The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 27, 1901, Page 1

ng His wife which she e effort to Riley were of norta was in the t be. ould send her to or on any e nd rchase she would alway use, for candy and preterd to her t she had apent it for the pur- h she was sent; and when with by her conscientious es would laugh at them and her mother didn't give her as ng money as she should and ses for w ily way was to help herself, the did with considerable sang I think Mr. Nordau would call this n early and conclusive mark of degen- But Bonny, even in her childhood, as not without her attractions; and al- TN r playmates would not follow filch from their mothers they ess were not.so shocked at Bon- v would play with her. jent influence amorg her place. One little glel s temperament, who was fond of, » worriel over her shortcom- induce ner to go to Sunday- nest and mind her moth- ook all these admonitions- while not in the Jleast caring to profit, by thelr good-naturedly profi or s bright and bold and, like gay n Hood, even those who were shocked ns were not tlind to her attrac- @ was coencisely described as. “an at- ve girl with reddish brown hatr, @ clear and creamy skin. and well proportioned and ash in appearance as well as in her and conversation.” After her mother's death she was sent to the convent only later to be expelled as incorrigible. Then St. Helen's Hall was tried with like results, and later her father sent her East to school, from which she was alse expelled. By this time she had reached 16 years and had her first scan- dal. Reports would reach her old Port- land friends, sometimes of her gay esca- pades, lavish display of Jewels ana el gant costumes; again Bonny would She w had a ways bs hard pressed for money: but most of the time she was basking in the sunshine of some rich man's favor. Then she entirely dropped from view, only to turn up again as a Countess, hav- ing been abroad a few years and added to her name another and with a prefix. Bonny did not bring the Count with her to America, nor offer any proof.of the Count’'s existence other than the claim to the title and two babies, which she said were in Australia awalting the poor mamma’'s return. Bonny had come to Portland to replenish her pocketbook at the expense of her father, who was daily making the distance between himself and & drunkard's grave grow beautifully less, Old Mr. Riley was as wax in Bonny’s hands: she urged on him-the necessity of immediate funds to permit her to return to Australia to her darlings, and the upshot: of Bonny's persuasions, which she did not hesitate to use on her father in the ab- wence of a better subject. was that his last plece of property, ‘except one of small value, was mortgaged and $4000 handed over to his gay and festive daughter, who promised to provide for him. She prob- ably cajoled him by promises of return- ing more than‘she borrowed later on, and 8o beguiled the helpless old man into part- ing with nearly all be had. A well known business man ‘in Portland fell under the spell of her fascinations and danced attendance to her, regardless of the scandal created. One of her old friends happened into an ice cream parlor as the two were taking refreshments, and .despite her sister’'s advice went over to Bonny and spoke, feeling, as she after- ward sald, that she would be moved by the sight and recognition (In spite of her unsavory reputation) of an old friend of her innocent days: but Bonny was not made of impressionable material; she was moved only to irritation and aid not hesi- tate to show it. She turned with a stony stare and with the coldness of a duchess offered the tips of her fingers. ;’. Her friends, however, made one final ef- fort. They sent for her, argued, reasoned, begged for her mother's sake, if not for her own, to turn to a new life. Thew of- féred her a home until sne could secure employment, promised her she should not bé snubbed, and that they, respectable people, wolild go out with her and try to- reinstate her with those who had not stepped from the narrow path. But all appeals were useless; nothing was further from her mind than seeking employment and reformation, with attendant humilia- tions. ” Finally after much persuasion and arguing she was prevatled upon to promise to consider it. And that night she silpped out of the back door and was gone with questionable companions, - 6f course. ‘Whether she, had cultivated depravity until it was a habit that only herculean efforts could break, or whether it was in- born, only a Nordau could decide; but her downward course was not stayed for a day. The children in Australia were most likely mythical offspring, and Bonny was not in the least likely.to have so sacri- ficed herself and time. They were prob- ably fictitious, manufactured to play on the sympathy of her father, in which capacity they served ef- fectually, for the loan was ‘mego- tiated and Bonny was the happy posses- sor; of four thousand dollars in cash. with which amount she proceeded to San Fran- clsco, where money could be spent to ad- vantage. Many there will probably re- 53 member a rather handsome, fleshy woman who boarded at a léading hotel and tipped the waiters as they had never been tipped before with $5 gold pieces. Bonny played her cards well, and spen{ her four thou- sand dollars to advantage; before a week was out every man in San Francisco who was a “high fiyer” knéw her, and Bonny wined and dined to her heart's content, and old man Riley continued to pour down the whigky, while his daughter did like- wise with champagne. The four thousand was dwindling, but its lavish display had served her purpose, brought her into prominence and enabled the flame to attract another moth, this time in the shape of a wealthy young man ‘who was enzaged.to an estimable younx i ‘watering places. lady, which same girl had the good sense to throw over her gay lover. He lemelt at Bonny's feet, and spent even more thousands than she. had (papa’s thousands were a good investment), for her lover took her to the most fashionable They wese constantly together, new diamonds flashed on the Countess and money ran like water. When he had finally ruined himself, spent over a hundred thousand dollars and was out of cash and credit, Bonny was seeking pastures