The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1875-06-02
WHAT THREE W0AEfs BID,
A New Orleans "Reminiscences Which
Outruns FicfiOn--Ei,e Last of a Series
OfTra-etties. with n sIeartiess " oman
at the EO:fOIm of Each.
TSt. Louis Times.

|
The readers of the Times may possibly
recollect the circumstances of fatal duel,
widely published at the time, which oc-
CURED on the 3rd of April, 1874, on the
old dueiing ground on the sandy stretch
of shore fronting BAY st. Louis. The par
Elephants were ArteIe Bienvenue, broker,
and Andrea Phillips, a lawyer, of New
Orleans. 1t was on the same spot where
the fatal bullet of Rhett of the Picawne
sped to flight the gallant spirit of the in
trcpid Cooley; the ground on which the
rifle shots Of Badger and Carter we're ex-
changed; where Scott and Campbell met;
and where many previous bloody episode
had expiated 4 real o. imaginary fault.
Aside from the fatal termination of the
meeting, the contest between Phillips and
BienveRue would not have been unusually
remarka bic. but for the fact that it was
the final scene in the tragic welded lives
OF three womcn-sisters-whos husbands
tell by the hand Of violence. melted by
the evil courses of their wives.
Born of reputable creole parents these
sisters were inheritors of vast wealth and
a stainless name, and distinguished for
personal beauty in a land where the love-
illness Of women was proverbial Tender
ly reared and brilliantly educated, with
possessions that r,valcd in extent and ex-
celled in value q German principally, it
is not surprising that they became the
tiattered bellies OF society, and were the
boast and pride Of the.merchant and PLAN
ter beaux in all the wide coast country.
That these brilliant proteges ofthe haurhs
test aristccracy Of the old regime should
| be destined TO exercise the fatal influence
they exerted, on the men who loved them,
and made them their wives, is indeed sur
prising. But they were fiirts from their
cradles. Born TO admiration their lives
were spent from youth to maturity in an
atmosphere OF fictitious sentiment and un-
real passion. They looked upon men as
merely the ministers of pleasures, and as
the mediums through which their flattered
vanity might grow and expand as the
flower blooms in the warmth of the sun
shine All the aims and duties Of life were
bounded by the ambitions of society. Adj
miratiOn to them was Appreciation
Taught TO regard their individual pleas
ures as superior to all considerations of
convenience to others it is not surprising
that selfshness, indifference and Jolly De,
came the mainsprings 70 their actions.
Nor is it astonishing that they exer~
cised the fatal influence they did upon
the men. Their beauty was glorious.
The youngest was the living type 81 the
other two. AS the writer saw her but
little over year ago, she Uses before
bis vision now; a tall, graceful, slender
woman, "A 1.-THE wilowy form Of splendid
contour and exquisite symmetry. The oval
tinted face CLOVIS with health and is "a
diant with intelligence. Deep slumberoUs
black eyes unfathomahle in their depths,
which word can kindle with excitement
or make aglow with passion; a queerly
woman, regnant in youth, grace and ,he
empire Of mems hearts. The rich coll
Of hair, black and intense, were wound
above the low broad forehead and formed
a raveh-likt crown to the dUsliv splendOr
of the dark Egyptian face. Not even the
star-eyed enchantress OF the Nile was
more wonderously beautiful. Men paused
to look at her, and women sighed with
envy as she passed What she was in her
youthful bridehood, has been imperiectly
described; what her sisters were in their
matured and splendid womanhood the
enthusiasts Imagination alone can pic
ture.
And now for the story Of their lives
The Oldest sister was married to DR..
Sharp, of Tuscaloosa, Ala, polished,
graceful gentleman, whose love and devo-
ton might have contented any woman
less prone to the alIurements of society
and the admiration of men than his wife.
1t was in the first year Of the war, and
the most brilliant society in the south
was gathered at Mobi4 and New Orleans
With an appetite whettcl to fever heat
by a few mouths abstinence from social
pleasures, she plunged recklessly into q
whirlpool of gaietv. The married flirt
wears no armor Of innocence. Her love
Of admiration is pitted against mans du-
plicity and canning. She staked and lost.
From folly there is but step TO impru>
dence, and that step was taken, despite a
husband jealousy and sense of honor
The end was inevitable: challenge and
duel, and her husband fell pierced to the
heart by the bullet of her seducer. There
was no pity Tor woman like this; socle-
ty repealed her, her friends discarded her,
and she fled to New Orleans to lead the
life Of an adventures.
The second sister shortly afterwarl mar
rled the son of distinguished journalist
in Mobile The fate OF her elder sister
was no bar TO a career Of similar folly
Society received her with open arms
Wealth, influential connection. aud al
} lance with a distinguished family OBJ
scured for q time the recollection Of a sis
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