10 A
CLASSIFICATION
OF CORSETS THE
CAUSE OF WORRY
National Retail Dry Goods
Association Puts Serious
Question Up to Internal
X Revenue Commissioner.
By Universal Service.
New: York, May '3. Corset: A
closc-fittmsr laced bodice, worn as a
support, usually by women Funk &
Waenalls. .. '
L The - definition appears simple
enough, yet many serious-minded
men. members of the National Re
tail Dry Goods association, are at
a loss to know what Uncle Sam
.;' thinks a corset really is, and today
i delegation from the association
. Started for Washington to induce
Internal Revenue Commissioner
Roper to tell them.
In some show windows a lace and
ribbon be-frilled corset is described
as a tQnfection. . But as . it can not
be eaten, save by an ostrich which
, never wears such contraptions, it
can not be taxed as candy.
.,.- Corsets have been designated as
underwear for import and export
' taxation purposes, and as underwear
is worn next, the skin and the con
set never gets that intimate with its
owner, the dry goods men wish to
be shown how it can. be so classi
fied. They argue that it might just
as well be classed as a shoe be
cause it is laced.
Is a corset a tight-fitting bodice,
is it a luxury, a necessity, is it un
derwear, or is it just plain corset,
usually worn by women? "
Naturally, the merchants .would
like Mr. Roper to classify the man
who, by implication of the defini
tion, sometimes wears corsets, but
, that is merely academic, whereas
the definite and proper classification
of the corset itself is a matter of
grave concern. Maybe it will be
classed as an inedible confection.
WHlpnne;
. Arrested for Running
; "Jit" Without License
Van Wyck Benner, 15-year-old
son of Mrs. "Happy" Theodora Van
Wyck Benner, who died by accident
a week ago, was arrested late yes
terday evening by Motorcycle
Officer George Emery on a charge
ci driving a jitney without a license.
He will appear in police court to
morrow morning to answer the
: cBarge. '
"7 S Young Benner is soie heir to an
estate said to be valued at a million
dollars, yet he likes "to enjoy earn
ing money by his own efforts," so
he ran his newtouring car up and
down Farnam street Saturday as a
v jitney.
The car he drove had been given
to him by his mother but a short
.,' time before she died. It has a green
-4int and bears his monogram.
Floyd Br-own, one of young Benner's
I pals at school, held the position of
chief nickel collector on Van Wyck's
jitney.
Business was good until Officer
Emery demanded that they 1 we a
license.
' y 1
Lord Reading Departs.
:.Ne-w York, May 3. Lord Read
: ing, retiring British ambassador to
the United States, said prior to his
- departure today on the steamship
Aquitania, that he had no idea who
his successor would be.
New York Millinery
Purchase Sale
" ' .Was'' ' '
a Record Event
IN spite of the fact that much additional
space was devoted to this event, the
various lots were too large to bring forth
- the entire purchase Saturday. As a con
sequence ....
Two New Assortments in Reserve
Will Be Placed on Sale
Wednesday
ETS TH B PACE JXVirfSSS- !? - Mdfc CSOWINC OMAHA
mm
lllv - ' -A: -A : .
Life's. Swift Race Ends for "Happy" VanWyck,
Who Drained Cup of Pleasure to Bitter Dregs
Dead at 35 From Self-Poisoning, Daughter of Late U. S.
Senator Had Sodnded the Heights of Pleasure,
Love and Wealth, and the Depths of Sorrow and
Loneliness.
3y A. P. GROH-
Gathered around In open grave in
Wyuka cemetary, Nebraska City last
Monday afternoon was a little group
of people. A minister read the
words, "Earth to earth, dust to dust,
ashes to ashes." The undertaker
pressed a lever and slowly the cas
ket descended into the grave. There
were a tew audible sobs.
.Then the group of peop"lei went
away through the drizzle of rain that
fell from the black clouds hanging
low over the lonely cemetery.
