New Britain Herald Newspaper, December 19, 1930, Page 31

RN s AL IR A0 P Saving the Frugal Fol ‘k would be that the misfortune that marked the chaotic ca- reer of the late Kay Lau- rell, former Follies girl, visited upon her son. #9Indeed, it not even generally known unti] recently that she had a son. Broadway, which had almost for- gotten her, heard three years ago that she had died of pneumonia, penniless and alone, in London. But the other day there was un- folded in papers filed in the New York Surrogate’s Court an entirely different story. It told fiow the famous beauty had died in giving birth to a son. In stead of poverty she left behind a fru- gally accumulated fortune of §100,000. It is more than likely that she died thinking her boy - estate because he lock. For inste estate to the v father. But only r covered that bo United States tl paratively new illegitimate ch share in IT SEEMED for a time : were laws, cc providing that revealed. the stor hard fight to cal fame, only to be con- ited by a perve te. gal papers stolid legal verbiage wa former tel 1’ reach the stantly f: It was the Back in Erie tired of being a “hello girl.” She heard New York calling—at the switchboard and in her dreams. She dearly loved her mother, her brother and he: 5 But ambition flamed within her. At the age of sixteen she went to New York. Si zed her name, for theatrical pu from Ruth Lesli to Kay Laurell. first even the blance of succ d her. She got a job as a telepho Then she began to po hone g s el ed in one of the that featured Once Ladies Wore This Headdress—in the Because Other Ladies Wore Them. NG Style of This 16th Century— Headgear Which the Married Women (C) Ira L. HiL THE TRIUMPH OF BEAUTY Here Are Two Remarkable Views of Kay Laurell, Once Regarded as the Most Beautiful of the “Fol Girls. Above Is an Early Portrait Study of Her When She First Came to New York as Ruth Leslie, a Telephone Operator from Erie, Pa. At the Right She Is Shown as She Appeared in the Tableaux ‘“La Patria,” Which Made Her Famous and Brought Her to the Pinnacle of Her Theatrical Career. Florenz S0 en annual bal nt. He e to fame was ef attraction in ged by rapid. She was the several remarkable t Ben Ali Haggin. Il tableau “La Patria” made her fa 8, as did another spectacular one showing her “on top of the world.” Ned Way: dancing teacher, said of t beautiful And all the time a sort of fierce am- bition continued to d wanted to become a fi the world. To this end French and Spanish, dancing and music. She took sons in deportment, i poise, in elocution. Sh 1 4 rseback riding bel She seldom was to be seen in the usual cafes and night clubs visited by Conventional Net Bag Is the in New Guinea Must Always Wear. iy 1l 5 4 other member sought to and sir s , counted her pennie watched her accounts in various banks grow, and then devoted a large amount SNAPPY? The Former Anna Gould, Who Married Count Boni de Castellane. Photo Taken Back in the “Gay Nineties,” When She Wore a “Florodora” Hat. It's Slightly Comic Now; It Was Fashionable Then. USTOMS and conventions are re- lative. What is the accepted fash- ion in one country or at one time may be a grotesque object of humor in another. A glance at the photos on this page will give you striking evi- dence of this paradox in human affairs, Copyrisht, lies Girl's Fortune New Laws Try to Make Amends to the Son of the Beauty Who Fought Her Way | Gallantly to the Top § of time to study and reading. How hard she sought to develop a taste for reading was later to be re- vealed in the itemized list of personal effects in her will. included about five hundred books. Prominent % %, JUSTICE Society Has In- jected Sympathy for Unfortunate Children Into the Statute Books, Here Are the Laws of Two IR YT Nations Providing [EKEUNECIUEESY for the Rights of SN Children Born Out [NUNMEN of Wedlock. The One Above Is the English “Legiti- macy Act” of 1926. At Right Is the New York State Legitimacy Act. The Legal Act to Recover Kay Laurell's $100,000 Fortune for Her Baby Is Based on These Laws. tothe pather wof he s s of Thackeray, v; sets of “The “Book of s” and a The Hi among them were Dumas and Longf World's Best re,” Knowledge,” “Har well-thumbed book entitled tory of France.” Although she ig cept for the stage, the Street of Lights toasted her. Yet few of its habitues probably realized this side of the beau- tiful girl’s nature. T probably did not know that besides studying, sav- ing, carefully investin, h also supported her mother back in Er Pa. She had become famous as Kay Laurell, but she was still Ruth L to her folks vear, But Kay La means discouraged. tenacity and di i characterized her rise to fam went back to Broadway, dete: to stage a comeback. Kay returned to t an ten months appeared U ht.” Then she went to Pari ed in a French company. Broad- heard reports about her