The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1915-05-25
In the house there is no telephone,

In the house there is no telephone,
no elevator, no dumbwaiter, no cleo
trio light, or any other modern i'm
provement, not even a sewing ma
chine, although the sisters make their
own clothes.
Downstairs are drawing room, a
dining room, and library. The Ii
brary is the only room ever seen by
visitors. Like the hall it is fioored
with colored tiles and has no rugs.
In the center is massive mahogany
colonial table, and there are four
massive, high-backed, uncomfortable
chairs. On each of the four walls
hangs a single framed picture, and
each picture is neatly covered with
muslin, which conceals the character
of the painting underneath.
In these surroundings live these
curious old money-crushed sisters.
The third, Miss Georgianna, is the
object of the loving care of the Misses
Mary and Ellen, and of the two old
women servants.
In the long history of the Wendell
family there is but one incident which
affords an opportunity for comment,
and which opens an avenue for specu-
latiOn as to the nature of the life
which is led in the old homestead.
In 1899 Miss Georgianna left one
of the country homes, that at Irving
ton-on-the-Hudson, and appeared at
the Park Avenue hotel. She was re-
moved a few days later to the psy-
chopathic ward at Bellevue hospital.
From Bellevue her brother, John
G., secured charge of her and took
her back to IrVington. In October of
the following year the family asked
the courts that she be adjudged in
sane. She was declared incompetent
by a sheriff's jury, but Justice Mar
can released her on the ground that
the commitment had been unconsti-
tutional.
There ensued what gave promise
of being litigation that would open
up for the public a full rehearsal Of
all the lOng-guarded secrets Of the
remarkable Wendell family. Miss
Georgiana promptly. brought suit
against her brother for $4,000 dam
ages. The suit, however, was never
brought to trial.
A reconciliation was effected. Miss
Georgianna returned willingly to the
family roof, which she has since new
er left. For seven months of the year
she lives with her two sisters in the
town house at Thirty-ninth street AMI
Fifth avenue. For five months in the
year she lives in the country.
The sisters never ride in street
car and never in their lives have they
been in an automobile. They never
shop in the fashionable district, for
things are too expensive there. They
are quick to see bargains and watch
for them with the poorest housewife.
They have not been to church in
many years and they have no form
of giving in charity; at least none
that is known about by their friends.
No newspaper is delivered to them,
and they do not buy any books. New
err in their lives have any of them
been inside a theatre.
And what fortune the sisters
possess!
Eighty millions is a conservative
estimate. The assessed valuation of
their New York real estate is over
fifty millions. The brother was al
ways content to have a return of only
2 per cent on his holdings. He never
improved and never sold, and he was
moderate in his rentals.
The present manager of the estate
and the attorneys never see the three
sisters. They have long placed all
their business affairs in the hands of
their married sister, Mrs. Luther A.
Swope, who lives alone with her hus-
band. They have no children, and
the only heir to the Wendell estate
is the 20-year-oId son of the fifth sis
ter, who lives at Santa Monica, Cal.
Twice a week Mrs. Swope and her
husband dare the wild adventure OF
the elevated to the downtown office
of the Wendell estate at IT'S Broad
way. They do not own car and
taxicabs are so expensive!
There, surrounded by twenty or
more ancient safes containing the
deeds to the Wendell properties, they
discuss with the manager the details
of their affairs.