltutlon and the laws of the imperial State of New York, and upon them alone. You will understand thl man's insanity. It will not require experts to tell you of it. It is within you to judge him and you will say from the evidence that, when ho killed Stanford White, he was an Insane man. It was announced that Tfiaw labored under the delusion that his life was al ways in danger when he was in New York. This accounted for the fact that since January, 1904, he had carried a pistol. He had placed it in his overcoat pocket the night be went to the Madison Square Roof Garden. There he turned suddenly and saw what he thought was a demon glowering at him. The impulse came. He felt that to kill White would be I Representative Nicholas Longworth. Son-in-law of the President, on Whom Cincinnati Representatives Would Take Revenge for Ap pointment of Negro to Office. I an act of Providence, and, so believing, he set deliberately about his task. Counsel told the story of Thaw's de fense in a conversational way, as if he were taking every Juror of the 12 into his confidence. They listened intently. Mr. Gleason was twice interrupted by District Attorney Jerome on the ground that he was arguing the case from the evidence instead of plainly stating what the evi dence was to be. Plain Story of Prosecution. Assistant District Attorney Garvan t.pehed "foi 'tVe" "prosecution at the begin ning of the session. The rumor that there were to be further changes in the jury box would not down until Mr. Garvan be gan his address. It was said that Mr. Jerome had brought to bear ail the pres sure and persuasion at his command to gain consent to the removal of one or two of the men, but Thaw's counsel held out against all pleading for a further re vision of the trial panel. Mr. Garvan, in telling the story of the alleged murder, occupied less than ten minutes, and the prosecution's entire case was kept within two hours. With the exception of young White and the Coro ner's physician, who performed the au topsy, the only persons called to the stand by the state were seven eye-witnesses. They were cross-examined brief ly by Delphln Delmas for the defense. who thus appeared actively In the pro ceedings for the first time. The witnesses related the deliberate manner In which Thaw fired at White. They . repeated Thaw's assertion, "He ruined my wife," and Mrs. Thaw's remark to her hus band. "Yes. but look what a fix you are In now." To this last remark Thaw re plied: "Dearie, I have probably saved your life." Mr. Garvan's outline of the state's tes timony told how White went to the roof- garden to see the initial production of a Summer musical comedy, and then re lated in simple language the incident of the killing. "The people claim." he concluded, "that it was a cruel, deliberate, malicious, pre meditated taking of human life. After proving that ttet to you, we will ask you to find the defendant guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree." Evelyn Thaw Testifies Today. Just at adjournment this afternoon Mr. Jerome made an Ineffectual effort to have the defense disclose the names of those who are to be called as its first wit nesses. It was reported that the prison er's wife may be among the first to give testimony for the defense. Even after testifying, she will still be denied the privilege of the courtroom, for the rul ing by Justice Fitzgerald, on consent of counsel, was to exclude witnesses both before and after testifying. It being ar- (Concluded on Page 4.) A -3 K MR. AVERAGE CITIZEN GETS THE too easily; they r-er What's thin? Pains In SEEKS DUSKY GIFT TD President Cannot Find Right Negro. MIGHT REACT ON L0NGW0RTH Colored Official at Cincinnati Means Danger. MIGHT LOSE NOMINATION Determlned lo Give Fat Ohio Job to One of Foraker's Beloved Constit uentsRoosevelt Only Hesitates About Man and the Office. WASHINGTON. D. C. Feb. 4.-(Spe-cial.) President Roosevelt has not found the colored Republican in Ohio whom he is looking for to appoint to a good Fed eral position nor has he definitely de cided just which position to give the negro. The pressure of innumerable let ters and telegrams protesting against the appointment of a colored man as Sur veyor of Customs has caused the Presi dent to look around for another place to put his undiscovered candidate. Deci sion Is also delayed by the Inability of the colored Republicans to unite upon a man. It was stated at the White House this afternoon that the President has not reconsidered his determination to appoint a colored man to a good Federal posi tion in Ohio. The President Is not reartv at this time, however, to announce that tne place selected for the colored man will not be the Surveyorshlp of Customs nor what It will be. In Ohio Congres sional circles the impression prevails that the President, if unable to find a stromr colored man for appointment, will pass I ntr,. C. ....... 