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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 1922)
Mrs. Cenjamlh Thaw Heroine of the Half r ' V. VA7oXf fl fUl.b'- ' v-n v- " -I: How the Wealthy ; Beauty 9 with Typicalankee Pluck ,v Trapped the Paris ' A 'Dance Bandit9' Who Stolel Her Jewels v a Million Dollar JewelT Robbery in Paris Cabaret. mm "The Apache," a Striking Study by Moffet of the Pari "Gigolo" as Interpreted by Andreas -,; -: Pavley in One of His Famous ' Apache Dances: . y AST May -much discussion i !oZ- lowed a newspaper page headed: J-f "HIRING AN APACHE. FOR A THRIIKi,n with the folowing i tub-caption: "Smart Paris: women-have ' dis covered that dancintf with stranglers end ex-convicts at one hundred franca per hour meets their primitive craving for abysmal sensations.'" " -:-y. That story, like many from the ro mantic French capital, appeared highly , fanciful. The following narrative from another and thoroughly reliable news eource is a startling verification and a ' , dramatic aftermath. PARIS. DRUGGED and robbed in aTiouIevard jazzery by the handsome "gigolo she -was paying to fox-trot with her, Mrs. Benjamin Thaw, society " beauty of New York? and Pittsburgh," matched j her woman's wts against the Paris, under- world, tricked her dancing Apache into making a rendezvous ' with her, had him arrested after a chase, through the lobby of a swagger hotel, and got back her stolen jewels. ' . i ' - This is the amazing story just revealed by friends of Mrs. Thaw. ,Her exploit is the talk, of Paris first, because of her in genuity and courage, and,' second,, because the bold robbery has started a panicky reaction against "gigolos" among Ameri can women, who 'adored'.. dancing with these parasites of the Paris cafes and trot teries. , , "Gigolo" is simply French argot for one who makes .a. living dancing with t excite ment seeking women whose .: escorts - are too clumsy or too lazy to shake a foot themselves. "Tea hound" would be the -American slang parallel for the. term if the "gigolo" had not; made his dancing more of a cash paving profession. - At Paris, Deauville, Biarritz and other fluffy resorts the gigolo's fee is ten francs and sometimes twenty francs per trot. He will hire out. his arms and his charms for an entire evening-for one hundred francs? That is the gigolo "union" price, though in many of the lurid Montmartre hide aways bargain rates prevail. , . ; - -In these haunts, . where- throat-slitting and garroting are not' uncommon .crimes, most of the gigolos are -Apaches. ; But among the blazing lights of the boulevards . the gigolos are slim, immaculate youths, with the manners of a chevalier, the grace of Maurice himself, and the speed of sun streaks. .-- The gigolo who snaffled Mrs. .Thaw's jewels was a combination of both, a dark and interesting Adonis,', who, say Mrs. Thaw's friends, was known only as 'Chc - Cho" by the fragile butterflies who 'flut tered in ' for' tea trots and after-theatre tangoes at the cafe which he made his headquarters.- t ' ' . He was a swagging, "nifty conversa tionalist and an expert dancer. - So why 1 should Mrs." Thaw have suspected for an instant that this well-groomed, petted , favorite might be a' notorious Apache, - carrying drugs 'in the crook of his palm and scissors up his sleeve? , - It is readily understandable, however, that among all his beautiful patrons ho Cho" should see in Mrs. Thaw not simply a lady who would, pay him handsomely, for an hour's trotting, but a potential, victim for a typical Apache trick the old game of "knockout drops." .; ' He could have had no doubt that the nPArla nrnnnd Mnc Thaw's neck, the rinsrs on her fingers and the bracelets about her wrists were1 all genuine. or airs, -inaw is one'of the best-known members of the! American colony in Paris and one of the richest. - - Her husband, Benjamin Thaw, a half- Below, the - Priceless' Botticelli , Masterpiece. "Madonna and Child," Now, in the Collection - - of Mrs. Benjamin Thaw. i - V ; u ' - - It '. V ' - ; : r " v - J i ... v w ? , - -. - -. : .,. - . i - ' - - A -? ... -. ...... s.1 ' I . I s - - , - - ' , - , . '1 I i - : - The' Claridge on the Champa Elysees Where Brave Mrs. Thaw Lured the ' Apache Jewel Robber . - Into a Police Trap.' , brother of Harry Kendall Thaw, slayer of -, Stanford White, inherited more of. the , Thaw millions than any of his multi-millionaire father's children. And he is cred- . ited with building them into a greater for- -tune than his father boasted. - - s' For some years Mrs. Benjamin Thaw ' ' lived in Pittsburgh. .Later she had a mag v nificent home at 1046 Fifth avenue and " . was a leader in the New York "400."; ' Among her collection of famous works of art is the "Madonna and Child," byBottt . - cellL After the death of her son,. Alex ander B. Thaw, who was killed flying in France in 1918, she sold the Fifth avenue home and her