The
Newport, Sept, 28.
WILL JUrs. Beth Barton
French, .one of the hand
somest and richest
widows o New York, say "Yes" to
that modern Croesus of interna
tional sooiety, James J. Van Alen,
and thus caune t! charming daugh
ter, M16S May Va.a Alen much an
guish of mind, negative all her step-mamma-agalnst
stratagems and
battles, and destroy once and for
all time Mr. Van Alen's fondness
for widows?
In the clubs on Fifth avenue
and in Newport odds are three to
5ne that she will.
There have been many widows
in Mr. Van Alen's life. Of all kinds,
there have been a baker' dozen.
. All have been pretty.
Mr. Van Alen, son-in-law of the
late Mrs. Astor and oldest brother-in-law
of Colonel Jack Astor, is a
most desirable parti. He has
houses and lands, stocks and
. bonds. He owns a .gray stone man
sion In Newport, a palace in New
York and a castle in England. He
Is so rich be, can wear a monocle
and an old Panama hat! He keeps
a flock of sheep to crop his New
port lawns, and he could pave his
driveway with diamonds If he
wanted to.
The widows who have interested
him have known all this. It looked
good to them. .
Miss May Van Alen, who values
her liberty and papa's as she does
her life, knows it, too. A little
widow is a dangerous thing and
eternal vigilance is the price of
freedom or words to that effect
Oh. the times daughter has bad to
crush papa's romantlo yearnings!
There, for Instance, was the
beautiful Countess Fabbricottl,
luscious snd lovely as any peacb.
, ready to fall into bis mouth. Suc
cess seemed ready to perch on her
treetop when . William K. Vander
bllt, senior, appeared as a rival.
In playing one against the other
the lovely Countess lost both! Ah,
the poor Countess!
She has since consoled herself,
but she is the only one of James
' J.'s widows to do so!
When the Fsbbrlcotti episode
closed James J. came back to New
port. Til try widows." he Mid,
"but they must be home, bred."
In Newport he found the sump
tuous Mrs. Gambrlll. This was a
great find for Jimmy! Mrs. Gam
brlll's husband had died, leaving
her one son and several millions
of dollars. Some of this money
she spent in building a genuine
French chateau on Bellevue avenue
and in developing some wonderful
gardens.
Mr. Van Alen looked upon her
and found her good. He likewise
found a rival on the doorstep, Mr.
Egerton Wlnthrop, senior.
Oh, the fun Newport had! The
two well-dowered dandles strug
gling for the smiles of the charm
ing widow!
James J. as tremendously in
earnest. "'He .courted the widow in
daylight tod moonlight. He fairly
lived in hex lovely rose "garden,
wnere there was a secluded Sum
mer house. Mr. Wlnthrop blocked
every move his rival made. Te
widow had two steady cavaliers,
and apparently enjoyed It.
The public bus drivers . even
scented the fun. They would stop
their .buses in front of the
chateau . and shrilly say. "Here
lives the. Widow Gambrlll, who can
have Jimtny Van Alen If she wants
him, but she also likes Egia Wln
throp'." ..
This Is actual fact or was until
the police stopped it. Have you ever
heard the bus drivers at Newport
explaining things to the marvelling
tourist T No?
Just when all seemed propitious
for "Jimmy". Mrs. Hermann Oelrlchs
appeared on the scene and the
humorous bus drivers changed
their tune! "Here lives the
Widow Gambrlll. who let Mrs. Her
mann Oelrlchs take Jimmy Van Alen
away from her!"
The season closed. Mr. Van Alen
returned to England still uncaught
sad unwed. And there be found
widow number 4the dazrling.
darkxred brunette, the fascinating
Omaha
it
n
L
Mrs. Seth Barton French, Who
May Become Mrs. James
J. Van Alen.
Mrs. George Law. James J. fell un
der the thrall of those eyes. What
chance had James J. then?
History repeated . itself . Just as
be felt that his freedom was
slipping away, just as he felt that
those eyes, and the fascinating
manner of Mrs. Law had him tight
In sailed Daughter May, and the
day was saved!
Miss Van Alen firmly removed
pa-pa to Rushton Hall, the gor
geous country place where pa-pa
was supposed to live.
"There Is a houseparty down
there," said Daughter May, "and
there's two widows there If you
must have them."
Yes, there were two widows, but
Miss Van Alen was only pulling
her ardent father out of the frying
pan and throwing him Into the
fire. In that houseparty were
Mrs. Ava Willing Astor and Mrs.
Billy Leeds.
Pa-pa had known the beautiful
Mrs. Astor since her childhood.
She had been the wife of his wife's
brother. He admired her tremen
dously. He began to single her out
for his distinguished attentions.
Oh, me! Oh, my! Daughter
May was furious! But Daughter
May was helpless.
But stay! Who Is this coming
gaily to the rescue? Who s thin
who . smile gently on errlns
pa-pa and make him falter l
his pursuit of the lovely divorce?
Mrs. Billy L-eas, if you please!
Mrs. Leeds, In diamonds, war
paint and gold leaf. Mrs. Leecl.-:
with her blue eyes blazing wi;ii
excitement and her figure as alfit
as ever was Diana's.
Mr. Van A. hesitates on one s id--the
beauty and charm he knows,
on the other an untried field On
one side the woman he will ha.e
to work hard to get, on the oth-?r
the woman who Is working hard f
get him! He goes over to Mrs
Leeds and once more gossip says
ttret he Is lost!
