The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1919-02-18
GIRL WITH SMILE
COSTS HIM $3.50

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 1s.-It will
cost James Wilson, Sd, $3.50 for
changing his mind after he. proposed
marriage to "a dear little girl with q
beauty patch. with long curls, aud
always with a smile"
A, jury in Judge Finletter's court
saw the radiance of the same smile,
which widened even to a grin, when
it decreed that Wilson should pay that
sum to Miss Pearl Elliott, soubrette,
for first raising then dashipg that
young lady's matrimonial expecta-
tions.
Wilson. according to some of his
| letters offered In evidence, was fond
Of sitting in the right-hand box, with
a ~cRrnation in his buttonhole," to
watch dearest Pearl" his darling
sweetheart" perform upon the light
fantastic toe. .~-
Whereupon the testimony showed,
Wilson, taxidermist by profession,
but something OF a letter-writer by &C
quiTed practice, would go home and
! indite missives which, as offered in
court, established a. new price stand
ard for authors By. being. assessed by
| the jury as worth about $500 a sen
| tence. -
Despite the fact that in her own tes-
| timony Miss Elliott declared that 'it
was not money that she cared for"
in instituting the $4,000 breach Of
promise. suit. she accepted the jury's
verdict with apparent gratitude, and
! thus rung down a slow curtain upon
The final act Of her shattered little TO-
nance. -.
WIIsOn In the Army.
| wilson. engaged in, business with
his father for several years past at
Front and Arch streets, was not pres
emit in court, and his attorney ex-
planned that he is in the United States
Attorney Henry ]. Scott. who rep
resented the little St. Louis stage
| beauty, produced several letters al
| legged to have been, YLittep. by the de-
| PENDANT to Miss Elliott, in which he
! spoke OF her as Dearest Pearl" and
one. sent at Christmas time, 1917,
calling her darling sweetheart" and
| expressing the hope that she re-
| ceived many gifts. ..-.
1t was when Miss Elliott took the
stellar role in the tragic 'denounce'
ment of her owned ruined romance
that she won the sympathy Of the
jurors-and $3.50. '- -.
She appeared in a jaunty blue
tailored suit, with large hat, and told
a straightforward story upon the
| witness stand. .
They met I'm August, 1917, through
a mutual friend. she testified, and
Wilson became very ardent in his
proposed marriage, pledged "unend-
/ ing love-" was accepted as the plain
| tifTs future husband, sealing the bar
| gain at Christmas time with q dia-
mond engagement ring.
Bought Her TrOuaseaU.
The wedding was to have been
soIemnized in the spring OF last year
and in preparation for that event
the witness said, she purchased a
trousseau, table linen and other
household. necessities, representing
an expenditure Of about 5000. While
no definite date was fixed for the
marriage, Miss Elliott, said she fully
! expected Wilson to marry her before
the end of June, last year. But dur
ing that month. she said, his attitude
became as chilly as January winds
and he flatly refused to marry her
Mrs. Anna Wilson, mother OF the
defendant. was shocked last night
when she was told OF the case. She
said she never had heard Of the lit
tie soubrette,- and that Wilson'S
AFFAIR" with her was all the more
mystifying because James has fine
girl up in Kensington."