The Washington times., 1921-03-26
POET DEFENDS
BANKER'SW|FE
Calls Attack on Baby Absurd"
Stands by Tribute to Halt
Breed Guide.

Phelps Clawson, poet friend Of the
Stillmans, has no desire to withdraw
his lyric tribute to Fred Beauvais,
the Canadian guide accused by James
A. Stillman. ~
His euloRistic poem "To a Mans
Man" appeared in privately printed
volume of poems entitled "First
Poems by H. Phelps Clawson."
WILLING TO HELP HER.
Young Clawson. who was q cues:
Of the stillmsns at their lodge in
Three Rivers. Quebec, before the
break between the banker and his
wife occurred. made further revels-
tipns concerning the case today.
fSpeaking of his contemplated testi-
mony in behalf Of Mrs. Stillman,
Clawson said: t1s
row that the matter has come TO q
head, ! am ready and willing to go to
New York and help her"
Clawson is depended upon by the
defense to give testimony which will
establish the parentage OF Guy Still
man. twenty-eight- months -old son of
Mrs. Stillman. On this point he said:
II will prove. and II will be cor
roborated by another man. that James
stiilman was living at Pleasantville
in January. 1918. Guy was born In
November Of that year. In January 1
was stationed at the aviation camp In
Mineoal and ! ran up to Pleasantville
TO pay a visit to the Stillmans
~ distinctly remember meeting and
chatting with Stillman on that occa-
sion. and the letters wrote to my
mother. now dead. will prove II be-
yond any doubt. How. then. can he
expect to get away with the assertion
that he was not living there at that
time?
SAW NO IMPRoPRIETY.
while have a deep affection for
Mrs. Stillman, wouldn't want 1t to
be misconstrued. Platonic? No, not
that. Some people might understand
the tonic part, but couldn't get the
plato part. No, IL Is just a deep
rooted feeling. the same that most
everybody has for her who knows her
well.
"She made me see the inner things
Of life: she made me what am today
and / am happy and proud of her
friendship.
"As for the outlandish charges link
irg her with Beauvais, they are sim
ply ridiculous. A hne. upright fellow
he is. and I know down deep In my
heart he never entertained an i'm
proper thought OF Mrs. StiIlman.
had ample opportunity to observe
them during my trip to the Canadian
woods in 1915. and / can truthfully
that "a Va n Rli = hf n n
on the part OF Fred or Mrs. Stiilrnan
that the most prudish could construe
as improper
Naturally. he entertained the high
est respect for her and a warm re-
gard. and / believe he would lay down
his life for her. But IL was the same
for all others who came in contact
with her. As i said before. to know
the woman was to feel for her
1T is perhaps true that she ami
Fred journeyed together alone in the
woods, but what of that? You
wouldn't expect a retinue of servp nj >
to go along. Mrs. Stillman was fond
of outdoor life. and ofttimes il wasn't
possible for servants to accompany
her on these trips. They were unac-
customed to 1owshoes and couldn't
stand the rigors of the hikes she loved
to take.
But even IL she and Fred did like
II alone, 1t Is not fair to insinuate
that there was any wrong in IL. OF
course. an evil-minded person could
stretch the Imagination. and tina. Is
what has been done. Then IL wa-s an
easy matter to bribe servants at Still
mans, the Stillman lodge at Three
Rivers, Quebec, and have them pre-
pared to testify to anything dema nde6
of them Mrs. Stillman could have
rebribed them. but she wouldn't stoop
to such a thing. ...
SHE FIGHTS CLEAN.
THE fact of the matter is she fights
too clean. l have often said to her
she Is too fair in her worldly battles
for you know you can't kill a skunk
with words. You have to run a knife
through the pest. But that was her
way, fair and square in everything
she ever did, and now she is repaid
with calumny and the most damnable
charges fmaginab BILE.
But the basest of all is the accu
sation coupling her name with Fred's
Perhaps she was interested in the
primitive in Fred, but know ne re.
ceived no more attention from ner
the Stillmans. She was Just kind to
him. that's all.
But / am glad that public senti-
ment is with her. Those who know
her can readily understand the abso-
lutte absurdity of the charges, and 1t
is a foregone conclusion that all her
friends will rally to her aid. l, for
one, will do everything within my
power to blast these evil accusations.
When this woman, whom I charac-
terize as the most wonderful woman
in the world. at any rate, the most
wonderful woman 1 ever met, In 60
grossly insulted, II is no more than
ri chit for Ms tn forCe riobt 20 tha