Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-06-14
BY JOHN u. sTURDEvANT
Fouls Shoeo
LIE as the ghost he was soon To beco

TALE as the ghost ne was soon to become,
the most noble Antonio, Marques de Por-
tago leaped upon his favorte polo pony
the other day.
There was a polo match in Madrid and
"reHy" was determined TO play. The doctor.
who had for months been watching his heart
grow weaker. warned him against any siren
uous exercise. Tony laughed and replied:
1T takes lot 10 kill a Portage"
But there's an old Spanish proverb which
says, Death comes like pale rder''-"El
Mucrte viene como un caballero palido."
And so as Tony swung out into the field on
his horse, another figure. unseen to the spec
tators, mounted behind. 1t was Death.
Tony's form was good that afternoon. He
made goal after goal for his team. but the
pale rider" who rode behind him, finally lost
patience. It's relentless grip grew tighter
until Tony fell from his horse dead
Perhaps it was a fitting end TO reckless
career Tony had died as he had lived-"rid-
ing high"
When his body was oorne to the chilly
vault Of the Portage family, one of the
strangest romances in international society
came 20 an end.
But the woman who loved Tony was not
there She was in France in BiarrtZ, sur
rounded by German tourists and comforted
only by her American passport
longing eyes at American shores her MEM
Dries must take her back many years ago
when she was a poor but beautiful Irish girl
II was shortly after the last war that Olga
Leighton felt the urge TO come TO the land OF
the free Ireland was in the midst of revolu-
ton food was scarce and Olga had heard that
New York's streets were paved with gold
Nobody knows just what Olga did when
she arrived Whether she started her career
as nursemaid or cook. But there was no
DENYING that she was astonishingly beautiful.
Her skin was creamy white, her hair
reddish gold and from under long dark lashes
there flirted emerald green eyes. People turned
around to stare as she went by and one OF
them was decrepit Frank j. Mackey.
Mackey had never seen anyone like her
before and he had been around quite bit.
Frank came from the Middle West and his
business career read like an Horatio Alger
story. He often used to say that his mother
had more brains than he had and no one
questioned that.
After her husbands death, Mrs. Mackey
had opened up pawn shop in Western
town TO support her son, Frank then an infant
When Frank grew up, his mother sent him
20 other towns to open pawn shops and soon
they had a string Of them prospering. 1t
was the beginning of the chain store idea.
Soon the Mackeys were setting up loan
companies in the Midwest. And with their
new titles as bankers" the mother and son
started to climb the social ladder.
Frank and his first wife went to London
and their social success was immediate. They
were hosts to King Edward VII and Queen
Alexandra Lady Paget, the English Astors
and many others. The Duchess Of Bedford
presented Mrs Mackey at court and no woman
abroad, except royalty was more discussed.
She was hailed as 1.-The best dressed woman
in Europe" and newspapers said that when
: she appeared at state banquet she was lit
orally "smothered in jewels"
But her triumph was short-lived. She died
a few years after her marriage.
Frank returned to America and trouble.
The Chicago District Attorney had had
complaint about Franks loan shark COM
panies" and Frank and his aged mother were
forced TO dissolve their prosperous business.
His mother was broken-hearted. Even her
huge fortune did not make up for being