She Sues Dressmaker for Damages
Because She Lost Breach of Promise Suit
Says That
If the Gown
Had Been
Ready She
Would Have
Won.
How Far Was the
Jury Influenced by
the Dress She
Wore?
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breach
THE GOWN SHE
HAD TO WEAR.
IS3 FLORKNCK WKINKH. n handsome young
YV 1 Kngltsh girl, has brought a unit for damages
I V I against her dressmaker. Mme. Maurice, claim
A s I lug that becuuse Mme. Maurice fulled to deliver
hT gown in time she lost the breach of promise
milt brought against lier by Harry Michael
Lyons, tailor, v ho claimed that she Jilted him.
Iyona recovered H.WXi di-mage-s, and Mica
Welner wants $1,8(10 to pay that und :t,Jtn for herself as
damages.
The suit, heavily referred to In London r.s the nonsuit, was
lost by MIhs Welner. SI10 claims It was becauHe her dress
mnlter failed to deliver the gown with which she expected
to dazzle the jury and so net off her beitutv that she woi.M
win the suit for damages that wus brought by Lynns because
she refused to marry him. She places her estimate or the
tlamuKcs she suffered at the hands of Mn.e. Maurice al $",,
and declares that because of the failure to deliver the clothes
In time she was forced to go upon the witness stand attired
In a season old gown.
1 The suit has aroused throughout Knpl-ind a discussion of
the question of the Influence of a woman's kowii upon law
and equity, or rnther the Influence of proneily garbed lieanty
upon a Jury of her peers. Whether dress nnd the benuty of a
Blrl weigh more than the argument of counsel will be debn'cd
when Miss Welner's suit against her di -.-smaker comes to
trial.
Gown That She Ordered.
Miss Welner ordered from her dressinnKer u champagne
colored lace gown, with old rose ribbon, v lth a deep chirring
of lace and medallions of rare lace, am. with t lie circular
flounce joined to the circular top, the jnlnwiK I eiug hidden In
a bouffant mass of filmy lace. At leas' that Is as near as
the court reporter In Klng'svlteneh Oour IX. could describo
the gown she Intended to wear.
That the dressmaker had sufficient
time to finish this
creation nnd knew In advance the lm
portance of the event ut which It was
to be worn Is shown by lite facts in the
case. Also, It Is asserted, that Mme.
Maurice had promised to have the
gown completed in good time and
failed.
Ho Miss Weln. r was forced to go
on the stand without her creation, and
the Jury, according to her, was not Im
pressed by her appenrance as It would
have been had she been able to get the
champagne colored lace creation to make ihem giddy and liht
headed as If they were using the champugne Itself. She told
Imr story In a low, demure voice, but she claims that from the
first she knew she had lost the effect on the Jury which she
lind expec ted to create.
In her testimony she "ulniltted that slit had been in love
or near love with Mr. Lyons, tailor, of the Minnries. She
admitted with a sweet smile that she h.nl n temper of her
own. but asserted that It was not as bad a.i his. Then she
looked consciously at her gown and spent a moment hating
the dressmaker who had disappointed her.
,
Tells Wherein He Was Unloverly.
Mr. Lyons the tailor wti hud the cnuu.g-' to sue a woman
for breach of promise sat quietly at his table a short dis
tance from the girl who mlht have been Mrs. Lyons had she
not broken her engagement. And he heard her recount his
shortcomings as a lover In explanation of the fracture of
the engagement.
" He was violent tempered and he sulked," shcsuld, look
ing down at her gown. It wasn't such a bad gown, but it was
not up to the standard f the champagne colored lace creation
that she ordered.
The gown slie wore was a cream colored lace, with a
touch of htllotrope here and there, and with it she wore a
THE GOWN THAT
SHE HAD ORDERED
of promise hut, spreading and country maidenish.
trimmed with guy lined spi'ng flowers In p:luslon. The gown
was short sleeved und yellow suede glovi t l eached to her
lbow. It was a gown that had set Lynns' In art In a flutter,
but she knew Instinctively that it was failing to Influence the
jury.
"He wis violent .temperid and he sulked," repeated Miss
Welner. g'anelng at the ! suede gloves, us if aware how
much bettor they would have looki d If won with the gown
that i Hiue not.
"Once he sulked because a man npemn the door of a
railway carriage for me."
She raised her beautiful black eyes to the Jury, hut the
effect was killed by the ahs nee i,f the ct.a.npugne colored
gown.
" Once, when one of my friends wa: going to be mar
ried, he sulked because he was not Invl'et1 to the reception.
He Bulked once because 1 was late in rea hlng the Ilolborn
viaduct station to meet him und go to a Sunday league concert
at the Alhambra.
Sulked When She Was Late.
