The Sunday Oregonian., December 21, 1919, Magazine Section, Page 6, Image 86

6
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND. DECEMBER 21, 1919
How Marrying Out of Your
Set Has Proved, in One
Dreadful Case After Another,
to Be a Risky Experiment,
Especially, of Course, if It Is
the Woman Who Does
the Condescending.
of Newport, never quite reconciled 7 -HnsE
himself to his daughter's elopement. jH jjf 5 Tak
But aunt, Mrs. French Vander- MKKr
but, the former wife of Alfred Van- I Bl -?' Hf& I ;' ; . K,,
derbelt, who after her divorce married 1 jjjwfc t Hk
a young officer in the navy, agreed
with Mrs. French that Julia should 1 tT'jBfc, I
SB HP Jl
BY BARBARA CRAYDON.
FREQUENTLY In the movies and
in. a certain brand of literature,
the heroine is the millionaire's
daughter, who, Impelled by what she
mistook lor the great power of love,
steps out of her own fashionable
circle to marry her father's lowly em
ploye. And always we are likely to be as
sured by the author of these pleasant
romances that "they lived happy ever
after."
But In spite of this cheerful opti
mism, and in spite of humanity in gen
eral, or any altruslc wish that all
marriages might be nappy, many in
teresting exceptions to this rule of
the playwright fill the records of cur
rent life.
In fact, several spectacular ro
mances have ended most disastrously
of late.
Many notable cases where the mil
lionaire's daughter wearied of her
hero after a few years of married life,
have come to light to jar the senti
ments of the optimist.
A few weeks ago society was
shocked by the dramatic separation
of what many regarded as a great
and beautiful romance.
Surprising Society.
The beginning of this romance,
when Elizabeth C. Coppell, daughter
of George Coppell," a millionaire rail
road builder and banker, eloped with
the family chauffeur in. 1914, fur
nished society with an equal surprise.
The bride at that time defended her
chauffeur husband, Robert D.- Con
nors, to her brothers and sisters who
were cold to him, characterizing him
as "one possessing unusual intelli
gence and many gentlemanly qual
ities." After the deaths of her father and
mother, she being the eldest daughter
and unmarried, occupied the beauti
ful Coppell home in Tenany, N. J. To
this home she brought her husband,
after their elopement, but not with
out vigorous protest from her rela
tives. Robert Connors had continued
to act as chauffeur and manager of
the Coppell estate after the death of
Mr. Coppell, and as Miss Coppell had
known him for some years, she de
clared at the time of her marriage to
him that this was not a whim of some
foolish girl, but that In the years she
had known him she had grown to
admire and respect him.
But in spite of this, her romance
has gone the way of many others, of
similar character.
"I did not marry my wife for her
money," Connors announced after
their marriage. I married her be
cause I love her. I can earn enough
to support us both." Mrs. Connors in
herited a goodly fortune from her
father's estate. She sold out her in
terest In the Towers, and built a
beautiful home in Tenafly. Connors
opened a garage and is said to be
successful.
Just when the beautiful heiress re
pented her marriage to her father's
employe Is not known, but so anxious
was she finally to put an end to this
romance, that she enlisted the local
police to help her do it, and one even
ing when Connors returned to his
home, a detective and the police re
iterated Mrs. Connor's request to
leave. He left.
What of this grand passion that
slowly burns itself out In the grind
of household drudgery? Housekeep
ing to most young brides is the na
tural result of romance; a desire to
make a living altar where the fires
of love may always be kept burning.
But "doing her own work," in a
modest home, with a small baby to
mind, finally became a burden to
Mrs. Julia French Geraghty, ths
young heiress who startled fashion
able Newport society six years ago
by eloping with the handsome chauf
feur, who had entered her life on the
day he came to demonstrate a new
car which her father had given her
permission to buy.
A Newport Romance.
Last summer saw the beautiful
Julia French back in the luxurious
home of her mother, with whom she
was reconciled at the time of her
baby's birth. Her father, Amos Tuck
French, member of one of the
wealthiest and proudest old families,
of Newport, never quite reconciled
himself to his daughter's elopement.
But Julia's aunt, Mrs. French Vander
bllt, the former wife of Alfred Vuii
derbilt, who after her divorce married
a young officer In the navy, agreed
with Mrs. French that Julia should
not be spurned by society because she
had married the man of her choice.
At the time of her elopement with
"handsome Jack Geraghty," son of a
Newport hack driver, the Independent
young woman spoke her mind after
learning the criticism she had pro
voked from her fashionable friends.
