The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-05-23
VIOLET. CASE AGAIN
Courts Haven't Seen the Last
of That Scandal.
FEARFUL LETTER TO JIM
From His Fool Wife When
She Went Stranded.

The Pittsburg Clarke divorce suit Is
This time the violet Bride" will kndle
the flames with a suit for alimony. She
will strive to piece together the bits OF
her shattered ideals with a substantial
share OF the estate Of her late papa-in-
Iaw-how substantial is just now agitat-
ing Pittsourg society.
The value of the estate of the late mil
nonaire, Charles J. Clarke, has been
guarded jealousy, according to directions
in his last testament. No account or in
ventory of it has ever been fled 1t was
known that to 'Jim,'' the plaintiff in the
recent celebrated Clarke divorce suit. was
left one-twelfth of his papa's fortune.
One-twelfth of millions may obviously
mean millions or it may mean merely
thousands. Which has long been a mat
ter of public interest. Mrs. Clarke's suit
for divorce will reveal the extent of one
twelfth of the late Charles j. Clarke
fortune.
1t is current gossip that the. deceased
Pittsburg multi-millionaire would turn in
his grave to know that through his daugh-
ter-in-law, Esther Bartlett, his business
secrets were TO be aired for the gratifica-
ton Of the curious. A secret not so care
fully guarded was that "JimS' father
disapproved of the lovely Esther. So
much SO, indeed, that after his sons mar
riage to her he directed that his ''one-
twelfth should be held in trust, and at
his death even the interest of that amount
should go to any children he might leave
by any wife other than this same Esther
Bartlett Clarke.
This was the status of affairs at the
time of Papa Clarkes death last fall.
There was another secret that he prob
ably suspected Indeed he had predicted
K The anniversary of his sons love-
match was spent by him and his bride
in the divorce court
James King Clarke had forced his wife
there to defend her honor. In his suit he
had named two correspondents, MacIn-
tosh Kellogg, who furnished the violet in
cidenr which caused Mrs. Clarke to be
known as the violet BRIDE and
anotheg. .a is .l-se .tm
For days Pitttsburg society women and
club men lent their attention to the curl
Gus revelations brought forth by fash
ionable honeymoon in New York.
On both sides Of this match for a few
weeks discdnctively called a love-match.
there were good family connections and
much gold They we're, however, power
less to cement happiness. In the divor &c
court this was made evident to the wor
at large.
little over a year ago James King
Clarke, in spite of his millionaire father S
objections and warnings, fell in love with
a Washington belle, the daughter of Colo
mel John Bartlett. His courtship and his
marriage followed almost simultane )usly
the most remarkable series of incidents
happened.
A former admirer attached himself to
them on their very wedding trip 10 New
York In spite of the good old adage that
diderenuates decidedly the attractions CT
two versus three, he accompanied them
even into the bridal suite of the Holland
house.
He drove alone with the bride in a
hanson while the obHging Jim" walked
Then this same third party, Kellogg
the correspondent in the Clarke divorce
suit, became responsible for the cele-
brated incident of the violets. The bunch
of purple flowers which were worn by
Mrs James King Clarke on the third day
Of her honeymoon. and which left their
traces on the manly shirt front of Mr.
Kellogg were, by the testimony of the
aggrieyed husband, shown to have cost
about Sc, and to have been soma six
inches IN diameter.
The incident of their mark on the
bosom Of another was explained by the
wife simply enough After an evening at
Weber and Fields and light supper at
the Imperial, they had naturally re-
turned to the bridal chamber at the Hol-
land. Mr.. Kellogg had accompanied them
and. naturally. returned with them.
That naturally is Mrs. Clarke's. She
flung it recklessly into her testimony until
warned by her counsel not to make what
IN legal parlance is known as an "argu-
ment"
According to the bride Of a couple OF
days, in the momentary absence of her
loving husband, Mr.. Kellogg had petit
toned for her vioIets. the violets that
had rested against her heart She had
reiinUuished them TO make him happy,
and he. presumably 70 guard the happi-
ness OF all three. had thrust them out Of
sight into his shirt front Just as the
groom returned 10 his nest
Alas. the vioIets had left a suspicious
trace on the immaculate shirt front OF
Mr.. Kellogg, or the case Of Clarke versus
/ Clarke might never have been
They may have considered this purple
evidence in no sense indenble since the
celebrated suit ended for the time he ny
with their failure to agree as % any in
fidelity on the part Of the bride a, that
time the groom himself vas reccnc',ed
The couple kissed and made up. Mutual
and triple forgiveness was granted all
/ around. and once more the trio continued
/ or their honeymoon.
Apparently, except for trihing disturb
ances, such as the brides refusal 10 live
IN dirty Pittsburg. her husbands home.
/ and marked coldness toward him. they
were happy, That the husband was not,
! however. exclusively occupied In wooing
( may be deduoed from the evidence he was
able TO supply in the court room.
lie did what 5eai0as husbands usually
do, only generally they wait. unsuspicious
az least until the wooinE tine has spent
! Itself He hired a private detective to
dog the footsteps Of his young bride. the
I woman whom he some time before mar
rage said he would have whether she
loved him or net She had been f-1Shten-
ed by an episode OF lis while at Prince
ton college He had fallen in love. 4
troubled her 70 think some other Woman
had claimed 4 share os his hasrs SNA
confessed she could never love him as
much again.
These words % hers REQUIRED TO him