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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS.
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Dancing Today in Vaude
ville.
When She Reached Fourteen Years of Age
As Witness at Murder Trial
Evelyn Nesbit at Five
Years.
EVELYN THAW’S CAREER IS
Of LESSON TO AMERICAN GIRLS
T
Lawyers Want Rest Before De
fending Woman Accused of
Poisoning Rich Husband.
Postponed four weeks ago until
after the close of the trial of Leo
Prank, it is probable that the re
opening of the famous Crawford will
case, n which Mrs. Mary Belle Craw
ford is charged with poisoning her
husband, Joshua B. Crawford, will
again be delayed until after the hear
ing of the arguments for a new Frank
trial on October 4. Should Judge
Roan decline to grant a new trial,
it is probable that the Crawford case
will be postponed until after an ap
peal is taken to the Court of Appeals,
at the request of Attorneys Reuben
Arnold and Luther Rosser, who are
counsel for both Mrs. Crawford and
for Frank.
Colonel J. S. Jarpes. one of the at
torneys for the heirs at law in the
Crawford case, stated Wednesday
morning he did not expect the case
to be reopened until the Frank case
was definitely settled one way or
the other. He will confer with At
torney Rosser Wednesday afternoon
or Thursday morning, and it is prob
able that some agreement will be
reached regarding the reopening of
the case. When Col. J. L. Anderson,
who is serving as auditor in the will
case, announced the postponement of
the case several weeks ago, he stated
that in resuming the hearing of the
testimony he would be governed by
the wishes of the attorneys.
It is known that Rosser and Mr.
Arnold favor delaying thq Crawford
case for several weeks, if not until
the final disposition of the Frank
case. Colonel James met Mr. Arnold
several days ago, and durmg a con
versation about the reopening of the
case, Mr. Arnold remarked that he
would dislike to resume within three
weeks after the closing of the FranK
trial, as he desired to get a much-
needed rest. Mr. Arnold left the city
Tuesday night for a month’s stay,
and it is probable that Mr. Rosser
will leave shortly also for a vacation.
Colonel Anderson, the auditor, is also
out of the city, but will return Sat
urday.
While many of the attorneys on
either side have been busy with the
Frank trial, the search for Fred Lumb.
the New York barber, who, it is
charged, was an accomplice of Mrs.
Crawford in a plot to poison her
husband, has continued without suc
cess. Colonel James has given a
great deal of time to the apprehension
of Lumb, and practically the entire
East has been scoured by detectives
acting under his orders. New York
detectives and detectives of other
Eastern cities, have thrown their
drag-nets out, but have found no
trace whatever of the barber.
HELD FOR BOY’S DEATH.
COLUMBUS.—Fred Riley, the ne
gro chauffeur of David Rothschild, a
wholesale dry goous merchant of Co
lumbus, who ran down and killed El
bert Willis, a young negro boy. ha-
been bound over to the Superior
Court on a charge of manslaughter.
By DOROTHY DIX.
Does It pay to be good?
Tens of thousands of poor girls
avid for pleasure, longing to ride in
luxurious automobiles and feast on
dainty food in gay restaurants; mad
ly anxious for the lovely clothes that
would enhance their charms, as a fine
frame sets off a picture, are asking
themselves that question. Does it pay
to be good?
They know that, like the milk
maid in the old song, their faces are
their fortunes, and that beauty and
youth are assets that a woman can
cash in at sight. The streets of every
big city are the Mount of Temptation
upon which the Devil takes every
poor, pretty little drudge, and shows
her, spread out before her, all that
the foolish, feminine heart can crav-
of ease and softness. And it is all
hers for the taking.
He shows her both sides of the pic
ture. He shows her Virtue hanging
on to a strap in a crowded car. while
Vice rolls by in a limousine. He
shows her Virtue, shabby, fainting
with weariness behind the counter,
while Vice lolls in front of it, buying
silks and satins. He shows her Vir
tue going to bed hungry in a dingv
hall bedroom, while Vice sups at a
lobster palace. He shows her Virtue
clutching its thin little pay envelope,
while Vice draws down its thousands,
and flaunts its name in electric let
ters a foot high along Broadway.
