I NEWS
Friday. March 2fl, 1926
"Till' T 'l "I
77? me mm ens
eA A uf 4,
T7
Page Trirrt
The Most Curious Divorce Case
on Record-a Husband in Love with
a Popular Comic Strip Charmer,
and His Very
' Romantic Letters to
.Her Read in
Court
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JEALOUS WIFE.
F. Hardaity, Who D.cl.r.i H.r
'i't Ltttan la "Tilli th Toilr"
.4 Har "rBt mental. pain and
anguish."
' fleah and blood corcupomlcnU
- i alwny an ataiidnncc, but
Ti:iU til Toiler" wins the deckk
Wbpoent w the only comic strip
r ever named as Uio "other
" in divorce uction!
Wcstover felihinir little stenoir
familiar to newapaper readers
lout Am.rlca anl many other
es, ha been tliu unwitting cause
orce rumpus in Ciiliforniu.
t F. V desty, of Los Angeles, in
brou agiiinst her husband,
t V. desty, allcftes that ho
her, in a cruel and inhuman man
ned to bvatow upon her his love
wtion, constantly told her "Tillie
er" waa his idi nl of a woman,
ove letters to "Tillie," and spent
t hi. time reading and re-reading
"ook or "lime - comics,
'itlon to these things, the hus
argrd with deserting his wife,
tain body of her complaint is
with his alleged faithlessness
'leged infatuation for "Tillie,"
love letters" arc produced in
1 precipitated a national con
ong comic strip fans Inst year
t her hair In the boyish style,
n the reaipient of hundreds of
a admirers, masculine and
d Westovcr hns a voluminous
'ondence with constant read
Hip. But this ia Tillie'."
ice in a divorce court,
lestys wero married in St.
il IK, 1922. They lived to.
two year, and nine months,
le greater part of this time,
the wife', allegations, Har
td her to pay court to the
-V , n I.!- J. .trnill!- Jt.-
vi urn uivDiiis. i line um
:e their Reparation on Janu
Mrs. Hardesty set forth,
has "wilflillv an ntlthAiit
ieserud and abandoned her," but
'ter Prt of her grievous mental
i ha. been caused by Hardesty'.
"voking admiration for the cuto
t in tho comic .trip.
ior. thnn two year., she ays,
accumulated the papers and
of "Tillio the Toller" ilaily
r comics, pasted them in a
"and dovoted all his time in
Id acran-book and amusing
h said 'Tillie the Toilor1 clip
neglected to devote any time
n to plaintiff."
II the tlmo, hi. wife charges,
.. writing letter, to "Tillk,'
hi. admiration In burning
Sometimes he varied the jrc
' writing to other characters in
. Strip In which the anriirhtlu
wiiiKivs aniiy,
i
tlonj tnTm-s .ud r.ad the for.Klog'
knows th. contents ta.reof; anl that the ..a. la ti
own knowledge, azo.pt a. to the aatter. whloh ar. thsrslnstated
upon her lsforaatlon or bellaf, nd aa to thos. aatt.r. that
she belle vse It tob. txue.
0L1B1 T. MHM.tr
tubsorlbed'and sworn "to b.fore .
a. this 30 day of Janvary, 192-
Ibakan
sonsy rublle la and Xox the County
of Lo. angel..,. Stat, of California
Jff ip "OTHER WOMAN."
t . .X "Tilli. the Toiler." the V
J f S - - ' Cau.. of It All. SI
(nil)
Sua.
flirtations and incon
sistencies, was the ob
ject of Hardesty's
envy because "Mack"
had the privilege of
being in the office
every day with "Til
lie." "Whipple," the
"worthless sheik" of
the office, was occa
sionally warned by
Hardesty that he had
better not presume to
he "indiscreet" with
"Tillie."
Following is one of
Hardesty's lettors to
Tillie. presented bv
his wife as documentary evidence of his
unfaithfulness to her:
Lot Angtlei, July 8, 19th '
Voir Tillie:
Well, here it it (line or me to write to
lint again, if I can get tho time, liy
wife continually napt me. 1 think the
gurttet there is tomethitg between ut.
I ture icf.tft )ou could work in my
opre. That gang ioetn't appreciate yo
a tlnalr bit.
You ought to choke ll'AfppIe heraute
he It a worthiest iheik. You can't trutt
the sheik type. Mack it a boob. It
niM hit time working ventn he ought
to be loving you.
1 want to tell you you are the Ideal of
my Dream (llrl, and town day I hope we
can he toui motet.
II iln a million Kittet,
Your
1.000,000 . ;
Again he wrote. i
rime-
1'ok are the Girl of my I)rtnm.
I am irlth you and for ton at all timet.
