Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (June 20, 1920)
I V-" mf "1 1 1 - V - Draped Poses of Miss Helen Moller in Ond of Her Greek Dances. Photos by Underwood. &. Underwood. IT was the afternoon of February 26, two : years ago. Tie curtain of the great : Metropolitan Opera House in New York rose slowly to th languorous strains ; of the great" Metropolitan orchestra.! Helen ; Moller's Greek dancers, her pupils ; in her rhythntio dancing; classes, were giving a demonstration of classical aesthetic dances. l :i. As the programme continued the danc ing became more diverting, more enchant ing. Finally the stage went dark, f A bril liant calcium light was focused on one ; snot In the centre of the stage. Out of the surrounding darkness and Into' the spotlight whirled Helen Moller herself. The great audience looked, and ; looked again. ' ' J i " Was It possible? Wa "be'brmiantVed diaphanous scarf twined about hjer neck the only adornment the dancer was wear Ing? Surprise, disgust and curiosity were re flected in the various exclamations of the astounded spectators which swept the great auditorium. , But one man sat spell- -bound In adoration he was Robert Alfred Poole, a very wealthy English engineer with largj business interests In America. Mr. .Poole had met Helen Moller, but he had never seen her dance until this mo ment. The other day from the New York courts came an unexpected echo of the shocking exhibition in the great Metro politan Opera House of two years ago. . Mrs. Robert Alfred Poole, it appears, had sued Mr. Poole for divorce, and the evidence produced by the wealthy Eng lishman's wife once more threw a vivid spotlight on Helen Moller. Helen (Moller's relations with Mr. Poole wero the grounds -upon which the Judge gave Mrs. Poole her divorce. And yet Helen Moller believes her eelt to be the wife ot Mr. Poole The divorce proceedings reveal n Astonishing situation. Helen Moller is Meft at this moment In the distressing situation of a woman who thought she was a wife but, because ot legal, techni calities, turns out to have been no wife at all. Helen. Moller forthd last two years has lived - with Her multi-millionaire lover supposing she was his legal wife. And a baby has been born, who sow has no recognized standing at law as the legitimate son or heir of Mr. Poole . And fc still, further complicate the" rheJDaring i r v ,r tr : -: s distressing dilemma ot Helen Moller It de velops that Mr. Poole Is' dying of consump tion, abroad and it Is doubtful whether it will be possible for Helen Moller to secure , passports and Join her husband, even in time for a deathbed marriage. - And if death, intervenes to prevent Mr. Poole from correcting, so far as he can, the present matrimonial mess by remar riage, what becomes of the great dancer and her -infant son? : Mrs. Edna W. Poole is the woman-who turns out to have been the unquestion able wife' of Robert vW. Poole. Only the other day Mrs. Edna Poole brought suit against Poole, stating that she was his wife, asking for a divorce and naming Helen Moller as co-respondent. The divorce has already been granted her. Mrs. Edna Poole is, a New Yorker and was married to Poole in London in 1898. ' Her suit against Poole ' was undefended and she obtained an Interlocutory decree or divorce in Nyack, N. Y before the pub lie knew the action had been started. In explaining the extraordinary clrcun stances, her wyer said: Divorce proceedings were begun be- .tween Mr. and Mrs. Poole In Italy several T S?' and apparently Mr. Poole thought .the matter settled. But Mrs. Poole came home, and said she feared it she married again there might be some question as to the binding force of the Italian decree In this country. ' " . ' Mua Moller Dancer Unexpectedly Discovers She; Is Not H&r Husbands Previous ; Wife Brings Suit : and He May Die Before He Can Go Through Another Marriage! "This offfce Investigated and found 6ome technical defects in the Italian pro-, ceedlngs the service did not conform to American law. Therefore we advised that this proceeding should be brought. Mr. Poole was served by publication at Monte Carlo. rwe believe that Miss Moller believed herself to , be Mr. Poole's wife. Our in- formation is that a marriage ceremony, either religious or civil, was performed, M ' ' ' : t in One of Her Interpretive Dances (C) 1920. International Feature Srrice. lac '' '7s - " v.i,:.... .:; I " r Mr. Robert . Alfred Poole and Friend, from Snapshot Pho- , tograph Taken on the Rfwiera. " but we did not check it up beyond a certain point, because 'we were not le gally Interested in that phase of the matter." While the divorce was ' still a fresh subject of gos sip and - wonder, there came the additional news that Mr. Poole was grave ly . ill in England, These events leave Helen Moller in a most distressing pre dicament. Some of her . friends believe ttfat she is s A- preparing to abandon her affairs here, to close up her various temples , of the dance, and with her little son Joint Mr. ' Poole in England, where she expect to go through another marriage ceremony. Even .this, it is said, would not legitimatize the little boy and an act of adoption might be necessary.; What is the status of this child whom his father has never seen and may never see? - Evidently the new marriage cannot take place if Mr. Poole should die before she in T Case