Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, July 7, 1906, Page 2

CHAPTER XVII. The Ball. It was a big ball at the Portsmouth town hall that night, given for the lo- cal hospital. Charity balls spell mixed society mostly, and suggest a condi- tion of things where people may make up their own party and dance pretty exclusively amongst themselves. Yet there is a vast admixture of fringe peo- ple; girls who come from no one quite knows where; youths with a look of in- definite strangeness—people the- rest look at speculatively and curiously. There was a large party from Ad- miralty house and another from Gov- ernment house, and the heads of de- partments and the self-styled leaders of neighboring society were there. There were also little Miss Jones from unknown regions in Southsea, and Miss Brown from one of the big Palm- erston road shops, and young Smith the dockyard, and the like. The hall was gay with bunting and s and tall plants, behind which the band of the Red Marines dis- 1 the most perfect of waltzes liveliest of Washington The high balcony was full of rs on—chaperons and the elderly and non-dancing; the floor below was st with gleaming satin and airy and the glow of color and wave ovement. Government house party was in time. Gen. Kenyon prided him- { on military punctuality. His aide- camp had a certain air of eager- had any one chosen to remark it, as he took up his station close to the big open doors. He had his card in lis hand, and on it there were a few ered names—the names of those rked down there by duty. But the ce of white that remained to it to make enjoyment its fill- from great look eagerly on the outlook for a, and she was a little late. The nd was already playing an extra en be saw the little brown head, its glittering diamond stars ug the stars that still came surg- in. It s so unlike the usual -agernesa over its entertain- to be stit! on the threshold when the ] had begun, that Winstanley had «imost begun to be filled with dis- may. Now it was quite another feel- at possessed him as he started d to claim the dances that he witb for was waiting for. How dreadfully late you are!” he reproachfully, in an undertone, gave her the card he had been treasuring for her, and smiled down into her upturned face. “I thought I ld have been torn away for the quadrille before I could see you. as he heart has been in my mouth for t st ten minutes.” What is the sensation?” Her smile as bright as his. All the disap- pointments of the morning were swept away like a broken mist wreath when the sun rises, before the happiness of feeling bis hand touch hers as the card passed to her keeping. Such a disagreeable one that I hope you won't experience tt. Now, please, what am I to have?” “What do you want?” “Oh, put in that unguarded way, I want all your waltzes. You can’t re- fuse after giving me an epening like that.” “[ wonder what would happen? My chaperon would drag me home by the hair of my head! Four? Wel, yes; I think that isn’t unreasonable. Four, and an extra or two at supper The supper ones are always the »st, don't you think?” “All right, then; thank you. And any others I may chance to pick up by the way. Let me go, now, and sacri- fee myself on the shrine of duty. I must dance the first quadrille with Mrs He went off cheerily, and- Ursuls found herself surrounded by applicants for her dances, who kept her busy put- t down their names. The square opened the ball was over and anley was making his eager way back to the side of the hall where he t sight of the brig&t green frock of Ursula’s chaperon, when a light touch fell upon his arm. He turned and saw Countess Ilka standing besidé him, her brilliant eyes smiling upon his own. “Are you in too great haste to speak to your best friends?” she asked, in that musical voice that was delightful to the ear of those who listened to her. “I thought yeu were going to pass me without a word.” People like to hear themselves call- ed the best friends of other people. Few men would quarrel with the term as applied te them by a woman lovely and charming as Countess Ilka. It is true Winstanley could not feel himself honestly entitled to so pleasing a name, but that made it all the more flattering. He was more Countess Iika’s friend than he had any idea of. He stopped, arrested in his flight over to Ursula—and produced his card. “I then time nic Captain’s Double By LILLIAS CAMPBELL DAVIDSON could not think of passing you without a word, when I have such an impor- tant one to say,” he. answered. “There are some dances to my share, or am I hoping too much?” “Oh, yes, there are dances, if you care to have them. I am keeping them especially for you.” Winstanley un- derstood how much was meant by that word “keeping,” and was grateful. Countess Ilka’s dances were more sought for that winter than those of any woman