No wonder that poor young girls
ask. Does It pay -;o be good?
The Case of Evelyn Thaw.
For answer let us consider the case
of Mrs. Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, wiio
furnishes the most cynical illustra
tion of this subject that what we call
civilization has ever seen. For no
woman of our day has been so written
about and discussed; no woman—not
Bernhardt, nor Julia Marlowe, nor
Maude Adams—has ever received suen
a preposterous salary as she gets for
a few minutes’ appearance on th?
stage.
Yet her sole claim to distinction *s
that her very garments drip with the
slime of the gutter, and that she is
the heroine of the most hideous and
decadent story that was ever told
upon the witness stand.
In all her life she has done no noble
or worthy act. From her very child
hood she has passed from scandal . j
scandal. Her once great beauty is
gone. She has no talent. Yet thou
sands of people pay nigjitly to see her
do a foolish little dance that anv
debutante can do as well with thr^e
lessons. There’s simply nothing to
her but the dark aura of her past.
No other woman has ever capital
ized her sins at such a fiqure as Mrs.
Thaw has done. But after her little
dance, when she waved her hands to
the audience, whose c v es had been as
hard and cold as dagoers stabbing
her, I wondered if she thought that 't
paid. I wondered if she thought that
she had paid too dearly for all sho
had had -nd all she was getting, when
she knew that everv woman in the
house would draw ier skirts away
from her, and everv man would rather
see his own cauahter dead in her cof
fin than to be winning such ?. success
in such a way.
Believe me, she. and women like
her, KNOW whether pays to be
good.
Hers the Story of Many.
The story of Evelyn Thaw is an in
teresting one in this connection be
cause in its setting and In its poten
tialities it is the story of*>the chance,
and the temptation, that comes to so
many poor and pretty girls. It is the
eternal problem of the woman who
wants the good things of iife. and
who can get them only in one way. by
buying then) with her soul.
Evelyn Thaw is a type of woman
that is peculiar to America and com
mon in thLs country—women who
come of poor and humble families,
but who are born with the instincts
for luxury of a princess and the bear
ing and presence of the great world.
You see them in every little village—
girls who are as chic as Parisiennes,
who wear their little home-made
clothes as if they came from a cou-
touriere of the Rue de la Paix, and
Devoid of Talent, Evelyn
Thaw Capitalizes Sins
“No other woman has ever capitalized her sins at such a
figure as Mrs. Thaw has done. In all her life she has done no
noble or worthy act. From her very childhood she has passed*
from scandal to scandal. Her once great beauty is gone. She
has no talent. Yet thousands of people pay nightly to see her
do a foolsh little dance that any debutante could do as well in
three lessons. There is simply nothing to her but the dark
aura of her past.
“ But after her little dance, when she waved her hands to
the audience, whose eyes had been as hard and cold as dag-|
gers stabbing at her, I wondered if »she thought^ it paid. I
wondered if she thought she had paid too dearly for all she had
had and all she was getting, when she kijew that every woman
in the house would draw her skirts away from her, and every
man would rather see his own daughter dead in her coffin than
to he winning such a success in such a way.
“Believe me, she and women Jike her KNOW whether it
pays to be good. •
“Be sure that she has paid for all the loaves and fishes
she has gotten. Evil collects its debt inexorably. No one, least
of all a woman, is so thick-skinned as to be impervious to the
scorn of her fellow creatures. Evelyn Thaw has had that in
full measure, and under it and the life it has driven her to she
has coarsened and hardened.’*
—DOROTHY DIX.
who are as irresistibly drawn to the
bright lights of a great city as a moth
Is attracted to the dame.
Evelyn Nesbit was one of these. She
was born on a Christmas Day, in Al
legheny, a suburb of Pittsburg. Her
mother was beautiful, her father a
gav ne’er-do-well; and from the one
parent she got her looks and the oth
er her mercurial nature—as danger
ous a combination as evil itself could
bequeath a girl.
They Were Very Poor.
