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Show I Magazine Section Sunday, June 27 1920 'V s ys. . frir V " ' r h If jiwa8-i- -- Y 4 r vv fc-ii i.Wi.yTS i ' r1 4. ' KW , ft-' f , "i, v'tjfcaUMr i vf l J $ A II 4vfv r V' V. v ' V- r ,, t x Lr: m '$y V !.' . f'ij f A sTf 'i jjlfc. TT ? f wX h , .. h , fnurz V M sf- V rn WHWSWWiN :tr jn yj P 9 i&ViJK V ?, ,TrfiaNCk ' ,A ? V. A V i - "xr'l r ? fk ' v 1 1i ,rsy ur vXv 4 L ' I if 1 1( a . 'ft A V MNUo. liwanrj y Ztr? wunrC pWA-ir- : rsk v ' WMWMWWM r.V Mkm In tlial lUtely Newport villa, within a stones Throw of Bellevue avenue, there are perhaps more com divorce problems, more mystery, t plicated more disillusionment, more tangled lives than in any house in America' t:'1' A Mr ,Y; 'Ts' ? Young Edward Tuck French and Hia Bride, Lillian Harrington, the Telephone Operator. Mr. French Died and Left Hia Humbly, Born Bride and Baby to Be Cared for by Hia Divorced Mother, who Prided Heraelf on Her Birth. f n fVT is f a ' V Y .i Jt .. Vvw f . ivV fSr x admitted that the distinguished and immensely wealthy French family of New York and Newport has had more divorces and attendant complications than any family of similar Importance In New York society. s,v;, Mrs. Samuel Wagstaff, formerly the JP$h beautiful Pauline Le Roy French, Is the V ? latest member of the family to seek divorce. It Is only necessary to mention the cases of her mother, Mrs. Le Roy French ; her sitter, Julia French Geraghty; her aunt, Mrs. Paul Fltz Simon, formerly Mrs. Alfred Vanderbilt, to suggest how numerous have been the matrimonial complications In this group. The list could be considerably extended. These events have naturally excited a lot of discussion in society, and thoughtful observers believe that they can trace the existence of a peculiar mental condition a complex, or perhaps a In the French family to the divorce leads that court. This observation entirely accords with recent discoveries of scientists, who have found that any striking and impressive act or speech may start a among mental contagion those Immediately under its Influence, even though they are of perfectly sound mind. Sir Berkeley Moynihan. the war British distinguished rein a remarked surgeon, Pretty Mrs. Polly French Wagstaff, the Latest French No lesson of cent lecture: been Divorcee, Who Is Supposed to Have Started a Mania of the great war has the than more clearly Matrimonial Unrest by Her Brilliant Early Essay proved of mental contagiousness Obsolete Man. $ Elsie French, Formerly v Is generally fc. X: -- Mrs. ! , t it, Alfred v-,- s" . Now Mrs. Paul Fitz Simon, the First of the French Family to Seek Divorce. After Divorcing Mr. Vanderbilt She Surprised Society by Marrying a Poor Naval Ensign Ten 'Year Her Junior. psy-chos- ls states. What was it that started the French family, ones renowned for its aristocratic isU-- conservatism, on the pathway of easy divorce? One thinker has discovered a possible cause in a startling girlhood essay of Mrs. Polly French Wagstaff, the latest divorcee, on 'Man, the Obsolete. In this esBay, read to a group of women friends. Miss Polly French, as she then was, argued with much eloquence that for most of the purposes of civilized life man was obsolete and rapidly becoming more so. She demonstrated that all the govern mental, administrative. Intellectual and artistic functions of society could best be performed by women. The youthful thinker suggested that while some essential labors and duties must tlwsys be performed by man, it would bd quite proper to keep him in an extremely bumble and subordinate position. Tbat would be the aim of the glorious, emancipated society of the future. Loud murmurs of applanse greeted the profound tnd daring remarks of the youthful and beautiful speaker. It was evident all tbat they sank deep Into the minds ofsuspresent perhaps deeper than anyone pected at the time. One obvious lesson of Miss Polly Frenchs philosophys as that man as a husband, in the old sense, was superfluous. K O' i ''vv Julia French' Ger aghty. Who Ran Away With a Chauffeur Because She Put Love Above Family, and Then Divorced Mrs. .v r J ? h have every chance and that her grandchild to-b-e should be born under 'proper conditions. There had never been a divorce In th French family until Elsie French Vanderbilt, aunt of Mrs. Polly French Wagstaff, divorced the late Alfred Vanderbilt That was quite a shock to a great many people, who expected both Frenches and Vanderbilts to set an example of conventional domesticity. The divorce contagion waa then beginning to work. Even at that time Elsie's brother, Amos Tuck French, was living apart from his wife, and there were rumors of trouble. Mrs. French, who was born a Le Roy, would not divorce her husband, it was said, because sbs had been married nearly thirty years end divorces were considered both vulgar and wrong by the Le Roy I family. After the Vanderbilt expose and with the passing of another year or two indications showed that her mental attitude was Mrs. French began to hold changing. more emancipated ideas about divorce, and while necessarily disliking publicity she realised that a little more would not damage the French family, and so, in 1914, she entered suit in the Newport court. Shortly after getting his freedom Amos Tuck French married Miss Martha C, Beeckman, sister of Livingston Beeckman, Governor of Rhode Island. Then began whispers that the Sam Wagstaffs were . headed for the rocks. Outward peace, however, was preserved until 