A domestic dispute in Wilmington, Delaware, brought Joseph Parise before Municipal Court in April 1922 after his wife accused him of coming home drunk, beating her, and chasing her mother with an axe.
Mrs. Parise told Judge Hastings that the trouble began after she confronted her husband about his drinking. According to her testimony, Parise had returned home under the influence of alcohol and became quarrelsome. When she objected to his drinking, he reportedly responded that whenever anyone offered him whiskey, he intended to take it.
What happened next depended entirely on which spouse was telling the story.
Mrs. Parise said her husband beat her and then pursued her mother with an axe. Parise offered a dramatically different version of events. He claimed that after the couple began arguing, his wife struck him on the head with a milk bottle while he was sitting in a chair. He further alleged that she scalded him with hot coffee and threw an axe at him.
Mrs. Parise denied those accusations.
With each spouse accusing the other of violence, Judge Hastings did not immediately settle the matter in court. Instead, he referred the case to Probation Officer Hanby for further handling.
Beat Her And Chased Mother
WILMINGTON, Delaware. — When Joseph Parise was given a hearing on a charge of breach of the peace before Judge Hastings in Municipal Court this morning, his wife testified that he came home under the influence of liquor, quarreled with her, beat her, and chased her mother with an axe.
She said that when she remonstrated with him about having been drinking, he told her that “when anyone offers him a drink of whiskey he is going to take it.”
Parise said that, after a quarrel between he and his wife, his wife hit him on the head with a milk bottle while he was seated in a chair, scalded him with coffee and threw an axe at him. These allegations Mrs. Parise denied.
Judge Hastings referred the case to Probation Officer Hanby.
Source: Evening Journal. Wilmington, Del. April 25, 1922.
