The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-28
LILY LANGTRY'S PLIGHT
IN DANGER OF LOSING ABINGDON
BAIRD's PRINCELY GIFTS.
Must Produce u Deed, Which She
Claims to Have Lost, or Fight the
Squire's Executors in Court.

ST LOUIS, Jan. 27.-An exclusive cable
gram to the Globe-Democrat from London
says: Mrs. Langtry is about TO appear as
defendant in a suit which will entail the lay
ing bare to the public of her relations with
the late Abingdon Baird, the millionaire
sporting man, who was well known in the
United States as the patron and financial
hacker of the pugilist Charley Mitchell 1t
may be remembered that he was one of
Mrs. Langtry's most conspicuous admirers,
and that they were much in each other s
company not even the black eye which she
is said to have received at his hands in one
of his fits of drunken jealousy having been
able to interrupt the intimacy of their
friendship He is credited with having law
ished large sums of money upon her, and to
have atoned for the black eye with the gift
of famous race horse, as well as sum of
money alleged to have amounted to much
as 100000. At any rate, when, shortly after
this, he died suddenly, and the executors of
his estate made an inventory thereof they
found that the property in question, as
well as the horse, was in Mrs Langtry' 5
possession. Called upon to return them TO
the estate she alleged that they had been
presented to her by the squire, and when
asked to substantiate this allegation she
added that somewhere among her papers
she had q deed of gift covering the prop
erty in question, and signed by the squire.
IhlS Is quite probable, for Mrs. Langtry
is too clever and shrew a business woman
not to have known that the squire had been
reduced by dissipation to an exceedingly
precarious state of health. and that his af-
fairs would be subjected to the most rigor-
Gus investigation on the part of his rela-
tlVes as soon as ever he died, with the OBJ
Ject of discovering to what extent he had
been feeced by the crowd who lived at his
expense and reduced his enormous fortune
TO less than one-third of it's original size.
Ihat Mrs. Langtry has, however, lost this
deed of gift is apparent from the following
advertisement which has been appearing in
the leading newspapers here:
Information required concerning deed
OF gift, signed by a well-known sporting
man, now deceased by which a race horse
and large sum of money were decided to a
lady. The deed is supposed to have been
lost In Mayfair in 1893. In the event of the
lost deed being established the party giving
Information leading to its discovery will be
literally rewarded
The fact of the matter is that the execu-
tors of the Baird estate are of the opinion
that they have given Mrs. Langtry time
enough to establish her claim and that in
asmuch as she has failed to produce any
property in question, she must either sur
render it or else face d court of law. She
has chosen the latter alternative, and fail
ing in the recovery of the lost deed of gift
Will explain to the court the circumstances
under which she received both the race
horse and the property from the squire.
1nasmuch as the latters relatives belong
to the Marlborough House set, and are on
the most intimate terms with the Prince of
Wales, it looks as if Mrs. LangIry no long
er enjoyed the good will support of the
heir apparent, who, 1t may be recalled, in
CURED two months ago the indirect censure
of the Jockey Club for introducing her into
the Jockey Club Enclosure at New Market
at the last October meeting.