The San Francisco Dramatic Review (1908)

I THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC REVIEW June 13, 191^; Schumann=Heink and Her Divorce Troubles Claim the Attention of the Week The divorce proceedintjs of Schiimann-Heink, the famous j^rand opera singer, have been interesting the country the past week. I'ress reports have given daily very interesting ac- counts of her family life and the es- cai)ades of her "IJiily" the past few years. FIRST day's IlATTl.K IS AS KOl,L,()\VS CHICAGO. June 4.—.Mmc. Er- nestine Schuniann-Heink, wearing a liandsome black summer gown, wav- ing a fan and making frecjuent use of smelling salts, entered Judge Sulli- van's court today to state her case for divorce against William Rapj). Jr. In the corner of the room stood the de- fendant, surrounded by friends, and in another the singer with her friends. There was a large crowd of onlookers, mostly anxious to see what a prim:', donna looked like ofi the stage. It rcciuired most of the forenoon to fill the jury box. The singer accuses hei husband of being unfaithful to his marriage vows. Elias Mayer, attor- ney for the complainant, named Mrs. Catherine 1''. Dean of New York City as co-respondent. Counsel for Rapi), who have filed a cross bill, deferred their statement to the jury. Mme. Schumann-Hcink, the first witness, gave her residence as 3672 Michigan Avenue. Her domestic traits were remembered by the spectators with smiles when, in insisting that this was her real home, the witness said: "When I am here I live there and every day I hel]) in tidying up and cleaning the place. I do washing, too." She and Ra])]) separated three years ago. Direct examination by Attorney Mayer ceased abruptly without any at- tempt to go into witness' life with Rapp or his alleged relations with Mrs. Dean. The singer's eyes filled with tears in speaking of improving her house. She has eight children, one adopted and seven by previous marriages. The oldest, she said, is 32 vears ol I. IJen M. Smith, counsel for Rapp, directed his first questions to ascertain whether witness, who was I)orn in Prague, Austria, 53 years ago, has a right to sue in this country. She said she had been singing in the United States for 15 years. "Were you at home last Christmas?'' was asked. "At home last Chri.stmas?" (K course I was. 1 could not forget the most important things in my life," came the answer. In June of last year the singer went to Culver, Ind., to be i)resent at the graduation of her son, Franz George Washington Ileink. , ,"Pid you go alone?" 1 "'^^y daughter, my chaulTcur, my cooks, my waiters and a gentleman weni with me," was the repl\'. "And who was the gentleman ?'' "Mr. George I'aldwin." Witness rented a cottage there ann remained five days. "Where did IJaldwin live?" asked the lawyer, but an objection shut oft the rei)ly. Mme. Schumann-IIeink chuckled when Smith asked her if a Mr. Mc- Xamara visited her at her New Jersey home. "No man came to live with me in New Jersey," she laughed. "Hu came to me to take singing lessons. We sarr^ together on the stage." ]\Iayer explained that the singer re- ferred to is lulward J. I\lc.\amara. .SI-:CONI) UOUNI) CHICAGO, June 8.—Wm. Rapp's defense against the divorce suit of his wife, Mme. Ernestine Schumann- Heink, ceased suddenly today with the testimony of only four witnesses, and the case was given over to the attor- neys for argument. Owing to the fact that Rapp filed a cross bill charging his wife with a statutory offense, a large crowd packed the sweltering courtroom, eager for testimony bear- ing on the counter allegation. They were disappointed. Uryan Humphries, who was the famous contralto's chauf- feur for six weeks last winter, and ^liss Helen Sattler, her traveling com- panion since 1910, were witnesses. Humphries testified he had glimpses of George Baldwin of Appleton, Wis., oflf and on at his employer's home in Chicago. Mi.ss Sattler said she had known Ualdwin for two years and that she saw him last around Christmas, 1913. She said also that a policeman with a fine voice visited the madamc at her home in Caldwell, N. J., for singing lessons. "He had a wonderful voice, but all the techni(|ue he had he got from dropping nickels in phonographs," the witness said. "He was a wonderful man, too, wasn't he?" insinuated Lienjamin Smith, Rajjp's lawyer. "I didn't say he was a wonderful man; I said he had a wonderful voice," snapped the witness. In Chicago Miss Sattler and her em- ployer always slept on the second flooi in a room next to her daughter, Marie. A door was always open between tlic two rooms, she said. When IMme. .Schumann-IIeink rent- ed a cottage at Culver, Ind.. on the oc- casion of her .son's graduation, it was so that the friends of her son might be received and entertained. Ualdwin spent one night there and slept in a room under tiiat of the witness. The forenoon session was consumed chiefly by the reading of Rapp's impas- sioned letters to Mrs. Catherine Dean of New York, alleged affinity named by the singer as co-respondent. There was a bit of comedy between the lines. Under date of August i, 1913, the writer of the letters said: "I wrote you I'"riday, Saturday and Sunday. Monday I did not write, as I had conferences all day till late at night. Tuesdaj' and Wednesday I wrote again. Yesterday I waited all day for a letter from you, and I was discouraged at not hearing from you."' The reason the writer did not hear from Mrs. Dean was in court in the person of Miss Frances J. Ashton, a nurse employed as a detective by coun- sel for ]\Ime. Schumann-IIeink. She was the first witness of the day and testified she roomed with Mrs. Dean from time to time during 1913 and intercepted a considerable ninnber of Rapp's letters. It was said ten more of the Rapp-Dean letters would be identified by Miss Ashton, and that this probably would conclude the presenta- tion of testimony for the comi)lainant. In the letter of August i, 1913, Mrs. Dean is addressed