1 hone tn meet you tome itay and show
He wrote as follows:
Hack:
I Kill hare TiUic'stlp you
(hi. It it a warning. Keep
on pucif-dinjr 7'tUie, and fell
me if thut theik Whipple .
start anything. You ture
are lucky to be in the same
olice with Tillie.
I would trrub floors if I
could be (hu e ami hare the
opportunity to be near her.
1 would thine her thoet anil
bring her flotcert every day.
Xou), Mack, take care.
In all the history of .
American jurisprudence
there hag not been so odd a
divorce case as that of Clara
and Everett Hanlesty.
There' are instances on
record, of course, in which,
husbands neglected their
wives because of other things
besides "other women"
hobbies, like golf, pool or
poker, object! onable prac
tices like burning up the
morning paper before Wifie
had a chance to read it
twisting the cat's tail, wear
in? yellow neckties, or eccen
tricities of a hundred other
varieties. But never before
has a husband apparently be
come enamored of a fictional
character, neglected Hi. wife
and aroused her ire and jeal
ousy because of his devo-
TELLTALE MISSIVES.
Copies of Hardasty's Let
ters to "Mack" and
"Tillie," Produced in
Court by Hi. Wife.
tion to the non-existent other woman.
Psychologists would call it a typical
case of "frustration." They would say
that Kverett Hardesty was not happy
with his wife. He found she did not meas-
"Mack," the you the kind of a man 'I would make or
BILL FILED.
Actual Facsimile of Specimen Page of Complaint In Divorce
Case of Clara F. Hardesty Afain.t E. V. Hardesty.
Be careful.
Your love,
EVERETT.
"Whipple," the debonair person in th.
office with "Tillie," who at one time in
the course of the comic atrip story
seemed to be "Mack's," the head book
keeper'., chief rival for "Tillie'." affec
tions, aroused considerable resentment in
the breast of the adoring Hardesty.
He wrote "Tillte" a note, attaching
another anonymous missive to be deliv
ered to "Whipple," which contained a
tern warning.
Thia letter was a. follow:
Dear Tillie:
Tear off below doffed line and (care on
V hippie t detk.
k'ov'. M'r. Whipple:
I am a lookout to hap Mitt Time, row
Ifsfcn taut "pal," a yotl call her, it my
sweetheart. I will trlmivu to one hell of
a tick man If I catch you being indit
erect to Tillie. You know what 1 mean.
O.VW WHO KX0W3. .
Th. letter which -Handeety wrote to
the bookkeeper, "Mack," waa uUo to be
delivered to mm oy -nine. r.viuemiy
TT.
d long-suffering bookkeeper, you. Hardest- wanted to keep ho secret, from
.a. to "Tim." in .pita of her . .WAfpple and Jucfc, art n. fh jpttg "Tjlli..'r . .
l -- ' f..- " 1 . - ' "" . . . jcapTTUaV lilt, Onat I
ti u t jiw
lit ITrvCXV C JU -KMn. YLl
oJ. "ft ,
Vj,?, Lv XvCrv Aw orwvo. unrs-mV Vify
' 1
by Ru.s Waatovar, Har
Cartoonist Creator, With
Other Charactera from the
. Famous Strip.
ure up to his plan, and specification, for
the ideal "dream girl" who, according1 to
song and story, tradition and science,
lurks in the back of every man's head.
Jn "Tillie the Toiler," perhaps, Ever
ett Hardesty found pictured the girl of
his dreams. She existed far more real
istically than would have been the case
if she had remained merely a shadowy,
dimly outlined creature in Hardesty's
imagination. She was alive, moving, talk
ing, every day in Hardesty's favorite
newspaper. She had daily contact with,
human characters all too human to
Hardesty.
Like the schoolgirl revealing her
most intimate thoughts and hopes in a
diary, or addressing passionate letters to
an imaginary Prince Charming, Everett
Hardesty committed his dream-life to
paper. That's where he made his mis
take writing letters. He had not learned
the valuable lesson which experienced
Lotharios revere as the first law of phi
landering never put anything in writing.
Wifie found Everett's letter, to hie
Dream Girl, and now she', using them
against him.
A strange case, you may say but
Everett Hardesty need not hang his head
in shame if his friends should call him
the flat-tire of the ages or the prize boob
of Christendom. He is not the first man
who has allowed his dream-life to get
the better of his ham-and-egg existence.
The records of psychological research are
ull of such cases.
There is the classic example of the
immortal poet Dante, who had the most
celebrated "dream girl" in all human hU
tory. She was Beatrice, the wife of an
other man. Dante did not stoop to an
affair with her. but, with Beatrice a. a
nucleus, he constructed his beatific vision
of the perfoct woman, and loved her more
eloquently in burning verse than man ha.
ever loved, before or since.
So Everett Hardesty can find high
precedent for saying to hi. dream gtrlt
'See you Sunday in the funny paperl"
Ana woo snail say win . w jt
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