Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 76, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 March 1920 — PLAINTIFF GETS $5,000 VERDICT [ARTICLE]

PLAINTIFF GETS $5,000 VERDICT

MRS. KATE HANSSON AWARDED $5,000 ALIMONY AND DIVORCE FRIDAY. The suit of Mrs. Kate Hansson against Dr. J. H. Hansson, of this city, for divorce and alimony in tiie sum of $20,000 came to a speedy close Friday in the Newton circuit court when an agreement was effected between the opposing attorneys which gave the plaintiff a divorce and alimony in the sum of $5,000. The case lasted three days, attracting considerable attention and disclosing evidence of a most sensational nature. Judge B. B. Barry, of the Benton circuit court, presided at tiie trial and entered judgment in agreement with the attorneys’ decision. The alimony during the first year is payable in sums of S2OO, S2OO, and S6OO, and SI,OOO annuaHy thereafter for a period of four years. The plaintiff ih addition is given a certain portion of the household effects. No provision was made for Annette Hansson, the daughter. Quite a number of character witnesses were called by tiie plaintiff’s attorneys from this city, and the defendant also introduced a few witnesses from here, as well as some from without the boundaries of the county. ' In the original complaint the plaintiff filed suit for $20,000 in addition to SI,OOO annually for the maintenance of her daughter, Annette. The financial holdings of the defendant were placed at $50,000 in the complaint. The attorneys for the defense confined their efforts for the most part in attempting to disprove the claims of the plaintiff as to the defendant’s .financial standing, and sought to establish that hie financial holdings did not exceed SIO,OOO, and with some degree of success, but the claims of the defense are taken with a grain of salt by local

The suit was the outgrowth of the lack of harmony that had existed between the parties for several years, and for many months prior to the filing of the suit it was quite generally known among the citizens of tins city that aul was not well in the domestic life of the. Hanssons. There were murmurs of disapproval among the neighbors and friends of ™ P lain ; tiff, it is said, on many different occasions over the actions of the defendant, and it is further sand that on one or two occasions the neighbors became very mw* ncensed and indignant over the aleged actions of the defendant. In her testimony Mrs. Hansson stated that the defendant had done ier bodily harm on so many different occasions that she was unable to keep count of them. She further stated that she had been accused by Dr. Hansson of infidelity and that there was not the least grounds for such accusations. She wm supported in her testimony by her dauWer, and the character witnesses which were introduced by iei* attorneys testified that her charicter was above reproach. Dr. Hansson stated that within the past year his revenue from his practice as a veterinanMi had. been practically nothing, and that hut revenue as an automobile had likewise been very small. ;He jroduced evidence sustaining his chiims, showing that the source of his income had come from his farm lands. He also stated that he had found it utterly impossible to live in harmony with his wife. The son, Gravalous, testified in favor of his father. The Hanssons came to this city ■from Monon about seventeen years ago, and during their residence m this city have lived in the f Alfred McCoy property on Milroy avenue. •