The Oregon daily journal., August 21, 1921, Page 54, Image 54

JHE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL; PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 21, 1921.
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i Exclusive Newport Unable" to Agree Whether it Is the
Proper Thing for a Former Charming . Leader to Turn
! Merchant and
Customers of Her
Annoying
the Proud
Family
1 of the
Husband
She Has
Dropped
. NEWPORT, Aug. .
SELDOM if .ever has fashion,
able society ..been more
: emajed than It was the
other day -when Mrs. Charles Da
husband and went to Newport
and opened on Bellevue avenue,
right In the centre of the smart
Summer colpny, a perfumery
shop.
; It had Ions teen known that
Mrs, Oelrlcha felt the necessity
of eking out her personal re
sources In some wayl But the
douhle news that she had drop
ped her husband and was to
carry her quest of dollars into
the fashionable Summer colony
of which she has for many sea
eons been a prominent member
was 'so astonishing that many
Newport residents could hardly
credit the story until they paid
a visit to the attractive littlo
shop and saw - for themselves
who was managing it.
, As they quickly found out, it
. Is quite true that Mrs. Oelrlcha
has actually had the courage to
go into trade in Newport. There
she - alts behind the counter
. every day, personally superin
tending the sale of the costly
perfumes, powders, and other
cosmetic luxuries which form
her stock in trade,
if she ware playing the role of
"a plucky little woman thrown
upon her own resources" in
soma Broadway melodrama she
could hardly look or dress the
part any better. Against the ef
fective background furnished by
the pink geraniums In the .win
' dbwe of the store and the gay
labels of the perfumery bottles
on the shelves she makes ft
charming picture in bar black
crepon frock and fetching black
toque. The appealing air of
wistfulness which even the co
quettish black beauty spot on
her cheek cannot belle combines
Mrs.
with, her sombre garb to give the
appearance of a thoroughly
worthy gentlewoman in reduced circum
stances. i y In fact, Mrs. Oelrichs's much discussed
perfumery shop forms the rock which has
split Newport society as ft has rarely been
split before. One faction maintains that
she is doing perfectly right and lauds the
courage she has shown by extending the
field of her business activities to Newport,
The ether faction, quite as large and quite
as outspoken, insists that Mrs, Oelrlchs
.might easily have found ft less odorous
- way of relieving her financial difficulties
one that would be less jarring to the sensi
bilities of her former husband's family.
The faction that frowns coldly on the
beautiful young matron's daring pursuit of
prosaic dollars on Bellevoe avenue is made
. up of the stm-married-to-thelr-arst-huband
wires, while practically all the women, led
by Mrs. May Brady Harrimae, who are
backing Mrs. Oelrlcha with their friend
ship are those who have at least one di-
Torce to their credit!
Every one, of course, who Is anybody, or
hopes to be soma day, knows the Oelrlchs
family and what it has stood for socially.
At the time when pretty, blonde Marjory
. TurabulL of Morristown, New Jersey, mar
ried Charles do Loosey Oelrlchs, his fan
Hy rode on the crest of society's wave.
His aunt, Mrs. Herman Oelrlchs, was, one
of the most powerful members of the New
port: set . and an Important figure In the
wider reaches of New 4 York society. It is
no - secret that she could, it she would,
have wrested away Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish's
' leadership.
f As for the other side of the family, they
Make Cash :
Smart Friends
v !,
Leonard M, Thomas No. 2, Who Doea Approve
of Mrs. Oelrichs's Enterprise and Is Giving
' ' It Her Hearty Support.
were equally - promtaenv although not
blessed -with the wealth that gave Mrs.
Herman such power. Mrs, Charles May
Oelrlchs, mother of the man whom 'Miss
Tumbull married, belonged to the more
conservative social element in New York
and Newport. She had, however, married
her older daughter, I41y; to Teter Martin,
of San Francisco, one of the richest men
by inheritanco on the Pacific coast.
Her other daughter, Blanche, ft great
beauty, was being trained to make her
debut and a rich marriage. And there
were two sons, both considered highly de
Sirablo catches-by reason of their social
position in spite of their lack of wealth.
Newport at the time actually kow-towed to
the Oelrlcha family.
By her marriage to the older son Mar
jory Turnbull was considered to be doing
herself Tory well. Her people were by no
means la the Newport set. mr in the ex,
chuiva set of New York. By her marriage,
however, sh,o was drawn into the Inmost
circles. She became quite the rage during
the Erst years of her marriage, for she had
unusual beauty and, charm- "When her
aister-in-iaw, the beautiful Blanche." mar
ried Leonard Thomas, one of the richest
of the Newport eligihles, Mrs. Charlie rose
to even greater heights, for she had made
close friend of the younger rtri.
, With all this prestige, with invitations
to dinners, dances and house parties pour
ing in on her. Mrs. Charlie realized more
and more that her husband's income -spelled
poverty, and as the seasons passed
she grew discontented and unhappy. - To
be poor In the Newport crowd was far
worse than being poor in Morristown.
V
1
."-.
,
.
:
. '
a ,
Mr. Oelrlchs
Daring ftes years, too, Mrs. Henngn
Oelrlchs withdrew from Newport and her,
powerful backing was a greaf loss. TbV
Len Thomases began to grow apart and
Planch gave np her social life to great
' extent. Peter Martin died and lily, hie
s wife, refused to spend her Summers in
Newport.