in Portsmouth. i She had come in late, with the slow and leisurely grace that always mark- ed her movements, and she had been received with a rush of claimants for her waltzes almost before she was well within the door. She did not need to come almost before the hour of in- yitation, like the eager Southsea girl, in order to fill her card. She could have filled it thrice over, and Winstan- ley knew it quite well. It made it all the more agreeable to feel that she had kept dances for one, when they were so difficult to keep. He looked kindly down at the sleek, black head, shining with jewels, and the exquisite gown that spoke Worth to every woman present who had ever seen a creation of that artist. “Which waltzes are you going to be good enough to give me?” he asked, hold- ing ready his card. The first dance with Ursula was just beginning to sound its dreamy notes, and even to dance with Countess Ilka would not lose one turn of that waltz. She threw a quick glance over his card as he held it. He could not see that she saw the names written on its white surface, but her eyes were keen. There were six spaces filled with two initials. Did Countess Ika know whose they-were? It could hardly have been by accident that she said, with- out hesitation, “I can give you twyand seven and ten and nineteen—and an extra or two as well, if you like.” Winstanley flushed a little. It was odd that she had selected the very set he had taken from Ursula. “I’m so sorry; I’m engaged for all those,” he said. “May I tell you my disengaged ones and.hope that you can give me those?” There was certainly a shade of con- straint in her voice as she agreed. Could she fancy that he was lacking in keenness over her card? He was self- reproachful, and aware that he was quite the only man in the garrison at that moment who would have shown any want of enthusiasm. The fear that she thought him cool over her kindness made him put a trifle more ardor than he felt into his next words. They made out three dances for which they were both disengaged, and then he bowed and smiled himself away. The first dance with Ursula — the dance he and she had both been look- ing forward to so eagerly—was almost half-way through. Ursula’s face cleared when he came hurrying up to claim her. She had been looking a little depressed as the strains of the Red Marine band went on and still he did not appear. She put her hand under his elbow with a little tender pressure as he whirled her into the midst of the crowd. “I had a let- ter from daddy this morning,” she said; “Re expects to land at Plymouth three weeks from Friday. I am going to meet him, and then he will come back with me to the ‘Shuttlewaites’. Don’t you congratulate me?” “T hope to congratulate myself a great deal more presently,” he breathed into her ear, significantly. She laughed and colored, anr said, “Hush, hush!” quite deliciously. They forgot the rest of the crowded ball- room; they forgot the mixed assembly, and Miss Jones, and Miss Brown, and Mr. Smith, and the rest of them; they were alone in the garden where grows the Eden rose. “It’s not the end already! What idiot ever wrote a waltz as short as that?” It was Winstanley who ex- claimed it half-indignantly as they came to a standstill and the last notes died wailing away. “T think it was about the same length as usual.’" Ursula tried to look unconscious. “It was half over when we began it. Perhaps that made the difference.” “So it was. I was kept. It wasn’t my fault, I needn’t tell you. It was the last thing | wanted to happen, I assure you.” “It doesn’t matter; only don’t let it happen again, please, if you can man- age. I just hate to lose the first of a really perfest waltz.” “What makes your waltzes perfect— the music, or the partner, or what?” “Oh, the floor and the band, and a score of things. Why do you want so much to know?” “Because if it’s the partner—and this last one was perfect—do tell me if that-is what you meant.” She cast a little look up at him, as different from Countess Ilka’s lash- veiled upward glances as the violet is different from the cactus flower. “It could not be perfect when some was lost!” was all she would say.