The body in the casket was that
of Mrs. "Happy" Theodora Van
Wyck Benner, who. in her brief 35
years of life, had sounded the heights
of pleasure, love, admiration, wealth,
beauty, and the depths of sorrow
and loneliness which came when
beauty faded, admiration passed on,
pleasure lost its zest. k
Vanity, All Is Vanity.
: Doubtless, in . those last hours
when she lay alone in her sumptuous
rooms in the Portland i apartments
with the agony of deat upon her,
she realized the philosophy of the
Psalmist when he said, Vanity of
vanity, all is vanity, saith - the
preacher, and vexation of spirit."
for she. who had been the dar
ling of society in New York, she
who had been besieged by admirers
at Newport and the other fashion
able seaside resorts 'of the east, she
whose ancestry was of the most dis
tinguished had come to her death
with w one tocomfort her but her
maid and a physician.
tor hours she had writhed in the
agony of pain from the effects of
oicnionae 91 mercury Deiore a doc
tor was summoned. It is said she
took the poison accidentally. That
was the verdict of the six men who
Heard the evidence in the dingy of
fice of the undertaker while all that
was left of the once beautiful
"Happy" Van Wyck lay covered, si
lent, in an adjoining room.
What Were Her Thoughts ?
What were the thoughts of Mrs.
Benner in those last awful hours of
her life? Did she see herself a girl
aeain in Washington. D. C? Did
she see again ifhe kindly face of her
father. Gen.r Charles Henry Van
Wyck, a United States senator from
Nebraska and one or the highest
minded men ever a member of that
senate? Did the sweet face of her
mother come back to her, a woman
also - of high ancestry, of highest
intelligence and acknowledged power
in helping her husband to his high
place?
Or did her thoughts travel trom
the lonelv apartment back through
the years to New York City and
the great white way" where she
was the belle" of many a theater
party? Did they speed to the beach
at Newport where, scarcely more
than IS years ago, she set high so
ciety aflame by the picturesque dar
ing of her bathing costumes? :
Famous "Green Stockings"
Beauty, youth, wealth and pleas
ure were hers then. And young
Theodora Van Wyck reveled in
them with the abandon of youth
which thinks not of the morrow.
She was known during one summer
season at the shore as "the girl with
the green stockings." Thousands
See Tuesday Papers
for Further Particulars
would wait, it is said, to see the
young goddess in her lovely and
daring costumes on the beach.
"Tha& Theodora Van Wyck,
daughters the late General Van
Wyck, a United States senator.
What a splendid beauty 1 And she's
very wealthy in her own right, too."
She heard it every da.y. She was
pursued by admirers. BSncing, the
ater parties, bathing everything
were hers.
Seventeen yearsl
Quickly the wheel of fortune
turns I . The picture changes. Ah,
how it changes 1
Theodora Van Wyck has married
and gone through the- divorce court
She lives with her son, a 15-year-old
boy.- She has much of her wealth
which was placed by her wise fa
ther, the senator, so that it could
not be dissipated.
Doctors Say "Nervousness."
Beauty is rapi44y going. Pleasure
has lost its zest. The golden apples
have turned to dust. The candle
has been burning at both ends.. She
is in ill health. The doctors call it
"nervousness."
The adulation which her youthful
beauty brought her has ' vanished.
The world has passed on. ""Another
generation of young beauties is here.
One man remains, Charles .X.
Thompson, manager of the Omaha
City Directory Co. He, also, has
found life not altogether satisfac
tory.' He is married and has three
children. But that doesn't stop him
from associating with Mrs. Benner.
They go for frequent rides togther
in hired limousines with the curtains
drawn. , .
Then suddenly the measure is full.
The dance is ended and the fiddler
must be paid..
Arrested in Man's Office.
The blow fell Friday, April 18,
when Mrs. Theodora Van Wyck
Benner and Charles X. Thompson
were arrested in' Thompson's office
in the Railway Exchange building at
7 o clock in the evening.
The arrest was made on a war
rant sworn out by the attorney for
Mr. Ihompson s wife. She hied suit
for a divorce the next day.
