Out By The Roots

Out by the Roots

William Mulholland Pulled His Wife's Hair.

A Christmas Quarrel

For Which He Pays $50 or 90 Days in Jail.

Denounces a Tarring and Feathering in Superior Five Years Ago as An Outrage Instigated by Lies, but is Convicted.

William Mulholland was tried in Justice Duffy's court this morning on a charge of assaulting his wife. This unhappy marriage is of seven years duration and three times Mulholland has been arrested on this same charge. The assault was claimed to have been committed on Christmas day. The trouble between the husband and wife rose originally over his failure to take his wife to a family party at a cousins which he had promised to attend two months before. Mrs. Mulholland swore that he got mad about it, burned up her little daughters box and when he tried to save it he threw her against a table, wound his hand in her hair and pulled her about by it and when she tried to hold on to something he pulled out great quantity of hair and threw it on the floor. She tried to pick up the hair and he threw her down and gathering up the hair threw it into the stove. She detailed various assaults, failure to support, the calling of vile names, etc. Her testimony was corroborated by Frank Andres, one of the most comical witnesses on the stand in a long time. He swore that Mulholland tried to get him to testify to a lie by buying him a drink of beer this morning. He detailed the assault as the wife had done. He didn't know how old he was but he had voted in Ann Arbor town for road commissioner.

The defendant was put on the stand and contradicted his wife point blank. He had not struck her. She tore his shirt. He pushed her away. Accidentally he did pull out her hair. He hadn't tried to induce F. Andres to swear to a lie but he had bought him a cigar and beer. Attorney Cavanaugh asked if Andres knew which end of the cigar to put in his mouth. He said his wife was continually pitching into him. He had threatened to trample upon her if she threw hot water on him. On cross-examination he denounced the tarring and feathering of Tom Cowan at Dixboro five years ago for setting Mulholland on to beat his wife as an outrage instigated by lies and denied that the neighbors had threatened to visit him at that time. A jury in the case had been waived and Justice Duffy sentenced him to pay a fine of $50 and costs or 90 days in jail.