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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (July 10, 1910)
.3 1 .5 mM - A - 7 .11 cl 1 hat Lets Gut Stern Old South CaroIinfWhoce Rigid Virtue '1703 .a i r. ft . ii Man a Anance to d MM1 2ZKofa Car vert exf s , TF DON JUAN: werreincarnated-Hind I who shall say he Jiasn't been f-and found his amatory, modern line) --cast in the United Statesand where else would that lover of .prettv women want to ltvefJ where would he go to seek first aid to the af-. fectionatet :- "r . ' ' ' " ; Readers of Byron might hasten to reply; TJie ladies, heaven- bless theml But that is obvious; the real question if," tvhither nextf f ; ' The'Byronic experts who would say Spain or Turkey, recalling the dashing don's , exploits amid the extremes of monogamy and polygamy, would do his experience small jus tice if they imagined he would betake himself bo either clergyman or magistrate The Don Juan of those cantering cantos ought io know enough by this time to hunt up a lawyer. . Because: This new continent of romance naturally presents conditions which any Lv thario, however impatient would - deem it vise to study before making any of the old, familiar -blunges 'into trouble. '. And because: The aforesaid Don Juan touldn't have been here long enough to .mark Mown the object iof his first, reincarnated af faction without suspecting the existence of more than one brand of marriage," ' "And because: Tie couldn't have time to , persuade, that object .. into the first delirious madness of a kiss before he would learn there ere something .like forty-five varieties of divorce, and then some. ' " And because, finally: It is, better to play 'Don Juan legally than to get all tied up with summonses; sheriff's writs, nolle proses and v 'the' countless other red tapes whtch can re " vstrain an ardent and universal lover from the t Wiss of fond embraces. - 4 V 0 I 111 '111 sylvanla and all the power of darkness.. His faithful . lis j : II; ,1 , I I COMPARATIVE .TADLE OF DIVORCE , LAWS Cunxft for divorce vinculo. ! v a S3-it 2 a 3 : 3 as a r (P ! tr IS II -4 h Albm. , . AlMkft . .., Arljon. , .; ArktnsM ti Clifornl. . Coiorido . . Counecilcut, DIM. ol Col. Florida - . , GeorgU.i.. "Idaho Illlnoli..,.. ' Indian. . ,. low h annas..... Kentucky.; LouWaoa. . . Mama Maryland. . Mawacbuaetta M chJaaa Wlunesota Ves Yn Yet Yea Yet Yd Yea Yea Yf Yea Yea Yea Yea Ya Yea Yea I Yes Yea Mississippi ,.i Yea Mlwourl.... Yea Montana, ... ,1 - Nebraska., : .( Yei Nevada. .. .. . Yea N. Hampahlrel Yea Yea Yea Yea 2 yrsl Yea Yea U yra Yea I yt Yea II yr Yea II yr Yea II yr Yea 13 yral Yea 2 yra! yea I Yea h yr Yes a yra Yea l yr 1H lyr I yr I yr Yea Yea Yea Yea 1 yr Yea 12 yra!2 yra Yea 2 yra Yea 12 yral Yea U yr Yea 1 yr Yea Yea Yea 18 yra! Yea 12 yral Yea 13 yral Y' Yea Yea Yea Yea New Jersey New Mexico.. , New York . , , N. Carolina-. N. Dakota. . Ohio Oklahoma..,. Oregon..... .-, Pennsylvania. Rhode Ialaad.l . e. Carolina. . S. Dakota. .. Tennewee, . . Tern..,. ... t'tah........ Vermont..,. Vlrflnla..,.. Vanhlnaton W. Vlmlnla., Wlaeonsin. . , i Vyomlng , Yet Ye Yea Yea Ye Ye Yea ,2 yral i yr 2 yra 1 yr lyr Yea i2 yrj yr Yea Yea Yea lyr Yea Yea Yea lyf Yea t yr t yr Yea Yea n Yea Yea Yea Ye Yea Yea Yea Ye Yes Yea Yea Yea Yea Yes Ye Yes Yes Yea Yes Ye Yes Yea Yes 1 Y Yes IS yrsl3 yral Yea Yea 12 yra2 yral Yes I Yea Yea Yes Ye Yes Yea Yea lyr ' 1 r lyr 'Jyrs Yea 7 yrsl Yes 12 yrsl 1 w Yes Yes Yes Yes Yea I yr lyr 1 yr 3 yral 2 yral 2 yrsil yr yes io moj Ye II yr 2 yr I yr lyr Ye Ye I Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes lyr 2 yrsi I Ye la'yrslS yral I Ye S yri:3 yral Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Yea Yes Ye I Ye Yea Ys Yea 1 yr Yes 3 yrti Yes lyr Ye H yr Ys 12 yrsl Ye I Yes Ye t vr 3 yrsl Yea II yr All laws permitting divorce (or any cause repealed. Ye Ye Ye Yea Yea Ye Ye Yes 1 Yea II yr II yr Yea 2 yral Ye Yea IS yr Yea 1 yr Ye IS yra Yea IS yra Yes II yr Yes 3 yrsl Ye 12 yr Yw 11 yr 49 I 4 Yet Yet Yes Yes Yes Ye Ye Ypt 11 yr I Ye II yr i Yet Yet I yr Ye II yr Yes II yr Yea 1 yr Yes 1 yr Yes II yr S yral$ mol Yes in moi 1 yr II yr yrs Yet Yes lyt 1 yr Yes IV yr Yes 1 yr Yet II yr 2 yrsl 1 yr Vi yrsi Yet Yet 3 yra Yes 37 Ye Yea Yes Yea Yet Ye Ye 42 Yes Ye Yes Yea 18 II yr I Yes IS mol yes I Yet I Yea IS mol llyr Yes 11 yr Yet 13 yrsll yr - Yes llyr Yes Yes llyr Ye II yr ' S yrsll