Mrs. Happy Theodora Van Wyck
Benner was released under bond aft
er a few hours. But her pride and
spirit were crushed. The beauty and
darling of a few years ago at the
police station under a charge of
drunkenness.
The sands of life had almost run
out of the hourglass. Eight days
later she was dead.
During those eight days she
seemed tortured by the loss of that
love and sympathy and respect with
out which life is empty. But neither
the sensational arrest nor the suit
of Mrs. Thompson for a divorce
kept Mrs. Benner and Mr. Thomp
son apart. . .
He called on her several times
in those last eight days. Several
times they went out riding in the
limousine with the curtains drawn.
One of these rides was on the very
day when, it is believed, Mrs. Ben
ner took the bichloride of mercury
tablets.
On that day, according to the
testimony of Mrs. Hansine Sven
sen; he faithful maid, Mrs. Benner
! A
i
THE OMAHA SUNDAY
TV
wiik ike
Cst 1 .
OtocKitt
asked her to call a taxicab. Mr.
Thompson, Mrs. Benner and Han
sine rode downtown where Han
sine left the two and went to her
own home, 2552 Fort street.
At 3:30 o clock the next morning
the telephone bell in Hansine's
home rang. Van Wyck Benner
was speaking. He said his mother
was sick. Hansine told him to call
a doctor. The boy and the colored
janitor of the apartment tried to
get a doctor that night, but failed.
And on her deathbed, Happy
Van Wyck Benner, writhed in the
last, agony until 9 o'clock Friday
morning, when Hansine arrived.
Only Maid With Her.
Around the neck of the faithful
Swedish maid the dying woman
threw her arms, crying, "Oh, Han
sine, I love you, I love you."
She who had been loved by the
rich, the famous, the intellectual,
cried out in her last lonely, de
serted moments to this plain, simple,
"human" woman who had not de
serted her in her hour of darkness
and despair.
Those words to the maid were
the last words spoken by the petted
darling of eastern society, the "girl
in the green stockings" of 17 years
before.
Even the presence of her son, her
only child, was denied her. For
Van Wyck, after looking after his
mother that morning, went to
school, leaving a note to the maid,
Hansine, to call a doctor.
All that day the former beauty
lay dying, unable to speak, the
stealthy, poison for which science
knows no antidote, doing its slow,
torturing work. The little maid
cried. Two physicians stood watch
while the Grim Reaper stalked ever
nearer, powerless to ward .him off.
Dead at 351
"At 5:30 o'clock that evening the
suffering form on the bed became
still. Mrs. "Happy" Theodora Van
Wyck Benner was dead, dead at an
age when she should have been
entering the splendor of woman
hood and motherhood, dead at 351
Half an hour later 15-year-old
Van Wyck came home from school.
His Hows mother froze on his
lips as he saw the swollen eyes of
the maid. And then he threw him
self by the side of that form on the
bed which was forever still.
During this last day a man called
up by telephone. It was Charles X.
Thompson.
Did she take anything: he asked
the maid.
"Yes. said Hansine and she heard
a sob as the 'phone was hung up.
Two hours later he railed up
again. Hansine said sne coma near,
that he was- crying.
Drained Life's Cup.
A sermon and a warning are in
the short. happy, tumultous
wretched, unhappy life of ihis wom
an who drained the cup of pleasure
till she found the, bitter dtegs.
tvery lovely and oesiraDie tnmg
was hers the day she was born in
Washington, D. C, January 1. 1884.
Her father, Charles Henry Van
Old Proverb Proves
True in Case of Speeder
and Motorcycle Cop
"He who laughs last laughs best."
Such an old, old proverb, but oh,
how true. In the latest example of
its truth it has chosen C. J. Brandt as
the first laugher and Motorcycle
Officer Urbanec as the second nd
best "laugher".
