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Show 1 1 FA THER-IN-LA W OF CARUSO ' WRATHY H i - MARK Benjamin, father-in-law of Enrico Caruso, the Metropolitan H tenor, Is right wrathy against his son- H in-law. WLt The cause of all the discord is a H story which appeared in a Now York H 1 paper concerning Mr. Benjamin's son, H j who has just returned from the battlo- H'' front wouuded, linking the soldier-hero H ! , with Caruso. The story, acording to H Mr. Benjamin, "was a bald an blatant H ' advertisement" of the opera singer at Hj the expense vof his son, and the story, H the attorney thinks, was distasteful in H that it insisted on using a soldier who H had done his share toward helping his H country for exploitation purposes. H "It was not that it was CaruBO," de- H clared Mr. Benjamin. "It might have H been some other artist, and I would H have felt the same way. It is the fact H my son was used a young man who H has honorably discharged his obliga- H tions of a soldier in connection with H advertising purposes that I take ex- H ceptions to." M At the same time Mr. Benjamin ad- M mitted he had forbidden Caruso his H house. H "That happepned at the time of his m marriage to my daughter," Mr. Benja- m man explained . "Of course, I have Hj never rescinded it." In order to set right the story which had appeared concerning his son and Caruso, Mr. Bonpjamin sent the following fol-lowing letter to the newspaper in question: ques-tion: "My son, a gunnery sergeant of marines, ma-rines, who has fought all through Bol-leau Bol-leau Wood and Chateau-Thierry, who has been cited for 'conspicuous gallantry gallan-try in action," who has been wounded throe times and boars three honor chevrons on his arm, and who is now convalescing from still another injury, arrived here from France forty-eight hours ago. I found him in the Naval Hospital, where everything that the great kindness and the surgical skilly for which the navy is famous can do is being done for him. "I submit that his soldier's honorable honor-able wounds and devoted service should have protected him from being dragged into a bald and blatant advertisement adver-tisement of Enrico Caruso, a public singer, which appeared in the guise of a report of thi3 man's visit to the hospital, hos-pital, which report as to what then took place is a misrepresentation of fact." While Caruso himself could not be reached at his apartments in the Hotel Knickerbocker, his secretary, Beruno Zirato, made a short oration on tho subject of father-in-lawly wrath in general and the Benjamin variety in particular. i "Mr. Caruso," he declared, "is mad, angry oh, real angry at Mr. Benjamin Benja-min and wants to hear nothing about him, Only yesterday Mr. Caruso said to mo he did not want to hear another word about him. 'Let Mr. Benjamin talk he said, 'but not from my mouth will come one word unless' " "Yes, yes," the Inqulsitioner prompt-ed prompt-ed breathlessly, "go on!" "Unless," concluded Zlrato, "ho goes too far." "As for the advertisement," continued contin-ued the secretary, "Mr. Caruso does not seek it. He has only to move his foot a little differently and all the edl-J edl-J tors are after him. He does not go 1 to the editors; they come to him for J is he not Caruso?" I The secretary refused to show the ' clippings of the Benjamin letter to the I Binger for fear of the excitement inci- I dent to the case affecting unfavorably I Caruso's voice. T As for Benjamin, Zlrato said, "Mr. to Caruso does not ask for forgivenness." |