The Hattiesburg news., 1915-09-21
VOMAN'S PART N
TIE NEWS TODAY
POLITICS, WEALTH
AND KIDNAPPING IN
MYSTERY BARyp CASE

tho ine Is resumed here TODAY in
.pe sensational proceedings lUaay hs"'.,s, IN
no.n WIS, Estelle Cooper Gay to secure
possession of son who sbs o,a,,aa
II !. A'unapped and hidden from her,
,n, 20 expected that evidence will, he
n,s' Introduced to show that the cbild she
VT, 10 never existed. The beautiful
,h.a o" came from New York some
sn' sn[ee weeks ago, claiming to have
nad child here, born luna q 1o,,
n =. ia'her she claims was John g.
~ mayo, multi-milonaire coa, ororo
.or OF Paintsville, Ky. She told the
49, 49, 'nat she had received $500 per
month from Mayo, and that she is
suing the Mayo estate for a share Of
'"e fortune left by the millionaire.
Inc question whether Mrs. Mayo
ea,e olr'h to the child which she
''''s mas been kidnapped and hidden
mas stirred lively partisan discussion
III a large part of Ohio and Kentucky
u s. j. D. Meade, whose name has
peen Drought prominently into the dis.
closures of the New York widow de.
clares there is no truth in her state
ment that he attended her during the
Dirth Of her child.
AN application for a writ of habeas
corpus was filed in the Common
riease Court by Mrs. Gay, which re-
suited in hearing on Sent. Z. The
WITH was directed against DR.. Meade
and his mother-in-law, Mrs. Laura
Muilin, who have answered that they
nave no knowledge of the child of
Mrs. Gay and denying that the child
mad been wrongfully imprisoned Or de-
tanned by them. Mrs. Gay told her
story on the witness stand, giving de-
tails Of her life with the late Kentucky
millionaire. Congressman, Senators
and politicians were brought into her
story Even the last Democratic con-
Vention, at Baltimore, played a part
IN her weird tale. She told of their
travels together during the last three
or four years of Mayo's life, how she
would sing to him, entertain him, and
soothe him when his brain was
racked with business worries.
Mrs. Gay is the daughter of the late
Judge Cooper of Mt. Sterling, Ky. She
has sung in opera, and is known for
her great beauty Her romantic, pa
thetic life story has caused no end Of
gossip. She claims that the late mil
lionaire John c. C. Mayo was very
proud of their child, and planned to
settle half million dollars upon him.
but died before carrying out the plan
Without scrap of documentary evil
dence, and with only her word against
that of the doctor she accuses, Mrs.
Gay is fighting for the possession of
the child.
According to her story, she met
Mayo after the death of her husband
He took great interest in her and took
her with him from city to city as his
niece" An unlimited supply of mon
ey was at her command. At times
Mayo's wife would travel with him,
she says, and the niece" on those
trips would travel in a separate car
Then when the child came, she says,
the millionaire, fearing that the dis
closure would ruin his political
chances, took measures to keep the
matter quiet. The child was born
and cared for in Cincinnati, she says,
and Mayo paid fifty dollars a week for
its care. Later she says, he was to
formally adopt it ard allow the boy to
share in the Mayo fortune.
A mysterious man named Jack"
figures in the story of Mrs. Gay. This
man of mystery asked her to say the
baby had died. She claims "Jack"
has told her that "a lot of girls disap-
near and she would too, if she didn't
tell the lawyers the child had died"
She claims to have seen the baby in
July. 1914 but at the request of Dr.
Meade told business associates of Mr..
Mayo that the child was dead.
Mrs. Gay claims threats were made
TO nut her in a lunatic asylum, and
that while she was ill in the Roose-
welt Hospital in New York an attorney
for Yba Mayo estate told her that he
bad her where he wanted her anu
Z honod she would starve to death. she
c,aims that her trunk was selzed py
u nr Meade at a local hotel and letters
vitat TO her case were taken she
charges that Attorney Stewart of Ash
land. Ky. representing Mrs. Mayo
told her he paid Mr.. Mayo to secrete
Tho habv. and that he clouded her case
eAS S>~-'' ,i,,o in n