A Divorce Suit With Dynamite in the Details
Cora Heaton accuses her husband of jealousy, vile language, and threats; he does not answer the complaint.
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.
An application was filed in the superior court yesterday by Cora L. Heaton, who asks to be divorced from James Heaton on the ground of cruel and inhuman treatment. The two were married in 1885 in Springfield, Ill., and have a daughter who is married. The wife alleges that for more than two years Heaton has treated her in a cruel and inhuman manner, using vile language, threatening her with dynamite; that he is of an intensely jealous disposition and of violent temper. She says he has property in which she claims no interest. Judge Humes signed an order of default, the defendant failing to make proper answer.
““...using vile language, threatening her with dynamite.””
In an era when divorce was scandalous and domestic violence rarely named as such, Heaton's complaint uses the language of “cruel and inhuman treatment” to describe threats and abuse. Modern no-fault divorce and protection orders grew out of such cases, though the underlying danger has not disappeared.
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