Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, April 25, 1915, Page 25

| 1 The Honorable Mrs. Percy Wyndham, the Beautiful Young Daughter of Lord Ribblesdale, Whose Husband Was Killed in the War. the House of Mourning UROPEAN high society has become a E community of widows. This fact becomes even more in- teresting when it is added that the widows are usually young and frequently good- looking. Their sorrows, their doings and their future furmish problems of much general interest. The dreadful slaughter caused by the war has fallen: with especial heaviness on the upper and the wealthy classes. They furnish the officers and these have lost more heavily in battle, in proportion to their numbers, than the men. The loss has been particularly marked in high soclety in England, for the British officers are always’ men of means and members of the upper and wealthy classes. More than two thousand British officers have been killed since the beginning of the war, This, of course, is a large num- ber of men to remove from. qne class of the community, and their absence is sorely felt. 3 - A French reviow of the war has estlh mated the losses o German officers at the enormous number of 30,000, While the French claim that they have lost fewer than the Germans, it is hardly likely that they have lost less than 20,000 or two- thirds of the number they give for their opponents. It is probably accurate to say that every royal, noble and prominent family in the belligerent countries has lost some mem- ber. The King of England, the Czar of Russia and the Kaiser have all lost near relatives. The son of a former President of France has been killed. Every Family in the British Peerage Bereaved. It is stated that every family in the British peerage has been thrown into mourning. This is probably correct if relatives by marriage are included in the list of those lost. The Countess Annesley is one of the most prominent of the many high-born English women who have been widowed by the war. Her husband, Earl Annesley, took service as a simple lieutenant in the British Army Flying Corps, in spite of his high rank and wealth. He was one of the richest of Irish landlords and owned 652,000 acres and two splendid old houses in that country, as well as much other property. During a flying expedition over the Ger- man lines he was lost. It is not certain whether he fell into the sea or was brought down by a German bullet and buried without identification, but he has been given up for dead. Lady Annesley {s an attractive young widow, who was only married a few years ago. The Hon. Mrs. Henry Lyndhurst Bruce, otherwise Camille Clifford, is a war widow whose fate is particularly interesting to Americans. She was, of course, the hand- some and popular American actress, Ca- mille Clifford, noted particularly for the statuesque attractiveness of her figure, so different from “the rag and bone” type now commonly cultivated. Miss Clifford made a great hit in “The Prince of Pil- sen” and other pleces. She was com- monly referred to abroad as the personi- fication of the Gibson girl. Young Henry Lyndburst Bruce, son and heir of the proud Lord Aberdare, fell reck- lessly in love with the American beauty and married her in spite of his father and family. Lord Aberdare was furious, and his son and heir had to leave the army and go to work in the automobile businees. But Camille Clifford’s charm, beauty and tact won the old lord's forgiveness and af- fection and she gained an excellent eo- cial position. Then the war came and young Bruce went to the:front as a captain in the Royal Scots Regiment. After very gal- lant conduct he was killed in the terrible fighting along the Yser River. Now poor Camille Clifford, after her romance and all her social triumphs, must face a harder struggle than ever. Lady Richard Wellesley is one of the prettiest of the war widows in England. Her husband was the second son of the Duke of Wellington and a descendant of the victor of Waterloo. He was killed while serving as a captain of the Grena- dier Guards, near the scene of his an- cestor’s famous victory. Lady Richard Wellesley became a mother soon aftér her husband's death was a pounced. Her father is Sir Maurice Fits- Gerald, the twentieth Knight of Kerry and head of one of the most ancient Irish tamilles. Her mother was a Miss Bisch- offsheim, a member of the wealthy and moted London family of heni-—7, Lady Juliet Duff, daughter of the late Earl of Lonsdale, has lost her husband, Sir Robin Duff, who was killed while fighting with the Life Guards, the oremier regi- ment of the British Army. Lady Jullet, who is very prominent and popular in English soclety, is really very handsome, but her very striking figure and strongly marked features lend themselves rather easily to caricature, as may be judged from a well-known artist’s sketch ‘of her. Mrs. Willlam Lawrence Breese is an American war widow, whose husband also was an American, which can be said of very few of the American women widowed by the war. Her husband, who belonged to a prominent New York family, strongly sympathized with the allled cause and had many relatives in England. After the war broke out he obtained a commission in the Royal Horse Guards and was killed a few days after going to the front. Mrs. Breese was Miss Julla Kean Fish, daughter of g‘u:nmn Fish, and niece of Stuyvesant 8h. The Honorable Mrs. Percy Wyndham is one of the most beautiful young English- women widowed by the war. She is a daughter of Lord Ribblesdale. She was only married last year and has become a mother since her husband, who was very young, was killed with the Grenadier Guards. He was a half-brother of the Duke of Westminster, who was his moth- er'’s son by her first marriage. Lady Levinge, a charming young woman, has lost her young husband, Sir