All her early life they were very
poor, and when the father died—-
which he did when Evelyn was 10 or
11 years old—they were poorer still.
Mrs. Nesbit tried to make a living
with her needle, but barely succeed
ed in keeping the wolf from the door.
The little family went from Alle-
ghenv to Philadelphia, hoping for bet
ter things, but luck failed to smile on
them. They were so poor that Mrs.
Nesbit cut up her sheets to make un
derclothing for her.self and Evelyn,
and her bedspreads to make them
dresses. Then someone who noted
the girl’s rare loveliness got her a
position to pose for some photo
graphs.
The migration from Philadelphia to
the larger artistic world of New York
followed naturally, and, armed with
letters to painers here, Mrs. Nesbit
came, bringing Evelyn, whose beauty
was flowering day by day. But, In
spite of the romances Mr. Robert^
Chambers writes about it, the life or
an artist model is not one glad round
of pleasure and profit, and the Nesbits
were still very poor. They lived in
one room, where they cooked and
slept and Mrs. Nesbit took in such
sewing as she could get. Then a
newspaper reporter ran across Eve
lyn and wrote a big Sunday story, il
lustrated with many pictures of her.
which he called “The Most Beautiful
Artists’ Model in New York.”
Fate did the rest. She was engaged
by a theatrical manager on the out
look for beauties for his chorus—and
she had reached the dividing line, the
place where she had to choose be
tween poverty and hard work—and
the gilded life—the place where she
had to ask herself, as the poor, pret
ty girl does under such circumstances
—does it pay to be good?
She decided that it did not pay, and
took what she thought was the easiest
way. Where it has led her all the
world knows. Certainly she has had
the cakes ^nd ale of existence. First
there was"a millionaire who used to
take her out on his yacht for week
end excursions. Then came Stanford
White, and for a while, at least, it
was all like a fairy tale.
She, who had not had carfare, rode
in cabs and taxis everywhere. She
who had not always had even bread
to eat feasted at the smartest restau
rants. She who had worn ttie shab
biest of shabby clothes had fine gowns
and jewels lavished on her.
Another turn of the wheel of for
tune brought Harry Thaw Into her
life with more money, more jewels,
more trips to Europe, and finally a
wedding ring. Being Pittsburg-born,
the Thaws had always been the big
gest people on Evelyn’s horizon, and
to belong to that august family, and
queen It socially In the very town in
whic h she had b^en poor and humble,
doubtless filled the measure <»f her
ambition. Evil had prospered with
her. and vice had brought her what
virtue never could.
Then her sins began to find her out.
and her world, built upon a founda
tion of wrongdoing, commenced to
crumble under her feet. Pittsburg
society would not receive her. despite
the Thaws’ financial and social posi
tion. Women, good women, would
have nothing to do with her. The
scarlet letter was branded upon her
too plainly for even the Thaw mil
lions to cover it up.
Also she began to know the cruel
fact that while a man, obsessed by
passion and in order to get a woman,
swears that he will forgive her past
lapses from the straight and narrow
way and forget them he really never
does. When he is married to her he
makes of them a whip of scorpions
with which to scourge her. The tor
ments of hell can have nothing worse
than the months in which Evelyn
Thaw combated the jealous suspicions
of her husband and endured his re
proaches.
Then followed the shooting of
Full Blouses to Imitate Wings.
X-Ray Skirts to Continue Pop
ular, but With Flounces
Special Cable to The Atlanta Georgian.
PARIS. Aug. 27.—The butterfly
idea dominates the coming styles.
Having forsworn the use of legs,
women will cultivate wings. A sur
vey of the leading dressmaking es
tablishments indicates the following
autumnal metamorphosis:
Hats* will be small and round, like
the butterfly’s head Blouses and
jackets will be extremely full and
loose at the back and shoulders, sug
gesting wings. The jackets will be
long, with a belt, but not drawn in at
the waist.
Skirts will be plaited, the plaits
opening wide at the knees, but nar
rowing again at the ankles, in imi
tation of the butterfly’s abdomen.
Most of the skirts will be flounced to
the knees, while some will be so full
at the back as to give almost a bus
tle effect.
