The Omaha 'Sunday Bee Magazine Paqe
Where Doer Mr. Drexel,Mul
tirriillinaip
D
V. V V
Mr. Anthonr
M
' OST American! arc fa
miliar with the troubles
of "The Man Without a
Country," related by Edward
Everett Hale.
There la a distinguished multi
millionaire native of Philadelphia,
Mr. Anthony J. Drexel, who may
be known as "The Man with
Three Countries."
The beautiful and brilliant Mrs.
Drexel, who, like so many society
women, is separated from her bus
band, Is bringing a eult In London
to make him pay certain sums due
to her under the deed of separa
tion. Now, Mrs. Drexel declared In
court that her husband was a rest.
Cent of England, though moment
arily keeping out of the country;
that he declared fifteen years ago
that be would have been natural
ised as aa Englishman but for the
fact that It would hate prevented
hira from serving as a trustee of
his father's estate la America,
France and America
Both Claim This Butterfly.
Thereupon Mr. Drexel, In order
to show that his wife had no
ground for suing him la England,
declared that he was living In
Paris and that he took the first
step toward becoming naturalised
in Trance last November and that
he was practically a Frenchman.
The records la the United States
show that Mr. Drexel Is still a
trustee of the Drexel estate la
Philadelphia and aa American
citlsen.
The other trustees la response
to Inquiries have ' replied that he
is still an American citlsen, and
that they consider him quite a
good one.
' Mrs. Drexel has explained ta th
courte of her action that her hus
band la really having tun with the
French Government He has ac
quired a nominal domicile there,
and he caa at any time after the
end of five years become a French
citlsen If he wishes. But It binds
htm to nothing, and la the mean
time he does not have to give up
his cltir.nhlp In any other coun
try. She believes that as soon as
he has got what be wants a di
vorce on his own terms he will
dodge back to London and take up
the British cltiienshlp which has
always been nearest his heart.
What, after all. Is the true na
tionality of this remarkably elu
sive gentleman?
Wife and "Tony" Can't
Vgrrea About Their Pleasures.
Mr. Drexel Is the oldest soa ef
the great banker who was the
founder of the firm that Is now J.
P. Morgan ft Co. lie Is never
known to have done much but
wander about the world and enjoy
himself. The late King Edward,
who was fond of American women
but not' of American men, said
Mr. Drexel was one of the few of
the latter kind that amused him.
The Philadelphia millionaire Is
distinguished as a connoisseur of
good food and wine and women's
looks.
Mrs. Drexel, who was Mlas Mar
garetta Armstrong, of Philadelphia,
aad is a sister of "Silent" Smith's
widow, has made quite a position in
English society. For ten years Mr.
and Mrs. Drexel have failed to
agree about their respective
methods of amusing themselves
and the result has been a formal
separation.
Mrs. Drexel's present lawsuit ta
! "
J. Drexe! Amerlc.n, Frenchman anil EnglitUman.
England la to recover money due
under the separation agreement
Mr. Drexel's first answer to her
actioa was to move to set aside
the writ on the ground that .the
English court bad no Jurisdiction
over him, as be was domiciled In
France. Many prominent figures In
the British peerage and society
were in court Including the Drexels'
son-in-law, Viscount Maidstone, In
his uniform as aa officer of the
Royal Flying Corps. The testi
mony was full of enterUlnlss reve
lations about fashionable life.
Mrs. Drexel aald that In their
separation agreement It was stipu
lated that they were not to Inter
fere with or annoy one another. Mr.
Drexel was to allow ber 150,000 a
year and the income of a policy la
New York and had made various
other provisions tor her and for his
family. He had recently tailed to
pay her the monthly instalments of
the 150,000, and this wag the
ground of her suit
Mr. Drexel's counsel said he
would not come to give evidence la
London, because he had been ad
vised that the English courts had
no jurisdiction over him and ha
had started divorce proceedings tn
France to end a situation that had
become intolerable to him. Sir Ed
ward Carson, the noted Ulster
leader, who was Mrs. Drexel's
counsel, remarked that a man ought
not to be able to go to France and
say he was a resident there to "de
fraud somebody." Sir Edward also .
said Mr. Drexel was concerned In
"a well arranged plot"
Ha Also Hat a Home
in Lovely Venice.
Mr. Drexel introduced his own
story of his troubles and his wan
derings by saying:
"By birth I am an American
citlsen. I have never been natur
alised In Great Britain. I had for
a good many years a residence In
London, but I have had for some
years and still have, a residence ta
Paris and another tn Venice. I have
never intended to acquire, nor have
I, as I verily believe, ever In fact
acquired an English domicile."
Mr. Drexel's counsol explained
that the pair came to England la
1893 and took a castle tn the Isle
of Wight and various houses la
London and other parts of the
country. In 1908 be took to living
la Paris. In 1910 two of his chil
dren were married i la daughter.
Miss Margaretta Drexel. to Vis
count Maidstone, and his son,
Anthony J. Drexel, Jr, to Miss Mar
Jorie Gould. When he wanted to
come to the Drexel house tn Lon
don, his wife said he had better
give ber two or three days' notice,
so that she could get out of the
way.
He stopped his wife's allowance
because that waa a regular part of
the divorce proceedings he had
begun In France.
Aa entertaining affidavit by Mrs.
Drexel, seeking to show that her
husband waa a thorough English
man, was read, In which she said:
"My husband repeatedly told
me that he found It Impossible to
live la America and that England
was the only fit place to live la,
and that be was determined to live
there. He said that 'nothing could
induce him to live In such a rotten
country as America.' ,
"He la still a member of White's,
the Marlborough and the Bath
clubs In London, and he had al
ways referred to England as 'home.'
He was very angry when he had to
make yearly visits to America and
was always very glad to get vac
to old England."
