Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-26

intercession of the American consul. On'
of the ladies has written long account o
the affair, which she insists is 'bruta
outrage"
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DIsPATcH.l
PHILADELPHIA, May 25.-There will bt
laid before the State Department at Wash
ington, on Monday, the details of an out
rage on three New York ladies travelling il
France, which for brutality exceeds any ye
perpetrated on American tourists. The
ladies, Mrs. A. L. Dorr, Miss Fanny Var
Nostrand and Miss Mamie Marvin, ordered
some garments from a dressmaker al
Nice, to be delivered at certain time
The dressmaker failed to keep her agree
ment, and the ladies went to Mentone without
receiving or paying for the garments. That
night they were arrested at their hotel,
taken to the station house, forced into a
The French police were brutal in making
the arrest. and the outrage was perpetrated
without either regard for sex, the advanced
age ofMrs. Dorr, or the unquestionable in
dications that the ladies were well supplied
with money and of the most respectable
class of American tourists.
WHO THE LADIES ARE.
The families of these ladies are we'll
known in New York, Philadelphia and
Boston. Mrs. Dorr is the widow of Horatio
Dorr, who was for 25 years Secretary of the
Atlantic Fire Insurance Company of New
York, and afterward head of the insurance
firm of H. & j. v. N. Dorr &
Co., Cedar street and Broadway, New
York. Miss Van Nostrand, who is
niece of Mrs. Dorr, is daughter of the
late John James Van Nostrand, one of
Brooklyn's wealthiest citizens, whose death
was recorded about two months ago. Mr..
Van Nostrand was well known in New
York business circles, having long been the
head of the wholesale grocery house of j. &
81. Van Nostrand & Co. Miss Marvin,
who is Mrs. Van Nostrand's niece, is a
daughter of the late DR.. George Marvin.
The ladies sailed for Europe on April 10,
intending to make hurried trip through
France to Genoa, where they were to rest
until the latter part of July before going to
Paris and London. 1t is probable these
plans will be interfered with by proceed
ings which the United States Government is
by the French police.
THE DETAILS OF THE OUTRAGE
have Just reached this country in a state
ment made by Mrs. Dorr, which will be
fled at the State Department next week.
In her statement, under date of Mentone,
May 8, Mrs Dorr says:
On Tuesday we arrived in Nice and desiring
a dress for Miss Marvin, applied at the estab-
lishment of Madame Gourr1en, under the Co.'S
mopolitan Hotel where we were stopping.
Our purpose was to procure a ready-made gar;
Thursday morning at Nice. Madame Gour-
rien had nothing suitable ready-made, and
proposed to make one, answering to our objec-
tions as to our limited time, that if we would
remain at Nice until Friday morning a dress
would be completed by 10 A. N. To this we
agreed Madame Gourrien then stated 1t would
be equally easy for her to complete two dresses,
SO Miss VanNostrand ordered one for herself,
and Jacket. The stipulation was distinctly
made that the garments were to fit the young
ladies to their entire satisfaction, and to be de-
hvered on Friday by 10 A. NJ.
ORIGIN OF THE TROUBLE.
On Thursday afternoon the young ladies
went to Madame 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-mor.
row p The reply was: "The young ladies
Van Nostrand replied; Rather than allow
that we will remain until the afternoon train
Friday, but we must certainly have the dresses
by3P. NJ" To this the dressmaker gladly
promised that the dresses would be at the
hotel at 8 P. NJ.
At 8 o'clock Friday the dressmaker's mes
senger was announced with the garments.
Miss Van Nostrand went down and the man
who brought the box said the bill must be paid
before the box could be carried up stairs Be-
ing in great hurry, Miss Van Nostrand paid
the bill, amounting to $40 francs and directed
the man to carry the box to our apart
ments To this the man demurred, saying the
hotel porter would carry the box upstairs
but Miss Van Nostrand insisted, and delayed
Madame Gourrien's messenger in our apart
ments until she opened the box. Miss Van
Nostrand found that the box contained only a
skirt--no waist or none of the second dress for
which she had paid. She at once replaced the
which after some hesitation on the mans part
was returned. She gave him back the recent
and told him to take the box back to Madame
Gourrien's.
LITTLE TIME TO SPARE,
1t was 4:35 P. M, and we had beensnotified we
must leave at 440. In five minutes the box was
brought back from the dressmaker's with the
dresses, alleged to be completed, Our trunks
had been closed, and one was being carried
down STAIRS We had to hurry after it, and re-
fused TO accept the dresses Madame Gour- |
r1en'S representative followed US to the railroad
station, but we told him it was too late to ne. |
gotiate there, telling him "if they choose to |
send the goods TO our banker at Genoa. free of |
duty, the bill would be paid"
have been particular in stating the above, |
on account or the outrageous sequel. We |
came to Mentone and occupied our apartments
we were In the reading room. we were informed |
that some one desired to see u.s. On going out
we found rough-looking Frenchman with a
piece Of paper in his hand. He informed us
n coII II |
description OF our persons from the paper
put mad only one of our names, that
of Miss Van NostraHd. Expostulation was
Useless, put the hotel keeper, saying it would
only be a matter of form, accompanied us to |,
'he bureau The same person who arrested us
with two or three auxiliaries, accompanied us
. miserable building, in a room OF which,
seated by table, he assumed tho magisterial
)face, asked our names, and demanded eyery-
hing from our pockets, even our handker.
'hiefs and gloves.
ALL LOCKED UP IN A CELL.
We sent for the American Consul. who ar
lived with his secretary. The Consul was a
7renchman and the secretary, his brother-in.
aw, an Italian. They said all they could, but
he man who arrested us decided nothing
would do but we must all 20 to a cell.
where we were locked up. The cell was
egular dungeon, a grated window high in the
yall smaller one in the door, along the side
! slanting wooden shelf about six feet wide,
eaving only standing room on the floor. It
vas damp, filthy eviI-smelling place.
Our feelings may well be Imagined. The
Jonsul, his secretary and the hotel keeper did
ii they could, brought US mattresses, pillows.
tic. They then locked us up. and we had the
,leasing Consciousness that there were two sen.
inels patrolling the. corridor who occasionaIIv
ooked in the grating in the door. The Consul
eft us. promising to telegraph at once to Nice
nd procure permission for our release Iinder
urveillance at our rooms in the hotel. AT L
bout o'clock in the morning, after two hours