The Washington times., 1927-08-05

Tells Ills SIDE
Of AFFAIR

Ted" Fouts, ex.fiance Of Miss
Ruby Harding. Petwcrth belle, who
was reported to have been rescued :
from an unwelcome wedding By
L.awrence Auth. acting In the role Of
4 modern Lochinvar last Tuesday
night, today broke his sO-hour silence
to deny that Miss Harding had ever
been IN any way forced, coerced or
lcajoled into marrying him.
Mr.. Fouts' statement was cor
roborated by Miss Harding hersell
and by. her mother, Mrs. /. y.
Hatcher, at the Hatcher home, 4213
Eighth ST, ~. W.. today. Miss Hard-
Ing denied that she had been In hid
ing at the Auth home, 405 Sixth st.
S. w. or at their summer home near
Forest Glen. She partially con-
firmed the story that she had been
staying with sorority sister IN Eek
ington, not is minutes from the
Hatcher home.
FOuts Gives His Views
In breaking his silence to deny
reports Of coercion, Mr.. Fouts
told his views Of the entire affair
which are considerably at variance
with previous reports He did not
appear today to be Of the Tilted
lover type but rather one who was
glad Tan unhappy step had not been
taken.
Far from being In seclusion ut
his sshack" up the river yesterday,
he declared. he was ct the ball
game.
Il had been engaged to Miss
Harding about two months, he
declared. Last Thursday we de-
cided to be married quietly at
Rockville, August 2. took out
license Monday and met her at
the appointed place in Rockville
Tuesday. With me was my mother
and q friend who was to have been
the best man. The Rev. Samuel
Rose, pastor Of the Petworth
Methodist Church. met us there by
appointment.
"The Harding party met us there
also, consisting of Ruby, her
mother, her stepfathen her two
brothers. her brotherin.law and
five girl friends. Just about that
time Ruby said she had changed
her mind and wanted the wedding
postponed.
Changed Her Mind Again
sit has been reported that Auth
was present and grabbed her from
the court house steps to take her
back to Washington. This is not
true. did not see Auth the
whole time I was In Rockville.
II then came back home and
- vNNNy afn ~
the river. arriving there about 4
o'clock in the afternoon. About
sis b. m. Ruby and her brother
and brother-i n-law appeared at the
shack Her brother said Ruby had
CHANGED her mind once more and
wanted to go through with the
wedding. We made plans for her
to come to my home at 73O Quebec
alone.
''This she did about 7:sO o'clock.
She said she wanted to go through
with It but wanted to so home
first and change her dress. This
Il the last / saw Of her. An hour
later her brother came to my
house and said she had been kid
naped! He gave no details other
than to say he had pursued Auth's
car and been outdistanced.
The statement by Fouts, Miss
Harding and her mother, apparently
closes and clears up reports which
have been rife during the last two
days regarding the Fouts-Harding-
Auth triangle. Ruby was declared
to have been twice in one day
saved" from an unwelcome mar
rage to Fouts by Auth, the sweet
heart Of her childhood
Her disappearance for two days
and two nights created additional
excitement among her friends. Last
night she returned home ana 4 re-
Cancellation with her mother was
effected.