Marjory Oelrlchs, therefore, found her
' self facing losing battle. No longer In
k love with her husband, so longer a part of
s family group of social leaders, she found
herself sighing for freedom. If her hus
band could not keep her in the Newport
'set. why, then, should she retain hire in her
"life? If she had to go without the pleas
ures she had married for, aha preferred to
go without them alone.
Aa a last straw Blanche Thomas di
vorced her husband and married the actor,
Jack" Barrymore. With nothing more to
depend on in the Oelrlchs family. Mrs.
Oelrlchs decided first to go into business.
. and, second, to get a divorce, provided that
sne iouna sne could earn her own living.
Haw 1iiVawl. . . . . -
lier husband s family knew that she wanted
CCl i lia. IntBBittml Smtan Stnfc Iml -
...jl
V
. 1
Behjnd the Counter of Her Perfume
Bellerue Avenue, ffcwpbrt.
ft divorce, but they knew nothing of her
business ambition until the day she
opened her perfumery shop Just off New
York's Fifth aveaus. it was more than a
shock it was frightfully annoying 1 .The .
Oelrlchs women had frequently eonsid-
ered divorce, of course, but not one of
them had ever gone into trade. Blanche!
to be sure, wrote poetry, but that did not
necessarily mean making money!
Three-months later Mrs. Oelrlchs went .
to Paris no buy stock," and when ahe re
turned she had her divorce in. her hand
along with numerous bills of lading. More
shock, mors annoyance!
On the steamer returning from Paris
was Mrs. Jack" Barrymore, the one-time
Mrs. "Len" Thomas. Mrsi Bsrrymora met .
her former sister-in-law face to face and .
cut her deadl . Mrs. Oelrlcha bore the af
front calmly and ignored, Mrs. Barrymore's
presence on the boat.
But when Mrs. Oelrlchs landed in. New
York the very first woman she telephoned
was ine new sirs. Leonard in 0 mas I in ft
, day it became known that the recently
Oatt ftrfUim BJcbto
Mrs. Ltr4
- Theme N. I
frmr SiUr-i-Uv,
WJ,
It Is Said.
Taw Who Do Net
, ApproTf of Mrs,
OalricbV Ur
prUs.
. . a i .
4
'1
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x i..
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Shop on Aristocratic
wedded Mrs. Thomaf-waa on the most tn
Umate terms with her.husbaad's former
wife's former slsterta4awl Nothing could
have more amaxed society, for the two
young women, now such devoted friends,
had never before tjeejj friendly,
Was this Mrs. Oelrichs's little revenge
on hr in laws T Can it be that aha argued
that if they Intended to cut her aha would
become as intimate as possible with the
second Mrs. Thomas? Both young women,
by the way, are very pleasant to look at.
Both are blonde, but Mrs. Oelrlchs has
brown eyes and Mrs. Thomas No. $ has
blue. -
If Newport gossip Is to be believed Mrs.
Thomas No, I end her. husband- were
only too happy to take a fling at Mr.
Thomas's former Inlaws. , At any rate, it
was Mrs. Thomas No. 2 who suggested the
opening of the Newport shop. -
The shop was opened and every morning
now Marjory Oelrlchs appears behind its
counter. Of course, she has a saleswoman
to assist her, but she is always there to
Mrs Charles ! Loosey Oel
liens, tne Beautiful, Fashion
able Society Leader Whose
Venture Into Business and
Out of Marriage Has So In
terested Newport.
take special orders and to see that every
thing runs smoothly.
Whan the news came out everybody won
dered what would happen. Would New
port Pass by on the other side? Or would
it play the good philanthropist and do It
perfume buying in the attractiTo little
shop? Naturally, the newcomers, tourists
and such, dropped in, for there was some
thing thrilling- In giving orders to the
young baeuty who had once queened it la
the smart colony.
But what of the others T
This was soon settled, Mrs, Harriman,
divorced last Spring from Herbert Harris
man? Mrs. Williams P. Burden, divorce
from Gordon Douglas and married to Mr.
Burden year ago; Mrs. Gustavus White,
twice divorced; Mrs. Donald McRae, dW
vprced two years ago from Samuel Wag
Staff, and, last of all, Mrs. Paul Fits Slm
pns, (he former Mrs. Alfred G Wynne Van
derbUt, practically formed themselves into
' a committee to encourage Mrs. Oelrlchs. 1
Waa there ever a' more Intriguing sit.
nation? Here were fire of the most im
portant figures in Newport society stand
ing solidly back of the fair and. plucky;
Mrs. Oelrlchs, w
Why have these women gene against
traditiott to espouse Mrs. Oelrichs's causet
'The best answer is that they believe that
the tremendous change which has come
over economic and domestio conditions '
must be accepted, even in the smart set.
Deeper than this lies the sympathy these
womea feel for the difficulties facing
Newport woman who takes two such im
portant steps as dlvercing bar husband
and going into trade.
From actual experience gone of the five
knows anything about the business side
of Mrs. Oelrichs's life, but they appreciate
. that many society womea are going into
trade in New York and se no good reason
why Newport should have a 'conniption
fit" over the shop on BeUerpe avenue.
They feel that the other wires are arcbalo
. in their attitude, and because pf their in
experience nnable, mentally or morally, to
Bnderstandl
Every day or two there coma enthusias
tic letters from Mrs. Leonard Thomas, who,
whllo not spending Che Summer in New
port, considers berself a charter member
of the group that is backing Mrs. Oelrlchs.
It gives her keen pleasure to help along
any came that will annoy the present
Mrs. Barrymore and her famflj,