Urbanec's motorcycle broke down
at Thirteenth and Williams streets
yesterday afternoon. Brandt breezed
by bout 45 miles per. lee-hee.
tittered Brandt when he saw .. the
stranded copper.
"Tee-hee." tittered Officer Urban
ec five minutes later when he caught
up with Brandt at Thirteenth and
Castelar. Urbanec commandeered a
passing automobile to overtaKe
Brandt. Brandt was driving a mo
torcycle. Brandt was arrested and charged
with exceeding thespeed iimit.
Police Surgeon Injured
In Smash With Street Car
Police Surgeon Edstrom suffered
contusion of the left arm and an
abrasion of the left eye when his car
and a street car collided Saturday
afternoon at Twenty-fourth and
Pinkney streets. Doctor Edstrom
was taken to Swedish Mission hos
pital. His condition is not serious.
BEE: MAY 4, 1919.
Wych, was then United vStates sena
tor from Nebraska. He was a man
of highest type. He had been a
general in the Union army during
the Civil war. Four times he had
been elected to congress from a
New York district.
In 1874 he moved to Nebraska and
settled on a farm five miles from
Nebraska City. He was a member
of the Nebraska constitutional con
vention. He was twice elected a
state senator and in 1881 was elected
a United States senator.
Defeated for Governor.
As a senator he stood against the
corporations when the corporations
were in power, everywhere. So he
was defeated when he sought re
election in 1887. In 1882 hei' was
defeated in the race for governor of
Nebraska. Soon thereafter he
moved to Washington, D. C, where
he lived until his death in 1895.
He was a close friend of J. Ster
ling Morton, who pronounced a
splendid eulogy of him at the time
of his death.
Dr. Theodorus Van Wyck, a mem
ber of-the provisional congress of
New York was an ancestor of Sena4
tor Van Wyck.
And when the little girKwas born
in Washington, D. C, she was
named in honor of this distinguished
ancestor, Theodora.
Theodora was an only child and
a child of her parents' later years.
Senator Van Wyck was 60 years old
when she was born.
Money they had in plenty, and
naturally the child was indulged in
everything her heart desired. They
had social position, too, and Theo
dora developed into a girl of great
beauty, vivacity, wit, but a girl who
lived for pleasure.
Is Left An Orphan.
When she was only 11 years old
her father died. And her mother
passed away when Theodora was
but 17. "
From then the girl quaffed the
sparkling wine of pleasure which
her soul demanded in never-satisfied
measure. Her hats and trocks were
of- the very latest. At the seaside
beaches the daring of her bathing
costumes combined with her beauty
and vivacity made her the darling
of these resorts, lhe fashionable
.set of which she, was the center
nicknamed her "Happy."
Then, when she was 18, came the
swift romance. She met Fernando
Benner, a young real estate man of
New York City. Here was a new
pleasure, love, hitherto untasted.
After a short courtship theyfwere
wedded.
A year later a son was born to
them, Van Wyck Benner, now a
boy of 15 years old, a student at
the Omaha high school. A year
after the birth of the boy her hus
band left her. They lived apart for
two years. In 1908 they lived to
gether again for a short time.
Three Divorce Suits.
These facts of their married life
are contained in the musty files of
the Douglas county district court,
Report of Marriage (
Of "Johnny" Lynch and
Omaha Girl Confirmed
Defininte information from Poca
tello, Ida., confirms rumors of the
marriage of John C. Lynch and
Agnes Moran.
Lynch, who was ousted as county
commissioner, and then served 90
days in the Dodge county jail on
conviction of a federal offense, went
to Pocatello shortly after his re
lease -from thqFremont jail.
Agnes Moran was a stenographer
in the offces of the Bradneis stores.
She visited-Lynch every Sunday
while he was in jail and she ex
pressed utmost confidence in his in
nocence of the charge on which he
was convicted.
Mr. and Mrs. Lynch were mar
ried at Blackfoot, Ida. After their
marriage they spent a month with
Mrs. Lynch's relatives in Pocatello.
and on April 22 they went to Ogden,
Utah.
