Stanford White was indefatigable in his pursuit of beauty in his work and in his play. He was generous and considerate. He would hide a $100 bill in a bouquet he ordered handed over the footlights; he would visit a poor, sick chorus girl when she thought herself friendless in a hospital.
Once in a while, Mr. White gave entertainments in the tower, at which the women and men of society were his guests. But there were other entertainments on which Venus, not Diana, should have looked down. At them, if a girl danced on the table she did not scratch the mahogany. Stanford White vastly admired adolescence. His death was a tragedy and is a warning. His last night was typical of his method of life.
He dined with his son; he went to his club. From his nearest kin and his honorable friends he turned to the structure his genius had raised, where was hid his “studio.” The lights and music of the roof garden enticed him. And in the presence of the woman who vows he ruined her life he perished by her husband’s hand. And the last jangle that sounded to him was a comedy song: “I could love a million girls.”
Madison Square garden, which he created and where he met his death, was known as his “pleasure house.”
What an awful warning, to the would-be-young-man-about-town! With all his subtle experience, with his fawning servants and paid detectives, even Stanford White with his millions could not avert the hand of vengeance. “Be sure your sin will find you out.” Sooner or later a settlement must be made. Lucky is he whose balance is on the right side of the ledger.
THE BIRTHPLACE OF EVELYN NESBIT THAW AT TARENTUM, PA.
CHAPTER V.
Greatest Legal Battle of Age Opens.
OPPOSING COUNSEL HESITATE TO SHOW THEIR HANDS IN DESPERATE GAME OF LIFE OR DEATH—ATTORNEY GARVAN’S BRIEF OPENING ARGUMENT FOR PROSECUTION FOLLOWED BY PRESENTATION OF STATE’S CASE IN LESS THAN TWO HOURS—VICTIM’S SON CALLED TO STAND—FATAL BULLETS GRUESOME EXHIBIT—STORY OF THE ROOF GARDEN TRAGEDY TOLD—DEFENSE OPENED WITH PLEA THAT THAW BELIEVED HE WAS ACTING UPON THE COMMAND OF PROVIDENCE WHEN HE SLEW WHITE—ALL IN READINESS FOR GREATEST SACRIFICE OF MODERN TIMES.