100 years ago in Spokane: Banker’s divorce made for juicy headlines

From our archives, 100 years ago

The sensational divorce trial of local bank tycoon R. Lewis Rutter veered from “threatened tragedy to pure comedy” and from the “pathetic” to the “ridiculous.”

Not that The Spokesman-Review minded.

The paper was covering this trial with yards of copy every day, and on the final day of testimony the front page headline blared, “Mrs. Rutter Bares Family Secrets.”

Those secrets included:

• During the Financial Panic of 1907, her distraught husband handed her his revolver and said, “For God’s sake, Bell, put this away. I’m not sure I won’t kill myself.”
• When former President Theodore Roosevelt dined at their home, it spawned numerous arguments between the couple over nearly everything – the menu, decorations and whether or not Mrs. Rutter should “preside” at the dinner. Her husband said she refused to take part and got so angry she “tore a décolleté dress she had right down the middle.”
• Her husband bragged about a woman he called “the princess of Soap Lake.”
• One of her friends referred to Mr. Rutter as “Billie Burke” – a film actress known for romances – “because he was always kissing people.”

Mrs. Rutter was sobbing through most of the testimony and at one point broke down completely. She said that if Mr. Rutter could get away from certain unsavory persons, the couple could be reunited.

Those unsavory persons included the Rutters’ two lawyers, who were sitting right there. She called one of them “an unspeakable scoundrel” and said that if “Mr. Rutter gets away from you and Mr. Nuzum (the other lawyer), he’ll be a better man.”

This statement brought applause from many of Mrs. Rutter’s supporters in the courtroom. The judge threatened to clear the room.