New-York tribune., 1921-03-30
Girl Witness
In Stillman
Suit Missing,
Viola Clark, Ex-Clnorus
Member Expected to Aid
Wife, Disappears From
Her East Side Lodging

Viola Clark. said to be a former
chorus girl, of 424 East Fiftieth Street,
was named yesterday as possible wit
ness for the defense in the Stillman
divorce case. At her lodgings last
night she was said to have departed
suddenly. No trace of her could be
found. The house where she lived is
an old-fashioned tenement near the
East River.
There last night it was said that
Miss Clark had telephoned and said :.
81 am leaving. 1 will not be back.
You can rent my room"
Some of her effects were said to be
still in the room. Miss Clark. it was
learned yesterday, had been identified
through photograph which was car
ried along Broadway and was finallv
recognized by we'll known actress
who made sudden and startling rise
from the chorus. This actress looked
at the photograph and said:
'"Why, that is Viola Clark! worked
in the chorus with her several veare
ago."
The discovery of this new witness
and the assertion of John f. Mack.
guardian for Guy Stillman, that he ha.
absolute proof Of tho child's leeiti-
macy were the outstanding features in
the case yesterday.
MISS Florence Lawlor, now known as
Mrs. Leeds and named by Mrs. SILL
man as correspondent in the case. is
said to have worked in the same cho-
rus as Miss Clark. Whether Miss Clark
IS the chorus girl who introduced "Mr
Leeds" to Florence Lawlor could not
be verified last night. Neither could It
De positively established whether she
was the mysterious other woman" re-
ferred TO SO often by those familiar
with the case.
Lying Frugally Several Years
1t is said that Miss Clark was once
quite prosperous and was popular along
Broadway, but of recent years has not
been employed in any theatrical pro-
auetlon 1 and has been living modestly
and frugally. Recently she has occu-
pied one small room in the East Side
tenement, where it was said yesterday
that she left for work early every
morning and was home in the evenings.
nearly every night, by z o'clock. Where
she was employed was not known to
other occupants of the house.
The Tribune received a letter signed
Viola Clark on March 21. The letter
reads:
II offer the following story for any
justification it may afford of why I am
mentioned in this unusual divorce case
and what | know Of James Stillman.
II met Mr.. Stillman in 1914, and per-
sonally found him a rare and charming
gentleman, of exceptional culture and
tact.
THAT should be named the second
woman of mystery in this sensational
case is as absurd as it is unreasonable.
The article published in The Tribune
Sunday, March l3, purporting one
of the correspondents to be we'll known
in New York society and considered
beautiful was even mailed to me by an
unknown, but one acquainted with my
address.
1T all appears to me to be the we'll
laid plan of some wagging tongues,
1t behooves some persons to scandalize
me; for to assume me morally ire
sponsible is the only justification for
those who have deprived me of certain
rights socially and financially.
"For seven years past (I will be
thirty years Of age next month";
have been living on SIS week, or
very much less, having only just what
+ earned in a very insignificant ca
patity.
"The last summer that spent in
Newport with my sister / found some
few persons so exceedingly rude and
lacking in refinement that it was very
evident that their wealth and snobbsh-
ness only could sustain their prestige,
but now comprehend the attitude
Met Stillman in 1914
~ met Mr. Stillman at ball, when
we danced a good deal together in
1914 l was at that time inte rested in
a renting proposition in the section of
Brooklyn developed by the late Theo-
dore Shonts which would have netted
me a fortune had l sufficient capital to
launch it.
Though pressed financially Mr..
Stillman, on my request, lent me $500,
which / have since been unable to re-
pay, as with some other debts. / have
not been asked about this, however,
nor have l seen or heard from Mr..
Stillman since then, the early spring
of 1914, but this association of dis
tinctly business nature has been will
fully misconstrued.
ut is privilege to make this public
statement because of whispered what