Changes Name to Please
Widow, Then Weds Her
Waukegan, I1L When Claude
Bates, 25, recently proposed mar
riage to Mrs. Charles Rohestock, 65,
widow, she told him that "in mem
ory of rny late husband I will never
change my name,"
where Mrs. Benner filed three suits
for divorce against her husband.
She filed the first in 1909, October
23. This was dismissed- May 23,
1910. Husband, wife and son lived
together again in New York. But
the way did not run smooth and on
July 12, 1915, Happy Theodora Van
Wyck Benner filed a second suit for
a divorce in the Douglas county dis
trict court. J. his also was dismissed
and the family was reunited in New
York. But only for a short time.
May 26, 1917, she appeared again
and filed a third suit against her
husband. District Judge Leslie
signed her decree of divorce No
vember 7, 1917. She charged that
her husband treated her with
Studied rudeness, discourtesy, criti
cism, contempt and sarcasm and
that his actions had reduced her to
a state of great nervousness.
Mr. Banner answered through his
attorr.eys in New York, denying her
allegations and charging . that she
had a.i ungovernable temper and
that 3he led an extravagant life, de
lighting in the company of actorsJ
and actressts.
He declared that he loved . his
wife and son and that the thought
of parting from them was un
bearable. Judge Leslie's decision gave cus
tody of Van Wyck to his mother,
but gave the father the privilege of
visiting him and stipulated that
Van Wyck could visit his father in
New York for a month each year
if he desired.
From that time, Mrs. Benner
lived in Omaha with her son. She
was in poor health, though she ap
peared robust. She complained of
nervousness and took many medi
cines. The shadows were deepening.
The day of her life which had
startl so promisingly and had
risen to its noon in such a blaze of
the sunshineNjf happiness was draw
ing lapidly to evening with black
clouds in the sky, with the rumbling
of thunder and the flash of light
ning. Then the storm burst, that eve
ning, two weeks ago, when the aris
tocratic beauty was arrested and
carried to the city jail with a charge
of drunkenness against her.
And the remaining few days of
her unhappy life were dragged out
in remorse, despair and loneliness to
the bitter, tragic end.
In the little company which stood
under the lowering clouds in the
drizzle about the' open grave in
Wyuka cemetery, Nebraska City,
last Monday was one man who wept
bitterly.
He was Ferando Benner, the man,
who as a youth, married her, just 17
years ago when she was young,
beautiful, vivacious. He had come
from New York to attend the last
sad ceremony.
And perhaps, in his heart at that
hour, the unpleasant things of the
years were wiped out and he remem
bered her as the girl she once was
and thought only of the good and
charming qualities she had.
For the grave is the great leveler.
Play for Benefit of
Working Girls' Home
Draws Large Crowd
The Irish musical comedy, direct
ed by Mr. and Mrs. Jack Connors,
and produced for the benefit of the
Working Girls' home of the Sisters
of Mercy drew a large house at the
Brandeis theater last night. The
matinee yesterday afternoon did not
are as well in attendance.
"An Irish Cabaret," vaudeville,
and "Back in Erin," musical skits,
made up the program. Mr. and Mrs.
Jack Connors, Jack Connors jr. and
Master Thomas Bonney were the
greatest attractions. ,
The program was sponsored by
the Joan of Arc club. The pro
ceeds will go toward the erection
of the Sisters of Mercy Working
Girls' home.
Plan Church Rally
to Pay Indebtedness
A rally for $1,000 to pay off the
indebtedness of the Allen chapel, A.
M. E. church, is being conducted by
Rev. J. A. Broadnax, pastor. . The
public is asked to help in the drive.
Checks should be made out to the
trustees of the church and sent to
the pastor, 5233 South Twenty-fifth
street.
Bee Want Ads Produce Results.
The question of ethics concerning dental advertis
ing has long been a bone of contention between the old
school denfets who deplored "the spirit of commercial
ism" which was rapidly" taking hold of the profession
and the more liheral minded dentists who believed that
B educational propaganda on
right and proper.