yr lyrjYe.l-.yr Yet Yet Yet Yt Yet Yet Yet Yet Yt Yet Yes Syrt 3 Ytt 5 yrs 10 If 20 I a s I Statistics of the Varieties of Divorce In the V - r United States, as Applying to Those " - Who Want to Marry Again.': . TttX. DTVORCE GRANTED rO Unfaithfulness All states and territories, except gouth Carolina. - ' Desertion, lasting; 1 year, 20 states. Desertion, lasting I years, 11 states. V. -. Desertion, lastlnar years, 11 states. Habitual drunkenness, ST states. Extreme cruelty, 39 states. Proved bad character oa wife's part prior te " marriage, H states.. : ; Gross neglect or failure to support, 21 states. Conviction of felony, 41 states. , Permanent Insanity, t states. ; , RESIDENCE KEQCIRED TO OBTAIN DIYOBCB One year, 27 states. 61x months, ( states. IL ' J Three years, 2 states. Two years, states. jfyrtfnte farmed. .W7e fee? TtZscfie,, rcn ty Me. West follow him to Pennsylvania, where he can find all the Usual grounds for complete severance. But, under Its own laws, Pennsylvania, whether South Carolina likes it or not. gives the don his divorce, perhaps all tne nulrker because Mrs. Juan doesn't appear to contest It, - He Is now single again, any and every where In the world, except In loyal old South Carolina, where he is a married man In spite of all the laws of Penn sylvania and all the powers of darkness.. His faithful wife awaits him there, as beautiful, as true as ever. But Don Juan, meanwhile, has set his volatile af fections upon a peach In Pittsburg, who happens to be married to a blond. At sight of his dark (Spanish beauty she. simply speeds for lieno and paeKes six months raising forget-me-nots and affidavits of cruel and inhuman treatment agalnst'the harmlens but now objectionable blond. The decision granting her di vorce Is banded down. Don Juan is waiting. Half an 1 hour later they are married. - . He has two wives, both alive, both legally his. 1 He and the new Mrs. Juan return to Pennsylvania. Mrs. Juan No. l. In South Carolina, sends the don her pho ' tograpn, looking prettier than ever, Down he goes, to her, tinder the law there still her lawful husband. No. 2, the Pittsburg peach, pursues, Her marriage la utterly. Invalid as against, the claims of No. 1.. She - returns to Pennsylvania and, in her lovely-turn, sends him a photo. Back to Pittsburg hies Don Juan, to .enjoy bis legalized bigamy. . All he needs la a willing heart and mileage. : t ' t . WHERE THE RUB COMES But, the objectors may protest, what If either wife" rise at last In her wrath and charge him with the statutory offense with the other? Ah. rejoin the dl vorce experts, it is a principle in law tiat a crime must be tried within the Jurisdiction wfTere It was : committed. His relations with either wife are legal ized In the state where he maintains them, and neither lady has any wifely standing in the state where he Is living with her rival. t ; Has It ever worked that way? Zach McGhee. South Carolina's unaccredited, unofficial representative and sealous defender In the national congress of 190s for - Uniform divorce laws, made this declaration to the delegates assembled in Washington: "f have lived In 8outh Carolina for thirty-odd years, and I have never met, I think, more than two or" three divorced persons In my life. There are a num. hr llvtnsr there, but very, very few perhaps a dozen or two whose divorces are not recognized legally. If ;riiijlVV'l: .:r.-,'r-. and chief Justice of Connecticut. Mr. Sill went over to New Jersey and married again.1 Mrs. Sill No, 1 com plained to her lawyers that her annual $2500 alimony wasn't being paid, and It was astutely suggested that the improper service of notice upon him In her divorce proceedings might enable her to reopen them and have them set aside.- That would leave htm still her hus band and legally bound to support her, with the other woman nowhere. A search for precedents followed, and the lawyers speedily ran across the case of a Judge of New York's' own supreme court who had been di vorced there and denied the right to remarry. '. . That eminent Jurist-had made no bones of a hvmatnaal fnrrv,. trln over to New Jersey, a happy honeymoon and the installation of his new bride right lln Kw York It wii onfin defiance challenge of the validity of the state's legal power to forbid remarriage. It could not be ignored. He was accused ofbigamy, , indicted and convicted. - He calmly appealed from the, verdict. And, after that, nothing. The denial of right . of remarriage simply fizzled out eo, too, aia tne pro- : .... posal in the Sill case to make trouble for the remar ried defendant. . ' . . "The denial of the right of remarriage said one ' expert, "is practically a dead letter.!'