Newport cottage. Since . then Mrs. Thaw has spent much of . her time abroad. - - -' '; " In Paris, according to . tourist gossip, - Mr TTiaw renewed with double measure that keen interest in dancing which she had always displayed when, as a young matron in Pittsburgh and later in New . York, she was as popular at balls .and tea dances as any debutante. -, - v She is a radiant figure at all the func tions of the social season, and when func tions are lacking-she is seen frequently,, .with other wealthy women of the million aire American set, dancing at the swank ier cafes along the boulevards and in the , - It may seem strange to people- ia tia United States, t which - has codes of con duct for pociety as well as the proletariat, f or women" of impeccable standing 4. and reputation - to . hire - perfect : .strangers to dance with them. But 'many' things that; are properdin Paris ' would be" impossible in New , York: Gisrnlo are one of them. . Man v 'a staid business man who would be outraged , at . home if a man spoke -to 'his wife .without an introduction, has sat complacently at a table, in the "Dead Rat or Maxim's while his spouse and daughters wafted about the polished floor in the ' arms of Jules the Knife.' . ' " v ' Thus, when "Mrs. Benjamin Thaw, of Pittsburgh, New'YOrk 'and " Newport dropped into -her -favorite trottery and. summoned ' the gigolo, and' danced off, with him to the latest Imported ragtime, no one of her acquaintances at the neigh boring tables chattered about it.. - ' - Thaw was discovered at a table in a palm- ,v of renouncing dancing forever, she ap-. sheltered corner, her head . ana arms slumped across the cloth .spotted 5 by 'wine -from 'an over-turned 'glass, there were ' shouts, screams and excited : 'ques tions. - - " ' - 1 Druggedr 'clipped 'but the American Who picked ' up- her - glass - and sniffed lt. And that was the whole storyexcept that Mrs. Thaw's necklace and rings and k bracelets were - gone, and she ? could re member -nothing 'that happened after "Cho-Cho" smiled as she drank her cham pagne after the dance. .: , - - It was easy "enough, however,, to re construct what had happened the glitter ing eyes of the gangster, appraising Mrs. Thaw's jewels as he danced with her, his deft arm steering her to a secluded table, the powder flipped into her wine; then, as she fell forward, a swift "Snip-snip" with the scissors and a busy two minutes with . lean' colon v. caused swears and hysterica ' Apoplectic husbands, who,, had nodded good-naturedly over "their '.port while their wives - trotted ' and tangoed with ; ' agile gigolos, laid '. down righteous ulti-' matums. And frightened wives and daugh ters, who had thought It exciting to dazzle with diamonds; the Apaches , who some times boasted in whispers of bashed heads and ' cut "throats in Clicky sewers, now made 'haste to check their" valuables at the door or to shake their heads when a gigolo presented his card. :. But the story, of the ; robbery, sensa tional though it may be, caused only a ripple to, the buzz, of gossip that began . ' . a week later, when it was discovered Mrs. . . Benjamin Thaw was wearing once mora . the jewels she had . been , mourning as "gone forever." . r "Do you mean to say the Paris" poliesj . actually . recovered them?" asked aston ; iahed cynics. That was one version. But "insiders" are telling another. y According to their story, the American beauty, instead of kicking .up a -rumpus and setting. officialdom by, the ears, pre tended to maice lig-nt or her loss, instead peared at first one cabaret and then an other, and danced with! this new gigolo and that one. . And to one or these she casually let -slip her desire to meet 'that very handsome gigolo they call Cho-Cho. The story goes that Mrs. Thaw's dupa shook his head and shrugged his choul ders. ."Cho-Cho was in retirement. No one had -seen him in weeks. Bat he was si susceptible fellow.: - And he liked Ameri cans. Perhaps,, if madame could advance five hundred francs to pay the "expenses' ' of finding .".Cho-Cho" ahl,he would try to make an' appointment. - ., .The appointment was made at an ob scure corner of Claridge's lounge. And admiringly' exclaim Mrs. Thaw's friends the lady -courageously, walked in alone to keen the "date" with a man she knew was desperate, spotted him at a glance, pave the alarm, and had the pleasure of seeing -flmrtrn. ,f?l, fcy tafamUmm-ytant Bricfc. la Grtt StiUla JUcbfs XwmdU his fins-ers "ChO-ChO" " nonchalantly me neeung yno-yxiu urouxnw uuwh wuu strolls out .with his hat and his overccat on his arm, his partner unconscious be hind the palm, and $500,000 worth of sparklers in his pockets t - That Btoryj.-iltiiig throuzh theAmaz a xootnau tacKie in me iiariage iodoj oy a couple' of husky gendarmes. Some of, Mra Thaw's jewels were found on hirn Others, too valuable to ' be read i ly clis-, DQd of - were; rteavrr'A in rierv-