Richard Levinge, who was a great Irish landowner and very prominent sportsman. He was killed while serving as a cavalry officer Lady Levinge was formerly Irene Desmond, of the Gaiety Theatre, and was one of those rather numerous stage beauties who have quite won English society by their good-nature and tact. Madame Simone Le Bargy, one of the most talented and popular actresses In France, has lost her husband, Casimir Perfer, who was killed near Soissons, re- cently. She should more correctly be called Madame Simone, for she discarded the “Le Bargy” when she obtained a di- vorce from M. Le Bargy, who was an actor of equal prominence with herself. It was alleged that M. Le Bargy could not en- dure the presence of a wife at least as talented and exquisitely dressed as him- self. Young Casimir Perier was a son of mt Casimir Perier and a member of a very wealthy family. At first society, which is more conservative in France than in England, was shocked at the marriage, but the two lived very happy together and Casimir Perier had won a :l-tl:guhhed public position before his eath. The Social Problem of the Excess of Widows. The existence of such an abnormal num- ber of widows must necessarily create pe- culiar problems in society. These are con- siderably complicated by the fact that most of the widows are young. Army officers themselves are, as a rule, young, and it is especially on the young officers, the com- pany and section leaders, that the mor- tality in war falls most heavily. Hence the widows that are left must be, in the great majority of cases, young also. There is already considerable pecun.ary distress among the war widows, and it will become more and more marked for some time to come. Women even of the upper classes in England are mot very well sup- plied with incomes, for most of the money in the family must go to the man who has the duty of keeping up the family prop- erty. In many cases the woman widowed by the war will see the property she has enjoyed pass out of her hands, in some cases to a distant relative. The pensions given to the widows of officers are, of course, very small and do not suffice to keep anyone in a good so- clal position It 1s also to be noted that great distress is apparently in prospect for all the noble families of England, whether men or women. It is expected that those who enjoy fixed incomes derived from estates and other property will find them greatly reduced by the enormous taxation needed to pay for the war. Observers believe that there will be more or less of a soclal revolution and that the places of the pre- vious leaders of soclety will be taken by newly rich families who have made for- tunes out of war contracts or who have been enterprising enough in some way to make money during the period of distress. The experience of the past suggests that these people will, in turn, acquire titles and form an aristocracy as distinguished as the preceding. idowed by The War Sad and Lovely Victims of the Great Catastrophe That Has Bereaved Every Royal House in Europe and Turned the House of Lords Into An Artist’s Sketch of Lady Juliet The Countess Annesley, Whose Husband, Earl Annesley, Lost His Life While Serving with the Flying Corps of the British Army Duff, Daughter of the Earl of Lonsdale, Woman, Who Lost oted E'l:f lish Society er Husband, Lieutenant Sir Robin Duff. But what will become of the poor young widows? Will every Englishman want to marry one of them? Will they be expected to remain in perpetual mourning for the husbands who have given their lives for their country? Will there be enough hus bands to go round when this dreadful war is over? Of course we must remember that as widows they possess certain arts of self- defence, not to say conquest, which have become proverbial Strange New Diseases Caused by Battle URGEONS with the French army de- scribe a peculiar mental condition called “hypnosis of battle,” which they have noticed in soldlers who have been in action. The hypnotic state lasts from two or three days to a week, and even longer. ly returns. The victim is incapable of walking uns less pushed or led by the hand, but when placed on his feet stands erect and motlon- less, with the head bent forward and eyes half closed. He cannot be awakened, but is not in a state of coma In some in- stances a condition of hallucinatory de- lirlum appears ‘'when verbal Inquiry 1is made of the patient as to his experiences in the battle. “oovright 1815 by the Then consciousness sudden- Star Company The hypuosis is met with oftenest in young men from cities. Fatigue and the lack of food incident to long marches, or failure of the provision trains to reach the men, are the chief predisposing causes Fear due to some very trying experfence in battle or to being héld under fire without orders to move usually precipitate the out- break of the disease. A great number of new mental and nervous diseases have Meen produced by what is known as “shell shock,” that is the ef- fect of the passage or bursting of a shell near & man without doing him visible physical injury., Among the results of shell shock noted have been reduction of vision, 1088 of hearing, loss of smell, loss of taste, loss of memory and paralysis of various physical functions. Great Britain Rights Reserved . Camille Clifford, the Former Ameri« can Stage Beauty, ‘Who Has Lost Her Husband, the Son and Heir of Lord Aberdare. Mrs. William Lawrence Breese, Formerly Miss Julia Kean Fish, Well-Known in New York Society, Whose Husband ' “\;iln Killed :“E' ghting with the British Army, i = B Mme. Simone LeBargy, Parisian Actress, Whose Young Noted 1,4y Levinge, Formerl{vlrene Des- mond, the Actress, Whose Hus- band, Sir Richard Levin’o, Lost :_iis‘ Life While Fighting for Husband, Casimir Perier, Son of a Former French President, Has Been Killed.