"I always hated society," she said
"The people in it are too vapid for
me. Real men are a rarity among
those I know. The masculine mind
as I had observed it was empty or
else it was filled with schemes oi
money making, and thick and tire
some for sociability.
"I am not very old," she explained
at the time, "but T am old enough to
know that such a life was no life for
me."
Referring to ber young husband,
whom she contrasted with society's
"vapid men," Mrs. Geraghty said: "He
was entirely different from the men
I had met; so honest, so straightfor
ward, so modest. Also he was good
looking. I think he Is a real man.
It is the first time that I had felt
myself in the presence of one."
Alas for her ideal! Time has shat
tered it. Several months intervened
between the times Mrs. Geraghty met
"Handsome Jack Geraghty" and the
day she went away with him to a lit
tle Connecticut village and married
him, so the question of marrying htm
had been pondered by her many days.
But the little farm to which the
chauffeur husband took bis bride
while he tolled to make his garage
a success, did not bring happiness to
this young woman, accustomed to lux
ury, had expected. She worked In the
garden and often did her own house
work. It was fun for a time. Then
she began to think of the pretty
clothes which she no longer possessed,
of the fine beautiful things that New
port mothers lavished on their new
born, which she could not afford.
Finally came the break and the
"love In a cottage" theory which
JJrs. Jl ay Breitung Xlels r
XJcAtfr, WJiose rirsffgrriigt
Wts to fordrnrr
many daughters of the rich have in
dulged In proved anew its failure.
The Girl and the Gardener.
Miss Juliet Breltung, daughter of
the wealthy shipowner and banker,
found she could not reconcile life with
a poor gardener, with whom she
eloped, in preference to the sumptuous
apartments of ber parents at the Ho
tel St. Regis.
Max Kleist, the humble gardener
and country boy, fell in love with the
pretty Juliet and this attraction also
proved mutual, for unknown to Miss
Juliet's parents, they ran away from
Marquette, Mich., where the Brel
tungs have a big summer place, and
were married.
Mrs. Breltung, who was a familiar
figure in the most exclusive circles
of New York society, was grieved.
Mr. Breitung was furious. The latter
offered his son-in-law a job In on
of his mines in New Mexico. Young
Kleist, pining for his bride, declared
it was a horrible job and one that
constantly endangered his health.
Then to make matters worse, love's
young dream ended for the bride. It
appeared that she began to tire of
her young hero as ho became less of
a hero In her eyes.
Young Kleist brought a heavy dam
age suit for alienation of his wife's
affections Against the wealthy Mr.
Breitung. This the court dismissed and
Miss Juliet went to Reno and suc
ceeded In freeing herself from the
matrimonial tre, wmch bad become
Mrs. Koberrp. Connors, lYJiofftrned Jfe f'Ar's
C22uffettx-
distasteful tocher. A short while later,
while engaged in canteen work for
the army and navy in New York, she
met and married Herbert Rlchter of
the United States naval reserves, a
young man of her own social set.
To the long list of these unhappy
mesalliances may be added those of
the two Moroslnl sisters, daughters
of that proud old Italian patriot and
millionaire banker, Giovanni P. Mo
rosint, wi)o eloped and married men
outside their social sphere.
The elder sister, when she was 18,
eloped with her father's coachman.
Ernest Schilling. Schilling became a
street car conductor at $2 a day, but
the wealthy young woman, as time
went on, found she could not adapt
herself to this mode of living and she
Jioberr D Connors CAtuffeur,
W&ommrd flizabrtn foopefl
left him and for a time earned her
living on the stage. When her father
died he left her a considerable fortune.
The beautiful Gutlla Moroslnl fur
nished society with a sensation when
she married Arthur Werner, a New
York mounted policeman, whom she
had occasion to thank one day when
the horse she was riding attempted to
throw her on the speedway, a district
which Werner at the time patrolled.
This romance ended in the divorce
courts.
As instances of such mesalliances
are legion, it would appear that two
persons reared in different environ
ments, bred In different tastes and
customs, are with no small amount of
certainty likely to strike a snag to
their romance. Rich men have mar
ried poor girls to be sure, and throw
ing their protection of dollars and In
fluence about them, have lifted them
to their social plane. But with rich
women who marry poor boys, it would
seem that this task was beyond their
powers. One reason for this Is that
society, banded together to protect its
members, takes a snobbish arbitrary
attitude toward the girl who marries
out of her set. She becomes a sort of
social outlaw. Flinging convention
ality to the winds in the first hours of
her romantic enchantment, she almost
always repents at leisure.
