The Evening World

the Atherton Divorce Case.

Affidavits Presented,

The Alleged Forged Confession to Be Taken Before the Grand Jury.

Judge Bischoff, of the Court of Common Pleas, to-day denied the motion to open the decree of divorce granted to Mrs. Nancy B. Atherton Thursday.

The Judge did not examine the affidavits attached to the motion papers, and announced his decision immediately at the close of the arguments of Lawyer Herman Frank, counsel for George F. Atherton.

Judge Bischoff interrupted Lawyer Frank during his argument by saying: "You have more faith in the truthfulness of your client than I have, and I do not hesitate to say I do not believe him."

Mr. Atherton is the proprietor of the Hotel Aberdeen, at Twenty-first street and Broadway. Mrs. Atherton is the daughter of Dr. S. M. Hersey, a prominent physician of Bridgeport, Conn.

She charged her husband with having been intimate with Mrs. Cecilia Carr, a boarder at the Hotel Aberdeen.

A nursemaid in the employ of the Athertons swore to having found Atherton in Mrs. Carr's apartments.

There was also put in evidence in the divorce suit what purported to be a written confession by Atherton of his improper conduct with Mrs. Carr.

In his motion to-day Mr. Atherton submitted an affidavit, in which he says he did not defend the suit because he wished to protect Mrs. Carr, who, he says, is innocent. He says Mrs. Atherton's counsel agreed to keep the suit from publicity, but that it was exploited at great length in the newspapers.

He says further that he was just about to bring an action for divorce against his wife, naming as co-respondent William Semple, a wealthy retired merchant, who formerly lived at the Hotel Aberdeen, but who now lives at the Victoria Hotel.

He says the written confession placed in evidence is a forgery, and that he never wrote it, because his relations with Mrs. Carr were not improper.

In opposition to the motion, Mrs. Atherton's counsel offered affidavits from Dr. E. H. Holcomb, of Baltimore, and of her aunt and father to the effect that she was undergoing medical treatment for injuries received in a railroad accident at the time her husband accuses her of intimacy with Mr. Semple.

After Judge Bischoff had denied the motion, Lawyer Frank said he would take the matter of the alleged forged confession before the Grand Jury and see if he could not get some one indicted for forgery.

Mrs. Carr was represented in court by a lawyer, but Judge Bischoff refused to hear him.