The Washington herald., 1908-01-19

oi 1diilputN dHHullet- 10 JluBe By ltie
results. the union has been from the be-
+ ginning as unhappy as Benjamin Thaw
the head OF the Pittsburg family. dread
ed that it might be- He is the half
brother Of the countess. Mrs Mary
/ Thaw, the second wife of Benjamin
/ Thaw's father, was as bitterly opposed
. from the first TO her daughters wedding.
In point Of fact. apparently the only
/ persons eager for it were the earl per-
/ haps because Of the financial gain that
/ it would be to him. and Miss Thaw.
/ When the earl. as Eric Hope, his stage
name, sued the Morning Telegraph in
/ this city for libel seven years ago, get
/ ting a judgment from that paper, much
/ Of his past history came out The an
swer to his complaint set forth that he
/ had Travelled IN Australia, acting as a
woman ballet dancer, with face, arms,
and breast painted and made up as to
/ voice and manner so as to give rather
more than a colorado imitation OF a
/ chorus woman. At the time Of that trial
newspaper clippings were put in evidence
! that told Of the exploits Of the titled
young person appearing at a charity per
fOTmance In Australia IN that guise 1t
also was put in the answer that queen
Victoria was greatly incensed when she
learned that the earl had been received
at the Government House in Tasmania
in spite Of his operatic performance. II
was alleged further that the Government
House i'm Melbourne had been closed
against him, says the New York Sun.
The suit which Eric Hope brought was
TO show that he had been damaged be-
cause the newspaper had said that he
could not act and. had mentioned other
items along the same lines. It was point
cd out, however. that in the public ex-
animation Of the Earl Of Yarmouth in
the Bankruptcy Court in London in June,
1900. De had testified that although his
contract salary paid by Charles FrOhman
Tor performances in America In 1883 had
been az first $50 q week, il had been re-
dueed later TO 800 When he retired
from the stage DE engaged in the wine
trade for q short tine as an agent for
the firm of Roosevelt & Schuyler. of this
CITY
II was brought out in the trial that
the earl had borrowed on one occasion
SO from his valet. which he had not re-
paid The valet also testified as to "a dog
transaction. The earl had three dogs,
and the valet arranged for him 10 sell
one % a woman for SZ5. After the deal
was arranged the earl said that the price
would have 10 be Ssj. AS the valet al
ready had promised the dog 20 the wom-
an. Ee paid The extra s. from his own
pocket. Later he told the earl about the
s.. which he did not get back
The suit was for S15.JcJ and the iUdg-
maut was Of $500 which. with an al
Iowauce and the little matter Of fhe costs
Of Howe & Hummel. the eaTTs lawyers.
brought the sum up 10 S1.gS7.5I Directly
the verdict was announced q judgment
was entered against the young man in
favor Of George O. B0idt, of the Waldorf
Astoria for $l0619 for food and drink
supplied 10 the earl between September
I and October 4, 1900. The earl paid no
attention To that suit.
The main fact brought out in the libel
suit was that with his title the earl was
worth considerably more 10 the manage
meuts of theaters than without H. His
value without it was assessed by witness
IS IS from cents To nothing.
II may be said that from that time in
1901 until IN the early part OF 1893 the
Earl of Yarmouth. or Eric Hope. or what
ever he chose 10 be called. was not much
before the public II was on February .
that word came from Washington that
Alice Cornelia Thaw had departed from
,hat city for Dungeness. the Thaw place
at Fernaudiua, Fla. l. was also an
uounced the ardent earl had taken a
train there too and that an engagement
might be expected soon
Other persons said that they believed
that Mrs. Thaw, the mother of Alice
Thaw. had sent her away from Wash
iuEIGH I'm hopes that she would be able
to shake off the titled young person, TO
whom such a marriage would mean q
cleaning up Of debts.
In view Of the statements from Wash
iugtOn that the earl had been a guest
on many occasions at receptions al the
home OF Mrs. ThaW in Washington. some
persons wondered how ne came 10 be
t2-re at all If Mrs. Thaw did not ike
him. That was cleared up when it be-
came known that the person who made
the earl a welcome guest there was Har-
ry X. Thaw. Harry Thaw had me- the
earl in Paris and there they became I
very great intimaJes. On Harry Thaw's /
invitation the earl came over TO visit I
the family in the latter part of 1892
The earl was pleased indeed. 1t is said 1
that he did not at first fix his fancies /
upon Miss Alice Thaw, but on a younger
member Of the family. a niece of Miss I
Alice. It is said also that Miss Eliza /
beth Burd Thaw. this niece, did not ac- /
,ept the hand and title when offered and /
that q transfer of the hand and title 1
then was planned by the earl The earl /
denied all of that afterWard. as he al /
the statement that Mrs. Thaw had sent
her daughter Alice to Florida 20 get her
away from him. II was through Abe /
Iumunel that a statement TO this effect /
was made:
Mrs. Thaw wished US to go to Fernan-
lima and become better acquainted be
ore announcing our engagement, and it
was quite settled that it would be Off
tally announced on our return. Mrs
rhaw went Unexpectedly TO FeUnandina
.olely to bring Miss Thaw back here and
o protect her from being worried by
epoTterS. as there was no one else 10 Z
accompany her and she did not wish Us
o travel back together. We could afford
% laugh at the violent opposition" 4.
tories but these later ones are too seri-
,Us for me to ignore, giving color to the
dea that I am pursuing Miss Thaw for
Ter fortune. 1t is an injustice to Miss
'haw."
Announcement OF the engagement was
made from Washington on February Il,
9j3 Directly afterward Mrs Thaw
losed her Washington house and left
or Florida. ending the series of festivi-
les that hId been going on for some time
n the Capital. At that time no date
vas set for the wedding
Until that ceremony was completed IN
'ittsburg some time after there was
g crop of TumOTs. Decidedly it was (