St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-09-24
AN ESPIEGLE NUN THERE.
A Woman Of Many Adven-
- lures, Particularly Matri-
%.t6z monial Ones.
SHE HAD A DEAL OF SKILL,
And Had the Satisfaction of
Turning Down" Mrs.
Paran Stevens.

girl in the first flush of womanhood left
her Alabama home to enjoy by invita-
ton some of the pleasures of New York
life, which, by reason of fortuitous cir
c~umstances, had been opened to her
through all influential friend, says the
N W York Press. The girls name was
Alva Smith or Smythe. as she elected to
call 1t after reaching the aristocratic
neighbOrhood of New York, and the
influential friend was Mrs. Commodore
Vanderbilt, also a Mobile girl, by whom
the old commodore had been fascinated.
On the female side the family influence
was concentrated in the n word
Crawford" 1t represented gentility,
prettiness and poverty. The old com
modore took care of it all III both the
male and female shape.
1t was the writer's privilege to meet
Miss Smith a few days after her arrival
in the city. She was then what we here
call "green." Nothing about her indi-
Gated even a promise Of the future Mrs.
w. X. Vanderbilt. With her hostess
she lived for a while in the quiet sur
ing and going as any other young
Southern girl would do in the delight
of a metropolitan introduction, favored
with the furbelows and social fancieS of
a group of mOneybags.
Not long after her arrival society was
thrown into a flutter over the
mentt that William K. Vanderbilt would
be the Koh.i-noor of a reception ar
ranged in his honor as a formal welcome
home from a trip to Europe. What this
may have had to do with his future no
body is supposed to know except those
who were most directly interested.
This is not the place to n wer the ques-
ton whether a matchmaker was at
work.
At any rate, Miss Smith was also in a
flutter. She had brought from her
Alabama home but a few dresses, and
the ""swellesl" of these, ever according
to her W ideas. would cut but a sorry
figure in the function to which she had
been invited. In truth. however, they
were very nice, and while they did not
equal of the creations by Worth,
she really looked her best" When
moving through the salons of her
hostess her grace, sprightliness in COLI
~versation and distinctive individuality
made people forget her clothes. 1.-The
gown"
That night Willie Vanderbilt's heart
was like a photograph plate. and his
kodak took a picture. A year later
AlYa Smith became his wife. Her dream
was more than fulfilled. The little
Alabama girl had become a multi-mill-
IioDairess. From that day, however,
heriamDition knew no bounds. The
ipaSt was thrown aside. Alva Smith
was transformed. Her school coinpan-
ions and girl friends, the old neighbors
in the quiet little Alabama cottage were
as much ignored as if they never had
been born. To use a vulgariSm, she
''lost her head" and scared to heights
where eagles wings sometimes get
scorched. If she has overstepped her
ideal and dropped behind her the in
genuous personality of that first pres
ence, it is her own fault. But others
have done the
Some of the incidents that mark her
subsequent career are worthy Of mention
because they introduce upon h social
stage other characters. The great Van
derbilt fancy ball in March, 1888, will
be recalled among the attempts of
fashionable leaders to Guido each other
in their efforts 10 spend their husbands
money. Many vera hidden on that Oc-
casion, but not all attended.
Among the society reporters that
evening was a brilliant young woman,
selected by reason OF her beauty, in
telligence and shrewdness. She pre-
scented herself i'll the costume of a nun,
and it is safe 10 say that a more attrac-
tive person in the. demure dress of
that order made a sensa-
ton. Her companion was the we'll
known journalist, William Henry Hurl-
but, who for the II represented a
Spanish knight. The reporter was Mrs.
W,;rht wan tho uifa of 1'hOrpoc pOyvar
O'Connor ("Tay Pay"), a member of the
English parliament and a famous news.
paper man. At the age of eighteen she
was married to Frank Gazzaway, a
writer; at twenty she was divorced. At
t%wenty.One she married a Capt. Wright
of the army, who afterward shot him.
self in Washington. Then she entered
one of the departments i'll that com-
pound of Adventures, and later came 10
New York. where for awhile she was a
soubrette in the Union Square theater.
After thai she fell into the evil ways of
reporting.
On the occasion mentioned, the ball,
this pretty wOman reporter enjoyed as
many tIiumphs as any of the bellies of
the charmed circle. One of the creme
de la creme Boston lawyers so far lost
his heart that he Indicted a sonnet to
The Nun of the ' Vanderbilt Ball." and
it went the rounds OF the press.
While seated in her reportorial ca
pacity in the ladies' dressing room TAX
ing notes of those who passed, a stately
dame entered. she went to the toilet
table, arranged her hair, shook out her
gown of satin and lace, saw that every
thing personal was all right. and pre-
pared to enter the grand salon. AS she
was about to pass the threshold, the
pretty nun, with pad in hand, stepped
forward.
b''Beg pardon, but will you kindly give
me your name?"
"Stevens -Paran Stevens" was the
reply, while with a stately toss of the