Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1899-05-11
WHAT Will H|RFU|URE Be-
The Smart Set of New York
Wagging Tongues Regard
ing Her Social Position.
WHAT SHELOST AND WON
Her Millions Saved Her From the
Humiliation of Divorce Court
Publicity.

eality If ANY and the Decree VIII Stand
Was Somebody Paid Heavily?
New York, May 2.-What will so.
ciety do for the Perry Belmonts?
This is the question of the day wher-
ever members of the -Four Hundred
are gathered together.
There seems to be no question that
the woman, who Friday morning was
the wife of Henry II. Sloane and Fri
day night was the wife of ExCon-
greSsman Belmont, will make an i'm
mediate effort to Iesume her position
ut the head of the So-called exclusive
set.
1t was for this purpose that she came
to her husband, Il ''dowerless bride"
1t Is true that she has n handsome for
tune in her own right left her by her
father, the late Nj. Robbins. And this
she still retains.
But the palace in Seventy-second
street, given her by her late husband,
Ill her dover rights. the handsome
jewels, the horses, the plate, the pic
lures and all the other wealth of house
hold treasures which We're hers by vir-
tue of his generosity, she returned 10
him, and the avowed purpose of this
giving was that she might maintain
her status in society"
1t is true that Mrs. Sloane has made
no real sacrifice. In place of the hand
some Sloane jewels, she will wear the
almost priceless gems of the late Mrs.
August Belmont, ST., one of the rarest
sets of gems that the world outside of
royalty holds. Perry Belmont held
them in trust as heirlooms.
She will have two houses, as before
a town house on Fifth avenue, which
l., Il g., .,..x 4,
er year, and country house ut New
port. She will have the backing of
the most powerful segment of the
Newport-New York society. She will
have her own peerless beauty and her
husbands millions and social prestige
10 help her. And in addition to these
all. she will have courage which
knows no fear. The general telitf is
that she will win the battle.
She gives up one husband with 1000
600 and gains another worth $4,000
600. Her two daughters go to M.
Sloane.
Persons of statistical turn of mind
were figuring this morning on what
Mrs. Belmont has renounced and what
she has gained. 1t is Il fortune of
100000 for one of 6.000,000. But
when one gets up to $6.000,O00. they
dTSupu IL lilulhcS ITO IllleTeuCe- Alti
in the minds of women the Belmont
jewel casket-the casket which August
Belmont the elder searched the wide
world over for the wife who was al
ways true to him-were balm for Il
loss of more than S3,000,000
The secret divorce, which has not
been secret, and which. defeating the
ends of those who have tried to crush
down the facts and place the skeleton
behind sealed doors, has caused more
talk than any which preceded it since
another member of the Vanderbilt
family circle was divorced by the
same star chamber method.
1t is one of the curiosities of the law
If the Empire State that it permits Il
millionaire to place the character of his
wife under judicial scrutiny. may have
her condemned as an immoral woman
with nobody but the referee and the
lawyers cogDiZant of the evidence
against her, and may grant the hus-
band divorce, itself q condemnation
of her character and blackening Of
her good name. and all the time the
public be barred from knowledge
even that legal proceedings are being
held.
y poor woman, on the other hand
has her case dragged through the
courts without much regard for her
feelings. 1t matters not how beauti-
full she may be how much she has suf-
fered what excuse there be for her Of
fenSe, If she have committed any. if
she lack the Vanderbilt millions and
the Belmont influence there are no Sc
cret proceedings iii her case, though
possibly. if the judge so wills it. the
reference is tried in private.
Lawyers declare that the proceedings
were utterly irregular and. as a mat
ter of fact, Illegal. But there is no
one to contest its legality, and even il
ii We're obtained by collusion the d-
vorce will stand.
The case has not followed the course
of the usual secret divorce proceedings.
According to court rules and practice,
the entry of the order of reference.
with the name of the referee and the
placing of the cause on the calendar
of Part III of the Special Term for Il
confirmation of the report of the ref
cree were all omitted.
The law and practice by which the
many are hound were ignored in this
case, wherein the parties involved re-
presented two great names and two
Drodigious fortunes.
On April | Judge Truax signed an or
der for Il reference in n formal way,
both sides conscnting. The papers were
not filed. They disappeared. No no.
tice of the reference appeared in the
Law Journal. No record of the ap-
pOintment was made. Somebody was
paid heavily to keep the thing secret.
Who was it, and what is the market
price for secrecy.
After a short visit at Mrs. Sam How
lands, in Washington the Belmonts
will go to Kentucky where Mr.. Bel
mont has few fine horses, and then
off to Europe and Elysium.
To Take the Part of Uncle Sam.