1. i 3 me oumcjitiauip ana select a minor Job for a colored man at Cleveland or Toledo. It is agreed by Ohio politicians here thjvt the appointment of a colored man at Cincinnati would be practically equivalent to the retirement from Congress of Rep resentative Longworth, the President's son-in-law. The opposition to the stand taken by the President is so strong in the Foraker faction of the party in Ohio and the opposition to the appointment of a colored man In Cincinnati who has not been chosen and Indorsed In the usual way Is so keen that Mr. Longworth, It Is asserted, will find it impossible again to secure the nomination in his district if the President carries through his original programme. The Ohio politicians say it will not be an attempt to retaliate, but the local con ditions are such in Mr. Longworth's dis trict that the effect of the anDnlntment r,t a colored man to the Surveyorshlp will be most felt there. DEFENSE OF NEGRO TROOPS Discharged Sergeant Testifies in De nial They Did Shooting. WASHINGTON, Feb. 4. The investi gation by the Senate committee on mil itary affairs of the Brownsville affray began today. A score of the negro sol diers of the Twenty-lth Inantry, who were discharged without honor were present, but only a limited number were permitted to sit I nthe committee room during the proceedings. Attor neys were barred, the negro soldiers having no representatives present. It is understood that Senator Foraker will look after the Interests of the men if they are placed in Jeopardy. Mr. Foraker called Sergeant Israel Harris to testify regarding the happen ings of August 13 and 14. He said: "On that night we had some disturb ance some shooting, I mean. I was asleep In D barracks, and about 12 o'clock I was aroused by the noise of guns. Then there was the sound to arms, and D Company got dressed and we started for our guns." The witness then told of getting the gun3 In the dark, after the racks had been opened. He described the racks and showed that there Is but one key to a rack and that this key will un lock only ones rack, and that the keys are in the possession of non-commissioned officers. The witness said when the company GRIP the back O-h-h, Iord! My head! FO E formed outside Captain Ivons of D Company was present and immediately called the roll and personally counted his men, and that none were absent. Calling for the guns furnished to the committee by the War Department, Mr. Foraker had first first them iden tified by the witness a new model Springfield rifle, and another as the Krag-Jorgensen rifle. The former was in use by D Company, but the witness was familiar with the Krag. He testified that a gun cannot be cleaned to pass inspection without a regulation rod, and that only four such rods are provided for each company. He said that one shot would put the gun in condition to require almost as much cleaning as six or more shots, the inference being that it would have been impossible for any guns of D Company to be used lin shooting up Brownsville and to be cleaned surrep titiously, so as to pass inspection when the racks were unlocked and the guns inspected the next day. Senator Warren developed the fact that trouble had previously occurred between the negro troops and people in Texas and that Harris, when he heard the shooting, feared that mem bers of his company might be involved. Harris stated that he had talked with soldiers, who had claimed to have been insulted, or pushed off the sidewalks by Brownsville citizens, and he thought trouble might ensue . in consequence there jf. Harris said itt would have been im possible for the men to clean their guns between the time of the shooting and roll call. Out of Roach of Lynchers. TUCSON. Ariz., Feb. 4. Baldwin, the negro who was held at Globe on the charge of murdering a woman and her child, arrived in Tucson last night in charge of Sheriff Thompson and was placed in the County Jail here. The pris oner was taken on a handcar from Globe to Rice, 50 miles, on Friday. Powder Burns in Peculiar Way. EL PASO. Tex., Feb. 4. One man was burned to death, another fatally and a third seriously burned was the result of a peculiar powder accident which occurred at Santa Kullis. Chihuahua, Mexico, the news of which was received here today. A load of 2000 pounds of powder was on the wagon. Suddenly there was a Hash and no explosion and every ounce of powder was burned. The Mexican who was burned to .death was smoking a cigarette from which it Is believed the powder became ignited. CONTENTS TODAY'S PAPER The Weather. YESTERDAY'S Maximum temperature, 35 de- ereest; minimum, rfl. TODAY'S RaJn and warmer; .southeasterly winds. National. Senator Heyburn conclude hi denuncla tion of Hitchcock's land policy. Page 2. House passes service pension bill. Page 2. Senate committee will recommend another Federal Judge for Oregon. Page .1. Tariff revision postpe4-f1 next session or after the 1U0S election. Page 4. Roosevelt's negro appointment in Ohio may drive Longworth out of Congress. Page 1 Senate committee begins Brownsville in quiry. Page 1. New light on Japanese school controversy. Page 3. Domestic. Hawkins writes on evils of divorce laws. Page 1. Supreme Court of United States upholds Idaho sheep-grazing law. Page 2. Prosecution completes case against Thaw, and defense pleads hereditary Insanity. Page 1- Interstate Commission to "hear complaints of California fruitgrowers. Page 2. Seven miners killed and burned in Iowa train wreck. Page 3. Avalanche kills 12 people in Colorado. Page 2. Another mine explosion in West Virginia kills at least 25 miners. Page 3. Paclfio Coast. Men and beasts starving in Idaho storm. Page 5. Chester Thompson will not be sent to peni tentiary. Page 5. Section hand ground to bits by fast pas senger train. Page 7. Member Washington Legislature becomes mentally unbalanced. Page 5. Oregon legislature. Joint committee will return favorable report on Chapln'a Railroad Commission bill. Page 0. Board of Trade Water Code bill doomed to defeat. Page 6. Fight between Tane and Douglas County over annexation of territory by former. Page 7. Republicans vote to uphold Governor's veto of Board of Control bill. Page 7. Convict Road Uw bill killed. Page 6. Ponl u nd and Vicinity. Warm chinook