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Show RICH AND ELDERLY BUSINESS MEN THE HEROES OF ROMANCE Outdo in Age Deeds Which Usually Are Associated with Passionate Youth. CHICAGO MAN TRANSFERS WIFE TO SON. Stepmother Had Won Love of Youth, and Father Fa-ther Resigns His Bride Marital Mixups of Two Eastern Millionaires. New York. Three men whoso recent re-cent romantic stories havo mado their names household words are Thomns W. Klley of Brooklyn, Capt. Nathan Appleton or Boston, nnd Wntson H. Twltchell of Chicago. Elderly, rich, nnd known ns keen, practical business men, thoy havo gono to greater lengths for the women of their hearts thnn over n Btrlpllng did. They havo dono for lovo what few youngsters would do. Between them they make up a verltablo trio of romance. ro-mance. They nro men of affairs, each in his own city. Not for a moment would nnyono bellovo them anything but hnrd-hended business men. Yet what they havo dared Is remarkable thcso threo men whom everybody belloved beyond tho age when Cupid calls his loudest. Thomas W. Klley married tho daughter of his benefactor becnuso sho loved him, nnd ho thought his first wlfo dying. Appleton met his nfllnlty nnd Is now preparing to dlvorco his first wife. Hut most rcmnrltnblo of all is Twltchell. Ho gavo up his bride his second wife to his son, becauso ho loved them both, nnd wanted to see them happy. And first, then, this remarkable ro-mnnce ro-mnnce of tho Twltcholls. Berthn May was a pretty little country coun-try girl who lived In n quiet little Michigan town, when Watson H. Twltcnol, widower, with n son 21 yenrs old, came thore on n business visit. He met charming Miss Bertha and fell head over heels In lovo with her this gray-haired business man of GO. She Wanted, to See the World. He told the ambitions little girl from Michigan of the pleasures of life In Chicago. When ho asked her to marry mar-ry him she thought that her deslro to see the world that Is, whut of It that can bo seen In Chicago was really love. So the old man with tho grown-up grown-up son and tho unsophisticated little girl from Michigan were married. Thr proud bridegroom brought his dnlnt bride back home to Chicago, and there Tho oldor Twltchell Biicd, nnd Judge McEwen decided In his favor. Ho frankly admitted that ho wanted his wlfo to bo happy, and for that renson he was going to give her to his son. "I nm no hero," ho said, with n kindly kind-ly smile, "and I don't want too much said about this, but you seo 1 nm GG years old and my wlfo Is only 24. 'It Is only natural thnt sho should transfer trans-fer her nlTectlons to my son Edward. I am glad thnt they are happy, nnd I shall be happy to know that they lovo each other. I lovo my boy and I believe be-lieve that tho dlvorco Is tho rlsht thing, Inasmuch ns my wlfo nnd I seemed Incompatible." Freedom Her One Thought. So enger was tho pretty girl from Michigan to marry her husband's son thnt sho made no contest, though sho had n lawyer to represent her. All sho wnntcd was her freedom nnd her Edward! Ed-ward! She blushed ns she owned up to her lovo tho frank, honest blush of a pretty girl who has at last found out her real romnncc. "Wo were married last December,"' she said with Just n little wistful smile, "and enmo to Chicago to live. There I met Edward, my husband's son. After tho first week I was not happy, I realized that 1 didn't really love my husband. Our Ideals were not tho same. Ono evening nfter dinner I fainted. Edward rushed to catch me lu his arms. Then I really knew which ono I loved." "Well," remarked tho court, "to come to the point, you didn't enro whether your husband left you or not?" The llttlo country girl hesitated. For n moment her Hps trembled nnd two llttlo tears coursed down her cheeks. "Well," she fnltercd, "I guess I don't care much! No, I nm not sorry thnt he wants to give mo up. I havo been entirely en-tirely Indifferent to my husband, and I found It too hard to pretend to love htm when I didn't really care for him." "Do you think you nro on tho right rack now?" "Yes, that's It," sighed the llttlo wife. they met young Edward Twltchell, tho handsome, stalwart son of tho old-1 time benedict. In u week tho pretty llttlo Michigan ' girl found that life In Chicago with n man old enough to bo her father was not the same thing as real lovo. Sho found that the young fellow who was ' her stepson had far more attractions for her than her staid nnd very conservative con-servative husband. In fact, before the I month was out, sho was head over heeis In lovo with tho son of her older-. ly husband. And, as If to add to this j strnngo mlx-up, the son himself was 1 Just ns madly In lovo with his own stepmother tho wlfo of his father. I Of course, such things couldn't go 1 on forever Mr. Twltchell, Sr., soon ' learned that ho htood In tho way of Mr. Twltchell, Jr. He taxed his wife, with loving his sou. Proud of her love, 1 she owned up. And so tho case was taken to court. "I am on the right track