She and her friends had been drinking wine, and they gave the sedate hubby an unexpected treat when he arrived at his home in St. Louis Mo. [more]

A staid citizen of St. Louis, Mo., was arrested in that city the other day, charged with beating his wife. He was taken to the police court, and three he made a remarkable statement. He said that when he came home the other night he found a jolly party in his house celebrating. They had been drinking wine and were about half full. As he opened the door he saw his wife and another woman dancing the coochee-coochee in what he said was a most disgusting manner. He said he didn’t mind her drinking, but he did object to the dance. He admits that his rage at his wife’s performance carried him to the extreme of chastising her with a club, but pointed, without any pride, to some bumps and cuts on his own head, as he said, “and my wife is no slouch herself in a pugilistic way.”

Reprinted from National Police Gazette, December 19, 1896.