The Omaha Sunday Bee I
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Magazine Page
Of Society!
The Head of the Vanderbilt House
Returns to Newport with His New
Wife to Find His Family Fled, All
His Old Friends "Not at Home"
and His First Wife the Leader in
His Social Ostracism
Nowport August 7.
,sw THATBOEVER a man aowoth, that
fV 0haU h r0ap" CU7B tnoB,bl0'
which also tolls In another book
on oxcollont etory of a man who Bold a
birthright for a mess of pottage.
Those remarks are apropos to the fact
that Alfred Gwynne Vandorbllt and Mrs.
Alfred Vanderbilt Numbor Two (who was
Mrs. Margaret Emorson McKlm, of Bal
timore) hare returned to Newport from
England bringing with thom thelr-70Uth
ful son and holr. '
And. returning, Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt
have found themselves effectually frozen
out of that society of which, had Alfred
Vanderbilt been content with defying only
half Us conventions, ho' might and prob
ably would be leader to-day. Society has
put tho ban on the Vanderbllts, and they
are as lonely In Nowport aa beachcombers
on a Pacific Isle!
In the twelve years since his marriage
with Elsie French, Alfred Vanderbilt has
run tho gamut of human Indiscretions.
His return to Newport forced ;soclotyt
answer tho quostlon whother It
could possibly condono so many
broaches of standards as Alfred
Vanderbilt has boon guilty of.
Also It was forced to choose be
tween the first wlfo of Alfred,
who la head of the Nowport col
ony, and the second wife of Al
fred, who was Mrs. McKlm. Al
most unanimously It was decid
ed that it would not condono,
and that It would stand by the
first wife
Mrs. Alfred
No. 2
(Formerly
Mrs.
Margaret
Emerson
McKim)
Who Meets
This Year
at New
port Her
Her
Bitterest
Disap
pointraeat
Therefore when tho Alfreds arrived In
Nowport recently they found hone of tho
Vanderbilt family In residence oxcopt tho
Reginald Vandorblits, and of course they
do. not count In giving social or family
recognition. Roglnald Vandorbllt, It will
be remembered, Is Alfred's brother and
tho sharer In many a scrape and oscapade.
"Where Is your mother?" asked tho now
Wife of Alfred ,when sho arrived. ,
"Clone to England," repllod Reginald.
"Where are your sisters twain?"
"OladyB Is in England and Gertrude is
in Scotland,' answered Reggie, a bit em
barrassed. "And where aro your, cousins and your
auntB?" thus tho new Mrs. , Vandorbllt
anxiously.
"Just left for a trip around the world,"
stammered Reggie.
"But didn't thoy know we were coming
with baby?" asked poor Mrs. Vanderbilt
Numbor Two.
"Oh, yes, they knew all right That's
why" Reggie did not finish the answer.
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In sllenco the little
pnrty mado its way
to Oakland Farms,
the splendid, mansion
of the Alfred Vander
bllts. "Aren't there any
of the family hero ex
cept you, Reggie?" at
last asked Alfred.
"Oh, yes," replied
tho untactful Reggie.
"There's Elsie. Blslo'B
the whole show up
hore now" Ho
stopped at a look
from his brother.
"Elate?" said tho
second Mrs. Vander
bilt. "ElBle?" Then
she realized that Reg
gie meant tho first
Mrs. Alfred, and her
(heart must havo
grown vory heavy,
for even the most
optimistic p o r b o n
would rocognlzo that
abandonod by his
powerful family and
with his Hrst wife
commanding the field
there was little chanco for her husband
to regain his lost social position.
Newport knew this before tho Alfreds
arrived. In fact, the newB.that they wore
coming disturbed that frivolous colony as
It has nover perhaps been disturbed. "Is
it bravado on tholr part?" asked tho
matrons. "Surely Alfred at least must
know that he has put himself beyond tho
palo." "It Isn't bravado," aald othorB, who
still held a kindly feeling for tho holder
of the most of old Commodore Vanderbllt'e
millions. "He is anxious to realize his
wife's ambitions, and ho feels no doubt
that tho baby will reconcile him with tho
family."
"Woll, whatever it is that makos thom
come they're going to mako it very awk
ward for everybody," was the general
verdict.