LONG HAIR AND FLOWING BEARD, ONCE
ACTOR'S PRIDE. CAUSE DEBUT IN COURT
Hirsute Marvel Fain Would Use Razor to Forever Win Lady-love, but Moving Picture Producers Will Hear
None of Plan and Demand That Beard Be Retained.
IN A PUBLIC festival when the
Philistine lords were assembled
In the temple of Dugon, Samson
was summoned to show them sport.
Laying hold of two pillars of- tho
temple as If to support himself, he
pulled down the building and was
burled in the ruins with more than
SOOO Philistines.
Samson is said to have enjoyed the
extraordinary strength which this
great feat indicated because of his
remarkable growth of hair and beard.
Eut Samson was betrayed by his mis
tress into the hands of his enemies
who out off his hirsute adornment
and lo and behold, he was reduced to
the physical power of an ordinary
man.
The Bible strong man was the first
great hirsute marvel in history. Since
then there have been others, but none
of them have been more interesting
than the latest to go o nrecord -one,
Henry Francis Koser. While it broke
the heart of the mighty Samson to
lose his beauttful hair and whiskers
Koser, on the other hand, recently
remark' d in Ire". i:t!ois of the touus
men of the day, "111 say so. But my
hair and my beard are my burden in
life."
Cupid Sentences Whiskers.
Today we can form no conception
of what Samson's hair and whiskers
looked like, but it is known by many
that Mr. Koser has raised a beard and
head of hair of such very generous
proportions as to cause comment ever
amidst the purlieus of New York's
Rialto which Mr. Koser daily fre
quents. It Is quite possible, apart from the
attention of casual by-passers, that
Mr. Koscr's locks and whiskers would
not have gone down Into history like
those of Samson If it had not been for
the fact that he recently decided to
get rid of then.
At the bottom of the whole affair
13 another story of Cupid's pranks.
It seems that Koser, just like any
ordinary smooth-shaven young fel
low might, fell In love, but the young
woman would have none of hla em
braces because she dislikes wbtskers
they tlcklo so. Up to this point
Koar had bcn very nrotid of his
i beard and locks, in fm-t they had
i been his fortune aa will shortly be
revealed, but what won't a man or
woman do for love and when the lady
love of the whiskered one spurned
his advances ho decided to get
trimmed up. The story is now at the
point when the trouble begins. Koser,
It seems, Is a "flllum star." Hia
hanging garden appearance having
made him in much demand to play
the parts of hermits, bolsheviks and
the like. No make-up for such roles
with him was necessary; he was
ready to go right ahead with the
picture - making at a moment's no
tice, and he had a contract with one
of the big film companies to this
effect.
Koser Hailed Into Court.
Quite 'by accident the picture pro
ducers heard of his resolve to cut
his whiskers. Perhaps his lady love,
like Delilah betrayed Samson of old,
gave him away. Be this as It may.
the movie folks went up In the air
at this news and the next thing friend
Koser knew he was hailed into court.
His employers alleged that a part
has already been created for the
bearded prodigy In a. forthcoming
picture, and thai his hirsute append-
ages are a necessary part and par
cel of his character in the planned
production, and that if he removes
his SamMonian decorations he will
break said contract and will be sued
for damages forthwith and notwith
standing. His honor heard both sides of the
case most judicially and then decided
for the film folks, warning Koser
not to go near a barber or a safety
razor until the termination of hia
contract. Thus the film hermit finds
himself in tho unfortunate predica
ment of 'being legally restrained from
restraining his beard. It is very
probable that he will institute pro
ceedings to restrain the company
from restraining him in the matter,
although he has not entirely decided
to do this In the face of the general
unrest.
"It's a very Interesting legal ques
tion, I suppose, for the lawyers to
work on," said Koser when naked
on the status of the hirsutus, while
a. light breeze whistled through the
whiskers swaying them like south
ern moss In the . breeze that blows
through the Everglades.
34 Years Appear Like 60..
"Meanwhile during this absurd
litigation I am compelled to wear
all this unnecessary Fiji Island fo-ltago-
To be frank, I am decidedly
tired of extra Inning hirsutus, and
of this cave man stuff which It leads
to. I am tired of having my whis
kers drsmatle.d. Hire me, hire my
whiskers. Is what managers seem to
tuinlfc la my trade slogan, and. be
lieve me, this beard is making me
old before my time. I am only 34.
but In the pictures I look at least SO.
and I can't afford to grow old be
fore my day.
