The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1914-10-10
REEVES II |: An n Old |:
SCANDAL ] \ OF D GOTHAM | III I
4 Mystery oenters ABOUND Flor
4 ence schenck' 8 Avenger, 7.
8 4. Fickinger. 7 .5t=*:. e =

E NEW 1OHh, OCL. S.-WQeu FTeQs
erick Fickinger shot and slightly
York horse show he aroused a furore
In certain circles which to the rest Of
the world. assumes the aspect of q
mystery. At the same time the as
satlant revived a pathetic tragedy OF
romance gone wrong. J ">y>T .@ r.; ;
81 The motive which Fickinger, pri-
vate detective, gave for his assault on
the farm manager. and horse trainer
for Alfred G. Vanderbilt calls back
to mind the tragic story OF Florence
Schenck, once noted Virginia beauty,
who died last January from the ef-
fects of years, OF dissipa It was
to aVenge her wrong, Fickinger said,
that he meant to kill Wilson, the man
with whom She eloped In 1905, only
to be cast of q little later to live on
the charity Of strangers. @s''' :. :
But the investigators in the case
hint at another side Of the shooting
and the motives that may be behind
= Recently Fickinger had made re-
peated: threats that he was going
to expose the double lives of men
and women whose names, are known,
all over the world. The only letter
bearing on such matters which
he carried at the time of his arrest
was one to District Attorney. Whitman,
IN which. he offered to expose
wealthy man trying = to one dls sase 81 his s
wife on framed up evidence" THE
man in question" the letter said,
wanted to marry a prominent actress
after securing the divorce from his
wife and the evidence was to- be Sc
petition"
=. other material in the. ,possession, Of
Fickinger which appeared to bear upon
his threats against society men and
women was long lists of addresses
Some were reputable and some were
It Is a. part Of the mystery to find
the connection between these things
and the motive which the prisoner
himself ascribes for his deed.
slider him in the role Of knight err
rant. Remembrance Of the once beau
tiful and vivacious Florence Schenck
he assigns as the mental force i'm
pelltng him to make the attempt on
the life of the man who caused her
is said. to have shouted" -, &:
: You ruined Florence schenck's life;
now am going to get you" -
According to. Fickinger's story he
had been hired by Wilson to put Miss
schenck out Of the way. Instead Of
ployer. he says. he fell in love with
the unfortunate young woman and
tried to help her and reunite her with
her family, who had disclalmed her,
following the elopement with Wilson.
He maintains that it. was through his
efforts that her: father took her to
the old home in Norfolk where she
died last January. ~ = -
Thus Jig added another chapter, q sort
Of afterthought to one of life's ro-
But while: the romance ran along the
brilIiancy, tofsspare.s with 2>unusuel
! charm Of blue eyes ana blond hair and
| all the. delights. commingled In the
manners of southern beauty. Flor;
horsewoman, in a few brief months
| caused comment on two continents and
! fitted from gayety to gayety. ,.-<
Following a ceremony IN London
which led. her" TO believe herself the
| bits horses, the future promised only
a continuation Of the round Of pleas
| ures and social conQuests. But the
| futures promises were shattered wher
the couple returned to America, and
| the girl from him and denied that hi
| had married her: A little while after
| Wilson'S wife appeared and protested
there could have been no binding mar.
riage between her husband and Miss
| Schenck.
There was the stage for the unfor.
tunate beauty, disowned by family. and
! the man, she believed was her hus.
band. Later there was only the char.
ity Of STRANGERS and the slow dragging
out Of q life wrecked by dissipation
Just a few hours after her death came
a court decision permitting her tt
prosecute 4 suit against Wilson to vim
dictate her good name. :: ~1s:>.*Gi.4'
The grievance of = the. wronged
woman, says FickinEer, became, his
own. Prooding,i helped on: by, pro
longed drunkenness. It, Is believed
brought ON a mania for revenge: