Extradition for a Deserting Husband
A Tacoma dentist is facing extradition to Ohio after being accused of abandoning his wife and children back East.
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.
Sheriff Thomas C. Teal of Batavia, Ohio, arrived in Tacoma yesterday to secure the extradition of Dr. H. C. McClelland, a dentist arrested last Wednesday on advice from Ohio authorities. McClelland is wanted for wife and child desertion. The doctor, who has been living in Tacoma for several months with a second wife, claims he obtained a legal separation from his first wife, though the sheriff remains skeptical. McClelland has stated he will return to Ohio to face charges without fighting the extradition.
“The sheriff expressed doubts that the dentist had ever secured a divorce.”
This case highlights the messy nature of divorce and legal desertion in an era where jurisdiction was often difficult to track. Today, the concept of 'wife desertion' has evolved into modern family law and alimony enforcement, but the friction of relocation to escape family obligations remains a recognizable human struggle.
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