For many years the dentist who used printer's Ink
as a means of attracting patients to his office has been
considered a social outcast by certain dentists who have
never objected to publicity which cost them nothing,
but drew the line on the dentist who advertised and
paid for it. -
I have long contended that clean, educational den
tal copy needed no apologies nor defense. Statistics
show that over 76 of the entire population of America
is in need of dental attention, a situation which can be
met only by national publicity Vmilar to that resorted
to in the recent "flu" epidemic. ' . .
The public -should be educated not only to the per
sonal comfort derived from perfect teeth, but also to
the many diseases directly traceable to diseased and
decayed teeth. t v
Most people do not have to be told to go to a dentist
when the teeth are violently aching, but the great ma
jority neglect or delay the necessary attention to the
teeth which would prevent disease and pain, first, be
cause they are unaware of the danger, and second, be
cause the cost of having the average mouth put in first
class condition after years of neglect is beyond the
means- of a great many people, based on the ethical
fee-bill generally observed by the non-advertising den
tists. , ' "
Evidentlv Uncle Sam thinks that advertislnc fh
Bneed of care for the teeth is not such a bad thing. In an
nrt.iflp nrintprl in hnt.h trip San Franrisen Pall artA Pnof
Mr. Roger W. Babson, director general, United States
Educational Service, is quoted as saying in a telegram
to one of the prominent advertising dentists of the Pacific
Coast: .
"The ivories exhibited by our boys over there earn
ed the admiration of all Europe for the work of Ameri
can dentists. . Let them advertise now the value of den
tistry to every workingman and their families. And
the world is theirs.
"Every returned doughboy will endorse an educa
tional, advertising campaign if dentists start one now
on national lines' t
Whether Mr. Babson speaks with the knowledge
and consent of the American Dental Society is not indi
cated, but that he has struck a popular chord iat will
find a ready response in the heart3 of the great mass of
tthe American people is beyond question. . '
The application of business efficiency and division
of labor plus "quantity production'' has made it possi
ble for the average working man to secure skillful dental
service in this office for a small part of what he would
have to pay in the one-man office where work is neces
sarily slow, not always satisfactory and entirely too
expensive. ,1 '
Painless Withers Dental Co.
423-428 Securities BIdg. 16th and Farnam Sts.
OMAHA, NEB. -Office
Hours: 8:30 A. M. to 8 P. M. Sunday, 9 to 1.
FIFTY BELIEVED
DEAD AS RESULT
OF MINE BLAST
Scores of Men Trapped Be
hind Fire Which Breaks Out
as Result of Terrific ,
Blast.
Wilkesbarre, Pa., May 3.A ter
rific explosion of gas today In the
Nottingham mine of the Lehigh and
Wilkesbarre Coal company killed a
number of miners. Scores of men
were caught behind the blast and
the fire that followed the explosion.
Three bodies have been reached and
the fear is expressed that at least"
50 men are dead.
Supreme Court Denies
Appeal of One of the
Malashock Bandits
Lincoln, Neb., May $. (Special) '
The state supreme court has de
nied the appeal of Burl C Kirk, al
leged gunman implicated in the
shooting and death of " Detective
Frank Rooney in Omaha on the
night of January 30, 1918, for a new
trial and has affirmed the decision
rendered by Judge Redick in crim
inal court in Omaha. Kirk has been
sentenced to 20 years in the pen
itentiary. He was convicted on a
charge of second degree murder.
It is alleged that Kirk, in com "
pany with four other bandits robbed
the Malashock jewelry store at 1514
Dodge street. They were located
by the police in a cottage at Four
teenth avenue and Spencer streets
the day following the robbery. In
the ensuing gun battle four of the
bandits were captured. One escaped.
Defective Rooney was killed.
Why
Mr.
Babson
Director General,
United States Educa
tional Service, Indi
cates Dental Adver
tising May Have
Merit. '
the care of the teeth was