* It was a curious coincidence, and | ness plumpness Hoechion9 oh urinal kam otc ents: ; | seemed to be just before the ones he had with Ursula. More than once he was held so long in a pleasant net of talk that he had to hurry to find his little sweetheart. More than once he had to repeat that’ breathless excuse. Ursula was neither unreasonable nor exacting. She was the kind of girl who could not suspect that the man she cared for would flirt with any one else. Yet as the same thing repeated itself, and it was always Countess Tika whom he came from tardily to claim herself, a new little gravity be- gan to dawn on her face and she seemed to wonder to herself. Was it only a chance—or ‘was Countess Ilka so charming that she made people for- get the flight of time when they danced with her? yet it was a little discomfort, a faint cloud on the sunny horizon where, till now, no cloud had reared its head. Supper had been the chief point of attraction to chaperons for some lit- tle time, and the ballroom was clearer for dancing and more seized upon by the devoted waltzer in consequence. The first of Ursula’s extras was at hand. Countess Ilka, watching, saw Captain Winstanley looking about the room from side to side. She seized-her opportunity. Her piercing look had seen well enough this evening whose influence was in the field against her own and might conquer it. It was a kind of combat dear to her very soul when another woman was the foe. She stopped him with a touch of her curious Oriental fan. “My supper partner seems to have mistaken his arrangement,” she said, with a pretty little air of mock em- barrassment. “Would you do me the great favor to take me to the supper room? I am longing for something to eat.” “Delighted.” It was impossible to say anything else. Winstanley calcu- lated that the act of escort would not take more than a minute. He would find her a place, commend her to the care of one of her always eager part- ners, then excuse himself and come back for Ursula. He gave her his arm, and they made their way to the sup- per rooms; by her guiding more than his they found their way into the more empty one. He found a cosy seat in a secluded corner, and began to say something about being engaged for that dance, and regretted that he must ask her to excuse him, when she cut him short with a compassionate smile. “You were engaged to Miss Hamil- ton, I know. I saw the name upon your card. But see, she is over there, eating her supper with Mr. Felton, of the royal yacht. I saw her come in with him, or I would not have asked you to bring me.” Winstanley looked, amazed. Ursula could never have given another man the extra she had promised him, or gone in to supper without waiting for him. Yet, even-as he looked, he saw her on the other side of the room. (To Be Continued.) Not Like Our Troops. Corporal James Tanner, commander- in-chief of the Grand Army of the Re- public, was praising the bravery of a private who had fallen at Gettysburg. “But all were brave,’ he ended. “Privates and officers were alike in| their terible bravery.” He paused. “They were alike in their bravery,” he said, “as certain Greek troops were alike in their prudence during the war with Turkey. “A year or so after that war was ended, a Greek general was leading a procession through the streets of a populous village, when a young man ran to him, and, seizing his hand, kissed it. “Thank you,’ answered the young man. ‘Thank you, my savior. For you, general, saved my life.’ The general, smiling, said: “Your face is unknown to me. Tell me, how I saved you?” “Why sir,’ said the soldier, ‘I served under you in the terrible en- gagement of April 7, and when you ran away at the beginning of the fight, I followed close behind. Other- wise I should most certainly have been killed.” A Wife’s Reproach, Admiral Capps, in an address to a temperance society, told how drink had once caused the downfall of a brave soldier. ~ In the course of the sad story he said: “Sometimes, after a debauch, the man would be repentant, humble. He would promise his wife to do better. But, alas, the years taught her the barrenness of all such promises. “And one night, when he was, get- ting to be an old man—a prematurely old man, thin limbed, stoop shoul- dered, with red-trimmed eyes—he sald to his wife, sadly: “*You’re a clever woman, Jenny; a courageous, active, good woman. You should have married a better man than I am, dear.’ “She looked at him, sid: thinking of what he once had been, she answered “in the Stilly Night. They’re companions in arms and like Trojans they fight From the moment the struggle be- gins. The battle progresses far into the night, They are terrors, twins. these colicky The same woman that calls her fat- nme Snes er re take fe During the singing of a comic song at the Madison Square roof garden in New York, and while the garden was echoing with the laughter and ap- plause of the audience, a series of shots rattled in the rear of the au- ditorium, and a man in evening dress was seen to fall across a table at which he was sitting with a party of friends. Stanford White, the eminent architect of the firm of McKim, Mead & White, was the victim, and Harry Thaw, a member of a prominent Pittsburg family, did the shooting. Instantly the great audience was thrown, into a panic, and a wild stam- pede occurred, during which chairs and tables were overturned, and men and women fought with desperation to scape from the roof. The first intimation of trouble came when walking