'Another time I was late reaching the Hollmrn viaduct
to go with him to the theater, and he sulked all evening nnd
spoiled my pleasure, although I was wearing a new cloth suit.
" Then one evening,
when we left the theater. It
was ruining, and he went
to fetch a cab, and when
hv came back and found
me nea the stage entrance
he sulked all the way home.
He had such a winning way when he wus not sulking.
He always persuaded me to forgive him before we separated
In the evening until the last time. He used to confess that
he had a beastly temper, and he begged me with tears that
1 should forgive him and take him back.'
She finished her testimony with an appealing glance at the
Jury as If asking them to forgive her lor not wearing the
champagne colored lace gown. Hnd then Mr. Shearman, K.
C, compelled to he ungalh.nt enough o cross-examine the
girl, suggested that possibly she had said things at times
of which she herself was a little bit repenti.nt. To support his
statemi nt he read two extracts from her Irtters, which wen
as follows:
"I say so much In linger that I don't mean, and could not
go to bed be fore I laid written this. I could not rest, flood
night, my love, always yours lovingly, Flo."
"My Darling: 1 feel terribly grieved that I made you so
miserable by my unkind words. It Is not b, 'cause I love you
less. You grow dearer to me every clay."
.4
Admitted She Had a Bad Temper.
Miss Welner then confessed frankly that she had a bit of
temper of her own. and sh3 looked as If she realized that had
she been wealing the champagne colored lace gown the effect
of her conf sslon on the Jury would not have been so telling.
esssssssssssssssssssssss
Mr. Weiner, the rather, then told the court about a family
council that took place after one of the periodical breaks be
tween Florence and Mr. Lyons, He rrpiesented that the
tailor had bun abnormally sulky at one time, and Miss
Welner decided to smash thr engagement, so a family council
was called to discuss the question and dcclcb the fate of the
engagement.
This court of love eousbted of Mr. Welner, Mrs. Wolner,
Mrs. Welner's father, Mr Welner's married daughter, her
husband, Mr. Welner's eldest son, nnd the sen's wife.
Hy a majority of one the women, who gained Mrs. Welner's
father over to their side, i.i he was "tender hearted," carried
n motion that the tnllor should be given n-inther chance.
Mr. Lyons had his other chance, hut go' the sulks again,
nnd Miss Welner, without consulting the rest of the family,
dropped him as a prospective husband.
The facts having ben reviewed the Jury re-tlred. It is
understood that they debated the manner In which Miss
Welner was gowned, an some of the Jurors thought the
cre'ani colored lace was unbecoming, wh le others thought It
looked all tight.
J
Jurors Discussed Her Clothes.
The Jury delsited the e.uiHtlon of the comparative becom
ingness of cream colored lace with a touch of licllotruie nnd
of champagne colored lu-e with old rose ribbon and medal
lions of rare old lace, witn the circular flounce jollied to the
circular top, the joining being hidden in a IsiutTant mans
of filmy lace. And they found that the champagne colored
lace was the more becoming.
At bast that is the way Miss Welner f els about it. She
thinks that the verdict would have been cr.ampugne colored
If she had received her dress In time.
She Is preparing another creation to ar when she testi
fies against the dressmaker, and she confidently expects that
It will win her heavy damages against the modiste.
Mow One Little Mouse Tied Up the Street Car System ot Three Cities.
.
liANK nOGUKTT. a young Oneinn.'ttl chemist.
"TTX I has In bis possession a mouse- which until a few
I days ago was living a peaceful life In the Ked
Jl, I end building nnd which sprui. into fame sud
denly by tying up the entire stieet cur system
of 1'orkopolis and part of the systems of
Covington, NewKrt, and layton for twenty
minutes during the rush hour In the morning.
The mouse, still lively and chipper, IS living In six luslon
In a box In 1'oggell's workroom on Sycamore str.-et, where It
feeds on the best of cheefce. seemingly tineiMi.-cious that it is
one of the merst renowned mice In the w.nhl, not e ven ex
e i pting the town mouse and ihe country mouse or the hickory,
duknry dock inoque that u-n up the does.
That mouse made perhaps Wi perso is late to work one
morning, blockaded truth , cost emplityers thousands of de I
lars, and the ConolUUt.J Street railway company no one
knows Imw much, muddling up their schedules fur half a day
Is fore the y could lee str lightened out.
All Lines at Fountain Square.
The peculiarity of Cincinnati Is that practically every
street railway line in th- city loops aroui.d Fountain square,
which U 111 Fifth street between Vine ard Walnut, a broad
c : planade with the famous Tyler lHvid.i'. fountain In the
center. The Vine street cable, the Klin street. Plum street.
Fifth street, the Walnut Hills, the Sedambville, the Covlng
tnq. Walnut street, I'rl?e Hill, Kast kind, and practically
every other line circles In the city exce-pt the Sycamore street
line around the esplanude and starts off at tangents toward
ti e distant suburbs.
