A Salacious Scandal in Spokane
A local doctor sues a brewer and a theater owner for 'alienating' his wife's affections, leading to a series of prying legal interrogatories.
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.
Rudolph Gorkow, the brewer, is confronted with some very embarrassing questions, which he is required to answer in the course of the next twenty days. A number of typewritten pages of foolscap were filed in the suit for $100,000 damages brought by one Dr. W. P. Bringle against Rudolph Gorkow and 'Big Bertha,' the proprietress of the Casino theater. Bringle claims the two succeeded in alienating from him the affections of his wife, the variety actress, Lillian Mason. 'Did you ever hug Lillian Mason?' is one of the questions Gorkow is asked. The inquisitive Bringle wants to know if he didn't give Lillian Mason money, or if he didn't give someone else money to hand to Lillian. By implication, Gorkow is credited with a kind heart, overflowing with hospitality, for the interrogatory asks: 'Did you not give instructions that Lillian Mason was to be served with refreshments at your expense whenever her appetite so demanded?'
“Did you ever hug Lillian Mason? Did you ever kiss her? Did you ever embrace her?”
This 'alienation of affection' suit reflects the Victorian era's focus on property rights in marriage, where a wife's affections were legally treated as something that could be stolen. While such suits are largely a relic of the past, the tabloid-style obsession with the private lives of local figures remains a staple of modern media.
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