in front of his seated victim Thaw exclaimed, “You deserved this. You’ve ruined my, home,” and, drawing an automatic pistol, fired three shots. A woman, who had been sitting with Mr. Thaw, sprang to her feet and rushed up to where Thaw was strug- gling with a fireman, threw her arms around his neck, exclaiming, “I'll stand by you, Harry.” The woman who accompanied Mr. Thaw was Evelyn Nesbitt, whose mar- riage with Thaw for a time estranged the latter from his family. She was a member of the original “Florodora” sextette. Thaw was arrested and taken to the police station. The following day he had his pre- liminary examination, and later was indicted by the grand jury on a charge of murder in the first degree. Thaw frankly admitted that he killed White, and pleaded in justification that White had ruined the life of his wife, the beautiful former chorus girl and artist’s model, Evelyn Nesbit. Thaw was examined by alienists in an effort to pave the way for a de- fense built on a plea of insanity. The young millionaire abs‘¢itely refused to answer any questions or submit to an examination, and the doctors gave it as their opinion that he was per- fectly sane. Mrs. Thaw appeared before the grand jury, but refused to testify for fear that she might harm her husband. Emotional insanity will be the de- fense at the trial, which will be begun soon. It is proposed to lay bare the entire life of Mr. White, especially his association ;with young girls, whom he entertained in his studio in the tower of Madison Square Garden. It will be proven, it is asserted, that Thaw was goaded on to commit the murder by White himself—that the architect constantly annoyed Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, the prisoner’s wife. Tries to Renew Friendship. It is said that White had seen Mrs. Thaw at least a dozen times in the ppeet year and a half, and that when ‘they met casually he had tried to re- new the friendship that had existed between them before her marriage. ~ The defense will endeavor to prove that White was a roue, and that many young girls in this city have been his victims. Former members of the dis- trict attorney’s office staff may be summoned to tell the complaints of White that have come to that office. The Gary society agents, also, it was said, can be summoned to tell of the complaints they received against White and his studio in the Madison Square tower. White’s End Near, Anyway. In the opinions of physicians who performed the autopsy on White’s body, the life of the architect was shortened not more than two years by the bullets from Thaw’s pistol. He was found to be suffering from HARRY KENDALL. THAW. Indicted for murder in the first degree. his idetrrackiid eM Serta Bright’s disease, from incipient tuber- culosis and from fatty degeneration of the liver FACE MURDER CHARGE Harry Thaw Kills Stanford White, Famous Architect, Whom He Charges With Ruining His Wife. [ Thaw sent a message from the Tombs yesterday to Anthony Cum- stock, president of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, saying he had re- ceived a letter which it would pay Mr. Comstck to investigate. An agent of the society called upon Thaw yes- terday afternoon, but was not admif- ted at the time. It was said that either the agent or Mr. Comstock himself might see Thaw to-day. Mrs. Thaw Refuses to Testify. Mrs. Thaw’s appearance before the grand jury had been looked forward to with considerable interest, as it was thought she possibly would take advantage of the opportunity to throw some additional light upon the trag- edy. When she appeared and request- ed to be excused from testifying, the jury took the view that for the pur- pose of an indictment her evidence was not necessary. Without becoming excited In the least, but in a calm and rather force- ful manner, she said clearly, with em- phasis on each word: mother’s chaperonage, when she met Thaw.on. the other side.’ . 2 Intimate friends of the girl declare that she was much surprised when she first learned’ that Thaw’s atten- tions were serious, and that he offered marriage. She was not at first in- clined to believe this until after the passage of time his attentions contin- ued, when all doubt of his sincerity passed. After the marriage there was no lack of those to repeat the stories of the former relations that Mr. White is credited with having maintained. Mr. White became a thorn in the side of the young woman. Those who knew her well enough counseled her to be more secretive, but never did she make a show of con- cealment in the matter, which served to react with double strength upon her husbaxd, already inflamed by the gossip. LIFE INSURED FOR $500,000. Heavy Protection Carried by Murdered Man. The bullet which Harry Thaw sent into the brain of Stanford White in- fiicted a tremendous loss upon the life insurance