At any rat that house party at
Rushton Hall will long be remem
bered! Mrs. Leeds got her Innings
and it looked like wedding cards for
several weeks.
What broke up her plans?
Daughter May! When things had
gone far enough Miss Van Alen
developed appendiclru and the
party broke up. Pa-pa had to
devote himself, to bis daughter.
.Mrs. Leeds returned to London,
Mrs. Astor remained, but carefully
let Mr. Van Alen know that she
could never, never naarry her late
husband's brotlier-ln-l.iw.
And sadly, Jimmy added memo
ries Ave and six to his wldo
collection.
Within twelve months there
have been four widows added to
Mr. Van Alen's collection. And fom
particular!;.'
4 .U-f
x . : i 't
.'' i
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Sunday Bee Magazine
t'Copyrlf M, 1011.
And Eternal
was that alluring, that oh. so beau
tiful Mrs. Pedar Bruguiere, who
flashed across Newport's skies last
Summer. Before her hazel eyes
J. J. went down with a sicken-'
lpg thnd. He openly deserted bis
own friends, he neglected to keep
engagements. And all for the beau
tiful Mrs. Brugulere who had been
twice widowed by the decree of
the divorce court! Oh death, where
Is thy sting?
Mrs. Brugulere's smiles were
fought for by half a dozen well
known Newporters. And because
of this, the ladies, bless em all,
were annoyed. Daughter May was
most emphatically annoyed. She
was peevish, and one expected
to see her mount a gatling gun
on the lawns of Wakehurst and
fire at all comers
But Daughter May did not actu
ally have to Are that gun. Mrs.
Bruguiere, after having the time
of her life bothering the Newport
dames, showed her decided pref
erence for another man and left
Pa-pa with her picture and a sink
ing feeling In bis heart.
And where could Pa-pa find
comfort? Right at his own gate
way! He turned to Mrs. Elalo
French Vanderbllt! Mrs. Vander
bllt might have ' been his grand
daughter. Alas for James J. Mrs. Vander
bllt as a child bad been taught
to show respect to her elders. She
placed Mr. Van A. on a par with her
grandfather and was awfully nice
to him. But Mr. Van A. did not want
to be treated like a grandfather,
and he went off to London in a
huff. .
With his lacerated feelings need
ing .expert surgical treatment, he
met. In England, two charming
blondes, Mrs. Henry Redmond
and Mrs. Seth Barton French.
He had known them both In,
their early days in Newport.
In Enelsnd they were verv
good to blm. He called at
Clarldge's one day to get
comf.jrt trom Mrs.Kenmond
and he trotted over to the
Savoy the next to get
comfort from Mrs
French. Those were
busy days for Mr.
James!
What happened?
When Mrs.
French, the hand
some widow of
the late Seth
French, wearied
a n n
ii i ii ii ii ii u i n ii ii x nr x u i u fi a
L .::a ; :S'..-4 y -
. ,7 "The" " y x--'a 4 ommm
.-h V4-V-v: ' ' . ' I widows in Mr. Van . J'' ''' " -''Hy
jA Men's life. Of
::-si'vr.-?v'-. ' ,. v v T U all kinds, there have been a baker's dozen. All have RjJ"-1' . XX
r'-Xv : :: ') "-';V,.! .wV-Sj been pretty." Wtco, A
fcy Amerlr n-Exnilnr. 3rt Britain
Vigilance Is the Price
The Heart Chase of an
of London and of comfortable Mr.
James, she went to Paris and worse
than all, she told him that she
would not come to Newport this
season! Oh, y tears!
Mrs. Redmond when she wearied
of London went to New York,
telling him sbe could not spend
the Summer In Newport.
But the last two widows re
lented. Both Mrs. Redmond and
Mrs. French did appear in New-
Eort the former lived on board
er steam yacht Sultana.
Yes, Mrs. French spent two
weeks at Wakehurst! And Daugh
ter May was perfectly polite to
her. And pa-pa? Ah. let us not
give pa-pa away! He grew twenty
years younger! He was beatific!
What comes next? Both Mrs.
French and Mr. Van Alen are
to spend October at the Hot
Springs.
And the odds are even now
now three to one!
"Oh, the merry
widow and the man!"
".- b::h '!yr Thib Is Mr. Janui
A'fi S3V y. -Jni'G'sr J. Van AUn, Be-
tt vKJfiiiKV f yy'sS' "da Him MUs
l f: f&'1' May Van Alen,
mm ' 'Ch mMmSilryf 1 and Next, Widow
y "X ' ' A 'V ' f -f dj". A" ' a Former -Widow
XXi'H'.V fn-i i. Willia.m Lds,
";XNSS .... Court Widow Mm.
a.-' r ""? x ;r : . , i- . . x a .,. . v .. .... jonn jacoo abiot
iK- :'(':--A.s:::4-! V ' "-''''A X ud Widow Mr..
k A- ,W ' v' vf"V;. , . . , Btiful Widow
A ' f : y '.-..Mf X s' .'-i'-.--?'- A Mrs. Pedar Brn-
- ' m- m w i'X -w ... , ,. ... ; , .... A .
A lATW t ;.- -.. . v -; ' S.Ciy ;v - - . .. .....
RifTits Brvd
tional Society
Million-
aire.
of Liberty
Interna
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