The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1875-10-28

J The St. Louis Times narrate- tn,
life
Our readers may possibly recolIeei
the circumstances of q fatal duel
widely published at the time, which
occurred on the 3 of April, 1874. on
the old dueling ground, on the sandy
stretch OF shore fronting Bay ST.
Louis. The participants were ArteIIs
Bienvenue, a broker. and Andres
Phillips, lawyer, of New Orleans.
Aside from the fatal termination OF
the meeting, the contest between
Phillips and Bienvenue would NOT
have been unusually remarkable but
for the fact that il was the final SCENE
in the tragic welded lives OF three
wOmen-sisters-whOse husbands fell
by the hands of violence, melted by
the evil courses of their wives. Born
OF reputable Creole parents, these sis
ters were inheritOrs Of vast wealth
and 8 stainless name, aud distin-
guished for personal beauty in q land
where the loneliness of women was
proveroial. Tenderly reared and bril-
llently educated, with possessions that
AANaAU1 III C4LCLI anu cACcllGu In VaI-
ue German pTincipality, it Is not
surprising that they became the fat
tered bellies of society and were the
BOAST and pride OF the merchant and
planter beauX in all the Wild coast
country. That the brilliant protege
OF the haughtiest aristOcraey OF the
old regime should be destined to ex-
ercise the fatal influence they exerted
on the men who loved thez 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 feti-
tious sentiment and unreal passion.
They looked upon men as merely the
ministers of pleasure, and as the me-
diums through which their fisttered
vanity might grow and expand, as
the flower blooms in the warmth of
the sunshine. All the aims and dn-
ties Of life were bounded by the am
billions of society. Admiration to
them was appreciation.
And now for the story OF their lives
The eldest sister was married to DIR.
Sharp, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a pol
ished, graceful gentleman, whose
love and devotion must have content
ed any woman less prone to the
allurements Of society, ami the admir-
alton OF men. 1t was the first year Of
the war, and the most brilliant society
OF the South was gathered at Mobile
and New Orleans. With an appetite
whetted to fever heat by few months
abstinence from social pleasures, she
plunged reeklessly into 3 whirlpool Of
gayety, The married fiirt wears no
armor OF innocence. Her love OF ad-
miration is pitted against mans du.
plieity and cunning. She staked and
lost. From folly there is but one step
to 1mprudenee, and that step was ta-
ken, despite husbands jealousy and
sense of honor. The end was inevit-
abia a challenge and a duel, and her
husband fell, pierced to the heart by
the bullet OF her seducer. There was
no pity for q woman like this society
repelled her, her friends discarded her,
and she fled to New Orleans tn lead
the life of an adventures.
Tn second sister shortly afterWard
married the son of distinguished
journalist in Mobile. The fate Of
her sister was no bar to q career |
OF sin and folly. Society received |
her with open arms Wealth, in !
huential connections and alliances
with distinguished family Obscured |
for time the recOllections of q sisters !
impr udenee. But gossip was soon |
busy with her name. From one folly |
TO another she passed with fatal haste |
snd seeming Indifference, until in a /
fatal hour her husband learned that /
the woman he loved, the wife ha idol
lied, was a thing to be seOrned. 1t
broke his heart. With the downfall /
of his idol his reason wavered and he |
perished by his own hand. For all |
his brilliant talents and the promise |
OF brilliant woman, he died the VIC |
tim OF a WOman's perfidy.
The younger sister became the wife |
OF Bienvenue, q young broker of New |
Orleans. Rich, beautiful and accom-
piishe'l, she was at once q leader in /
society. Courted, flAttered and Ca
ressed, she plunged headlong into the
vortex. Men lavished praises upon |
her-wOmen hated and smiled upon |
her. What cared she? Beautiful, |
reckless, heartless and indifferent t0 /
all aliBe, she cared only for that social |
admiration which was the sunshine |
Of her life. Her large fortune gave to
her extravaganza and enabled her to |
contract bills in her own name. One |
of them, q milliner's bill, was over
due suit was brought and execution /
issued, which Mr.. Philips, the lawyer,
had levied for satisfaction upon her /
carriage and horses. In an inter-
view subsequently had with the lady
regarding the settlement Of the bill,
words which she construed into an /
insult were charged upon the at
torney. Her husband resented, a
challenge ensued, and then the fatal |
duel on that sad April morning, when 4
q husbands life ebbed away its pur-
pie tide upon the lonely beach, the
last unhappy victim OF the fatal sis
ter's folly and extravagance.