"But it is not so much the dramatic
side of the situation which is so an
noying, almost making my life un
bearable, but the personal comment
that comes my way and the traffic I
Interfere with on the street., All
sorts of epithets are hurled in my di
rection when I go out on tho high
ways, the most common of which is
"Bolshevist." which rings in my ears
at least 50 times a . t i. ...
how many opprobrious names a man
-uuiv, im ini'-a unui my wnisKers
grew 1 could have scores of fist
fights every day if I paid any at
tention to these little remarks.
"If 'on the street i stop to look In
a window or to speak to my woman
friend who hates whiskers and long
hair, a crowd Immediately gathers
and my life la made miserable once
more. Peopla Jeer at me from win
dows When I pass a barber shop the
proprietor almost Invariably runs out
to stop and ask me how I do It and
what Is the reclpo. As a matter of
fact, there Is no particular treatment
that has achieved this annoying be&rd.
My hair and whiskers Just naturally
grow fast, that's all."
Not long since a so-called "Lady
Priest" made a pilgrimage all the way
from the House of David, Benton
Hatbor, to New York, to Induce Koser
te give up movie art and Join the
colony of long-haired and whiskered
man who have made the small Mich
igan town famous. In Benton Harbor
the men prise hirsute adornment just
as much as Koser has come to de
spise It,
Thcro axe at present, ihQ Wuouux
told Koser. about 700 members In
the strange Michigan community, and
they all, she affirmed, consider it a
crime to cut their hair or whiskers
from the day they begin to grow un
til death calls them to a better land.
The members of tho House of Da
vid, she said, secure their greatest
opportunity to display their hlgbly
prized hirsute growths when they
play baseball.
From other sources comes the In
formation that when the team
ronrches on the field they look for all
the world Ilko a "bunch of hair
restorer ads." Any self-respecting
umpire would feel himself put upon
when ho saw them running on the
diamond with hair and whiskers
streaming behind them like the talla
of so many kites. It seems out of all
consistency tbat these men with their
feminine appearance should be able
to play baseball. But they can.
Pling Made Hioturenque.
There is not a spectator who would
not readily acknowledge that it is
the sight of a lifetime to see the
pitcher. King Benjamin, the leader of
the community, running toward the
grandstand to catch a high foul, while
his hair and whiskers toss wildly
about his head like the mane of a Hon.
It is extremely exciting to watch the
center fielder, who resembles an an
cient prophet, eliding into second In a
smother of dust and hair. And w-hen
Prince Joshua, comes to the bat the
stand becomes a demoniac, howling,
hirsute mob and reverberates with
the admonition, "Pole er over the
fence, old boy. pole 'er over the fence."
As a compensation for giving up
his movie work Mr. Koser was of
fered a, posiUoa vu jouqufi bail
team, but he spurned the offer Indig
nantly, and as matters now look, ths
Benton Harbor folk will have to get
along without Koser as a prise ad
dition to their gallery of whiskered
marvels.
For Kosers peace of mind It's a
real pity that be has had the misfor
tune to lose his heart to a young
woman who dislikes beards and long
hair, because overseas in Paris, if re
ports are correct, there lives a. young
woman. Miss Vlolette Volsln. who
simply adores hirsute marvels, and
she and Koser might havo made a
wonderfully happy pair.
Woman's Hair Is Praised.
Mile. Voisin Is said to be the pos
sessor of the most wonderful head of
hair in the world. Her raven locks
fall much below her feet and trail
behind her on the floor when she
walks, like a train. Even Eve, the
first woman, who In the beginning
adorned herself solely In her own
beautiful locks, could hardly have had
a head of hair to equal Mile. Votsln's.
Recently a famous Paris hair
dresser took this young lady's hair in
hand and executed a ipasterpieoe of
his art a wonderful coiffeur over
seven feet In height and weighing
ten pounds. It was decorated with
hundreds of roses and surmounted by
a miniature pleasure yacht flying the
French flag. To finish this master
piece the barber was obliged to stand
on a stepladder. Perhaps the most
remarkable ferturc of the headdress
was that the young woman was. when
the coiffeur was finished, able to
walk around with it and dance at a
ball given in her honor as the
world's hirsute noeen."
Alas and alack that Koser and Mils
Volsln have never luei. They would
wake a wonderful pair.