companies. It was said that Mr. White carried more than $500,000 insurance on his life, chiefly in the “Big Three.” In the Equitable Life alone he had five policies, aggregating $215,000. The most recent of the policies was taken out seven years ago. The oth- ers had been outstanding many years. MRS. EVELYN NESBIT THAW. From photograph taken when she began her public career as an artist’s model. Might Harm Husband. “IT hope you gentlemen will not in sist that I shall answer any questions, I must respectfully decline to answer the questions you intend to ask me. I say this with all respect to you gep- tlemen.” Mr. Garvan then asked her: “Why don’t you wish to answer?” Addressing the foreman, Mrs. Thaw replied earnestly: “T might say something that might do harm to my husband, and a wifo ought to do all she can to protect her husband. I beg of you not to insist in putting further questions to me, be cause if you do I will have to decline to answer.” Mrs. Thaw was excused. CITED IN DIVORCE CASE. Theatrical Manager’s Wife Mentions Evelyn Nesbit in Complaint. That this is not the first time the former chorus girl, Evelyn Nesbit, came into unpleasant notoriety is of- ten commented upon. The divorce suit brought by the sec- ond Mrs. George W. Lederer, formerly Adele Rice, which is still in the courts, Evelyn Nesbit was mentioned in the complaint drawn by the plain- tiff. At that time Miss Nesbit was frequently in the company of the theatrical manager, who had given her a part “with lines” in the “Wild Rose.” It was at the time that her popular- ity was at its height that she first met Harry Thaw. It is entirely incorrect | that she confined herself to the atten- tions of White and Thaw successively. After she had known the architect some time, and after Thaw’s name had been linked with her, John B. Bar- rymore was seen’so much in her com- pany that several reports that the two were to be married gained currency. t was after this episode that she made the trip to Europe under her | The beneficiary of all his insurance in the Equitable widow. Within the past two years White endeavored to increase his insurance, but the companies declined because the medical examinations revealed the presence of kidney trouble. is Mrs. White, his JEROME INVESTIGATES. To Prove That Thaw Knew of Wife’s Relations With White. Before Harry Kendall Thaw comes to trial for the murder of Stanford White there will have been gathered here for use by District Attorney Je- rome what is considered as good proof that Harry K. Thaw fully knew before he married Florence Evelyn Nesbit here in April, 1905, of the alleged pre- vious relations existing between Stan- ford White and Miss Nesbit. Not only was Thaw cognizant of this fact but from data gathered here it is likely that an effort will be made to prove thet Mrs. William Thaw, the mother of Harry, was informed of Miss Nesbit’s relations with White by Miss Nesbit herself before she became Mrs. Harry Kendall Thaw, and that with this full knowledge she was re- ceived ‘ito the Thaw family. The a&eged story, as it appears to have been told by Evelyn to her chums and which is now being repeated by them, is that Harry knew all about White before he marrfed her, and it is alleged that Mrs. William Thaw was also told about her ‘flights with the architect, and before the marriage ceremony was performed here she sent for her prospective daughter-in- law and asked her point blank some questions about White and perhaps others. Evelyn is alleged by her friends here to have answered truth- fully about her previous connection with White. PANIC ON A STEAMER. Evansville, Ind., Special — A panic * occurred on the excursion steamer D. A. Nesbitt last night, when Bishop Gill, bartender on the boat, sht and seriously injured Ruth Brown. While resisting efforts to capture him, Gill shot four others, all of whom will re- cover. The boat officers finally sub- dued Gill with a spike pole, knocking him down as he was attempting to reload his revolver. > * SUITS FOR PENALTIES. Washington, Special — Attorney General Moody has directed that suits be brought against a large number of railroad companies to recover penal- ties for violation of the safety appli- ance law, through failure to keep their equipment in proper condition. | The largest number of violations at- tributed to any railroad is fifty-two against the Atlantic Coast Line Rail- Toad company. Sister of Gen. Custer Dead. Monroe, Mich., Special — Mrs. Da- vid Reed. sister of Generals George A. and Thomas Custer, who were kill- ed in the Indian battle of the Little Big Horn, in Montana, June 25, 1876, died at her home here yesterday, aged eighty years. Indianapolis, Ind., Special — Five or more meat dealers accused of selling tainted meats will be taken into cus- tody to-day, according to plans of the city health officer. a