an Expression of "AssuisV , QttU Britain Bifbti BeMrved, can reach him. Further, It is not certain that the New York -interlocutory v decree -would permit him to marry at present, or that English law would recognize him as a prop erly divorced man. ;.,IMr.;, Poole, fell ilUsoon. after his arrival 'in Lon don, almost, a year ago, and was found to be suf fering from tuberculosis. He went to Monte Carlo" and the Riviera for treat-; ment, and after : a long stay there improved con siderably. He then re-, turned to London and fell, ill again. He isnow in a ; sanitarium, there and, ac cording to latest informa tion, is in a desperate con dition. :iiV33 - He has not been fully informed concerning the terrible predicament in which his wife has been placed, and it .would prob ably be impossible or dangerous to trou ble him abou It , He may have under stood that she- would be placed in a diffi cult position when the divorce suit by his first wife was notified to him, but then again, in his grave illness he may not have realized all her difficulties. One misfor tune after, another has thus- happened to add to the tragic, predicament of the fair dancer. ' Helen Moller has been hailed as a high priestess of the idea that one could throw off one's troubles by throwing .off one's clothes. Perhaps her philosophy will help her now. The tangled romance of this couple has been filled 'with surprising Incidents from the time Miss Moller gave such a remark ably frank display of herself in her Greek dances at the Metropolitan Opera House down to' the present moment. Miss Moller's exhibition at the time was widely " commented on. Many critics at tacked it, while a few defended it Police Commissioner Enright solemnly declared that he would look into the matter and If there were any objectionable features he would have them removed. a Wife When MMMIT 'At picturesque Setting for a Group of the Helen Moller Greek Dancer. ; The first result of criticism was that tha Metropolitan Opera House cancelled a pro posed series of displays there by Miss . Moller. She then transferred them to that tempfe of refined art, Carnegie Hall, where she wore moa draperies. 'TOne spectator, who found nothing to criticize was Mr. Robert Alfred Poole. xJhe Greek Meal of untrammelled limbs and healthy skin exposed to the purifying air, of free, rhythmic, natural gambolling i filled him with Joy and happiness. He fell ' in " loves i with Greek dancing and the ' Greek-American dancer. Everybody sup- r posed he was free to fall in love. I Mr, Poole,, tfr Commander Poole, as he is often called, is an Interesting young man of English' origin and long residence In Italy, who- made an Immense fortune - during the war as an exporter of war necessities to Italy. He is president ot the Mediterranean Trading Company at No. 29 Broadway. He is also president of a real estate company at Mount Kisco, were he invested a little of his wealth. ; He enjoys the rank of commander or "Corn man'! Itore" In the Italian navy, given by i the King of Italy for his services during . the war, ' " . ;y Commander Poole became an assiduous and fervent worshipper at the . great Temple of the Dance, which Miss Moller maintained at Madison avenue and Sixty fifth street. Here she taught big and little girls of all ages, to discard Hght clothes rtid indulge in what she termed the en nobling, inspiring, energizing, rejuvenat ing and educating movements of the Greek dance. ; She had preslded over several dancing establishments since she breezed into New York from Minnesota five years ago, but this tempi indicated an opulence, asuc- ' cess, an investment of capital far beyond anything she had directed before. It was in the Autumn of the yeav of Helen Moller's Metropolitan display that the- surprising news that she had married Commander Poole leaked out Not a word had been said . to any ot the romantlo young couple's numerous friends and ac quaintances . ' concerning ; the ceremony. . Not a single .Invitation was issued, as far as can be learned, and this was surprising, for they both had a wide circle of friends in artistic and bohemian society. ' Even now that another woman chal lenges her position as Commander Poole's wife, Helen Moller declines to give any ; : particulars as to when or where they were married. She says that it is no body's concern, and that under the dis tressing circumstances and in the ab sence of Commander Poole she does not care to speak of it. It was through the. transfer of a hun-dred-and-thirly-acre estate at Monnt Kisco, N. "y-that the news of Helen Moller's marriage became public. The property, situated in one of the most - aristocratic residence sections around New York, was acquired by'lrer In order to establish a "Sylvan Temple of the Greek Dance." In the papers connected with the- . transfer she gave her name as Mrs. ' Robert A. Poole. In reply to inquiries, she "explained she had married Mr. Poole in the Spring, about the time of her sensational performance. They lived happily together and 1a about a year Mrs. Poole presented her - husband with a little boy, who received ' the name of Robert A. Poole, Jr. Mr -Poole was compelled by his business to travel about the world a great deal. Thus it happened that he went abroad ; before the birth of his son, and while Jn Europe fell seriously ill. There he now lies In a critical condition.