Some gowns will be ornamental at
the back with large butterflies or
bows of silk set just below the waist.
Evening gowns will be lower than
ever. They will be open to the waist
behind, Dut very wide and loose over
the shoulders.
Diaphonouses over pink tights will
continue popular, but flounces will In
sure opacity as far as the knees. The
color of suits will be less bright.
Stanford White and the two long-
drawn-out trials, during which, to
save her husband and to earn a fee,
justly earned and never paid. Evelyn*
Nesbit Thaw told a' story of her life
that for utter degradation has no
match in all the annals of sinful hu
manity. She stripped from herself
every vestige of decency and left her.
self without so much as a rag of
honor to cover her.
That, this story was not true does
not alter her Status. She held herself
up before the world as shameless be
yond all belief until the wonder of It
was that any woman could tell such
things of herself and live. And now
she is coining that story into money.
Be sure that/she has paid for all
the loaves and fishes that she has
gotten. Evil collects its debt inex
orably. No one, least of all a wom
an, is so thick-skinned as to be im
pervious to the scorn of one’s fellow
creatures. Evelyn Thaw has had that
in full measure, and under it, and the
life it has driven h©r to, she has
coarsened and hardened.
The wonder of her at the trial was
the expression of wistful, childlike-
innocence she wore. I asked a great
alienist to interpret that to me. and
he said that the reason of it was that
her soul was unawakened, that she
was morally dead and had never real
ized the import of the things she did.
Hence they had not set their seal
upon her as they do upon women wno
consciously tread the primrose path.
But that trial stripped the veil from
her eyes. She came out of it knowing
good and evil, and the knowledge has
dimmed her beauty andjiaken from it
the ethereal charm that'was its high
est note. There is lothing remark
able about her now. You may meet a
thousand like her any day along
Broadway.
I wonder how Evelyn Thaw, in view
of her life, and all it has brought her
of good and ill, would answer that
question: Does it pay a girl to be
good ?
I think that no one could preach
such a homily on the subject as this
poor girl, who sold her birthright for
a few silks and a rag of chiffon and
good times, and who knows the price
she has paid. >
Kentucky Feudist,
Reported Dead, Lives
LEXINGTON. Aug. 27.—Green Mc
Intosh, feudist, charged with the mur
der of Greenberry Combs in Breathitt
County, and who was reported as
shot to death while resisting arrest
by a sheriff’s posse, was not killed
He is being hidden in the Breathitt
Mountains by friends. Word of his
death was telephoned from the moun
tains, the officers say, to cause the
search to die out so he could escape
from the hills.
265 CASES TO BE TRIED.
MACON.—There are 265 cases, of
which 100 are for alleged violations of
the State prohibition law. to betried
fluring the September term of the
City Court which convenes Monday
and lasts for two weeks. Only 50
of the defendants are in jail, the oth
ers having given bond.
HELD UP IN DAYLIGHT.
MACON.—A white man giving his
name as Joe Jackson reported to the
police that he was held up and robbed
of $119 near the business part of the
city at 7 o’clock in the morning. He
said his assailants wore black masks
and black clothes.
Macou Merchants to
Tour Georgia Towns
MACON, Aug. 27.—Macon m»r*
chants are making plans for another
booster trip through south and rniddio
Georgia in September. The trip will
last for three days and the merchants
will travel in a special train, mak
ing short stops at each town en route.
The j route will embrace Sanders-
ville, Tennille, Brunswick, Milieu,
Waycross, Fitzgerald, Thomasvill^
Moultrie, Cordele and other towns.
JULJJi'.JJ—'.l'l -! '■ ■Li..- ■ J
Special Sale
Any Suit
$17
At this price you have unlimited
• choice in the matter of selection—in
cluding plain colors and fancy pat
terns—sizes to fit most every man.
Every suit an Atterbury Suit*
Bear in mind t too, that suits of
such fine quality and desirable pat
terns are not often obtainable at a
reduced price,
SPECIAL REDUCTIONS ON HATS AND FURNISHINGS
Cloud-Stanford Co.
61 Peachtree St.