Mr. Drexel, by the way, while
keeping out of the Jurisdiction cf
the English court seised the occa
sion, In a statement to a Paris
correspondent, to deny that he had
abused America.
"There is no reason In the world
why the United States should not
be a fit place tor a gentleman to
live In," he said. "In my experi
ence as a traveller. I have found
that of all the people In the world
the Americans are the most eon
genial to live among. In the days
when I lived In Philadelphia and
rode a great deal In the street cars,
my best friends were among the
conductors and gatemen. They
called me Tony and we used to
hobnob about the weather and the
baseball averages."
To return to Mrs. Drexel's story.
In order to show how English Mr.
Drexel was she gave a list of the
houses he had taken In England.
First there was Norrls Castle, In
the Isle of Wight In 1003 he took
a furnished house In Surrey, and tn
1903 he took another furnished
rvr
Main hall of the) London
house la Oxfordshire. He then
took a furnished house In Carlton
House terrace, London. He also
had a short lease of No. 65 Groava
nor street The first time he took
aa unfurnished house In London
was In 1908 No. :i Groavenor
Square Gardens. In 1910 he had a
furnished house at Hooley and la
February, 1915, he took No. S Upper
Brook street on a twenty-one years'
lease.
Mrs. Drexel lived In the house Mr.
' Drexel had furnished. No. 22 Gros--venor
square, one of the beat pUcaa
In London, until her drat grand
child waa born, so as to give so
ciety an Impression of harmony.
Then he gave her the furniture and
she moved to a house In Cavendish
square.
Then Mr a. Drexel began to tell a
story of personal grievances.
"After 1909." she said, "my mar
ried life began to be very unhappy,
and my husband assaulted me on
more than one occasion and treated
me with great indignity. In 1910.
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I'm a Frenchman' He Swears; "You Live in England," the British
Courts Declare; "He's an American'
the Trustees of the Drexel Millions
Philadelphia Assert Curious Revelations
in His Matrimonial Troubles
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residence) of Anthony J. Drexel Mr. Drexel eays it's not hi
English courts say h is his home.
after my eldest son married Miss
Gould, of New York, and my
daughter married Viscount Maid
atone. I told my husband that I
would not live with him any
longer. My husband begged me
not to divorce him and eventually
I was persuaded by my children to
drop American divorce proceedings
and enter into the separation deed.
My husband undoubtedly made
England hla home and he spent
110.000 for carpets alone la hla
house in Upper Brook street
"Then my husband sent a mas
sage to me that be waa sick of the
agreement and hla terms were that
I should go to Paris and get a di
vorce and that If I did not do ao, he
would get one himself. He aald he
would atop my allowance If I did
not go to Paria by May 14. 191i.
"I declined to be a party to a
fictitious divorce in Paris and de
clared my intention to take pro
ceedings In an English court, whose
decision would be regarded as valid
all over the world. As I refused to
Ptar Com par jr. Ortat Brttalq
submit to my husband's ultimatum
he left London tor Paris. In the
French courts he could get a di
vorce on grounds that would not
entitle him to one In England.
"My husband did not dare charge
me with misconduct In the Paris
proceeding. He made the Insinua
tion, but there was not the slight
est foundation for It"
All the Drexel children support
ed their mother's case vigorously.
Viscountess Maidstone swore that
her father told her that America
was no place tor a gentleman to
live In and that he disliked the
American people.
Mr. Drexel's oldest son, Anthony
J. Drexel. Jr.. aald that hla father,
told him that America was a horri
ble place and that the French were
"effeminate and nothing but little
powder puffs." This remark waa
greeted with loud laughter In the
English court
Viscount Maidstone testified that
his father-in-law told him that he
had made his home la England for
Rlfhtt Pfprvvl.
-'--.
"if ,
Mr. Drexel's Beautiful, Quite American DaugV-
A mm a sr ar. . m
icrinAW, Mrs.
f&M
home, the)
good and never Intended to 'return
to America.
Mrs. Drexel's socially distin
guished sister, Msdame Jean IL E.
St Cyr, formerly Mrs. James Henry
Smith, and before that Mrs. William
Rhinelander Stewart, also gave evi
dence concerning her brother-in-law's
feelings about America. She
testified that he aald:
"America la a rotten hole, no
place for a gentleman to live in and
tha people are rotten."
In reply to theae accusations Mr.
Drexel filed an affidavit from Paris
saying that he was a great admirer
of the French people and never as
saulted his wife.
Sir Edward Carson. In conclud
ing the case for Mrs. Drexel, poured
a good deal of scorn upon Mr.
Drexel. He suggested that he waa
playing a great many tricks to force
a lady to abandon her rights to a
divorce and other things.
"Mr. Drexel la to all Intents and
purposes an Englishman," aald Sir
Edward Carson. "In 190S he
A. J. urexel, Jr., f ormerly
Marjorie Gould.
wished to become natural! ted la"
England, but when it was pointed
out that If he did so he could not
remain a trustee of his father's
estate, he did not persist. At the
outbreak of the present war he
waa at Baden and he returned to
England. He expressed the desire
that hla son should Join tha Royal
Horse Guards. His yacht had al
ways been manned by an English
crew and laid up at Cowes.
"When Mr. Drexel came back ha
Joined the English Red Cross .la
France; this was in October, 1914,
although his contention now was
that he waa not ordinarily resident
In England at that time.
"All Mr. Drexel's children were
educated In England. His sons
went to Eton and his daughter mar
ried an English peer. It is only
within the last few months that Mr.
Drexel has not given England as
his country of residence. He had
never pretended before that that
he had any love for France."
The Judge decided that Mr.
Drexel was a resident of England
sufficiently within the meaning of
the term to permit his wife to sue
him la the English courts.