The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1900-01-10
.MILLlONAIRE'S
DUAL TRAGEDY.
He Deserted His Wife and
Four Children For An.
7 other Woman. y

der and the watchful eyes of a cap.
tain Of police, a detective and a
mounted patrolman, in South Brook
lyn Yesterday morning, ended a ro-
nance in the life Of Harry L. Chris
tian, millionaire, man-about-town,
subject of neighborhood gossip. His
widow and three of her four chill.
dren sat by the side Of his coffin,
which was lying in the house which
he had furnished for another wo-
man. At intervals the sobs of the
other woman could be heard coming
from a room far removed from that
in which the body lay.
A venerable preacher, Rev. II. S.
Darlington, pastor of the South
Second Street M. E. Church, made
futile efforts to overcome by the So
lemnity of his remarks. the tragedy
OF the occasion.
When they put the coffin in the
hearse the preacher and his wife
entered the first carriage. The
widow and her children entered the
second carriage, and in their laps
were placed two floral offerings,
the one pillar. of tuberoses, a
tribute from the woman who had
suffered, the other pillow of white
roses, inscribed in blue immortelles,
Papa from the children whose
suffering is to come.
Friends and relatives entered
the other carriages, and then, last
of all, came closed coach. driven
by man wearing a great fur cape.
Down the steps from the house came
a woman, and in her arms she car
ried big floral heart. 1t was the
woman who had been sobbing. Her
offering had not been in view in the
chamber of death. The closed coach
rested afar off during the ceremo-
MES in Greenwood cemetery and after
the mound over the coffin had been
formed woman stole from it, carry.
ing a floral heart. This she de-
posted on the brown grave.
The romance in the life of Harry
L. Christian was atawdry one, and
there is one way oltclling it. That
is to start at the beginning. There
are lessons in it thatmen who speak
i'll pulpits may utilize in cxpounding
from the text. quoted literally, "As
a man sows, that shall he reap
1t was something like IS years
ago when Hans Shristianson estab-
lished a brick, lime and lath bust
ness. The business grew, a part
rer was taken in, and the firm was
known as Christian a. Clark. 1t
was removed to Guw anus Canal and
Union streets. and about that time
Harry l.. Christian having arrived
at the age of eighteen, was put in
the office to qualify himself to carry
on the traffic that his father had
builded up.
Some fifteen years ago Hans Chris
tian died. His property was di-
vidcd between his widow and his
only son. The widow continued
the business and the son went ways
that the mother knew naught of.
One day he astonished her by
it would do no good to
give her name, for she died within
two years after her marriage.
Scarcely had the grass grown OH
her grave when Harry Christian
married Fannie Elizabeth Camp.
A second marriage did not tend
10 change the habits of Harry Chris
Han. His mother disowned him,
but he had plenty of money. He
his wife and neglected
her. At intervals she bore him
There were four inter-
vals-tour children. The Youngest
Of these is now three years old. The
eldest is ten years old. They were
at the funeral. The by is up the
State somewhere in the care of Mrs.
Christian s relatives.
Early in 1898 he presented to his
wife cottage at Scventv-scventh
street and Fifth avenue, Brooklyn.
Then he LETT her, after telling her
that he would give her All allowance
Of $lS5 a month.
About the time he left his wife he
met Lucy De Frcesc, the wife of
Tony De Frccae, a mechanic. The
home was broken up a year ago,
and at Eighty-cighth street and
Fort Hamilton avenue, Harry Chris
tian inauguratcd a new household
NJ the head of it was Lucy De
Frccse. ID.
Lucy De Frccsc is not prcpos-
:>cssing woman, but she was svmpa-
thctlc and she solaced Harry Chris
tlan, whose life was beginning to
tell on him. De Frccse vanished
and the child of De. Frecse lived
with his mother in the Fort Iamil-
ton avenue house. This child, a boy.
Is now twelve years old.
1t was not long before the house
hold began to stand out as the butt
of Cos sip. The story of Harry
Christian grew and spread until it
was generally known about Fort
Hamilton that his wife and Lucy
De Frecsc did their marketing at
the same stores.
Christian layished diamonds on
Lucy De Frccsc. In a stable near
the house he had five horses and
various styles Of carriages and
wagons. 1t happened frequently
that she drove up Fifth avenue past
the cottage where the wife lived.
1t anybody ever heard the wife
complain il is not on record. Some
times her lawyer, George W. Brewer
Park Commissioner in the Borough
of Brooklyn. was compelled to call
on Harry Christian when he grew
lax in hlspayments of $ls5 a month.
There were goings on in the
house at Eighty-eighth and Fort
Fort Hamilton avenue last summer.
Lucy De Freese invited her
brothcr-in-law. Louis Hamil and
his wife and children to visit her.
She invited her mother also. They
remained about a month and one
night Harry Christian threw them
all out.
Then She invited her bneh ,,J