. . j. . , The little detail of irregularity of notice has set whole social sets aqulver with anxiety over the validity of the divorces they have made. ; v The ruling of the United States supreme court in , the Haddock case, that the notice by publication was not valid, put thousands of New TorK families In s.p , JVfio, Perplexed sy7 they have gone into another state and secured a. di vorce they may come back . to South Carolina, and nobody is going to molest them. If they marry again their children are illegitimate, and a man who has property cannot sell It without his wife's dower that Is, the wife to whom he was married in South Caro lina." The reason such cases as those-of the Juan compli cation do not turn up is that the great majority of people are entirely sincere in contracting the marriage ' relation and do not plan bigamies. Where they do plan them, the plans are usually for polygamy, under, taken by swindlers who aim to marry as many women as they can to get their money, or by moral degen erate so low in the scale of intelligence that they do not consider the legal consequences at all. . . But the law can make a man a bigamist, a grass widower and a perfectly respectable husband all at the same time and he can sit as Judge on the supreme bench and be liable to a Jail term, too, in the State of New York, for instance. The Sill case. In New York, stirred up that prob lem, although it is perennial. The husband was di vorced in New York and denied the right tomarry again, with $2500 a year alimony allowed to the wife, for he was a man of wealth, son of a former governor ill I It V J . ... ill ffyHATtn ih warm-hearted don would In- 1 I : quire, "are the chances, in this land of J i V T ... truly glorious women, for the living ot a t- f t - successful sequel to my earlier adventures?" v ''Nothing, -elmply 'nothing doing," would be the re joinder of any learned and conscientious divorce law- j yer to whom he might apply, "They'd be liable to land yen in Jail for breach of promise on half the charges T summon you as co-respdndent on the other halt Forget It," , - . .:"la romance deadr .... -, '- -fBusIness never was so brisk. But Just try the gay deceiver plan on one of cur innocent New York mald ens, on the basis of a six-room bandbox for two, a charge account at half the stores la Manhattan and the Bronx and a studious avoidance of any marriage eereraony, and see how elegantly .Bhe will convince the-' r.ourtsthat she Is your common-law wife, with a Tvested right in half your income as her alimony and prohibition of marriage for you until you're a candl for the casket There isn't only one kind of mar-k-tage any more. The beautiful heroine hooks you oa (the evidence -of the janitor.!' . 5 "Isn't there any hope In divorcer V ONLY ONE RIGID STATE ' "About forty-flve different varieties, with Hv'a or sis more for new states and territories. There's only cue state in the Union that doesn't legalize any dl. ' orce, and that's South Carolina." - , ' v eT ' ,.P SISW- X !. It 11 HEN" "Dan - Cupid slips shyly around 8 e k ing what mischief he can ' do these days, his fa vorite side partner is the hpllo girL ----- That - is because she usually furnishes two strings to his. bow, and Cupid only 'knows how many bcaus. to her strings. The so ciety beauty has be come . merely an ad junct to J;ne telephone girl's amatory activi ties, when they are vi carious; the fair typewriter is simply an also-ran, when they are personal. She is Cupid's fair en anarer. leader-on t. sacrifices, his most devoted Any place in South Carolina whr h ..,,( . . ai allCTn . i l: ,fVilaaltr Borifiorl girl happens to live." F.Ma -jvaMsu . ilia, wuoy t,:::.