now, Judge." "All right," nnnounced the court. "I think It would bo wise to grant tho dlvorco. dl-vorco. You are sure you llko tho son, Edward?" "Yes, quite sure," sighed llttlo Mrs. Twltcholl. "I think I lovo him very much." And such Is tho romnuce of tho' Twltcholls, father nnd son. Captain Appleton's Romance. Everybody In Uoston who knows anybody, knows Capt. Nathnn Apple-ton, Apple-ton, one of the famous Appletons. He Is a millionaire, a soldier, n clubman, a diplomat, a traveler and nn author. Ho Is n 'member of tho famous Myopia Hunt, and lives at tho very smart Somerset Som-erset club, Boston, tho most exclusive organization of the kind In all New England. Ho married In 18S7. Ono year lator his wlfo left him, There wns no scandal It was Just thnt they had n greed to disagree No ex- planatlon was offered to tholr many frlonds, and after a tlmo tho troublo was nil but forgotten. But then Miss Edith H. Willis enmo on tho scene. Sho wns young, vivacious, viva-cious, tnlcntcd, beautiful. From that moment tho gallant captain believed thnt ho hnd met his fntc. Ho frankly told Miss Willis thnt ho believed her to bo his ainnlty, nnd ho asked her to marry him. "Yes," sho said, but It takes more than a whispered assent to make a marriage. There had to bo a dlvorco llrst. So Cnpt. Appleton has begun suit after all these years. Mrs. Appleton lives In Now York with her confldnnt slnco her separation from her husband, hus-band, Miss Katherlno Parsons, of Virginia, Vir-ginia, daughter of Col. Henry Clay Parsons. Par-sons. At first Mrs. Apploton said .sho wouldn't contest tho suit provided tho captain mado her n sultablo allowanco out of his wealth, but evidently tho two could not como to terms, for tho Issue hns been Joined and the case will como to trial. Miss Parsons will tnko tho stand In behalf of Mrs. Appleton, "This doesn't worry mo," said Capt. ' Appleton. "I don't think It will affect my suit In the slightest. I don't enro whether she Joins Mrs. Appleton against me or not, for I enn win out ngalnst both of them. 1 hear plenty of rumors, but they don't Interest. Tho suit will take caro of Itself when the tlmo comes." j There Is much thnt Is mysterious In this shattered romnnco of tho elderly clubmnn. Somo of It, It Is expected, will be cleared up nt tho trial. But, asks Boston, If Capt. Appleton wants n divorce, why did no wait for 18 years before asking for It?, Perhaps Miss Willis can give tho nnswor. The Man with Two Wives. Thomas W. Klley, president of tho No'rlh Shore bank, of Brooklyn, nnd millionaire head of Thomas W. Klley & Co., hardware merchants, Is well nlong townrd life's winter. He Is to-day 04 years old. It has Just transpired that for three yenrs he has maintained two homes, nnd In each a woman who thought herself his wife. Ho married the second ono threo years ngo when he belloved his first wife dying. Sho lived, Instead. Hero was n strange quandary for the man. He had two wives, each apparently appar-ently married to him by every right of law. But let him tell the story himself; him-self; Just ns ho told It when It wns discovered dis-covered that ho had ono wlfo living nt No. 201 Jefferson nvenue, Brooklyn, nnd another nt No. 210 Brooklyn avenue: ave-nue: "1 wns cnlled to the bankers' convention con-vention in San Francisco In October, 1903, and I nsked Mrs. Flora H. Colt to go with me, whom I had loved when wo wero young. When wo left Brook-, lyn my wife wns extremely 111 nt homo, and not expected to llvo. On tho wny out west I talked the matter over at great length with Mrs. Colt. Her father , had been my employer, my benefnetor. I had been n bachelor until I was 63 and then I mnrrlcd my brother's widow wid-ow when Flora Colt's, husband was still alive. I "Mrs, Colt knew how my heart stood I In the matter, nnd I told her thnt I wanted to marry her. Wo both bo- . lleved that my first wife would bo dead before we got back to Brooklyn. My only excuso was that I wns nervous , und overwrought. ' Married at Hnn n ' id, Ind. "When we nrrlveu n Hammond, ' Ind., we wero innrrlod under our true names, In n month we returned to Brooklyn. I bought my second wife the house on Brooklyn avenue, and made It over to Mrs. Colt In her own I legal nnine. I made tho ngreement with her that wo would llvo publicly as man i nnd wlfo Just ns soon ns my- first wlfo l died. Wo had not expected .tp como east until hor death, "But my llrst wife grew stronger, nnd soon recovered her health. There was nothing for us to do but to keep tho matter secret. 1 confessed every- ' 4 thing to my first wlfo, and sho under- stands everything. I havo maintained U them both slnco then." BV To-day both women fool the wolghtof the shadow upon their lives. Klley haa told all. And that Is where the caso BV stands now tho caso of the throo eld-orly eld-orly persons tho mnn woll over 60, ench woman over CO whoso loves nnd BV lives havo been so sadly tnnglcd. And now, who shall ray that ro-manco ro-manco Is only for tho young7 B |
