The Case of the Substituted Diamond Rings

Two diamond rings which, under the terms of settlement in the Dyer divorce case, were to be returned to the plaintiff, ex-State Senator Trusten P. Dyer, by his former wife, now Mary Pontius, may cause the domestic quarrel, once settled, to be again aired in the courts, for the husband has found it necessary to commence an action against Miss Pontius to recover them, alleging that she has failed and refuses to comply with the promises she made. A copy of the complaint was served on the former wife some time ago, but an attempt was made to keep the suit from the public. The first intimation that Mr. Dyer had sued Miss Pontius to recover the rings came yesterday, when the case was noted for trial in the superior court.

John E. Humphries, of Thompson, Nelson & Humphries, counsel for Mr. Dyer, refused when seen last evening to show a reporter a copy of the complaint, but acknowledged that the suit had been brought. He claimed that a settlement was likely to be effected and for that, as well as other reasons, it was desired to keep the matter out of the newspapers.

The story which resulted in the present suit, from Mr. Dyer's point of view, was learned from other sources. It is said that after the papers in the settlement of the case had been signed, whereby Mrs. Dyer was to pay Mr. Dyer $1,000 and return to him two diamond rings which he had given her, the former did not feel inclined to hand over the money and rings. She was urged to do so, and finally the attorneys in the case met one afternoon and Mrs. Dyer in their presence handed over a check for $1,000 and an envelope supposed to contain the two rings.

Later, when Mr. Dyer was given the rings by the attorneys, he announced that they were not the ones specified in the agreement, but were of very small value. Dyer's counsel returned the rings to Mrs. Dyer's counsel and insisted that “the particular rings” be surrendered. A week or more elapsed and then came another envelope, which when opened proved to contain two rings, but once Mr. Dyer cast his optics on them he announced that they, too, were not the rings referred to.

Once again the envelope went back to Mrs. Dyer with a request that she try again. But Mrs. Dyer gave up trying and Mr. Dyer never saw another envelope. Mrs. Dyer was urged to live up to the agreement and threatened with another suit unless the rings were forthcoming. At last Dyer grew tired of waiting and suit was commenced by summons.

One of the two rings, Dyer says, he purchased from a local jeweler by giving a Mason charm worth $100 and paying a cash consideration of $115. The other ring is said to be a beauty, but of not so great a value.