as "My Darling, Wonderful Girl." It went on : "Without you it is awful. Just now, when I refjuire that quick wit of yours the most, I must forego it. That is honest, girlie, and you know my unbounded admiration for your ability is true. You are the one and only little woman for me, who can keep me true and straight, and who can bring out the best in me." The epistle mentions a Mrs. De Shoth, a woman whom the writer says gave him the idea "of coming to Chi- cago and confronting the madame di- rect. She gave me considerable in- formation about her." The letter was signed. "Your P>illie," and concludes with the statement that what money the writer has "is yours." Rapp never repeated himself in ad- dressing his alleged affinity. She was "My darling wonderful girl." "My darling present and future," "My one best bet." and "Glorious good little woman kid." In them there was a reference to checks which the writei had sent. Plans for a joint business life, and ho])es of a blissful future, filled the pages. "You see," said the letter of Augusi 6th. "for the present S. (Schumann- IIeink) must believe we are entirely estranged or never had any more in- timate association." In the course of a long epistle mailed two days later. Rapp referred to one of their numerous business plans, saying: "Talked to a wealthy friend about the roadhouse here (Chicago), on the North Side, and he became enthusias- tic about it; suggested a private din- ing-room to "seat about twelve and in- closed entrance so parties could noi be fliscovered, and good meals, expen- sive and good things to drink. He is married, but seems to want a place where he can have merry times with- out detection and have a lot of wealthy friends and big spenders who also would patronize such a place." Mme. Schumann-IIeink was called and was asked only one question. "Wiiat was the date of your mar- riage to Paul Schumann?" asked the attorney. An ol)jection by counsel for the singer was sustained. Mme. Schu- mann-Heink expressed sympathy for her husband and for Mrs. Catherine Dean, named as co-respondent. "He must have loved her verj much," she said. "The letters he seni to her were a shock to me when 1 heard them read in court. I did not understand them all and my lawyers would not ex])lain them to me. But the little that I heard told me every- thing. A divorce is a frightful thing, terrible for everybody." THIRD ROlIXn AND OUT CHICAGO, June 9.—Mme. Ernest- ine Schumann-l leink was today grant- ed a divorce from her husband, Wil- liam Rapp, Jr., whose ardent epistles, breathing love and devotion, to Airs. Catherine Dean of New York were the sensation of the divorce suit. The vic- tory for the famous contralto came when Superior Judge Sullivan in- structed the jury which has heard the case to return a verdict in favor of the complainant. The Schumann-Heink divorce hearing was marked principal- ly by the emotional letters introduced in support of the charge that Rapp should no longer be the husband oi the diva and the repeated intimation? that the defense would prove allega- tions against the singer which would offset the conduct charged against her' husband. No attempt was made toi contradict the authenticity of the let- ters credited to Rapp and written in impassioned words to Mrs. Catherine Dean of New York, and the evidence of the defense failed to show moral obliquity on the part of the opera singer. Mmc. Schumann-IIeink showed her joy at the verdict and de- clared she would speedily journey to the Piayreuth Wagnerian festival, in which she is to take a leading part. Li aimouncing his ruling. Judge Sullivan| said: "There were three issues in this case. The Court finds that the com- plainant was a .resident of Illinois more than thirty days, and the Court has jurisdiction. , The second issue was the statutory charge. The leading inferences of the complainant's evi- dence have not been controverted. The third issue was the recriminatory charge that, although the defendant was proven guilty, yet the complain- ant is likewise guilty and ought not to recover. There has been no evi- dence to show that the complainant is other than a good wife and has been other than a Chaste and virtuous woman. It therefore becomes the duty of the Courts to instruct the jury to find for the complainant." .\ motion for a new trial was made by counsel for Rapp. The argument in chambers which preceded the ruling was Uirgely on the question whetiier in a divorce case the Court had tlu- right to direct a verdict. ■lie ::eH Dick Tully Says He is Not En= gaged to Mrs. McClaughry "No engagement is contemplated between Airs. Anita Baldwin Mc- Claughry and myself," announces Richard Walton Tully, the California playwright. "I hardly know her, and must believe that: the story was first circulated with malicious intent by some one attempting to aflfect adverse- ly my pending divorce suit, begun in Los .-\ngelcs in April. I once heard Mrs. AlcClaughry play .some Indian music at the Sequoia Club in this city, and was .so impressed that I got her to write the music; for my play, Omar the Tentmakcr —that is all." Tully stated that he had come West to su- pervise Jesse E. Lasky's filmatization of Tully's plaji, The Rose of tht Rancho. The scenes will be enact before the motion-picture camera Mission San Jitan Uatista, aroun which the play (the first of the mis- sion plays) is written. Apart from this, says Tully, the only significance of his visit is in!the interests of the forthcoming San' Francisco produc- tion of his play, Omar the Tentmaker. Tully will go next year to London, where, he says, he is negotiating for a theatre. tnt I nf ^ liHa iiec Mackenzie Annexes Eugene (ieorgc J. Mackenzie. rci)resentative for Klaw & Erlanger and manager of the Metropolitan Theatre of Seattle, announces that he has secured a Ixjok- ing contract with the Eugene Theatre, luigene, Ore., and, beginning with next season, nothing but K. & E. at- tractions would be shown there. "