DANCER’S WISH.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3352, 20 December 1926, Page 3

DANCER’S WISH.

Through Hie amazing revelations in the divored case of Theodore Engalitcheff, a Russian nobleman, against his wife, Bertha Petrovna, whom he accused of having transferred her affections to a boa constrictor, a glaring light lias been thrown on divorce conditions'in Paris, and the acknowledged facility with which French courts dissolve matrimonial contracts. In two months there were promulgated in Paris as many as 87 divorces, in which Anglo-Saxons were chiefly concerned. The case of Mr Eugalitcheff led to the discovery of the “divorce mill,” which is becoming more and more popular with foreigners of every nation. » Mr Eugalitcheff lived in a beautiful Neuilly apartment with his wife Bertha Petrovna, an artist, who thought her only inspiration for thq portrayal of mystic dances should come from snakes. She bought a small boa constrictor, and proceeded to practice her dances according to the motions of the snake’s body. For some months the Jmsband did not object. But the boa constrictor grew in size and temper —and the husband began to find his presence somewhat irksome. He so told his wife, who promptly replied that if he did not like her sweet little baby boa constrictor he could go elsewhere for his bread and butter. s The Russian nobleman had no visible means of support at that time, so he decided to support the presence of “Lulu,” as the serpent was called, for a little while longer. But his patience finally- came to an abrupt end when Bertha Petrovna was told by the proprietor of the apartment to move out and take the snake with her. The husband quickly obeyed the summons, but Bertha Petrovna ami her “Lulu” stayed behind. In fact “Lulu” crawled into a hole somewhere in the apartment, and when the proprietor again invited Bertha Petrovna to select other living quarters the little Russian woman answered that she would willingly go, but that her “Lulu” would remain “somewhere in the flat” securely hidden from view, and perhaps show up again after her departure when new tenants were just about to retire for the night. The prospect so frightened the proprietor that he urged Bertha Petrovna to remain as long as she desired. The consequence of this controversy was that Theodore, the husband, brought a suit against his wife on the ground that she cared more for the boa constrictor than for him. “She used to tie blue ribbons round the beast’s neck,” he told the judge, “and pet it until it sought refuge in its hole at the back of the fireplace. Before we came to Paris she had a Pekingese dog upon which she wasted all her affections. She even took him to bed with her. 1 didn’t mind that so much, but when she introduced the boa constrictor, which is seven feet long, as our steady bed companion, I bolted and made for the next bar.” The judge quickly granted a divorce to Mr Eugalitcheff, and admonished the wife to turn her pet reptile over to the Jardin Zoologique. “I’ll rather die,” said the amazing Bertha Petrovna, as she walked out of the courtroom, i