Evening journal., 1894-09-18
NEWPORT INTERESTED.
Mrs. Vanderbilt to Open Her
Marble Palace There.
MAY BE STEP TOWARD DIVORCE.

GUST as the Rest Of Society Is Getting Ready
to Leave Mrs. wmie X. Prepares Co Ar
rlve--P Perhaps 20 Establish Residence
IN Rhode Island.
NEWPORT, r. L., Sept 1s.-At tho fng
end Of tho season, whom everybody else is
getting out of Newport, Mrs Willie X.
Vanderbilt has given orders to have the
famous marble palace put in order Her
trusted housekeeper, Mrs. Bolliet, is here
experimenting tho work
Mrs. Nanderbilt was IN Paris yesterday.
II the present plans are carried out she
win not arrive in Newport until October.
BY that time all the cottage shutters will
be up all the society people will he gone,
and so far as the locality whore the mar
bic palace Is situated is concerned New
port will be as stupid and uninteresting
as q fishing village.
There will be no social life there for
Mrs. Vanderbilt then She must put up
with the oompanlonship Of few shop
keepers wives and possibly a dozen or
more secluded society ladies, who mako
themselves more or less conspicuous by
driving in dogcarts in the afternoon and
causinS people to wonder why they stop
there.
Divorce Easy There.
The popular supposition Is that society
ladies from all the country over who
spend a dreary winter in Newport, remote
from everything that makes life worth
living to society woman, do SO for the
purpose Of establishing the statutory resi
dence for divorce proceedings In nine cases
out of ten this proves to be the fact. Next
to South Dakota It IS castor to got di-
yorce In Rhode Island than It Is in any
other state in the Union. Besides It Is easy
to run down to New York for week Of
enjoyment, while South Dakota is In
the wilderness.
Tho divorce laws Of Rhode Island nre
extremely liberal. Here is a summary of
them:
Amy case where marriage is void or
voidable by law, where either party IS for
crime deemed oivilly dead or from alb
sence or other circumstances presumed TO
be dead; extreme cruelty, willful deser-
tion for five years or for a shorter time,
In discretion of court; continued drunken
ness, neglect or refusal on part Of husband
to suitably provide for wife, or for any
other gross misbehavior and wiclSednoss
violation Of the marriage covenant, and
whore parties have lived apnrt for 10
years. Residence Of one year required No
statutory provision as to marriage.
There has boon no reconciliation. This
is stated upon the authority Of the person
who gave the orders to have the Newport
house put in readiness.
No Reconciliation.
m
the order to open the marble palace looks
like q reconciliation. To people who know
anything at all about Newport in winter
1t indicates exactly tho reverse. 1t is prac-
tieally penal servitude to woman of Mrs.
Vanderbilts caliber Look at the CON
trastl All other fashionable folk are shut
ting up their homes, boarding up the
doors and windows, putting chains across
the front gates, fencing in the private
roads, sending home their horses and dogs,
and in fact doing everything possible to
make the Cliffs a bowling Wilderness.
Newport in winter Is the embodiment OF
misery.
just at the time of this exodus Mrs.
Vanderbilt orders her house thrown open
and says that she is going to reside there
for the winter with her children. Moth
/ ing is said about Mr.. Vanderbilt going
there. In fact, be Is not going.
When Mrs Vanderbilt reached Paris
with her children and began to make prep.
arations for coming home, Mr.. Wander
bilt was with some friends in his shoot
ing box in Scotland. No communication
has taken place between them except
| through the intervention of third parties
since period somo weeks previous to the
time that the story Of their quarrel was
printed and the reasons for 1t.
Mrs. Vanderbilt has not yet determin-
cd her date Of sailing. She may 20 to
London first 1t Is expected that she VIII
reach New York the latter part Of this
month
Mr.. Vanderbilt will not accompany her
He viii probably cross in the Valiant so
as to reach here about the middle Of Octo-
ber He has business appointments made
long ago which no must keep and it Is on
account of these business appointments
that he Is coming home
| There is not the remotest possibility, ns
matters stand just now, that his wife viii
be in New York when he arrives But In
/ spite of the order opening the Newport
house some friend Of the family claims
that reconciliation is not yet beyond
range Of possibility. In fact when Mr..
I and Mrs. Vanderbilt come within the In
( fluence of their immediate relatives it is
| considered likely that the proposed appli-
cation for a formal separation will be
abandoned Other friends take differ
ent view, and this latest move seems to
| justify It,
To Establish a Residence.
Mrs. Vanderbilt's housekeepor arrived
IN Newport on Sunday and began active
preparations at once
Ii soon became the chief topic of oon-
yersation in the clubs and among the few
oottagers who remain there Opinions
wore divided Some folks claim TO have
received Information by lettor that a rec
onoiliation had beon effected, and that
the Vanderbilts would reopen their New
York house soon after Thanksgiving.
Tho more knowing ones secuted this
proposition for reasons mentioned in this
article They claimed to know Mr.. and
Mrs Vanderbilt better than to assume
that they would keep open house in New.
port when thore was nobody there TO par
ticipate in their hospitality. 1t was ap-
parent to them that Mrs. Vanderbilt had
taken this step to establish her legal res
idence. In fact, the marble palace belong.
I1aa A.