The Mankato free press., 1912-09-20
WOULD NOT Be HAPPY
WIFE OF 7. {. CATL|N

e. Washington, D. c., September 10
Theron E. Catlin, representative from
Missouri, recently unseated from
congress. for scattering his shekels
too freely to secure an election, finds
that misfortunes never come singly.
Young, handsome and wealthy, he
finds that Miss Laura Merriam, a
daughter of former Governor Mer-
riam of Minnesota, to whom he was
engaged, no longer: cares for him.
q Miss Merriam, one of the society
beauties here, is the. third Washing.
| ton girl brave enough to change her
mind at the foot of the altar The
engagement of Miss Merriam to Mr..
Catlin was announced early in June,
and the announcement that it was
broken off by mutual consent was
made by the parents of the young
woman two weeks ago.
There Are Others.
The other two Washington girls
who acted similarly were Miss Ce
celia May, who broke her engage
ment to Robert Bacon, Jr., several
days before the date set for the
marriage, and Miss Carol Newberry
who, after her gallant fiance, Cap
tain .Alleyne of the Kings Own Reg
.iment travelled .all 4 the way from
Jamaicaqrto Detroit, broke her. EN-
II.ggagement the day before the mar
riage was set giving no other ,rea
! son, than that, she Z would not q be
happyn .p.grOG& g6 HIr -g4ylI,ziT I
i,r Miss Merriam and her. family have
vehemently denied that. the breaking
of the engagement had anything tc
do with ,theg loss of his seat in con
bgress ,by Representative Catlin. He
was unseated on August ;12.' At, thai
time, Miss Merriam declared that il
would have no effect on .her, future
plans. In fact, the plans for the
wedding which was. TO, have taken
placle, in st: Johns church, chpreh were car car
ried, out. tn.r,on I 49,. .''. -. :,
When seen Yesterday by The Trib,
Eplnes plne,s rsprrespandent, Miss Merriam
nS1i.S F'T,f. Cannot Tell Reason. ao.,o
!. r,"Our engagement is, broken by nu,
tual; consent. My engagement to
anyone else is not. about to be an.
nounced and / am not secretly en-
gagged. The unseating of Represent
ative Catlin had nothing to do with
my decision. | would like to tell the
reason but | cannot
81 think | would not be happy If
married, and l think that is the
one thing we have a right to change
our minds about. l admire Miss
Carol Newberry and l thought she
was brave to break her engagement
the day before the wedding, rather
than make two people miserable in
the, future. If more girls felt as
we do. there would be fewer .di.
,Vorces. think it is better to be
embarrassed now by being brave and
telling the truth than to regret it
afterwards.
Miss Merriam is beautiful, with
shining golden hair, and deep violet
eyes. She is fond of horses and
outdoor sports, and is popular.
She made her debut on Thanks
giving day, 1909, at a tea given by
her father and mother. She belong
ed to a notable coterie of "buds,"
who were called the. big SIX" COM
posed of the most prominent and
wealthy debutantes of that year,
and who had been playmates in earl
lest childhood. Miss Merriam was
one of the first Washington society
girls to make flight in an aero
plane. She has long string of
horses and always enters her steeds
in the various horse shows and has
won many blue ribbons.