The Washington herald., 1909-08-31


the wife of Admiral Joseph Giles Eaton,
retired, last night at her home in this
city defended the admiral and gave rea-
sons fo- the action Of her daughter
Mrs. Harrison, who returned from At
lantic City last Sunday, after q stay OF
about two weeks. said she had written
to her son-in-law while there. asking
him 10 stop. if possible. the charges be
ing made by her daughter that the ad-
miral had poisoned their adopted child.
She made the statement, also, that she
had offered TO do anything in her power
to aid in having the case against the ad-
miral dropped.
At the home Of Mrs. L. Costigeni. 1917
g street northwest. where Mrs. Harrison
is a boaTder, she said she was waiting
for an answer to the letter. preparatory
to going to Boston. She had not Wis
tied her daughter while on her recent
trip. she said, having heard OF the case
after she had left town. From the time
she met the admiral. she said. she had
found him a kind and gentle man. inca
pable OF malice or brutality.
Former Domestic Trouble.
Mrs Harrison is OF the opinion that
her daughter is momentarily unstrung,
because OF some former domestic trouble,
and characterizes her charges as unusual
and unbelievable The fact that Mrs.
Eaton concealed from her friends the in
formation that her child. a boy, was
adopted, is held by Mrs. Harrison to in
dicate her erratic temperament. That
the admiral will have no difficulty IN
clearing himself is the firm belief OF his
wife's mother.
The charges against Admiral Eaton.
as made by the wife, have unnerved
Mrs. Harrison. She says she has not slept
in three nights, and that the publicity
given the unfortunate affair" as she
terms It, IS gradually undermining her
health.
Personally" size said. Il believe Ad-
miral Eaton TO be blameless. I know
he Is as kind and noble a man as ever
lived He has always been like a brother
II
could not have cared for him more than
I CO. He is incapable Of administering
poison to a child.
Prior to the time he met my daughter.
Admiral Eaton voluntarily resigned from
the navy 10 care for his first wife, who
was dying from paresis. She lived for
many months thereafter. During that
time Admiral Eaton's devotion TO her was
a byword among his friends. Il was well
known that she could not recover. He
gave up his career in the navy for her"
Mrs. Harrison says she does not know
what could have influenced her daughter
TO accuse her husband Of poisoning their
adopted child. She suggests that possibly
Mrs. Eaton's unhappy married life with
her first husband D. H. Ainsworth. from
whom she got a divorce two months be-
fore her marriage TO Admiral Eaton. may
have affected her.
Treated Her kindly.
mo woman was ever more kindly
treated than my daughter" said Mrs.
Harrison, and no woman should have
been more thankful than She Soon after
their marriage I went TO live with them
In Brooklyn. where I beheld what be-
Aeved 70 be evidence Of my daughters
erratio temperament She was anxious
to have son who might follow IN his
fathers footsteps at sea. She believed I
opposed her wishes about the house and
that I sided with the admiral when they
Guarreled about trivial things. As a mat
ter Of fact. their life appeared to me TO
be absolutely peaceful.
That daughter Of mine should ac-
ouse such a man as the admiral OF pois-
oning a baby seemed impossible when I
fiist heard OF Il. / was in Atlantic CITY
when the affair was given ont bv the
newspapers. i wrote Immediately TO th,
admiral, asking him 70 do what he could
10 quiet his wife. I cannot believe Mrs.
Eaton Is responsible for the charges.
some one must have suggested the idea
to her.
Mrs. Eaton was divorced from her
first husband on the double charge OF
drunkenness and cruelty Since that time
she has had the custody of their two
children. Mr. Ainsworth, go far as I
have been able 10 learn, has left Wash
ington. He has not been heard from
since my daughter got her divorce.
whether outside parties interested in
seeing their home disrupted have per-
suaded my daughter 70 take this course
do not know. but I am inclined to be-
heve this is the explanation. II not. then
1t IS some illusion cherished by Mrs.
Eaton, which I feel sure is unfounded"
Mrs. Harrison said her daughter mar
ried Mr.. Ainsworth when she was a
child, and expressed II as her belief that
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