-Beinir"what she is., a woman, . the alliance is the one which,' more than all others, seems to ap- 'Well. then, where wnulrl vmi avi.. .i.. fond and frequent affections to get married, lahe wi'i'a wi few jib tij.r j iiiuufu uivorcen f peal to her fond nature: and when it comca to the sacrifice, the tender-hearted hello girl is there with the goods which goods are guaranteed by the exacting companies that employ her as being epe- cully , selected, well, abofe grade and warranted A dictum Ilka that mlarht h .Tn.M.ji . v.u Lothario for a time. But the incongruities of marrlatra and divorce, according to the opinion of some divorce, experts, Include no more startling anomalies than the .tus of-the South Carolina candidate tor divorce and remarriage, . L ' . ' t-outh Carolina, ' stern ' and stanch of propriety, son not allow divorce for any cause whatever. But recording to the legal view referred to, there is noth to prevent Don Juan from betaking himself to ,j ennsyjvania, xor example, and there establlahlng ; - ewcvwM, w, suujb, nmv -T,rAutdn7-S , The people who know most about her and her VI rotating rjouth Carolina, relying on her rights as an helpful qualities wonder how Cupid was -able to .vBdivorceable wife, and certainly tot fool enough to " do business before she blew into it The lelephono m!,.mr.....-im- companies are in a constant fever of anxiety as to 1 how they keep on., doing business while she blows , out of it. - - ' - ' -. IN HER vicarious role? shells" merely the Dlsem bodied Voice nothing more seductlva than the wall that parted Pyramus from his Thlsbe. But she certainly does help the parted lovers. - "Hello" in' tones feigned but pained "let me have 1 Akminster 4-U, please I" ' ' - - -Xmstrfrlvn!" the "Voice respondswith" thai chain- " lightning intonation of if-you-don't-know-your-number-1-do-and-don't-forget-it-elthen V : ' T i v ";- , ,"Hello"in tones no more fe!gne, but no less pained -"is that you, HelolseT Yes? ell, darling, your father -has Just punched my eyebrows through my 'cerebellum, chained the dog to the front scraper and promised to be 5? or A weel1 10 take the maH from ltter carrier , himself. Meet roe at the atation at half-past 10 and we'll nee together to endless bliss. Surej Half-past 10-Good- THAT DISEMBODIED VOICE - Vole. h0 y?,u hav ieen bu t0T Disembodied Z,ia?'.l- chronlc8:1Ay superarUculate that you can't tell A'hiAlvM yu0U leel cerU,n hs doesn't oar a darn T . The hllo girl has made more matches than th most busy schatchen ever planned, and has helped mr-Vef.apPtIntmenU ,tn" 8ne her.elfrlaglnesa.al0ng ract is, she lives In a very talkina- machln t romance, and she doesn't resist it hw.Sff logger thw three years, on the average When she marries shlf aults her Job. differing in that respect from Thousand f f school teachers, typewriters and, especially,-wsTieMM Indeed, the hello girt has been declared to r&. $L gS Sagtu whlW&S? . when the department of commerce and labor sol emnly determined to investigate the industrial status of "JetoriBS to a"TorBs orpickedfeminlnlty. The compaBiea hT.refiboa4r,u,rm"t. won't hire g"i whose reach of arms" Is leg th&n a certain standard ' thii 8huU out all glrla lower than five h"111- They-are sized up, n applicant exam ination, for complexion, as Indicating condition of diges- 2 tion i and nerves; for . firmness of chin ' and , poslUveaess' of. expres sion, as indicating sta- .. blllty . of characteri-.ior.-bodywejght, as lndlcat- ;, Ing state of health; tor neatness of - appearance, -as indicating orderli ness, and for apparent - . age. -as" indicating -that they are neither too young nor too . old for the strain of the job. ,v Those . quallfleatlons, . plus the prime requisites ot tetueness of hearing and fluency of articulation are pre cisely the ones that make the successful candidate for marriage, i Cupid himself couldn't have defined more en ticingly the peaches he most loves to use in the tempta.' , tlon ofjmen. But at that stage the telephone companies SesrrdWay" 'Klth hlm'arid,d( thr best to emulate Blue- u i8ci?f -nJF "fossesMr; of , ail these perfections Is immured the whole day in that mysterious apartment . known as Central,'' and longing man may not gaze upon her alluring countenance, All he can do is execrate ber staccato voice if he's one of the married ones whose eoul is bent On business. ': Somehow or other, as experience proves, the other kind so often find that voice of hers so filled with entrancing cadences and melting tones that, on the average, only three years elapse -before Bluebeard; in the person of the company, has to rustle around for another occupant of ' Central,, while her predecessor is ' off on a honeymoon. :' ' - ( , . The hello glrl's wages range from $22.40 per month In Nashville, Tenrt., to 36.98 in New York city, while