It is calculated that more street cars pass the corner of
FiMh and Walnul streets in a day than p.is any given point
in the- world, which is due to the centralli.itlon of the sys
tems and the great number oi cars that rc.i h to the suburbs
of the ejuecn city.
The sltuutlon was unchanged at T:ln on the morning of
M !' a Saturday, the greatest shopping rtay of the Week lit
v tie itinatl. when the morning trade and marketing ire espe
c'nlly heavy.
It huppc'iicd that Mrs. Craee Hiee of Sedanisvllle had come
up to town early to do her shopping and marketing for Sun
day, and she ulighti'd fr-.nn a ear at the r.mlhwest corner of
Walnut aii'l Fifth, opposite the- Federal building. She stepped
i T the car, and. turning, started .outh on Walnut, Intending
t - go down to Fourth strut the shopping stree t of the city
t make some purchases In the great dry go-ids stores thut line
liiut tuoruughfaic.
Just at that crue ial ln.ctant the mouse came upon the scene.
Whether it lan e from the recesses of the county build
ing, from the eni store on the corner, or from some other
place never will be: known, but it is ei-ita that this mite- of
animal life, frightened almost out of Its wits by the rush and
roar and wrangle of the triply crowded corner, scurrying
hither and thither through a - ishing cr mil of giants that
threatened it with death at ev ery ste p. V.' u across the open
spaces and sought a safe te fuj:e.
And it round Its refuge somewhere in the- myste-rlous in-trlcacle-s
of Mrs. Itie-'s tl.n t- pre siiuiabl about where she
had her money hldde-n.
The Jostling, hurrying crowds had noticed nothing un
usual. Newsboys were seiit-ehing the latest news, street
car bells weie J.cnglit.g noisily, tin- rumble of truffle, the roar
of the crowd we-re all stille d sudd--nly by u scream of ugony
as If some lusty woman wa re be ing brutuih murdered.
The rushing crowds stopped suddenly, startled by the
scream, and, us shrie k after shriek arose with blood curdling
uee ents, the crowd stopped, then turned to rush to the rescue
of the woman victim.
Yelled "Murder, Hep, and Thieves."
A Vine street cur, clanging around the curve at the east
end of the Fountain square, stopped with a wild jerk thut
broke the controller. At the same instant one of John D.
l a k & Sons' wagons stopisd suddenly or. the Walnut street
curve and humped Into an Kim street car
The screams continued.
Mrs. Wee wus standing in the- centei of the trucks,
screeching at the top of her voice-yelling ' murder," " help,"
anil " thieves," and clutching wildly tow irds her skirts. Cars
began to Idle up all around the square.
The crossing ;m!iccnien, unxlous to clear the jam, tried
to force their way into the crowd toward the center of dls
tcbani e. Wugons, trucks, carriage s, ami Hrce t urs piled up
around the streets until Walnut was blockaded us far up as
Sixth, the whole- Fountain squaie and Federal square were
filled, Vine street and Wilnut street were closed to truffle.
The crowds, rushing towards the shopping center from all
directions, pushed and jostled to get through tht mass of hu
manity. Moinrmcn and grlpmen stood at their posts and Jangled
their bells wildly, but the blockade refuied to break.
Hero Comes to the Rescue.
Within a
south us the
disarrange d.
f. w mil. ut. s Fifth street w.i i bloc ked as far
nmike-t. aul the e-ntire street ear sysle-tu wus
Mrs. Hiee-, with a death giip on her skirts
about the top of the second ruflle, was still screeching. Hugo
policemen stood around helpless. No one in the crowd had
the presence of mind to know what to do. In fact, no one
knew exactly what had happened.
Suddenly, from somewhere near the cente-r of the crowd,
Frank Uoggett pressed his way forward to take his place
among the heroes of this world.
He pre ssed c lose to M.s. Jtiee, coolly noil without u quiver
at the heroic act lie was i-.bout to perform.
" Mouse?" lie ask--d.
" Yes," screame d Mrs. Ttic e-.
Hoggett stooped, made one lightning like move with his
hunl, and, before the g.tnlug crowd could fven speculate on
what had happened or imagine what It had seen, he held
aloft a kicking, seiuirming mouse.
Mrs. Itii e gave one look full of soulfui gratitude toward
Iogge lt, then fled, with her blushes rivaling the glow of the
morning sun.
The Kim street cur motormun dunged Ins bell wildly. The
crowd began te melt. The wugon pulle 1 out from In front
of the Kim stree t car, and within Ave minutes the cars were
i mining again, rushing owards the- suburi i to bring In the
1 1 luted i lerks and shopp is.
And Iioggett tes-k the mouse to Ids place of employment
as a me-uie-nto.
1
