The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1875-09-12
A TERRIBLE STORY.
The Folly and the Fate Of Three Bcau.
ltGuI sisters.
from the IT. Louis Times ]


Our readers may possibly rccollect the
circumstances of !, fatal duel, widely pub
li.hed mt the time, which occurred on
the 81 of April, 1874. Oh the old ducling
ground on the sandy stretch OF shore
fronting Bay 81. Louis. The participants
were Artella Blcnyenuc. broker, auu
Andrea Phillips. u lawyer. OF New or-
leans. II was on the same spot where
the fatal bullet of Rhett of the Picayunc,
sped 10 flight the gallant spirit OF the M
trrpid Cooley; HE ground on which the
rifle shot, OF Badger and Carter were eN-
changed: where Scott and Campbell met
and where many previous bloody cpl
sode had cXpiatcd real or imaginary
fault.
Aside from the fatal termination oil the
meeting, the contest between Phili'ps
and Benvenue would not have been I'M
usually remarkable but Tor the fact that IL
was the final scene in the tragic welded
! lives of thr 4 women-si-tcrs-who> nus
bands fell 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 ana
| a stainless name, and distinguished Tor
personal beauty in a land where the
IovcIinesss OF women was prONcrbiai.
Ienderly reared and brilliantly educated.
with possessions that rivalled in extent
and eXcelled in value u German princi-
paiity, 1t is not surprising that 'hey pc,
came the tlattcrcd bellies OF society. anu
were the boast and pride of the mcr-
chant and planter bcauX in all the wild
coast country. That these brilliant pro-
tcg.s of the haughtiest ari,tocracy OF the
old regime should be destined to cXcr-
else the fatal influence they eXcrted on
| the men who loved them, and made them
their wives. is indeed surprising. But
| they We're flirts from their cradles. Born
| to admiration, their lives were spent from
youth TO maturity in IN atmosphere OF
fictitious sentiment and unreal passion.
They looked upon men ~ merely lhc
ministers of pleasure, and as the medl-
| ums through which their battered vanity
might expand. rs the flower
| blooms in the warmth OF sun
shine. All the aims and duties of
life were bounded by the ambitions
OF society. Admiration to them was ap-
probation. Taught to regard their indl-
Nidual pleasures rs superior to all con>ld-
erations of convenience to others, ii is
not surprising that selli-hncSs, in1iilcr-
cnce and folly became the mainspriDgs to
their actions.
| Nor is it astonishing that they exercised
| There beauty was glorious. The young
est was the living type of the other two.
As the writer saw her but little over a
year ago, she rises before his vision now,
a tall, graceful. slender woman, a 1.-THE
| willOwy form of splendid contour and cX-
quisitc symmetry. The oval, tinted face
glows with health, and is radiant with ill.,
| telligencc Deep. slumbrOus black eyes,
| untathomable In their depths, which a
word can kindle with excitement or make
aglOw with passion queenly woman,
regnant in youth, grace, and the empire
of mems hears. The rich coils of hair,
black and intense. were wound above the
low, broad forehead, and formed "A raven
like crown to the dusky splcndor of the
dark Egyptian face. Men paused to look
at her. and women sighed with envy a
| she passed. What she was In her youth
full brdehood has been impertectiy de-
scribed; 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 aister was married to ID. Sharp,
OF Tuscaloosa. Ala, polished, graceful
gentleman. whose love and devotion
might have contented any woman less
prone to the allurements OF society and
the admiration of men. 1t was in the
first year of the war, and the most bril-
liant society in 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 recklessly into a whirlpool
of gaiety. The married tlirt wears no
armor OF innocence. Her love of admi-
ration is pitted against mans duplicity
and cunning. She stakcd and lost. From
folly there is but one step toimprudence,
and that step was taken, despite a hus-
band jealousy and sense of honor. The
end was inevitable; challenge and a
duel, and her husband fell pierced to the
heart by the bullet of her seducor. There
was no pity, tor woman like this; So
cety repealed her, her friends discarded
her, and she fled to New Orleans to lead
the life OF an adventures.
The second sister shortly afterward
married the son OF Il distinguished jour-
nalist IN Mobile. The fate of her elder
sister was no bar to u career of similar
folly. Society received her with open
arms. Wealth, influential connections
and alliances with distinguished family
obscured for time the recollcctions OF
u sisters imprudence. But gossip soon
grew busy with her name. From one
folly to another she passed with fatal
haste and seeming Indifference, until in
u fatal hour her husband learned that
the woman he loved, the wife that he
iuolized. was a thing to be scorned. 1t
broke his heart. With the downfall OF
his idol his reason wayered, and he per-