Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-08-31
SAY CARUSO CARED
FOR MRS. BENJAMIN
Life Of Tenor's Mother-in-Law
in Retreat Is ReveaIed'by
Will Contest
HUSBAND DECLINED AID

New York, Aug. 3l.-How Mrs.
Park Benjamin, widow Of q naval ex-
pert and patent attorney, mas been se-
questered in private sanitarium at
Goshen, NJ y, for the last twelve
years, and how her husband had not
visited her except on two occasions dur
ing the last seven years, came to light
yesterday.
It was learned that she had been
saved from the ignominy of becoming
charity patient at the institution
only through the intervention of her
late son in law. Enrico CarusGs who
cane to the rescue with funds which
Benjamin had declined to advance.
Mrs. Benjamin was committed 10 the
sanitarium of DR.. f. w, Seward at
Goshen in 1910 suffering from slight
mental disorder. She is the mother
Of two of the Benjamin children, Ro.
meyn Benjamin and Dorothy Park
Benjamin. The three remaining chill
dren are her step children.
Blamed Sanitarium
BENJAMIN, it developed, had done but
little for his wife during recent years
after Miss Bolchi had come into his
life. Four years ago, when DR.. Seward
wrote Mr.. Benjamin that he would be
compelled to ask additional remunera-
tion for the care of the demented pa
tient, because Of the upward trend Of
prices. Benjamin wrote to the effect
that 1t was none of his business If the
santarium could not protitably carry
out the financial terms of the agreement
made Mt the time Mrs. Benjamin enter
ed the place.
Rather than ttrn the aged patient
out, DR.. Seward maintained her on the
status of a charity patient for num-
Der of years, or until her SON in law,
Caruso, learned of her condition. There
upon he advanced DR.. Seward the funds
necessary to make up the defaulted
payments, and also paid the expenses of
an operation Mrs. Benjamin was COM
PEELED to undergo. This latter cost
him $500. it was said.
At the time Ben njamin proposed to
adopt Miss Bolchi, papers in the adop-
tion case were sent to Mrs. benjamin
in care Of DR.. Seward. The latter.
upon learning the nature of the papers
his patient had been asked to sign,
promptly returned TIE adoption papers
to MIR. Benjamin unsigned, stating that
Mrs. Benjamin was in no condition to
be n party to such a proceeding. Thus
was the adoption blocked in this State.
Benjamin later went to Pennsylvania
and obtained court sanction for the
adoption of the girl.
Caruso and his wife and their little
daughter, Gloria, were frequent visitors
of Mrs. Benjamin, Mrs. Frederick w.
Goddard, formerly Miss, Gladys Ben
jamin, daughter of the late Mr.. Ben
jamin, said at her home, 104 Eas:
Eighty first street.
Whether or not we will fight the
will. am not yet sure. My brother Is
attending to that. AS yet, though. we
have done nothing. Fathers death
came so suddenly and we are all so
fearfully upset. We have not even
turned the matter over to our attorneys
and may possibly decide not to. The
matter Is entirely in my brothers
hands.
''There are but two reasons that I
can give to account for fathers attack.
One Is the fact that after the marriage
of my stepsister. dorothy. to Mr..
Caruso, we all stood by her and refused
to give her up. My father. you of
course know. thoroughly disapproved of
the match, and would have nothing to
do with Dorothy after the marriage. The
other and perhaps most important rea-
son is because we did strenuously
object to the adoption of Miss Bolchi,
a woman almost old enough to be the
mother of his children.'