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I Jeanne Jettto
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VOL. XL I
PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY 3IORNING, OCTOBER 1, 1922
NO. 40
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Uworc&Q-cMdfid vera
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Biflie Shaw, dancer, who allows her
' divorced husband, Billy Seabury,
to share her apartment and
under her mother-in-law's chap
eronage, is receiving "serious at
tentions" from him
SIMULTANEOUSLY Irom New York
and Chicago, out of the. unhappy
minds of two wives, strangers to
each other, comes the latest recipe for
winning back one's husband. 'The plan
has to do only with those wives who want
to do such a thing.
Both Billie Shaw, short-story writer
and dancer of New York, city, and Mrs.
Mayme Thorne Watling, Chicago society
woman, want to bring this about. So each
conceived a scheme. Each divorced her
husband. And when they had their de
crees of freedom they informed their ex
husbands that they were willing to be
courted over again. And they gave their
erstwhile mates clearly to understand
that good behavior over a period of sev
eral months, and evidence that good faith
was intended, might mean wedding bells
again.
Billie Shaw's agreement is a bit more
daring than that of Mrs. "Watling, who
limits Mr. Watling to a daily two hours'
visit at her home. For Billie Shaw per
mits William Seabury, from whom she
got legal independence last July, actually
to live in the same apartment with her.
And his mother lives there, too, and acts
the chaperone, and sees to it that neither
forgets that the prerogatives of married
life are nonexistent.
"We are living together beautifully,"
Miss Shaw declared, when the writer
called on her in the apartment he and she
occupy In West Forty-eighth street,' ,New
York city. "We show the utmost respect
if
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'The very next evening after the divorce he was
observed calling on her."
toward each other and our courtship is
carried on under the watchful eye of my
1 IkPHIQIR31 f
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William Seabury,
sowing" lost him
to regain.
former, mother-in-law. , Will I marry him
again? Well, I lore him very dearly and
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Usually a Court Decree Means That the Former
Mates Go Their Respective Ways but in These
Very Up-to-Date Cases the Wives Permit a Re
newal of Courtship With Possibly a Second "Yes"
whose post-nuptial "Wild oats
the pretty wife he now wishes
It he proves to me daring the next few
months that he can forget there is such
a thing as any other woman but me I
shall be very -willing to go again to the
altar with him."
Of the Watltng probationary divorce
experiment an intimate friend of Mrs.
Watling says: -
"All that Frank has to do to win her
again is to prove that he has conquered
his ungovernable temper. She loves him
dearly. When the fit of choleric disposi
tion is not on him there is no sweeter
man under the sun. Gladly will she re
wed him when he proves to her that he
had, indeed, banished forever the churl
ishness which cansed all her nnhappiness.
For there is no other woman In the case."
But Mrs. Watling, nnlike Miss Shaw,
also believes that absence makes the
heart grow fonder. She left for French
Lick shortly after the decree and he start
ed for California. They will have pleas
ant recollections of a two weeks' court
"His mother lives there
ship he carried on with her before the
departure. When they return, after sev
eral months' absence, the wooing will be
renewed, their friends expect, and If he is
successful the wedding - bells Will ring
again before the beginning of the new
year. Mr. Watling left after declaring
that he is "too hot-headed" and that the
divorce had "brought him to his senses."
The friends of Billie Shaw and Billy
Seabury were greatly shocked when the
divorce action was begun. For they recall
the "kid" romance of the pair, which be
gan in the dancing studio of Vernon Cas
tle. That was 'seven years ago, when Bil
lie was IS and Billy was 17. Billie in
sisted that she was "too old" to marry
Billy, but Billy insisted that he was old
enough to marry Billie and support her.
He Is a New York man and comes of a
wealthy family. But this business of the
age question only began about five min
utes ter they met. For it wasn't until
then that they fell in love, they both ad
mit. Billie was taking lessons of Mr. Castle
to become a professional dancer. Billy
was taking them to shine on the dance
floor of society. Mr. Castle had been look
ing for a partner for Billie, and when he
fonnd Billy proved to be such an excel
lent pupil he suggested that they become
dance par'iers. This they did and soon
became lile partners.
"We were such kids in appearance,"
said Miss Shaw, remlniscently, when talk
ing over her case at her apartment, "that
we had great difficulty making anyone
believe we were married. At several ho
tels we had some embarrassment."
They went along swimmingly for years.
Then, a year ago, they dissolved their
dancing team.- And that was where the
trouble began.
"Married people shouldn't live or work
apart," says Miss Shaw, giving what she
believes was the cause of her husband's
interest in other women. "We were an
ideal married couple for five years, be
cause we had always worked together up
to that time and were constantly with
each other. But when we separated the
trouble started. All the sacredness of
marriage flies out of the window when
distance separates a couple.
"Of course, while I realize that Mr.Sea
bury's wild doings were really nothing
but sowing wild oats, I could not stand
his high Jinks forever. I had to do some
thing to bring him to his senses. He
doesn't seem to realize responsibility at
all. He told me everything. In fact, he
told me too much. And his letters!" She
stamped her foot. "Please read this one!."
and acts the chaperon."
She handed the following letter re
ceived 'by her from her former husband
during the pendency of their divorce ac
tion: "You wouldn't worry about my health
if you saw me golfing every rooming at
seven. . . . Mamma girl, you have passed
the stage where you will be hurt, so I
want to tell you I have met a wonderfully
sweet girl . . . you must have heard of
her, as she has starred in pictures. She
is almost as sweet as you, but not quite.
And I love her almost as much, but not
quite.
"You are my real love, no matter what
I have done. . . . Lots of sweet 'tisses'
for my Mamma-heart. YOUR BOY."
Mrs. Watling has had a bit more matri
monial experience than Miss Shaw. The
husband she JUBt divorced, to cure him of
his temperament, was her second. Her
first, Raymond Thorne, son of the founder
of one of the biggest mall order houses
in the country, was killed in an automo
bile accident.
Mr. Thorne left his widow a fortune of
$2,000,000 in Chicago real estate and
also a half-dozen automobiles. Shortly
after his death she met Mr. Watling. He
was very attentive to her and took her to
dances and entertainments in an effort to
cheer her up. In January he proposed to
her and she accepted him. They were
married in Chicago's Little Church
Around the Corner.
Society was surprised when she mar
ried Mr. Watling a few months after the
death of her first husband. Mr. Watling
was a well-known clubman and sports
man. They seemed to be a happily mated
couple, and society was pointing them out
to the unmarried as the model husband
and wife when the news that Mrs. Wat
llngj bad sued her husband for divorce
fell among their friends like the explo
sion of a bombshell.
But the amazement that followed the
beginning of the action was as nothing
compared to that which was subsequent
to the actual trial of the case. For when
the principals went into court. Instead of
sitting apart, as litigants In defended di
vorce cases almost invariably do, and
glaring dagger looks at each other, they
sat together, chatted and appeared to be
mighty good friends. And when the sable-robed
Justice, granted her the inter
locutory decree of divorce, the husband-that-had-been
congratulated the wlfe-that-had-been,
and, smiling and happy,
they left the courtroom.
But the amazement of their friends was
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