Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1884-03-13
THE SHARON SCANDAL.
The Sensation which stiiI Engrosses
Attention al san FraneI-co-Letters
Written TO the Ex-senator by His
Mistress.

II the sensational weekly papers OF
this city were conducted with any
thing like common sense they would
make serial OF the Sharon scandal
trial, which has now reached such
proportions that it is entitled to the
name OF cause celebre. 1t is also
admirably adapted to treatment as a
feuilleten, as every week sees new and
startling developments and the court
proceedings usually end like the in
stallments of Sylvanus Cobb's stories,
with a great laundering on the part of
the reader TO know what is ito be
continued in our next In fact,
there has been no case in this city
since the famous suit of dressmaker
against old Michael Reese for breach
of promise which has cause so much
talk as this Sharon suit. The trial of
Mrs. Laura D. Fair for he murder
Of Lawyer Crlttenden had in it an
element of tragedy which lifted it
above the plane OF mere scandal
ENJOY. But the suit against ex-Sena-
tor Sharon, like the case of old
Michael Reese, is the attempt of a
woman to have revenge on a wealthy
man who has grown tired of her In
the case Of Reese who was one of the
| most. mIserly men whom San Fran
cisco ever knew, the woman sued
Tor money consideration and the
testimony showed among other things
that the thrifty millionaire treated
her to ginger bread and such inexpen-
slye daIntles, when he felt generous
enough to treat her at all, and his tes-
tlmony on the witness stand furnish
"a the city food for laughter for a
whole week.
Sharon has more money than Reese
ever had, and although he is not noted
for llberality. till his mistresses have
been OF the better class and would
not be contented with ginger bread
and such plebeian Gates Noone ever
had any doubt that Miss Sara Althea
HILL was his mistress for several years.
lie kept her at the Palace and then at
the Grand hotel, finally transferring
her to private house, where he main
tanned her until he threw her off. some
time last fall In her rage at such
treatment she brought suit against
him and tried to make compromise
on the strength of the contract of mar
rage which she claimed to possess.
! Last week her counsel obtained an
/ order from the court compelling
! Sharon's counsel TO turn over for in
| spection all letters and documents in
| Sharon S possession, which he received
frosI Miss Hill. The result was a col.
lection of rather entertaining letters
and bundle of notes, showing that
Sharon, for about a year before the
| rupture of their relations. furnished
her with an allowance of $3.50 month.
The letters are supplicatory and
threatening by turns. Thew are not
such letters as a wife would write to a
husband. They beg to be allowed to
perform such duties as attendance
upos him in Sickness-wh would
be a wlles without any question. In
one she reminds him what "a nice
little nurse she proved in previous
illness, and beseeches him to allow
her to rub him at night at any time
or hour This letter closes in char
acterlstic manner with a demand for
money, as two months household bills
are coming in and she has no coin to
settle them with
1t seems also from the correspond
ence that Sharon got the idea that she
was too free in her manners with
some of the occupants of the Palace
/ hotel, so he gave orders so have her
! elected from the Grand. which is sub
stantially the same house as the Pal
ace. She returned one day from a
drive to find that the door of her
room had been taken from It's hinges,
the carpet pulled up and the bells re-
moved. She was plucky woman of
much determination, but she couldn't
stand the cold nights in such quar-
ters, and she removed to the house of
/ che of her relatives, sending a Par
THAN shot after the senator IN the
shape of letter upbraiding him for
the wrong he had done her. The
scenes Just prior to this eviction are
given in graphic style in letter to a
! Mr. Riegart, a mutual friend In ii
! she tells how Sharon tried to make
/ her give up the marriage papers by
Offering a large bribe; how, when she
refused, he choked her into insensi-
bility, and thinking he had killed her,
locked her IN dark closet in her
room. When she came to, her wall
ings reached her aged lover cars and
a reconciliation followed. Finally
the trouble broke out again, when
/ Sharon's son-in-law attempted tc
make her sign paper releasing all
claim on SharOn's estate. When she
refused this, they evicted her from
the hotel 1t can scarcely be said
that the plaintiff has made anything
/ by the publication of these letters.
They have hurt her case, as they
showed concl ssively that she fancied
when she wrote them that she had no
legal claim on the senator, and they
also show that the subsequent pro
ceedings have beea the result of the
suggestions of advisers, who were
eager to assist her in an assault on the
millionaire's money.
Her chief mentor has been a man
named Nelson, who has an extraord-
mary immuni Y from the punishment
which he 50 frequently deserved be-
cause of his bravado and the repu
/ tatiou which he had gained for GREAT