The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-08-12
GOTHAM GOSSIP

auussus SSSSu
 (Ry Francis Phillips. Copyright 1910.
 by the National News Service, N. Y.)
 New York Aug. 11-Madeleine TaI- mage Force, the eighteen year old
 school girl, who is shortly to become
 the bride of John Jacob Astor. might be expected to be the happiest girl in the United States today, but she isn't by a long shot. To the average feminine mind the prospect of marry ing a man with an income estimated at $5,000,000 a year, with handsome homes here, in Newport, London, and elsewhere, and with one of the finest steam yachts afloat would be the reali- zation of the maximum of human feli- city. Miss Force has not underesti- mated her triumph or failed to appre- ciate what she has achieved in capti- vating one of the country's richest men, but her elation has been temp cred by the unkind things that have been said about her and her fiance by some of her fellow countrymen. Since her engagement was announced she has been in daily receipt of hundreds of letters from all sections of the na- tion, criticising her for accepting a di- vorce, thirty years her senior and ad- monishing her that the marriage, if it takes place, is foredoomed to dis aster.
 Some of the anonymous writers pre- dict that it will last but a. few years 1t the most and that the bride will ultimately follow the example of Mrs. Ava Willing Astor and seek disselu- ton of the nuptial tie in the divorce courts. Others frankly accuse the young girl of being blinded by the aurora of gold and with selling her soul for the money of the multi-mil lionaire.
 These and similarly cruel statements have cut deep into the heart of the sensitive bride to be and served to cool her enthusiasm over the approach the match highly desirable, in spite of the great disparity of the ages of the couple and the fact that MT. Astor whose son Vincent is one year older than his intended step-mother, divorc- ed his first wife only in March last. They resent the unsolicited comments of the critics and ascribe them to en- wy. For the last week, Mrs. Force has taken charge of the mail address ed to her daughter and is now care fully cenSoring it to make sure that she shall not be annoyed any longer by the uncomplimentary suggestions of those who feel it incumbent upon them To duVlSe the younS WOmdH Wndt U do. The family take the stand that it does not follow that because Colonel Astor's first matrimonial venture was failure, his second will be a failure also. Among the friends of Colonel Astor the action of the father of the bride in insisting upon the publication of the couples engagement at this is the general impression that the bridegroom did not desire to have the announcement made until late this autumn, with a wedding probably af- ter the first of the year. For once however, Colonel Astor, who generally has his own way about things, that concern his welfare had to defer to the judgment of others.
 His acquiescence in the dictum of MT. Force, Is interpreted to mean that the wedding will take place some time in September. Mrs. Ava Willing Astor the divorced wife, is reported to be very much put out over the prospec- tive wedding, on account of her daughter and son. It is now regarded as certain that she will abandon her plan to make her home in this coun- try and that she will permanently take up her residence in Paris. It will be recalled that following her reported slight in London, last spring, by Queen Mary. she declared herself as IO Sp6HQ IH0 IeIldlnQeT Ol her life in the States.
 The statement made the other day on his return from England by James M. Beck, former deputy Attorney Gen. eral of the United States and now chief counsel for the Sugar Trust. that war was imminent between England, Germany, and France, has been the subject of widespread comment here this week. Coming on the eve of the signing of the arbitration agreement between the United States and Eng land, consummated' last week in it was considered as a pertinent argument among interna- tional peace advocates for the world wide extension of the policy of a l court of reference for all disputes.
 Mr. Beck went to London recently | to assist in the dedication at the church of All Hallows, of the memorial to William Penn, Apostle of Peace and founder of the Quaker colony in the here he said conditions abroad look 1 ed ominous.
 s'In all of my trips" he said, 'I have never seen Englishmen so wrought up over peace conditions. The concensus l Is that peace is at an end and that l 1t will not be long before England, | France and Germany are involved in 3 bitter war.
 As bearing on the remarkable de- velopment of Japan in the last half | century, the meeting the other day | between Admiral Togo, the Mikado's | naval sea hero who sent the. Russian 1 fleet to the bottom of the Japan Sea and Timothy Whelan, an employe of | the Street Cleaning Department was significant and interesting. Whelan | was a member of the crew of the old clipper ship Benefactor, belonging to the father of former Mayor Seth Low If this city. This ship was one of the first vessels to open up commercial relations between Japan and the rest of the world. While off the coast of | South America on it's way around the Horn to the Orient it ran in with he Confederate warship Alabama un- Ter Admiral Sommes during the Civil War between the States and had a close shave from being sent to the bottom but managed to outfoot it's oursuer.
 we had to take shipload of Chin ,se from Hong Kong to Japan to each them how to dry the tea and prepare it for shipment said Whelan accounting his old experiences. we lad a lot of trouble, too in getting