The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-05-28
AMERICAN WOMEN,
Travelling in France, Grossly In
suited and Put in Jail.
EXPERIENCE OF THREE LADIES.
Mrs. Dorr, Miss Van Norstand and Miss Mar
vim Desire the Department to In
vestigate Their Case

be laid before the state department at
Washington Monday details of an outrage on
three New York ladies travelling in France,
which, for brutality, exceeds any yet per
petrated on American tourists. The ladies
are Mrs. A. w. Dorr, Miss Fannie Van
Nostrand and Miss Mamie Marvin The
families of these ladies are well known in
New York, Philadelphia and Boston. Mrs
Dorr is the widow of Horatio Dorr, who
was for twenty-five years secretary of the
Atlanta Fire Insurance company of New
York, and afterwards head of the insurance
firm of H. r. & j. V. N. Dorr & Co. Miss
Van Nostrand, who is "a niece of Mrs Dorr,
is daughter of the late John n. EameS
Van Nostrand, one of Brooklyn's wealthiest
citizens. Miss Van NOstrand's niece is a
daughter of the late DR.. Marvin and niece
of the late Taskar Marvin, who occupied a
conspicuous position in Wall street, and in
| Brooklyn and New York society Both
DR.. Marvin and Taskar Marvin were mem
bers of the New York stock exchange
The ladies sailed for Europe April TO- in
tending to make hurried trip through
France to Genoa, where they were to rest
Paris and London. 1t is probable that
! these plans will be interfered with by the
proceedings which the Unitod States are ex-
pected to institute to redress their wrongs.
| Details Of the outrage have Just reached
this country in the statement made by Mrs
Dorr. Under date of Mentone, May 5,
Mrs. Dorr says: "On Tuesday we arrived
| in Nice. Desiring dress for Miss Marvin
applied at the establishment of Nine
Gourrien, under the Cosmopolitan hotel.
| Our purpose was to procure a ready made
garment, as we intended to remain only
until Thursday morning at Nice. Nine.
| Gourrien had nothing ready-made, an
| OH 70 liY,i tod
time, that if we would remain at Nice until
Friday morning the dress would be com
pleted by 10 a. M. To this we agreed
Nine Gourrien stated that it would be
equally as easy for her to complete
two dresses, so Miss Van Most
rand ordered one for herself and jacket
The stipulation was distinctly made that
the garmenss were to fit the young ladies'
to their entire satisfaction, and to be deliy-
cred on Friday at 10 a. m. Thursday at
ternoon the young ladies' went to Nine.
/ Gourrien's to have the dresses tried on.
Seeing that the garments were far from
finished, Miss Van NOstrand said: How
are you going to finish these by 10 a. m. to-
morrow.' The reply was: The young ladies
who sew for us must sit up all night Miss
VanNostrand replied: Rather than allow
that we will remain until the afternoon
train Friday but we must certainly have
the dresses by pm To this the dress
maker gladly promised that the dresses
would be at the hotel at 9 pm.
AT o'clock the dressmaker's messenger
was announced with the garments. He
said the bill must be paid before the box
was carried up stairs. Miss VanNostraud
paid it, and paid $40 francs. The box con
tanned only the skirt, no waist, and there
was no second dress for which she paid.
She replaced the skirt in the box and de
manded the money, which, after some
hoe ,.nNvr Cd -hav.
:35 pm, and we were notified that we
must leave at 40. In five minutes the
box came back from the dressmaker's with
dresses alleged to be complete. The trunks
were closed and being carried down stairs.
We had to hurry to the station and refused
to accept the dresses. A man, one
of Gourrien's representatives, followed US
to the railroad station, but we told him it
was too late to negotiate there, and if he
choose to send the goods to our banker az
Genoa, free of duty, the bill would be paid.
Il have been thus particular stating the
above account because of the outrageous
sequel which came. We occupied apart
ments at the Hotel de Mentone. After
dinner, we were informed that some one
desired to see us. We found a rough look
ing Frenchman with piece Of paper in mis-
hand. He informed US that he was ordered
to arrest US all. He read a description of
our persons from the paper, but only one
of our names, that of Miss Van NOstrand.
REPRESENTATIONS were useless. The hotel
keeper accompanied US TO the bureau. The
person who arrested US with two of their
auxilliaries accompanied US to a miserable
building. In the assumed magisterial office
he demanded everything from our pockets,
even our handkerchief and gloves. We
sent for the American consul, who arrived
with his secretary, Coma Frenchman
and secretly his brother-in- law-and an
sold .,i1 Ean hut no
who arrested US decided we must go to
cell and be locked up.
1T was regular dungeon, with grated
window high in the wall, and smaller one
in the door, alongside was a slanting
wooden shelf six feet wide, leaving only
standing room on the floor. 1t was
damp, filthy, evil smelling place. The con-
sui, secretary and hotel keeper did all they
could. They brought US mattresses and
pillows and had the pleasing consciousness
that two sentinels patrolling the corridor
occasionally looked in the grating. The
consul left, promising to telegraph to Nice
and procure our release under surveillance
at our rooms in the hotel. At o'clock in
the morning we were released under
surveillance, taken to the hotel and locked
in, policeman keeping guard at the door
with the freedom of looking in at his pleas
ure. Next morning at $50 we
were ordered TO prepare to go to
the house of the commissary of
police. Miss Van Nostrand refused
to go unless she had the protection of the
consul. At : As Miss Van Nostrand was
told that she must go at once to the COM
There she met Mime. Gourrien
and husband; also an English-speaking
All gave positively false les
timony about the transaction. The French
authorities at Nice had telegraphed that
the Van Nostrand party could be released
upon the payment of the bill; otherwise
they must remain in durance vile, not in
the hotel but in prison. The commIssary
gave Miss Van Nostrand five minutes IN
which to decide between paying the entire
bill, with costs, or go back to the dungeon
OF course she paid.
cas- the matter now stands, we have been
put in prison, insulted beyond expression,
compelled to pay over one hundred dollars
for garments not delivered, and all in the
name of French law
'On the advice of the consul at Mentoue,
we went to Nice at once and laid the mat
ter before Albert Hathaway, the American
consul. Mr.. Halfway was much shocked
that such an outrage could be perpetrated,
but he did not see clearly what could be
done in retaliation. The American consul
to enter proceedings at once Tor
damages for false Imprisonment. Other
American tourists who heard OF our treat
ment declare that the interests OF all Amer
leans abroad demand the publication OF the
facts, and the notification OF the French
authorities, either by our minister at Paris
or by our state department., that such out
rage cannot be inflicted with impunity upon
Americans
Gardner Van Nostrand, nephew of Mrs.
Dorr and brother of Miss Nostrand, and a
roll lyuOxrn resident Of NeyUhurr N