Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 80, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 June 1899 — A COUNTESS AS A GAIETY GIRL. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A COUNTESS AS A GAIETY GIRL.

Divorced Wife of Bari Hassell Creates a Sensation in London. One of the social and dramatic sensations of London was the appearance during the season of a real live Countess as a “gaiety girl.” Tbe Countess Russell furnished this sensation, and incidentally she has raised more than one furore during her dramatic life. Countess Russell is the daughter of the late Sir Claude Scott, a well-known London banker. Mabel Edith Scott was young and pretty when she married the grandson of the great English statesman, Lord John Russell, in 1890, and became the Countess Russell. They had not been married a year before there was an estrangement which grew from a family affair to a public scandal. After a few months of married life the Countess sued for divorce

and made disgusting charges against the Earl. She could not prove her charges nor obtain her mwe, but a a man whose name she bad dragged lnito the scandal sued the Countess for libel and obtained damages against ber to the amount of ?15,000. Earl Russell got a divorce from bis Countess, and for.a time the public heard no more of the unhappy pair. But the Countess and her mother, Lady Lena Scott, began soon to circulate most horrible stories about the Earl, and finally, in 1890, the Earl had Lady Scott arrested for criminal libel. After a trial which brought out many sensational things concerning tbe family, Lady Scott was convicted. In the evidence produced at tbe trial was a letter from Lady Scott to a bookseller, who had prepared, at her order, the printed libels which she circulated. She said In this letter: “I want you to find me A rich American gentleman to help me bear these expenses, with a view to marriage. I have had plenty of good offers but I must have riches.” Though no “rich American gentleman” was found to furnish funds for Lady Scott, she got enough English money to enable ber to continue her fight against her son-in-law and to send her scandal broadcast. Lady Scott and those arrested with her for the libel utterly failed to prove the charges which they made against the Earl. Lady Russell was always fond of dancing, and some years ago appeared at the Royal Theatr, London. She is now determined to remain on the stage and earn her own living by her wit and her beauty.

COUNTESS RUSSELL.