Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-07-24
FAMILY TRAGEDY
Barred BY DEATH
Little Shoe, Poem and Cold
Letter From Son in Room
of Mother.
FROM RICHES TO POVERTY
Cast on by Father When She Mar
ried; Divorced, Then Works
as o Domestic.

NAASdSO, July "a. - A1nOnS me OS-
longings Of Mrs. Kate Porter, dones-
tic, there was found small
crocheted shoe, a typewritten letter,
aud blurred newspaper clipping.
Mrs Porter is the woman whose
death Thursday night in front OF an
automobile at Sheridan road and LIE.
land avenue, revealed the mystery
which she had kept hidden while she
lived-her marriage to Selwyn c. Ed
gar, a wealthy zinc miner OF ST. LOUIS,
their separation, and her subsequent
descent, after much travel, to the POSI-
ton of domestic in the house of W. F.
Hobbs, a commission merchant, $50
Castlewood terrace.
The shoe was one she had knitted
% years ago for her son, Selwyn c.
Edgafss IT., now a prosperous st. LOUIS
clubman. He was one year old when
she saw him last. The letter was the
only communication she ever receIv-
ed from him-a formal document. be-
ginning, Dear Madam" and ending
Yours with respect" The clipping
was a fragment of some anonymous
poem.
POEM OF INFANTS LOVE.
All that remained legtble were the
words:
Sometimes the little lips Of him, all
dewy wet and tender,
Come searching at the mothers
breast
The son, although at the behest' II
Lindley Hobbs, son of his mothers
employer, occasionally contributing IL
secret to her support, never dared 81
cared to pay her a visit.
His father had forbidden him to
speak her name, and even the sllgnl
financial assistance that he gave he"
was done without his fathers know
ledge. Her one desire for the five
years she was in the Hobbs household
had been to see him. He came for
the body and had it shipped to st.
Louis for burial.
STERN FATHER CASTS HER OFF.
Her father was William Price, a
wealthy tobacco planter of st. Louis
These were in the days when the old
stern chivalry of the south was still
in existence, when daughters were
supposed to submit to the will of their
parents. Kate Prices mother died
when she was eight years old. When
she was 16 she met Selwyn c. Edgar,
than a handsome young ne'er-do-wel, !
with more money than responsible |
ties. and reputation for good living.
They fell in love. William Price |
would have none of it. He unaffected /
ly disapproved of young Edgar. He |
ordered his daughter to have nothing |
more to do with him. She refused |
Without more ado he packed her off r. |
a French convent in Louisiana, ana
there, one night, while the moon ut
the bayous, she crept through the gate
to meet her sutton While she was
still little more than a child they were
married.
William Price never forgave his
daughter. While he lived she was
barred from his affections, and when
he died she was left out of his will.
PLUNGED INTO ST. LOUIS SOCIETY.
For 10 years, though, all went well
with her. Edgar settled down ard
made money faster than he had pTs
viOusly spent it. Three children were
born, one of whom lived, Selwyn c.
Jr The young couple plunged into St
Louis society of the sos with a sue
cess attributed mainly to the beauty
Of Mrs. Edgar. They seemed happy,
seemed contented. seemed as much in
owe with each other as on the day OF
marriage.
It ended. The same impassioned
which had launched
Kate Price into her romantic marriage
cast her out upon wilder and more
barren seas. She was driven from her
OWN household. Her husband sued
her for divorce and without opposi-
ion, secured both divorce and custody
If the child.
With her old life behind her she
led to Chicago, where she was mar
led to a mysterious man named Por
er What part he took In the tragedy
If her life, IL he took any, is buried
With her. That they were married
shortly after her arrival IN Chicago
md that they lived n ScidIy together
Until his death, five or six years ago, is
III that Is known. Z