Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-08-06
MARRIAGE BROKERS.
Thrifty Matchmakers and Their Fair
Victims.

While there are some people who re-
gard matchmaking as a mere pastime
and are content with the sport which
it affords in the shape of more or less
innocent intrigues, there are others
who look upon it as matter of bust
ness and as a bona fde industry Of
profitable character.
Of these latter some take their re-
enumeration in the shape of jewels,
others in social preferment, and others
again. in cold cash, like, for instance,
the gentleman who claims to have ne
gotiated the match between Prince Carl
Isenburg- Birstein and an American
heiress by the name of Miss Lewis, Of
New York, and who is now suing the
prince for the sum Of 900 in the
shape of commission on the fortune Of
his American bride. 1t is not often
that the obliging broker is bold enough
to sue as in the instance of Prince
CARTS former friend, and the fact that
the latter should have ventured to do
so shows that he has but little social
position or prestige to lose. But as a
rule the brokers, especially when they
belong to society, have at their dis
pOsal far more efficaciOus means Of
compelling payment than the courts Of
law, and cases have been known of
couples who, having failed to fulfil the
stipulations of the pTenuptial contract
for the remuneration of the broker,
have been literally driven out of So
ciety and into exile.
If a very strongly defined impression
prevails that the majority of the So
called international marriages-that is
to say, matrimonial alliances between
impecuniOus but titled Europeans and
American heiresSes- been
brought about by brokers, and, above
all, brOkeresses, working in the matter
for the sake of pecuniary reward, the
matchmakers in question have only
themselves to thank for the suspicion
to which they are exposed. For when
a dame VIGOROUSLY impecuniOus takes
a leading part in bringing about a
union between a pauper noble and one
of the rich daughters of Uncle Sam it
is naturally imagined that she, that is
to say, the matchmaker, derives some
species of benefit from the husband or
fl ON the wife for her share in bringing
about the alliance. Sometimes these
suspicious are unfOunded and unjust,
but in the majority of cases they are
quite true. Thus there is at Paris, at
the present moment, an old countess
a lady of American birth (whOse hus-
band, although a French nObleman,
distinguished himself fighting as a
union general during the civil war;,
who VIGOROUSLY makes living from
this particular form of brokerage. In
Vulnerable are the matches which she
has brought about between rich Amer
lean girls and impoverished mobiles of
the old world. But the feat of whiCE
she is more proud than any other,
and which has brought more grist to
her financial mill than all the others
combined, is the union which she ne
gOtiated between Prince Roland Bona
parte and Marie Blanc, daughter of the
founder of the great gambling estab-
lishment at Monte Carlo. M. Blanc,
it may be remembered died, leaving a
colossal fortune to be divided between
his son Edmond and his two daughters,
one of whom married Prince COnstan-
tine RadziwiIl, and the other Roland
BOnaparte.
In view of these facts, it becomes in
teresting to look back and recall to
mind the names of those who have
taken the most active part in prOmOt-
ing international marriages and 10
speculate as to whether their motive
in the matter has been cash or mere
sport. One of the most persistent
matchmakers during the last ten years
has certainly been the daughter of Mrs.
Paran Stevens, Mrs. Arthur Paget, wife
of the gallant colonel of that name who
is an extra equerry of the prince of
Wales. It is to the good offices of Mrs.
Paget that are ascribed the marriage of
Count "BOnni" de Castellane and Miss
Anna Gould, of Miss Consuelo Wander
bilt and the duke IF Marlborough, as
Essex, while in the same way Mrs
ROnalds and Lady Randolph Churchill
have many international alliances to
their credit. Nor must that we'll known
lady be forgotten who received so
superb a diamond bracelet from the
wife of one of the Wealthiest of our
multi-millionaires for having succeed
ed in bringing British royalty to her
London house, and for having launched
her upon the sea of Mayfair fashion.
1t is worthy of note that in every
case the matchmaker has been an
American established in Europe, and
while there is some excuse for those
who, through the squandering of their
fortunes by their foreign husbands,
have been compelled to resort to this
species of industry as a means of live
lihood, yet there is none of those who
promote alliances Of this kind for the
mere sake of sport and pastime, since,
in nine cases out Of every ten, it means
taking good American dollars out of
this country, and the consignment of
a guileless daughter Of Uncle Sam to-
untold misery.
SCIENCE IN A MODERN WARSHIP.
Difference Between Naval Officers To-
day and Fifty Years Ago.