Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-08-17
BY INEZ ROBB

rHAT typical American euphemism. rs
nothing sacred" probably first crept
into the slanguage at an auction sale.
When a gimlet-eyed auctioncer with silver
tongued responsiveness starts his sing-song Of
going going gone" and adds final emphasis
with an irrevocable crash Of his gavel, nothing
IS sacred as the bargain addicts crowd around
his rostrum for the kill
Certainly nothing was sacred, not even
articles of lingerie in Newport recently when
Rosechff the late Tessie Oelrichs villa,
white marble monument 10 social era now
dead AS "A herring was knocked down for the
provcrbal song as a Summer home for Torch
Singer Gertrude Nicsen.
Not even silver-framcd pictures Of the late
social leader herself not even the fine linens
from her bed the exquisite linens from her
banquet table were sacred 20 the curious
throngs who came TO paw bid and stare at
the riches and maryels OF the Gilded Age that
ia no more
None Of her Newport social contemporaries
who had known Tessies lavish hospitality in
the past not even her only child and heir
Hermann Oelrichs, came for a last nostalgia
look or 10 shed a tear at the gories rapidly
being dispersed under the auctioneer's gaveL
OF ali the throngs who had known Rose
cliff intimately and enjoyed its gTandeurs In
the past only one person was faithful 10 the
end Herbert f. Moore who went 10 Rose
cliff az butler and major domo of the house
hold when the 50 500 600 show place was
built forty years ago wept silently through
the week Of the auction.
Now an old man whose hair has literally
grown white in the service of the Oelrichs
family ne could not bear that many of the
dishes knick -knacks and small silver pieces
treasured by the late Mrs Oelrichs fall into
the hands of the auction throng.
OF all the persons associated with Tesse
Oelrichs in the past, Moore alone showed any
desire to save from the auction her intimate
belongings OFTEN his modest bids obtained
for him piece OF bric-a-brac she had loved
even more than her $4,000 pipe-organ. her
gold piano or her magnificent Gobelin tapes
tries all Of which were sold for fraction
OF their cost
When the week Of the auction was over,
the marble mansion it's seven acres Of
grounds and it's furnishings which had cost
TcsSie 50 100000 20 assemble had all been
sold for total of SOS 900!
The house, as substantial today as when
Stanford White patterned il in reproduction
Of Marie Antonettes Petit Trianon, and it's
marble court as magnificent as when designed
by the immortal artist, Augustus Saint
Gaudens, were sold at auction for exactly
S21 600 The palace and its grounds were
snapped up by Mrs. Anita Niesen, mother of
Gertrude Niesen, as a birthday gift for her
daughter of stage, screen, radio and night
club fame.
So ends another chapter of the rich social
history written in this mansion built by
Tessie Fair Oelrichs. She built it with the
millions in California gold discovered by her
father James Graham Fair a tough two
listed Forty-niner who lived 10 represent the
Golden State in the United States Senate.
Born in Virginia City in anything but elite
circles, Tessie achieved social position through
her money and marriage TO the late Hermann
Oelrchs, scion of a socially prominent but
none too we'll TODD New York clan.
The erection of her Newport house at the
turn OF the century was one Of the apexes of
a social career in which Tessie became one Of
the leaders OF Newport society. With the