only at rare intervals. It began to forget the woman it once toasted. She went to London. Her career “here was so negli- gible that even the theatrical trade papers no longer mentioned her name. She bobbed up in the news again only when brief dispatches from London said she had died of pneumonia, penni- less. Broadway sighed and then forgot about her—it thought—forever. But Kay Laurell’s experience and death in London turned out to be a tragic one. She had saved her money and sought to move in aristocratic circles. She met and fell in love with Joseph Whiteside Boyle, son of the fa- mous “Klondyke” Boyle, who was an intimate friend of the Rumanian Royal Family. Boyle and Kay Laurell, it seems, wanted to marry, but Boyle was already married, although expecting a divorce. THEY ALL WEAR THEM These Students of Exclusive Harrow School, England, Are Transporting Their New Textbooks and Manuals to the Classroom. Observe the English boy in the photo at right. You may smile at the quaint straw hat with the ludicrously wide brim. But in his own England that hat is neither quaint or lud the fashion. The boy is the Buxton, son of wealthy Lord Noel Buxton. In the picture next to young Buxton you will see some of his fellow students of exclusive Harrow School wearing the same type of “sailor” as tehy move their new books and manuals to the classroom. Another interesting study is the 1890, Internationsl Feawre Sercs, Ioc., Great Britaln Kights Beserved. Note Wide-brimmed *‘Straws.” beautiful woman in the feathery hat. Such a hat, if worn in this day, would make you smile. But the beautiful lady is the former Anna Gould, who married the famous Count Boni de Castellane. When this photo was taken the “Floradora hat” was extremely fashionable — for it was in the gay nineties. You may insist that the figure in the second photo from the right is ab solutely ridiculous. But the net bag is the conventional headgear of a mar- ried woman in New Guinea. She must wear it throughout her married life. ted petson, dies iy lestimare i my interest thercin to whi have been entitied it he had been born HIS MOTHER “And when the child looks at a picture of the mother he never knew in life, he will see a beautiful and tragic woman.” nt of 1his e hochibd not as peapects all aperty, does not I conmenoer eiidid N of PRI L ar personal | e her surviving, the degitimate dead, his s slidl be entitded to tades b e e ue would e, Early in January, 1927, Kay Laurell gave birth to a babv. When the baby was born, according to the doctor who attended her, she recovered conscious- d asked “Is it a boy or a girl?” was told it was a boy. She smiled and said: “That is just what 1 wanted,” and fell back dead. ( Boyle immediately sought to ecare for the child. He did not know about her will. But it seems that Kay had left to him practically all of her $100,- 000 estate. This included accounts scattered in a dozen New York and London banks, as well as expensive jewelry and other personal effects. Why didn’t she leave the money to her son? As already explained she supposed that there were no laws pro- viding for the mother’s estate to be passed on to an illegitimate child. But only a few weeks before her death such a law was established in England. Although Kay Laurell did not know it a similar law existed and still exists in New York State. Even Kay’s brother, Raleigh, did not know about this humane provision until recently. No one connected with the whole case, in fact, realized that so- ciety has changed a little in the last few years and has injected sympath y for unfortunate children into its statute books Raleigh, however, went to London to investigate the situation. He re- turned satisfied that Boyle had from the time of the child’s birt\ sought to care for it and that furthermore, he had no wish to claim any part of the fortune. His chief anxiety was that the child be cared for. There was another sequel to this tragic case. ‘Shortly after Kay’s death her mother died in Erie, Pa. She left everything to “Ruth,” to repay her for the money she had advanced for her mother’s support. She gave “Ruth” }he ‘home, saying she had really paid or 1t. Since no one expects to contest the right of Kay's estate going to the child, he will be assured of comfort in the future. And when he looks at a picture of the mother he rever knew in life, he will see a beautiful and tragic woman —once toasted by a fickle Broadway, and then forgotten. SON OF A LORD ( Here You See a Typical English Schoel Boy Wearing the Low, Wide-brimmed Straw Hat Popular Among His Fellow Students at Harrow. He Is the Hon. Noel Buxton, Son of Lerd Noel Buxton. Perhaps th the result of husbandly Jjealousy—but it “is” the fashion. Psy- chologists tell the natives simply know ‘it is done,” so they go on do- ing it. X:vko the rest of humankind, they are imitative.