A RICH HARVEST.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1087, 30 March 1883, Page 4

A RICH HARVEST.

(From tho New Yu k Time .».) Actions for breath of promise of marriage ore amongst the most entertaining anil profitable of feminine pmauits Men ore unjustly debarred fiom the privilege of obtaining damages from women who, offer having promised to marry them, decline to carry out their promises. It is true that no statute or decision forbids a man to sue a woman for breach of promise, out inasmuch as no jury would give the'plaintiff injsuoh a suit a verdict for more than six and a quarter cents., no man ventures to subject himself to such a slight. If the day ever comes when the oppressed male sex he'd ns an agitation in favour of men’s rights, one «,£ the [grievances of which men will most justly complain will bo that they are shut out from the privilege of making an honest living by bringing breach of promise actions. In the far west the action for breach of promise is nearly as popular as that fo • r ivoice. The former is considered the proper occupation of unmarriel women, j nst as the latter is tho exclusive amusement of matrons. In some localities girls aie expected to earn their dowries by bringing actions for breach of promise, a course which naturally meets the views of the intended husband. Maiden ladies and widows who prefer single life to matrimony often make a very handsome living with the help of a breach of promise action every two years ; and as the average amount of damages recovered from each defendant is a little "more than TOOOdol., it is easily seen that a really enterprising and attractive widow can, by pioper management, amass a competency in a very few years. But of late the same is growing shy, and even the ablest women find it difficult to procure evidence upon winch to institute a suit. So many men have been mined pecuniarily by writing letters which were afterwards introduced as evidence against them that no man of any intelligence can now be induced to write a letter to any woman which contains anything that could he used to show that he had made a promise of marriage. In these circumstances women desirous to earn an honest living have been compelled to resort to all sorts of measures to procure profitable evidence. The plan of secreting a small brother under the back parlour sofa so that ho can overhear eliminating language on the part of the victim was for a time very successful, and almost as much success attended the concealment of a mother or aunt in the hack parlour closet. These measures have, however, been abandoned, owing to the fact that Western men have made it a ride to explore the closet and to thrust a stick undethe sofa before sitting down to discuss the weather or any other topic of interest with a marriageable member of the opposite sex. The telcph ne and the old-fashioned speak ing tubes have also been employed iu the collection of evidence, but for a long time cautious man has made it a point to cork up the speaking tube and disconnect the telephone before addressing himself to the business of the evening. In spite of these failures, the ingenuity of woman is not to be baffled, and Miss Sarah Wilkins, of Indiana, has lately introduced a new method of facilitating breach of promises to be brilliantly successful. A year ago Miss Wilkins, who is a re markably pretty girl, arrived in Bloomimtield, I lid., and promptly became a popular favourite with men. Khe was in every respect a most admirable young woman, and, regarded as a candidate for matrimony, she had the unspeakable advantage of being both dumb and deaf. At least she repre seated herself as a deaf-mute, and no one doubted her word. As a matter of course she was sought in marriage with the utmost enthusiasm by nearly all the unmarried men of the town. As she could neither hear an avowal of affection nor return an answer by word of mouth, her suitors conversed with her solely with the aid of her little ivory tablets, and her lead-pencil. Everything that was said to her and everything that she wished to say in reply was written on the tablets, and remained in the possession of the astute Miss Wilkins. At the end of six months that enterprising young woman began to reap her harvest. She brought an action for breach of promise and put iu evidence her tablets, by which the defendant was instantly convicted, the jury not even leaving their seats. A. like result was reached in every one of seven other breach of promise cases which Miss Wilkins successfully brought. Her aggregate earnings were 74,000d0k, the evidence being overwhelming against two of the defendants, and the lawyer for the plaintiff making such an eloquent plea in behalf of the poor afflicted deaf and dumb girl that verdicts of 15,000dn1. and 24,000J01., respectively, were obtained. From Blooraingfleld Miss Wilkins removed to another town in a remote part of the state, where she is now occupied in preparing for a new campaign. There are many marriageable men in the town, and a.i tiiey only read an occasional weekly newspaper none of them have heard of the grand harvest reaped by Miss Wilkins in Bloomingfield. By this time she probably has a dozen or two victims securely caught in her tablets, and when the spring court opens will sweep most of tho floating capital of the place into her pockets. Such an example will soon bear its fruits. Already numbers of young ladies in Indiana and other western states have become hopelessly deaf and dumb. Of course. Miss Wilkins’s admirable system cannot be permanently successful, for in time men will become more afraid of deaf and dumb women than they now are cf concealed small boys and closets full of hstining relations, but there is yet time tor a large part of the girls of the West to render themselves independently rich by tho judicious use of ivory tablets.