Omaha daily bee., 1888-03-25
A WOLF OF A WIFE.
The Domestic I~nfelicities of a Young
American Lawyer.
THEY CAUSE A BIG SENSATION.
Mrs. Charles Phelps and Her Insane
Proceedings.
SHE FAILS TO PAY HER DEBTS.
Her Husband Finds His House De-
nuded of Its Furnishings.
COURTS SETTLE THE TROUBLE.
The Valuable Household Outfit Re
covered and the Lady's Jewels
Seized-An Entire Family
of Lunatics.
COURTS SETTLE THE TROUBLE.
Pau Society Shocked.

Pau, March H.-lNew York Herald
Cable-Special to the BEE. l-Charles Harris
Phelps, q member of the New York bar, a
son of the former speaker of the Massa-
chusetts house of representatives and a
nephew of the late Senator Ira Harris, has
made his debut before the French courts.
His success at the British bar recently was
made the subject of a dispatch to the Herald
from London. 1t seems that after the de-
cision there in his favor and giving HIM the
custody of his child Mr.. Phelps FASTENED
here, where, for several years, he has occu-
pied the Villa st. Lucieon. On arriving
he found to his establishment that his
wife, Mrs. Eleanor Livingston Phelps,
had been there in November last, during the
tendency of the English chancery proceed
ings, and had completely emptied the house
of it's furniture. This is described as OF the
most sumptuous and costly description, much
of it having been made to order in India and
China and collected during many years of
Oriental travel before Mr.. Phelps mar
rage. The staircases, halls and both draw
ing and sleeping rooms were hung with the
richest embroideries and tapestries of the
Orient. The carpets were all selected
in Persia, the handsomest being a
present from the shah. Legal steps
were at once instituted by him to
recover the property. Many of the most val
liable articles the officers found in the house
of Mr.. Phelps mother-in-law, Mr.. John A.
MI - -.Az.- AH.. IT.1..o. MIL
and Mr., Osgood Field, of Rome. Mr.. Fields
daughter was the beautiful Bessie Field,
who married Prince Brancaccio, who is now
a dame d'honneur to the queen of Italy.
Mr.. Pell, it seems, has been more or less out
of his mind for sometime and was formally
declared a lunatic in September last by the
New York supreme coart on a joint petition
of both Mrs. Pel and Mrs. Phelps,
who is his only child. We hear
that his property, amounting to some
$780, 900, was vested in the New York Life
Insurance and Trust company as his COM
mittee. 1t appeared in the French courts
that, to enable her to make this trip from
here to New York last summer TO have her
IL GU hlut LIZ L hNipo
from Mess, Buron 81 Co., bankers, her letter
of credit, and to repay this money received
by order of the New York supreme court
S267, 5S5, which sum was paid to her by her
fathers committee. After waiting to be
reimbursed for their letter of credit, the
French bankers commenced legal proceed
ings by a saisse d. arrit against her husbands
property and his large library of rare and
valuable books. 1t seems that Mr..
Phelps, during long residences abroad, has
devoted much of his time to the study of
French law and speaks fiuently many Euro
pean as well as Asiatic tongues. So when
the case came on he pleaded his own case
against Maitres Lavalls and Lasalle, both
distinguished members Of the French bar.
The presidents decree, just made public, is
that Mrs. Phelps jewels, which are of great
value, shall be sold to repay the money which
she received from the New York courts, but
which she did not pay her bankers,
and her husband has been legally placed in
possession of all his property in books and
furniture. The jewels are now in the hands
of the authorities and comprise some nine
necklaces of pearls, rubies, amethysts and
choice oriental stones. One is composed of
over fifty diamonds. According to inventory
there is also a porure and many rings and
bracelets. The collection has been sent to
Paris to be disposed of at the Hotel Dront, a
"A public auction place.
When the decree was cabled to New York,
a cable dispatch arrived from there guaran-
teeing the bankers, but other creditors of
Mrs. Phelps have claims against the jewels.
In addition to the lunacy decree against her
father, il is stated in society here and in
court that her grandmother, Mrs. Moses
Field, and her first cousin, Robert Troup
Pell, were all %deranged. The affair has
created much talk and sensation here, not
only through the American colony, but in all
circles, consequent upon the wealth and con-
motions of both families.
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nIID m MY a n E,rIcIk nIT LII