The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-09-25


eumed Name but Beartbroken-In HeI
Petition for q Divorce She will Ask that
She be Restored to Her Maiden Name
She has Money and will Not Suffer in
that way-Tcrrible Results of Being
Found Out in England - Cases in
Point.
Chicago, Sept. 24-Mary H. Krout
writes to the Inter Ocean from London:
Yesterday / took tea with most char
ming and interesting Irish gentlewo-
man, whose sympathy is as broad as
her culture. She had just returned
from Switzerland, where she had been
travelling with the poor, heartbroken
wife Of Oscar Wilde, woman famous
for her beauty, to whom Robert Brow
ming indited the famous dedication "A
Poet to POEM and in whose drawing
room, but one short year ago, might
have been seen gathered together the
genius and fashion and culture of the
best London society.
AS we sat chatting over our teacups
my attention was attracted by the
framed photograph of a beautiful wo-
man, holding upon her knees a child
as beautiful as herself. His chubby
arms were loosely twined about her
neck, and his cheek was pressed against
hers. 1t was a photograph of Mrs.
Wilde. taken five years ago. She sent
a copy Of it 10 Oliver Wendell Holmes
who was one Of her warm and admiring
friends, and he wrote back in his play
full and characteristic letter of acknowl-
eigment: Promise me that you will
never show the picture to any man I'M
der seventy"
OF the anguish which the poor, wron-
ged crea ture has suffered ! shall not
write, for the sorrow of a broken heart
Is too sacred a thing to be given over
to public comment. Suffice it to say
that her husbands conviction, the sale
of her home, the stripping and scatter
ing of its treasures 10 the four winds
all came, an avalanche Of ruin within
one week To an American accustom-
ed to the greater justice and liberality
of our courts toward women, it is evil
dent on every side that the English
law was framed by men for the advan-
tage of men. There is no instance,
except in the case of proved and actual
crime. where there is not most cruel
discrimination against women. But
for an error in the wording of the indict
ment a technical misuse of the term
"misdemeanor.' the felon's sentence
would have been longer, the wife could
have secured an immediate divorce, and
much of the fortune seized by his cred
itors would have been saved for the
children.
They are now with their mother, to
whom they are devotedly attached. She
is not, as has been said. living under
an assumed name, but will resume her
maiden name when the decree of di-
vorce is granted. which will be soon.
Her many friends in America Will re-
joice to know that her ample private
fortune will enable her to establish a
home somewhere; but it will never be
in London, which she has quilted for
ever. For. while she still has faithful
friends here, still the English avoid
ance OF those who have suffered dis
grace, not only through their own evil
deeds but through the guilt of others.
IS much more marked. immediate, and
lasting than it ever Is with us. No
where in the so-alled civilized world
IS the sin, not of actual offense. but of
being found out, so ruthlessly punished
Whether il be a bosom friend of the
Prince of Wales or of the obscure no.
body, there is no graduation Of penalty.
The offender drops out Of sight as eff
fectually as if he were drowned in the
uttermost parts of the sea, and his
kith and kin hide themselves in obscu-
rity and try to evade the cenSure which
they must suffer for and with him.
There is, apparently, no such thing in
England s an ex-convict living down
a crime. He comes out Of a prison a
marked man. The broad arrow which
is stamped upon his prison garb might
as well be branded upon his forehead.
He is henceforth an outcast, and is
known and shunned.
More than this, the English law never
forgetS; those who escape and so avoid
arrest can never return. They are
doomed to Punishment, upon pain of
immediate apprehension should they
venture to set foe upon the shores of
their native land. The continental cit
les. most of them, have their quota of
eXiled criminals. some of them titled
and once honora bly, distinguished.
Among many other interesting things
my friend told me a charming story
of a visit she paid to the house where
John Ruskin had lived thirty ears ago.
1t was in sight Of Mont Blank, and he
had a little chalet built in the garden
from which he could see the sun rise
over the mountain and study the cloud
effects. Of which he has written so
The man who had bought
the house had been a garcon. who had
run errands for Ruskin and had been
much in his company. He had been
poor. but had prospered, and the first
use he made Of the fortune he had ac-
ouired was > buy his old friends
house and restere it. precisely as it was
when Ruskin lived there. When he
learned that his visitors had also been
Ruskin's friends he told the workmen
and they gathered about the two wo-
men delighted. ana asking A thousand
questions. Even the little children who
had never seen him. but to whom he
was a beloved tradition. were eager
10 hear all that could be told.
They were waited upon by the old wo-
man that had been his house:naid. and
she also told them innumerable stories
Of his gentlenesS and sweetness and
They remembered and talked Of
him with the tenderest affection" said
the narrator. "YoE would have thought |
he han lived among them only yester- |
day. and IL was thirty years ago"
To those who recall Ruskin's bitter |
animadversions OF Philistinisms. and |
who might TINS infer that he was
harsh and uuloved. this little anecdote |
will be as entertaining and delightful |
as il was 10 me.