This was only tod true. Early in the
Spring the Vanderbilt family had planned
a brilliant season. Mrs. Vandorbllt was
to open The Breakers and havo the Laszlo
BzochonylB with hor for the Summer. The
Harry Payne Whllnoys wore to opon tholr
house on Bellevue avenue, the "Neoly'a".to
open Beaullou, and Mrs. McKay Twombly
was to open her handsome place on tho
cliffs. Then, like a bolt from tho blue,
camo word that Alfred Intended to come
to Newport. Oh, what a ecurry there
wasl ,'
Mrs. Vanderbilt ordered the shutters
put back on The Breakers and fled to
Sussex to fltay with the SzechenylB, the
Harry Payne "Wbitneys took refuge In
Scotland, and the day after the Alfreds
arrived Mrs. Twombly and her daughter,
uum, ciosoa meir aoors,
plckodup their pettlcoatn
and started for a trip
around tho world.
Only the Reggies were
left
And why do not the
Reggies count? "Why is
their Influence not suffi
cient to place tho Alfreds
back in eociety? Rogglo,
the youngest of the family,
has been on the verge or
being kloked out himself;
he la received only be
causo his wlfo continues
to live with him; he has
figured In too many esca
pades to attempt to foist
his brother on Nowport
01 what use is it for the
blind to lead tho blind?
It Is a new thing tor
a Vanderbilt to be ostra
cises by Society, In which
the family has moved for
two generations. It Is
hard upon Alfred Van
derbilt, for ho might
have been a loader in tho colony which
now will have none of him. When his
father, the late Cornelius, in a great
error of Judgment, disinherited Cornelius,
his eldest son, because of his marriage,
and made Alfred his chief heir, he was
given an opportunity to become a social
and financial leader. Instead of doing so,
ho kicked away the golden platter on
which the birthright was given.
But if it Is hard upon Alfred, there is
much more to be pitied in the position
of his secoue wife. She has striven vory
bard for the social acknowledgment which
is now irrevocably withheld from her.
Tho story of how Emerson, "the headache
cure king," and his wife chartered a
yacht and took with him only young Dr.
Jmmw : -MM
wmlk " 0 m
McKlm and their daughter, Margaret,. Is
an old one. That trip was planned solely
for the purpose of lotting propinquity,
work Its way until Dr. McKlm would fall
a captive to tho charms of Miss Margaret
and ask her to be his wife. Dr. McKlm
at that time represented to the Emersons
the highest point of social attainment
that could bo looked forward to. It is on .
record that tho moment Dr. McKlm pro
posed to Miss Emerson and the glad nows
was given to her parents, the yacht was
turned around and made back for 'Balti
more. But Mrs. McKlm soon saw that thera
wore heights far beyond her husband's pc
altton. Sho cast her eyes upon Newport
and Alfred Vandorbllt Alfred was di
vorced from Elsie French, and Mrs. Mc
Klm was divorced from her husband after
the payment to him of a large amount of
money for his complaisance. Then they
went to England. No doubt her reception
at Nowport has been an enormous shock
to the second wlfo. Of course one season
she was there beforo and was Ignored
by society, 'because society resented her
friendship for young Vanderbilt Ho was
not then divorced; the divorce followed
that season. And yet Mrs. Alfred Number
Two displays astonishment to find that
her husband's first wlfo is chosen over her
head; that she haB not married Into the
Newport set by marrying Alfred.
"You cannot enter here," says Mrs.
Robert Ooelet- as she orders tho gates of
Eastbourne closed to the Alfred Vander
bllts. "Nor here, either" sayo Mrs. EI
bridge Gerry, as sho tells 110 butler to say,
"Not at home," should the Alfreds call.
There are degrees of ostracism. Tho
Vanderbllts will be put through them all.
They felt their first great pang when they
were not invited to Mrs. Fish's fairy talo
ball, to which three hundred of Alfred's
former friends were asked. These same
threo hundred sat themselves down to
dine In Mrs. Hermann Oelrichs's superb
dining room before going on to tho ball,
but Alfred and his wife were not among
those present
Oakland Farms was left to Alfred by
his father. It is one of the most luxuri
ous places about Newport It holds to-day
two of the unhapplest of mortals. "What
means their groat wealth If they have no
friends to lavish it on? They are ma
rooned amid Its luxurious contents. Does
he blame himself or does he blame the
young woman he married, for there Is no
doubt that his family at least would re
ceive him if he had not remarried.