wind melts snow and Ice and worst flood in years is Impending. Page 1. Trustees of Anti-Saloon league hear new charges against Superintendent Rader. Page 1H. Astoria and Volumbia will build new line from "Warrenton to Seaside. Page 14. Court of Appeals sustains sentence of Henry Meldrum, ex-Surveyor-General. Page 10. Injured man found lying by track by motor man on Mount Scott line. Page 10. Councilman Shepherd's ordinance increas ing retail liquor license from $300 to $800 Indorsed by Council. Pge 10. R. B. Knapp, pioneer Portland business man, passes away. Page 10. Commercial and Marine. Hops beginning to move better at lower prices. Page 15. Decline in wheat at Chicago. Page 15. Dragging trade In stocks. Page is. San Diego will celebrate opening of Tehuan tepee Railroad. Page 14. A doctor, quick ! EVIL OF DIVORCE GROWS RAPIDLY Homes of 1,500,000 Children Broken Up. ABSURD CAUSES FOR DECREES Confusion Due to Great Varia tion in State Laws. MARRIAGE LAWS AS BAD Principal Restrictions on Mixture of Races and Marriuge of Close Re lations Hurry-up Divorces of South Dakota. BY FREDERICK J. HASKIN. WASHINGTON. Jan. 29. (Special Correspondence.) On account of the general alarm over the growth of the divorce evil ln this country, the Nation al Government is collecting statistics from the various states with a view to throwing light on the subject and encouraging- remedial legislation. It Is estimated that there have been 503,000 divorces in the United States in the last 20 years, and that 1.500,000 children have seen-their homes broken up. The full extent Of the evil fan h.rl.. . realized until the forthcoming report is completed, because only nine states now publish divorce sta;lstlcs. These are Maine, New Hampshire. Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island. Conneetl cut, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. So many absurd excuses for divorce have been found that it Is no wonder 'he comic papers find the subject one that yields much rich material for their purposes. A South Dakota woman was recently given a divorce from her hus band because he retused to pay for a pair of corsets she had bought. One wlte secured a separation from her hus band becaure he persisted In stoning their neighbors- cats, thus making her unpopular in the community where they lived. Another woman, who married a carpenter, afterwards relented and begged to be released from the union on arcount of the fear that, if she evr had children, they would inherit a tend ency to pound and make a noise. Mrs. James Alxander, of New York, carried off the honors as a most unique di vorcee by Issuing cards that read: Celebrates Her Divorce. "Mrs. Jams Alexander requests the honor of your presence at the celebra tion of her divorce from' Mr. James Alexander." However, It remained for a Baltimore man to do the handsome thing by his dissatisfied wife. When he found" she was In love with another man. he helped her secure her release from him self, settled the house and a fine in come on her, then crowned his generos ity by giving her away at the wed ding. As a rule the "states have adopted the philosophical view that it- Is wiser not to interfere1 with marriage relations that are not pleasant, and so have been reluctant to enact divorce laws. Those that have been enacted vary so much in what is considered Justification, length of legal residence required and terms of settlement that their utter lack of general application is conceded tq be a menace rather than a protection to our civilization. They range all the way from South Carolina, with no di vorce law at all, to Tennessee's willing ness to grant a divorce on any one of 12 reasons after one year's residence in the state. The length of residence re quired before a divorce can be obtained ranges from six months in South Dako to. Idaho. Nebraska. Nevada and Texas, to five years in Massachusetts. The causes ranges from very grave crimes down to mere trivialities. Variation in Divorce Causes. New York grants a divorce only for adultery, and In 50 out of 51 states and territories tnis is recognized aa Just ground for issuing a decree. In 24 out of al states and territories willful neg lect to provide, ln 43 habitual drunk enness, and In 43 desertion or abandon ment is considered 'sufficient cause for legal separation, ln 43 states oruelty is accepted as ground for divorce, but the word is widely interpreted. It runs the whole gamut from physical force to "outrageous temper." In 39 states drunkenness Is accepted as ground for absolute divorce, la Georgia, If both husband and wife drink, neither can ob tain a decree. In Nevada, divorce for drunkenness is granted only when it is proved that the man' cannot support his family, while ln Kentucky evidence must also be provided to show that the drunken husband is "wasting his es tate." The present variation of the marriage laws throughout the states Is said to be largely responsible for the prevailing muddle In divorces. Only eleven state constitutions treat the subject of mar riage at all. An old statute of Pennsyl vania requires twelve witnesses to a mar riage, some states require three witnesses, some two. some one. and some none at all. In New York practically no cere mony is required. A man gave a woman a ring, saying: "This is your wedding ring." and the courts held it to be a valid marriage. In South Carolina a person convicted of bigamy is disqualified from being registered or from voting. In Utah "polygamous or plural marriages are for ever prohibited." The constitution of Cal- iConcluded on Pace 8.)