A Family Feud Before the Bench
A husband's attempt to have his wife committed to an asylum highlights a volatile domestic dispute.
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.
Sophia Arnold, who was accused by Frank Arnold, the man who mystified the police department with his peculiar tricks, of being an insane person, and not fit to be at large, was discharged this afternoon, after being examined by Judge Snell. The two people told very uncertain stories of family fights and neighborhood strife. Mrs. Arnold stated that the cause of all the trouble was the fact that her husband came home intoxicated after giving his evening's entertainment in some downtown saloon and beat her unmercifully. Arnold told that his wife was possessed of an insane jealousy, and constantly accused him of being false to her. He said that owing to their nightly fights, they had been 'fired' from every hotel at which they had stayed. At the conclusion of the evidence, Judge Snell turned to the insanity commission assembled, and exclaimed, 'Well, gentlemen, which one is crazy?'
“Well, gentlemen, which one is crazy?”
Domestic strife and the weaponization of the judicial system to control partners were common in 1909. The Judge's dry observation points to how little the courts could actually do to resolve private violence.
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