1918, when things began to happen thick and fast and fate handed the Frenches a double heavy blow. Ned French eloped with Miss Harrington, the telephone operator. Julia left her Geraghty domicile and chauffeur husband and went home to her mother with her young He might be a biological necessity for a time, but there was no reason in the new state of society why he should be the per manent head of the family, the ruler of incumbrance to the household, a an woman. Wby is it not reasonable to suppose tbat these words of Miss Polly French Inaugurated a peculiar mental complex In her hearers? Coming from the most brilliant member of the family they may well have opened the minds of her kinswomen on the divorce question. Her words did not show their Influence at once, but they sank in apparently and brought forth amazing results In later years. Other social problems besides the one of divorce are being demonstrated in the French borne. The divorced Mrs. Le Roy French is taking care of 'the child of her eon and a pretty telephone operator, end also of the child of her daughter and a stalwart chauffeur. Vhat wllh become of these children half of aristocratic and plutocratic French blood, half of plebeian extraction? Will they exhibit the peculiar tendencies of the French family In matrimonial affairs, or will .they revert to the primordial family customs of their plebeian ancestors? They form part of wbat Is probably the strangest bouoholdin all American fashionable society. Following her mother's example. Mrs. Geraghty brought suit in the Newport courts, and in December, 1919, won her freedom. In the meantime her brother Neds affair had reached its climax. His matrimonial career was a short and tragic one. Married in the Summer of 1918, bis romance filled the newspapers and the gossips' ears for several weeks. As we know, his bride left him more than once; then he enlisted In the tank service of the army and went to camp. Aiter the armistice he secured a Job In Chicago. His mother then reconciled him to his wife and she was with him when he died In August, Him Because His Ways Were Not Those of Her Set, - g s Under the rooftree of the old Le Rov mansion in Newport, now a centre of the 1919. K. French family, three divorced women are the living mother, Mrs. Le Roy French, who divorced Amos Turk French in 1314; Mrs. Julia French Geraghty, diI vorced last Fumnier.-an' Mrs. Wagstaff, who got her final decree on the eighth of June. In the same strange household lives Mrs. Edward Tuck French, the New England telephone operator and widow of the second eon of the house. Young Edward Tuck French made a runaway marriage. Then hi bride ran away from him. and later be arranged to enter suit for divorce. He dropped bis plans, however, when informed that his wife was to become a mother, and a reconciliation was brought a'bout throngs his mothers efforts He died a short time afterward and four months later his child was born in-h- ls mothers beautiful Newport home -- iAi ?V. tI f - jftnxf 4 T sk,. -- son. on life-lon- I JL' Latest Divorcee IT A I Newport's House of Disillusionment with Its Three Divorced, Women and Two Helpless Grand children by Runaway i Matches and the Strange Influence of a Girlhood Essay on t(Obsolete Manby the L. S' K fh r '?T' p RKJfca- s This, therefore, is the unusual family group gathered together under one roof! And all within a stone s throw of Bellevue avenue. Mrs. French does not blame her children for their divorces She reasons that two of them made unlucky choices because of their youthful environment, while the third. Pauline, made an excellent choice from social and financial viewpoints. but fate was too strong for her. Society did not expect Julias and Neds marriages to wear well, for they married out of their normal set Neither Jack jr IVhat young Mrs, Frenchs future will be is an interesting problem. Mrs. French will see that she suffers no pangs of poverty and also that Edward. Junior, receives every care and comfort. He will be educated and trained for some profession and all that sort of thing. The amazis that Mrs. French ing part of this mix-uhas two helpless grandchildren on her bands the son of Jack Geraghty and the offspring of her own son. Considering their birth and all that went before, it is bard to predict what tne future holds for these unlucky youngsters. The divorce complex may find eusceptiblo temperaments in them, but again, so diverse ere the strains of their blood, they d may prove absolutely conventional frlende of the family are hoping for the best Last Summer Mrs. Elsie French Vanderbilt, who also lives a large part of tbe 3 ear in Newport added a romance to the ( family history by ber surprising marriage with a poor young naval offirer. Ensign Faul Fit Simon, some ten years her junior. And then, this Summer, her niece, Mrs. hampel flagstaff, tbe author of tbe fateful Egniflcant essay on "Obsolete Man," lengthened tbe family divorce record by ridding herself of her husband. p f . iF" 'W N Kind-hearte- Geraghty. tb chauffeur, nor Miss Lillian Harrington, the telephone operator, spoka the language of the Newport colony, and their standards of living and were utterly at variance with thosethinking of the French family. Therefore, as neither Julia nor Ned was of heroic calibre each was bound to be nnhappy in the course of time Julias divorce was the natural of her marriage. Ned was only sequence held In line by his courageous mother, who franksaid new that ly daughter-in-laher should ' |