The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-08-31
VANDERBILT SIREN.
The Woman Whose Charms Cap.
tured the ti-Millionaire.
sHREWD, SKILLED ADVENTURES

BY Her Personal Charms She Has for
Several Years Won the Admiration of
Mon Of Wealth, md Made the Most of
Her Opportunities.
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. si.-Nellie Neu-
stredtter, the young woman who is said to
be the cause of the family troubles of
William X. Vanderbilt, Is well known
here. She is native of Eureka, New,
was educated at Miles seminary, Alameda
county, resided for number Of years in
San Francisco and has frequently figured
in escapades that have won her notoriety
both In the new and old worlds. She was
born twenty-nine or thirty years ago in
Eureka, where her father, Ben Cohen,
kept clothing store and became wealthy.
She returned to Eureka from the seminary
when she was 1s years old, and was the
belle Of the town.
According to the story printed in a To-
cal paper, after her return to Eureka from
Miles seminary, III er beauty and dashing
manner captured the little town and also
the heart Of Frank Mills. a nephew Of ID.
o. Mills. Young Mills was very devoted
in his attentions, and in order to stop the
affair Nellies parents sent her to San
Francisco. She was then 15 years old, and
seemed to care for nothing but to have a
good time. Already her tastes were ex-
pensive, and she showered her favors on
anybody who had the wealth and inclina-
tion to cater to her pleasure. Up to 1884,
as far as was known, Nellie's heart was
whole, but in that year she became smit-
ten with Henry Neustredtter, who was
popularity known as Judy" on account
of his nose, which was a standing remi-
niscence of the old time Punch and Judy
show.
Ben Cohen, Nellie's father, was de-
lighted when she showed her preference
for Neustredtter. Neustredtter, who
was then, as now, the agent of a well
known brand of cigars, was not in gffluent
circumstances, but he was making good
income, aud when he finally married Nell
lie, in 1884, he set up a nice little estab-
lishment on Sutter street, between Tay-
lor and Jones.
Business called Neustredtter to Portland
and they, therefore, removed there and
alternated between that city and San
Francisco until 1887. Before the close OF
that year Nellie was, in one sense of the
word, going to the dogs" She dressed
expensively, wore good jewelry, and in
many ways showed she was handling
plenty of money-far too much, in fact,
from what she could get from her hus-
band. Many and many an evening she
sat down to dinner and supper at swell
resorts with choice spirits like Porter
Ashe, Fred Webster, Tom Williams and
Harry Neouve, and she achieved her rep.
utation as a thoroughbred, because nc
pace could be set that was too fast for her.
She, however, managed to fool her hus.
band, and he did not know anything was
wrong until one day she told him she was
going to New York to visit some of hei
relatives, and away she went.
After her arrival in Gotham strange
stories came to her husbands ears. He
learned that her trip to New York was In
company with a crowd, one member Of
which was the celebrated Laura Edelman
OF Los Angeles Laura had a record Of
her own. She was one of the most beau.
| tiful women In southern California, but
the moral traces could not hold her, and
one day she let every one know she had
| kicked them over by deserting her hus
Il band and child.