Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-08-19
Trial of Mrs. DeSaulles
for Killing of Husband
VIII Be Unique in
Many Respects.

NEW YORK. August 1s.-When the
young and beautiful niece of a for
mer President of Chile comes to trial
at Mineola this fall for Staying her
former husband. the famous Yale foot
ball captain. John Longer DeSaulles. a
curious play of subtle. but powerful,
influences will be exerted on both sides.
With the woman who slew to pre-
vent the alienation Of her little sons
"a great deal in murder proceed
Ing where an exceptionally charming
ard undeniably good woman's lie is
at stake.
Those who have watched the great
New York murder trials of the last
twenty-five years nEree that this case
Is exceptional In the unanirlity with
which the public has embraced the
cause of Mrs. DeSaullcs.
Her youth. her personal attractive
ness: her fine, noble breeding which
made her dctest the doings of smart
society. her love for her child and
the spotless character she bore until
mother passion overcame her, all unite
to bring her the strong synpathies Of
the solid mass OF Americans.
II she had not been SO good and
so pure. tho faults OF the man she
slew would not have stood out s..
sharply. 1t is when thrown on TIE
white background of her simple v'r
tues that his wooing of her for the
millions he believed she possessed, his
neglect after bringing her SO far from
her native country. family and friends.
his dissipation of half her modest for
tune and his -liaisons with professional
dancers and other light >womer make
him seem deserving Of no better than
ne got
Eiarca DeSaullcs will have. then,
the people as advocate when she faces
the court this fall
POWERFUL INFLUENCES ARE
AKSAYED AGAINST HER
But vast aad powerful influences
will be arraYed on ,hc other side
SympathiZers witt. the dead man arc
found among "the" society leaders.
Powerful men and women of the I.nng
Island North Shore" Of Newport and
Fifth Avenue. knew the energetic ok
athlete with the eng Sins manners.
and liked nir,. His faults. which re-
suited in a court giving his wife a
divorce. they dismiss as quite usual
'peccadillos"
The strongest financial and political
forces Will also he lined up in move
ment 10 seek vengeance for DeSauliAs's
death. peSaulies was n close acunaint-
ancc OF many of .hc Wall Street load
crs. lie was himself n prominent r.a!
estate man. He did much to elect
Woodrow Wilson President in 1912
Many OF his friends are lawyers of
grea, influenc. and ability
1T is these friends of her husband
Mrs. DeSaulles must now fear, and It
was these she blamed for the curious
outcome of her divorce proceedings
she won a divorce with the greatest
ease. but was forced to give up half
her sons time to the guilty father,
although DcSaullcs had taken the four.
year-old lad into barrooms and even
into EN- automobile with his dancer
paramount.
There In certain analogy with the
Harry Thaw cas-: here. Thaw always
claimed he was kept in confinement
because OF n league formed against
him by the late Stanford Whites
powerful. business and political friends.
But there the analogy ceases. To
compare Thaw further with the slender
Chilean girl fighting for the sole thing
she had saved out OF wrecked life
causes almost feeling of disgust that
the two names have been brought into
such close proximity.
| 1t was In 1911 that Jack DeSaullcs
went to Chile to help build the Trans
andean Railroad. ti
With good connections and letters of
introduction to leading ,hnanciers and
society folk, JDesaulles quickly became