When he drives along Bellevue avenue
and comes face to face with his former
wife, what happens? Mrs. Vandsrbllt
looks at him but does not see him. looks
at the woman by his side and does not
see her. When he meets the women he
used to be friendly with, what happens?
If he Is alone there are some women who
will stop and chat a few moments with
him. but the Bplrlt of cordiality is gone.
Mrs, Joe Harriman, meeting him In
front of the Casino the other day, said:
"Why, hello, Alfred, where did you drop
from? Pleasant weather we are having,
aren't we?"
In the early days she would have wrung
his hand and begged him to "Come home
and have a bite of luncheon with us."
If his new wife is with him, the women
turn to look the other way. It brought
faco to face, they speak to her In the
most casual manner. Being a man, Alfred
does not see all the many slights ad
ministered to his wife by the women who
were his friends, and who an friends of
"FORGOTTEN"
"Here are Alfred and his new wife (who has struggled so hard for social
recognition) out in the cold. Newport is frozen, i a them and they
. can only peer. from: the outside at the inside and mourn. What
a position for the man who . . .
! ' - . might, have led.'Newport
fashion!"
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Mrs. Eltla
French Van
derbilt. Alfred'.
Firt Wife.
his first wife. He feels the greater
slights, however, and writhes under them.
Mrs. Payne Thompson. Mrs. Ned Berwlnd.
Mrs. "Normle" "Whltehouse, have neither
called on his now wife-nor allowed ber to
be presented to thent. Mrs. Ava Astor,
recently Installed at Beechwood, gave them
both the .cut direct the day sho arrived.
They live In splendid Isolation, unnon
ored and unsung, InVited nowhere.
"The Alfred Vanderbllts?" asked some
one the other day at the Casino. "Have
they returned?" Dear me, how can they
have the courage?"
"No, indeed, I have not called; nor do
I intend to."
Contrast their fate with that of the first
Mrs. Alfred. She is the moat popular
hostess in the. colony. Harborvlew, her
magnificent estate, is the scene ot one
dance after another, one dinner after an
other. Her invitations are never refused.
She is the guest of honor at Mrs. Fish's,
Mrs. Goelefs, Mrs. Aster's, Mrs. Gerps.
These matrons are at her back in her
fight to keep her former husband and his
wife out ot society. She is fighting not
only for herself, but for her son.
All this time Alfred has not stood
tamely by and made no effort to regain
his birthright He- has spent money like
water to get it back by the horse show
route. He has made his name through
out England because of his coaching en
terprises and his, promotion of the Olympic
Horsa Show, which would not exist were
v.
Alfred . Gy wnne Vanderbilt fa
Coaching Costume.
it not for his wealth. He presented to
Nowport a splendidly "equipped Y. M. C
A. building; he has bought interests in
newspapers and magazines, but nothing
has won for him tho birthright he sold
for the mess of pottage.
Whoro has this social outcast differecf
from many others who have trod the
same primrose path? Why have others
been forgiven and Alfred Vanderbilt sent
Into exile? Perhaps because he has not
played the game. The man who plays
the game, even a losing game, re
ceives the respect of his kind If he is a
sportsman. Society . would have come to
the forgiveness stage had Alfred not made
a second marriage; given the marriage,
It might have forgiven In time if be had
remained in England. But hla frequent
returns to New York and his efforts to
rehabilitate himself and his present wife'
at the expense of his first wife and son
have turned society to- adamant So
clety may not have a sense of decency,
but it has a certain amount of pride, and
It refuses to accept this man who wilfully
outraged Its conventions. Society assumes
that Alfred Vanderbilt counted on his
wealth and family to force society to
take him back, and society kicks him
out
After all. the most interesting lesson
taught by this chapter of American family!
history is the foolishness of dictating your
children's marriages. The late Cornelius
Vanderbilt disinherited his son Cornelius
simply because he married a perfectly)
estimable girl, whose family position did
not suit the father- Alfred got the real"
duary estate that Cornelius lost. Ever
since then Cornelius has been a model
citizen and a happy husband, while Alfred
has become a horrible exaanla.