Diamonds and Deadlines by Betsy Prioleau

Author:Betsy Prioleau
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2022-03-29T00:00:00+00:00

Once in Manhattan, she stepped into a minefield. First a minor vexation: news of her rival Joseph Pulitzer’s inclusion in the Patriarch’s Ball, which required a social counterstrike. She convened reporters at the Victoria to admire her cultured taste and broke out her latest Parisian costume—a black cashmere gown with a puffed velvet skirt drawn back into a “Lily Langtry” bustle that folded up like an accordion. She stood to display her “fine” figure and demonstrated her “promenade step,” a graceful gait that marked “good breeding.” Beyond the office, “at proper times [she was] devoted to society.”

But within the office, unease pervaded the newsroom, a sense of a pending national crisis. The tensions between capital and labor had spiked once more. Twenty-three miners died in a Wilkes-Barre explosion caused by company negligence; coke-burners idled at another Pennsylvania mine; and in March fifteen thousand railroad workers struck the Southwestern Railroad, suspending six thousand miles of track and causing “confusion and chaos.” The “Great Labor Strike” was gathering steam.

Miriam dodged the drama and sailed for Cuba, perhaps with the intention of assessing the prospect of a Spanish-language Illustrated Newspaper. Her chief object, though, seems to have been a change of scene. She toured the sights and noted with pleasure that Havana señoras put their beautiful breasts on display, as she did, in low-necked gowns at the opera. Apparently no one cabled her the news.

When she docked in New York at the end of March, the story was all over the city. Town Topics, the latest arrival on the weekly scene, was the brainchild of Colonel William d’Alton “W. D.” Mann, a flamboyant, walrus-like rogue with a fresh take on “society journalism.” His idea: expose the rascals and serve up their follies and pretentions for public consumption. The paper was an instant hit, the National Enquirer of the day, read by Vanderbilts and factory workers alike. The March 28 issue featured a juicy tell-all: “From Puddle to Palace,” a true account of the career of the Empress of Publishing. Miriam’s life had been laid bare before—in the Territorial Enterprise by her vindictive ex-husband eight years before—but Frank Leslie had been there to buy up copies and retaliate.

This time, she had to fend for herself against a formidable adversary with a rapier wit and a knack for soundbites. The Topics “Chronicler” had a field day trolling the “foul waters” of Miriam’s past: the years in the “loose-girdled sisterhood,” liaison with congressman Churchwell, ill-starred union with E. G., the rigged divorce, and marriage to her businessman lover whom she ruled like a “dragon.” Where was “Lais” (a famous Greek courtesan) now, he asked? Clamoring for social acceptance, which had led her into to a comical affair with “a shabby, greased, and whiskered adventurer” who only wanted her “bankbook.” When the little “extravaganza” ended, this “kitten” of almost sixty was left alone with her “parasites” and “venal flatterers.”

The stealth smackdown opened old wounds and had long-term consequences. At nearly fifty, she was in a vulnerable place

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.