The Washington times., 1922-06-25
TYP|ST SUES
!. RICH WOMAN
I 0VERHUR SET
Court to Decide Whether She
~ Has "stoIen Sable" or
= Bought Marten."
ASKS SIS. 900 FOR ISLANDER
DETROIT, June 24.--"How doe

DETROIT. June 24.--"How does
she do 1T"
g"Whsre did she get them2"
: Familiar questions! A hum
dred times q day they are asked
ss the swarm Of girls, bound to
business, throng the subways and
the avenue, radiant in silks and
summer furs and all the rest Of
the feminine equipment.
Dangerous questions, though,
as Mrs. Minnie Smith. .Bourke. one
Of the most distinguished society
Y1atrons Of Detroit, will concede.
Mrs. Smith -Bourke lost "A set OF
sable furs, valued away up In the
thousands, from her home at
Crosse Point, and she suspected
they had been stolen.
Furs and Furs.
y About the same time Miss Agnes
LAge. twenty-five. and quite attrac.
tive, bought q set Of furs. They
were not sable-or at least Miss Lase
did not think they were. She bought
them for rnarten. and the cost was
not even away UP in the hundreds.
ard Agnes was 90 proud OF them
that she wore them to business.
FL Mrs. Smith .Bcurke saw the girl
and In the same glance noted the
the ftirs, as Agnes, in the quiet
pride that becomes a girl with new
finery, strolled along East Jefferson
avenue.
!, What happened then may be more
clearly understood from Miss Lagos
statement:
Mrs. Bourke accosted me on the
street and seized my furs and de-
where did you get those?'
Naturally. I was taken aback.
but before I could answer, Mrs.
Bourke said:
"'You couldn't buy them, you
know! They are sables worth thou
sands. No girl IN your position
could Afford such furs!
Then Mrs. Bourke asked me
where I lived and told her to
come along and I would show her.
We went to my home at 2340 Chene
street, where my mother told her
that the furs were mine"
&C. Active In Charities.
Mrs. Smith -Bourke Is a sister OF
Daniel Smith, who ran for mayor
In the last Detroit election. She Is
heiress to a vast fortune and noted
In the charitable activities Of the
town. Miss Lage Is a stenogfnpher
employed by Traugott, Schmidt &
Sons and lives with her father, who
was a tailor, but has since grown
prosperous in realty Investments.
Immediately after the episode on
the street Agnes said that Mrs.
Smith -Bourks continued to annoy
her about the furs, and finally the
business girl retaliated by suing the
society matron for s25.ooo for SLAM
deri
The Caste Question.
II always dress as my taste and
pocketbook dictate" said Agnes
Lage, and I always expect to, re-
Rardless Of Mrs. Smith -Bourke or
considerations OF social standing.
II intend, also. TO find out wheth-
O. an American girl must staml for
such damage to her reputation as
m incident like this causes. The
furs are not sable; they are marten,
and they did not cost anything like
81 900: but II they are sables, it Is
hobody's business except my own.
They are mine, anyway! I'm
not sure that I could not have sables
k I desired them. toor'
Miss Lage said that Mrs. Smith
.Bourke did not tear or damage the
f,rs, but contented herself with az.
serting repeatedly in the presence of
auditors that they were not acquired
IN a creditable manner. She said
that on. one occasion Mrs. Smith.
Bourke had made the statement
from her automobile, which she had
driven UP to the curb to examine
the furs on Agnes neck again.