Arizona republican., 1898-01-15
She Was the Richest Woman in.
 the French Capitol
AMERICAN AND A YANKEE
As We'll Known In Gay Paris as
 Is Bernhardt
Remarkable Career of the Wife of q Patent Medicine Maker-xpe mt Fortunes LaVishly in Dressing and Entertaining.

i Paris, Jan. 1.-The funeral cere- i mony of Mrs. Josephine Southwick
 Aver, took place today at he Ameri-
 can church
 | She was the richest woman in Paris,
 had the costliest diamonds, the larg- l est number of gowns, the finest horses
 than any woman in the city. He.
 wealth was estimated at $20,00O ,000;
 her income at $2,OOO, 900, and she spent
 every dollar of it. Although she was | liberal contributor to charities and
 assisted many poor American young 1 men and women who appealed to her l for aid, most of her expenditures were
 for the qualification of her love of dis
 play. She purchased one of the larg-
 est and most magnificent private pal 1 aces in Paris, located in the aristocratic Saint Germain quarter, and furnished 1t at fabulous expense, and about
 ten years ago, soon after she took
 possession, gave a series of entertain
 ments that astonished the most ex-
 travagant princes of Europe.
 | Of late years she has been in the
 habit of giving her entertainments
 elsewhere for a peculiar reason. It is
 said that she never appeared in public
 twice in the same gown; that she pur-
 chased from 200 to 300 costly dresses
 every year, and that she never gave
 one away, put when it was once worn
 it was placed upon wire dummy set 1 up in one of the rooms of her house, ! where she could look at 1t and enjoy Its beauties herself Her collection of 1 gowns increased so rapidly that i. filled her great house from cellar to garret.
 ! All her parlors, drawing rooms, bed
 rooms and dining rooms were filled
 with lay figures clad in beautiful ball | dresses, many of which cost S1,0O0
 each. They were even stored in the
 kitchen. The only part of the house
 that was not occupied with them were
 chambers for herself and her servants.
 a small reception room and a breaks
 fast room in which she took all her
 meals. At the time of her death this
 collection must have represented sev-
 eral thousand dresses.
 Mrs. Aver was the best known wo-
 man In the American colony. She
 was onp of fhn hoct lno,,-,, ,.r,-. . Par1s- She was as familiar to the public as Sarah Bernhardt. Her ap- pearance was as peculiar as her ec- centricities. In her desperate fight against death and age she employed a small army of attendants. She had a skillful physician employed, whom she Is said to have paid 25,OOO francs a year for his exclusive services. He examined her carefully every morning and evening and gave her remedie r for the slightest symptoms of ailment that he could perceive.
 She had masseur from Sweden
 said to be the most skillful in Europe who rubbed her twice day; she had a maid who did nothing but paint hsr 5 face and her eyebrows. Like the
 wife of Nero, she bathed in milk, and there was not a trick known to the art Of beauty that she did not prGc. : tice in order to give her a youthful appearance. Although she was ovel 70, at distance she looked like a wo : man of 35, but when one observed her closely, her face was so completely ; ; made up that she seemed to wear z mask
 Mrs. Aver was a genuine Yankee
 She was born and bred in Lowell
 Mass, and married Dr. Aver while hl o was drug clerk in that city. Shr
 came of good family, and at on, :, time was school teacher. Dr. Aver # first medicine was a cough remedy d which proved so profitable that h. ,+ abandoned the general drug business and went to compounding patent medi o cines exclusively until he became tn n largest manufacturer in that line il
 the world.
 ,s Mrs. Aver went to Paris becaus et she could not secure the social posi- r. tion she sought in this country. Sh " tried Boston, New York and Washing at ton, and built a beautiful palace a f. Newport, but eighteen or twenty year ,e ago she gave up the fight and move Ia her household goods to Paris, wher
 her wealth and her diamonds and he ,d dresses gave her all the distinction -b she desired. She leaves three chil ix dren, two sons and widowed daugh s ter, who live in Fifty-seventh stree
 in New York city. .4