new, and casting ‘the Iight in other directions for new .moths to come and singe their wings. Here it might be mentioned that her discarded lover retrieved some of his for- mune, lkewise his position in society ‘and married a New York belle. Bonny had laughed at love, had thrown to the winds the affection of every hu- ~man being that-had wasted it on her, had squandered her money and pawned her T Jewels, and again she returned to the home of her childhood. This time so hardened and wicked that not a vestige of good remained, yet she still held her " fascination, net only for men, but for women; and not alome for the wicked, but the good, the kind, the virtuous. Her father had little left, and was now s confirmed drunkard, living in his shab- by home, his last plece of propefty, with % housekeeper. But his daughter was merciless. She was without money and without admirerS—that necessary adjunct to her happiness—so her father must be sierificed on the altar of her extrava yance and depravity, and she did not hesitate i carrying out her scheme. Sho lald the plot to have him taken to the insane asylum at Salem and was ready to execute it. when all her cleverly lald plans were frustrated by the very woman who said she was so fascinating and she was so fond of that she would any @ay take her mto hogme if she would only reform—the same woman who, when got the old man for days he was hid- herself appointed as guard- ian, and ‘she did not fall in finding legal scapegraces to assist her. She stood on the porch, stamped her foot. swore and pranced wildly up and JAGA7INE, SECITON e down, while from ths other end of the block her old friend watched her and felt the last spark of Bonny's fascination for her &im and then dle. Bonny suspectsd what had been done and sent word to that effect, but mo reply or satisfaction was vouchsafed her, so Bonny left, to turn up a few months later in Paris, the admired of all admirers, with her cas riage rolling along the Bois de Bologne, a coterie of rich fast young men in at- tendance, and she again bedecked In jew- els, laces and velvets. Again talked about: again with s fiute tering of moths around the flame, and man after man singed his heart, burnt his bank notes, and did not even get “thank youw" for ft. At last the flame commenced to com~ sume itself. Bonny really had s heart, and one of the numerous lovers had found it, had calmly pierced it deeper than his own was plerced. Then the rest of the story pe told. She who had found so many men tiresome— when the money was gone. O, the hu- miliation of it!—had grown tiresome to the one man she loved! Her dashing, boid beauty had grown wearisome, her cute ways had palled, and her fascination was waning. How to get rid of her was the question. He had engaged himself to a g00d woman of aristocratic family, and Bonny must be put awav like any other vice of his youth. There was a grand dinner and party to Ye given, to which they were going. Here, he thought, was a good place to break the news-te.aér- I the presence of so many people she would have to control herself and be calm. Besides, there were several there who had shown her attention, and she would naturally turn, through pique, if not preference, and accept the inevita- ble—simply a change of lpvers. It goes on all the time in Paris, and Bonny was used to #t. It would be nothing new to her. So when they were ready for the ban- quet, and Bonny smiling beside him, he broke the news and told her of his ap- proaching marriage. She started, recoil- ed, begged in a few words, but to no pur- pose. He was as calm and determined to throw over her love as she herself hal been many times before to another. So they reached the table. She laughed and chatted, drank and joked. Ah. Boa- ny was gay! She w ghtly named. The party was its full height—laugh- ter, gayety, wine; yes, e, women and song.” Then a thud from one of the balconies on the street below two stories down, the cries of the passersby, and a crowd of the curious and sympathetic lifting up the bruised, crushed form of the once pretty Bonny—dirt on the face. the red- brown hair matted with dust and blood, crushed almost beyond recognition, the dainty, delicate satin gown besmeared and sticky, the bones broken and the life almost extinet. She lingered In delirious agony nearly four days. The revelers re- turned to their homes. The lover hushed up his affair d'am The bride-elect, in_ ignorance of her flance’s part in the tragedy, went sweetly and peacefully to the altar and promised to “love, homor and obey,” and no visfon of a crushed, bedraggled, blood-stained woman in a gown as delicate as her own darkened her day dreams of a happy married life. Nor did the man whom she promised to love attend the funeral where the flowers wers heaped high and many a man, yes, and some women who had felt the fascination of Bonnv Riley laid their tributes on her grave. w e e And now they advertise for her heirs. But no claimant appears. No father, for he has long since filled a drunkard's grave: no children in Australia, and no kith nor kin the wide world over. —_——————— Somebody has asked whether a duel has ever been fought in the air. One of the most curious of duels, says Tit-Bits, was the balloon duel in France, which was fought in 1¥0S. The combatants were M. de Grandpre and M. le Pique, who had quarreled—about a lady, of course. This lady was one Mlle. Tirevit, an actress at the Imperial Opera. On the appointed day M. de Grandpre entered the car of one balloon," with his second, and M. le Pique, with his second, mounted the other in the garden of the Tuileries, before an Immense crowd of admiring spectators. When all was ready the ropes were cut and the balloons shot upward for a distance of about half a mile above the earth. The wind being light they wers able to keep the distance of about eighty yards between each other with which they started. On reaching the agreed alti- tude the signal was given lo fire. M. la Pique missed, but M. de Grandpre’s ball ‘went through the silk of the other balloe=, which immediately collapsed. The ows descended with frightful velocity and both M. le Pique and his second were dashed to pleces. The balloon of the victor ecme tinued to ascend and M. de Grandpre came back to earth Some ieagues from Paris.