the blgtrest of all the phone companies pays an'' average , monthly wage of $30.91. That does suffice to hold them ( for a while, but for A while only. When-the usual three years are up, off the hello girl goes, to marry and, like as jiot. to live ion- some man's $30.91 per month with all the pristine faith of. wlman that what is enoueh for one . alone, 1300 hello glrin quit tne Teaim or romance,, wnere they act as twe goddesses outside-of-the machine; to try their. own particular, adventures in the land of love and marriage, where the rule Is the simple one of the stronger, and'vvhere there , Isn't any bar against, answering back. . ... A7rL - iorte2 -. prehensioi of the validity oL. marriages contracted., subsequently to their own divorces. Beauties and so ciety leaders like Mrs. Lionel Guest, who was dtvorcsd from Charles Dodge at loux- Falls on. the ground of desertion; Mrs. Henry Clews, Jni; formerly Mrs. Fred Oebhard; the Belmonts and the Vanderbllts and dozens ' of names prominent In the Nawport set, wre brought up at the time as among the marriages after divorce that might be open to question, ' ' The alarm however, died down, mainly because each, case would have had to be Bottled afresh on its Individual merits, and there was no one in particular who had an interest Jn definitely disputing the validity of either the divorces or the second marriages. The curious anomaly, as to term of residence re quired before divorce can-be had in different states was Illustrated by the flight to,SlOux Falls, S. D., of Mrs: WVBarklle TETenryTof PhnadeTphIa.wlth Only six ; months' sojourn at the Palls needful to give her ths complete separation she sought, and the trip to Penn sylvania from Delaware made by Mrs, George A. Mad-. dox Xor the same purpose. Subsequently , Mrs.' Maddox became Mrs.' Alfred L du Pont, the wife of the man to whom her former husband was secretary, and Mrs. Heary became the wife of Dr. Abram Van Kaathoven, V of Ean Francisco. , ' j . t The kind manner In which those expeditious' west- ern courts pared away the husband of Margaret Illlng ton, who did so want a home and real children, is recent, divorce history. ' - Virginia Harned, Vvherj her union with B. H. Sothem became unendurable, had so favorable an opinion of Nevada's kindly -divorce laws that, upon trial of her , suit her legal residence there was too close to a bird: flight to satisfy even those gentle judges. As Mrs. Sothem, she had to begin all over again, really live In Reno the sad six months, and only then was able io secure the complete separation her. anguished spirit craved. Perhaps the most astounding incongruity known to divorce lawyers is that in austere New York, whih grants complete divorce for only one cause, the stat- utory one, and forbids the sinning party to remarry. -That very state declines to consider Its one ground for divorce a penal offense, and anybody who chooses can quit his wife, leave his native state,, go to New York and there, with impunity, live with another woman, the only danger being that his wife may have her wrath so endurably roused, and may have enough money, to stay there until she can sue for divorce with alimony. .' . -, . - i But legal luminaries In the divorce lines are prone' to declare that New York city is the haven of delin quent husbands who choose to play Don Juan with other men's wives and daughters. The offense he commits against his marriage vows is not a criminal one In the eyes of the New York law. A single declBlon of the New York courts as to the validity of marriages contracted where either of the parties was under the legal age, with or without the s assent of parents or guardians, this year wrs esti mated as jeoparding the wifely status, in that state alone, ot 19,000 wives. . ' x Assurance, it was explained by legal luminaries,' could be made, really wire by those who, since their weddings, had attained the legal age, if they would get married all over again. Few, if any, were reported as hv1rtg done lt,first, because, as in trie case of 41 vorces aouynui as io legality .01, nonce,- noooay was -making any trouble for the individuals particularly ' concerned, and. next, beeVuse practically all of them 1 regarded the quibble of thenlaw as a thing of no' genuine importance anyway. Yet property disputes could, at any time, raise that legal quibble to a point cf pressing moment, , .. VI
