The Million-Kiss Lawsuit
A breach-of-promise trial in Seattle brings a jilted suitor's personal letters into open court, revealing a bizarre tally of affection.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
In the trial of the Belanger-Crasswell breach-of-promise suit in the United States court yesterday, the plaintiff completed the story of how the aged defendant, Robert H. Crasswell, won her heart and then discarded her. The defense countered by reading a series of letters written by the lady to her lover, which painted a colorful picture of their romance. One letter claimed she would send him 'a million kisses,' a feat the court noted would take about four years of twelve-hour work days to accomplish. The letters also mentioned a rival named McHugh, who was left an $80,000 inheritance, and included a request for money to buy a wedding dress, as the plaintiff felt it was unlucky to wed in black. As the lawyers read the most gushing passages, the elderly defendant covered his face and blushed in humiliation, while one juror fell fast asleep.
“One time she sends him a million kisses. This would take about four years, if the party giving the kisses were to work twelve hours a day.”
Breach-of-promise suits were once a common, if scandalous, way to settle the 'damages' of a broken engagement. While modern law has largely moved away from these civil actions, the public fascination with the intimate digital trail of modern breakups remains a cultural constant.
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