KinSource - Tale of the Week - Two Women Fought

KinSource

Minnesota Tales

The Minneapolis Journal, August 16, 1901, p. 6

TWO WOMEN FOUGHT

A Lyndale Av Flat the Scene of the Encounter.

HAIR PULLED; FACES SCRATCHED

Mrs. Lord's Jealosy Had Been Aroused and With a Whip She Sought Satisfaction.

Because she believed the woman had stolen from her the affections of her husband, Mrs. W. B. Lord, armed with revolver and horsewhip, called upon Mrs. De Lano at her apartments in the Powers flats, Lyndale avenue and Lake street, yesterday afternoon and attempted to even up matters by thrashing her supposed rival. Mrs. De Lano, however, is very much the larger woman, and although she received one cut from the whip lash, which left a scar over her left eye, she succeeded in wresting both whip and revolver from her antagonist and holding her at bay until Alderman Fred Powers came to the rescue.

Mrs. Lord drove up to the apartment house in a carriage. She walked up stairs, and when she reached the third landing saw the woman for whom she was seeking. She shouted to her and started to enter through the open door of Mrs. De Lano's apartments. The door, however, was slammed in her face. She stopped not a moment but thrust both daintily gloved hands through the glass, and then turned and ran to a second door through which she gained access to the rooms. Raising her whip high over her head, she brought it down with all her force full in Mrs. De Lano's face. The attacked woman then wrested the whip from her grasp and called loudly for help.

An Empty Revolver.

Mrs. Lord stepped back and raised the revolver. It wasn't loaded, but Mrs. De Lano didn't know that and she was terribly frightened. She managed to grasp her assailant's arm, however, and to hold it so that the gun was pointed to one side. Meanwhile Mrs. Lord's hands, badly cut when she broke the glass of the door, were streaming blood, and the halls of the building were thronged with frightened, screaming women.

Alderman Powers heard the uproar and came rushing up the stairs. He grabbed Mrs. Lord, took the revolver away from her, and then led her toward the stairs. Meanwhile Mrs. De Lano had retired to her room, taking the whip with her. As she went down the stairs Mrs. Lord called out:

"I don't want you to think I'm afraid of you. My name is Mrs. W. B. Lord. I live that the Sommers Hotel, and my husband's office is in the Corn Exchange."

Mrs. De Lano Threatens Suit.

Later in the afternoon Mrs. De Lano dressed and went out. She told the neighbors she intended to swear out a warrant for Mrs. Lord's arrest but that had not been done up to a late hour this afternoon. She did not return home last night, and her present whereabouts is unknown. She is a large woman, of fine figure, with light hair and a most striking appearance. To a friend she said she had never known anyone named Lord.

Mr. Lord said this afternoon that his wife's action had been the result of a nervous breakdown, and that she was now under a physician's care, having been removed to a sanatorium this noon. He admitted having been introduced to Mrs. De Lano, but said their acquaintance had gone no further than a casual introduction. He added that he expected no further trouble.

Mrs. De Lano formerly conducted a dressmaking establishment in the Syndicate Arcade, but removed from that place last June. Her husband is a street car conductor.