Omaha daily bee., 1919-06-29
Goodwin the Man and Goodwin the Actor,
Foreign to One Another, According to Human
Interest Story Told by Former Sweetheart
Adoed Entitled Comedians
Happy Home and Children Was
Almost an Obeson Girl ho Had Promised Wed Him.

marital troubles than any other man
in the world and yet he could
emerge from it all and not be a
woman hater! How did he do it?
I'll never be able to tell you unless
it was his great big heart, which had
been torn and ripped, not only by
women, but by many men who were
snakes in the guise of friends, was
too stout and too big to give way
under the strain"
As Miss Gardner talked her hands
stolen often to a very old but b-auti
fuf necklace and chain which she
wore at her throat. With apparent
reluctance Miss Gardner finally con-
sented to give the history of the
handsome jewelry.
MAT gave the locket and chain
to his first wife on the first Christ
mas after they were married" she
explained. "As you see, the locket
contains a picture of Mr.. Goodwin
taken when he was just Fl. With
this collection there is another
locket and chain and a very beau
tiful bracelet. These were all gifts
to his first wife, whom, l am sure,
Nat loved; yes, fairly worshiped.
Ten Years Older.
"She was 10 years older than he,
so she was really a combination OF
wife and mother. They were mar
ried for II years before she died,
and I presume you know she left
him approximately 100000 in addi-
ton to the trinkets. What Nat
thought Of his other wives might be
surmised in the fact that none of
them ever were permitted to wear
these lockets and bracelet. That
honor fell to me.
NAT always told me that it would
be too much of sacrilege, but even
before he had proposed to me, and
while he had planned to adopt me,
he insisted l wear them"
While fondling the jewelry Miss
Gardner fell into reminiscent
mood and began telling of NAT,
the good fellow"
Real Good Scout.
"He was one of the best scouts l
ever met or heard OF" she insisted;
her big, beautiful blue eyes fairly
flashing as she talked "Of course,
he exhibited jealousy at times, but
l suppose all men do that. On
some occasions, while l was an un-
derstudy in his last show, why
Marry" he even permitted his jeal-
ousy to get the better of him.
"On such occasions should l
leave him for little while he would
fire at me such questions as
"Where are you going?" "Who are
you going WITH" and "How long
will you be gone" In most in
stances it would be only a little
shopping trip, but just as sure as |
would return he would resume with
such questions as "Where have you
been?" who were you with"
What did you do?" and why
don't you stay here with me?"'
"Perhaps l would have resented
such an attitude had not my affec-
tons for him been mingled with
sympathy. For hours and hours he
has talked to me about home and
what it would mean to him. He
| loved to picture himself in a big
armchair surrounded by wife and
children.
Played With Children.
IT have been. with him on several
occasions when he was being enter
tanned by friends while on the road.
On such occasions when there were
children in the family Nat would
usually be found down on his knees
on the floor or on the ground hav-
ing the time of his life playing hob
| byhorse or some other childhood
| game.
"Once, while we were on the road,
Nat came to the theater shortly be-
fore time for curtain with eight, of
the widest kids I ever saw. They
were dirty and ragged but they had
been smuggled into place where
there was soap and water and had
at least partially removed the dirt
from faces and hands. One of the
urchins had actually tried to comb
his hair. But Nat refused to recog-
nize any condition aside from the
fact they were children and his
friends.
Each had his pocket bulging with
candy and each had seat that after
! noon at the matinee. Later, Nat
again DISAPPEARED and we afterward
learned he was doing the town" with
his newly-found friends. AS he die
not appear for the evening perform
ance until almost curtain time, we
could easily imagine he had pulled
a dinner party for the youngsters"
Women and Gambling.
While discussing traits Of charac
ter Miss Gardner said that Goodwin
lad two weaknesses, pretty women
and gambling" By looking at her
we could vouch for the first. As tc
the latter weakness Goodwin throws
a little light on it in his book written
and published under the name of
MAT Goodwin's Book" In that he
tells of how he was in need of funds
while playing with his first wife.
Eliza Wethersby, and of how he had
but $lO0 which he had managed to
borrow.
As he reasoned that amount was
little better than nothing, especially
when he needed $1,000, he played
faro and arose, from the table with
more than $1,100. In this connec-
tion it may be said with all due fair
ness to Goodwin that he gambled as
much for the love of the sport as for
what he might win.