Read Online Last Train to Paradise by Les Standiford - Free Book Online
Authors: Les Standiford
Ads: Link
Augustine’s major architectural landmarks.
The loss of his daughter was not Flagler’s only concern by this time, however. Ida Alice, who had always felt snubbed by Flagler’s family and his social circle, had begun to act in an increasingly irrational way. She had always been prone to fits of temper, but now the slightest irritation could send her into a frenzy. During a yachting party that she was hosting off the coast of New England, a storm came up. Though the members of the party, as well as the captain and crew, begged Ida Alice to return to port, she was adamant that her party would go on. The ship was driven far out to sea by the storm, where it wallowed for hours before making it back to port.
Such incidents troubled Flagler greatly, but he was nonetheless going to great lengths to try to make Ida Alice happy, going so far as to commission a new 160-foot yacht, the
Alicia,
and building them a permanent winter home near the Ponce de Leon, which one writer termed “worthy of Versailles.”
Still, nothing seemed to appease Ida Alice, who, in an apparent attempt to garner notice, if not approval, took to scheduling an unbroken series of balls and other functions at their winter home, often appearing in increasingly risqué dress. Even a man as wealthy as Flagler had begun to feel the effects of his wife’s prodigious spending. For the first time he was forced to sell off some of his Standard Oil stock, and in a vain attempt to temper his wife’s enthusiasm, he began to withdraw from the endless bouts of partying.
If she missed Flagler’s company, Ida Alice did not say so publicly, for she had found new company in the spirits and disembodied presences with whom she had come in contact through a Ouija board someone had given her as a gift.
It was not long until she announced that the board had informed her that the tsar of Russia was in love with her, and that they were to be wed upon Flagler’s death. As if that were not enough, she began to complain that Flagler was mistreating her, and the resultant gossip among their friends pained him greatly.
In desperation, Flagler asked George Shelton, a family friend and physician, to observe Ida Alice and to advise him on any course of treatment that might benefit her. Dr. Shelton, alarmed at what he saw, called in a pair of colleagues who specialized in mental disorders, but their arrival at the Flaglers’ Manhattan apartment sent Ida Alice into such hysterics that the doctors recommended she be removed from their home and taken immediately to an asylum.
Flagler grudgingly gave his consent, but traveled regularly to see his wife. His visits to the asylum seemed only to further upset Ida Alice, however, who by this time seemed utterly out of touch with reason.
Shelton urged a distraught Flagler to remove himself to Florida for the ensuing winter, where he might better regain his spirits without the specter of his disturbed wife to torment him.
Flagler went, but it was an unhappy winter for him. When he returned north in June, he found his wife greatly improved, and prevailed upon her doctors to let him take her back to the Mamaroneck home he so loved. Though the doctors were still concerned, not the least because Ida Alice had vehemently threatened Flagler’s life during her breakdown, they relented.
Flagler, by now a man of sixty-six, took his wife home, resolute that this time things would be different. Though it was not long before Ida Alice was again begging for her Ouija board, and friends were advising him to have her committed once more, Flagler stood firm.
“I shall not let her leave home until it becomes absolutely necessary,” he vowed, though that would not take long.
When Ida Alice attacked her doctor with a pair of kitchen shears, the matter was decided. In March of 1897, Ida Alice was removed to a private asylum in Pleasantville, New York. Flagler would never see her again.
5
Empire Building
Flagler did not want for distractions from his
The loss of his daughter was not Flagler’s only concern by this time, however. Ida Alice, who had always felt snubbed by Flagler’s family and his social circle, had begun to act in an increasingly irrational way. She had always been prone to fits of temper, but now the slightest irritation could send her into a frenzy. During a yachting party that she was hosting off the coast of New England, a storm came up. Though the members of the party, as well as the captain and crew, begged Ida Alice to return to port, she was adamant that her party would go on. The ship was driven far out to sea by the storm, where it wallowed for hours before making it back to port.
Such incidents troubled Flagler greatly, but he was nonetheless going to great lengths to try to make Ida Alice happy, going so far as to commission a new 160-foot yacht, the
Alicia,
and building them a permanent winter home near the Ponce de Leon, which one writer termed “worthy of Versailles.”
Still, nothing seemed to appease Ida Alice, who, in an apparent attempt to garner notice, if not approval, took to scheduling an unbroken series of balls and other functions at their winter home, often appearing in increasingly risqué dress. Even a man as wealthy as Flagler had begun to feel the effects of his wife’s prodigious spending. For the first time he was forced to sell off some of his Standard Oil stock, and in a vain attempt to temper his wife’s enthusiasm, he began to withdraw from the endless bouts of partying.
If she missed Flagler’s company, Ida Alice did not say so publicly, for she had found new company in the spirits and disembodied presences with whom she had come in contact through a Ouija board someone had given her as a gift.
It was not long until she announced that the board had informed her that the tsar of Russia was in love with her, and that they were to be wed upon Flagler’s death. As if that were not enough, she began to complain that Flagler was mistreating her, and the resultant gossip among their friends pained him greatly.
In desperation, Flagler asked George Shelton, a family friend and physician, to observe Ida Alice and to advise him on any course of treatment that might benefit her. Dr. Shelton, alarmed at what he saw, called in a pair of colleagues who specialized in mental disorders, but their arrival at the Flaglers’ Manhattan apartment sent Ida Alice into such hysterics that the doctors recommended she be removed from their home and taken immediately to an asylum.
Flagler grudgingly gave his consent, but traveled regularly to see his wife. His visits to the asylum seemed only to further upset Ida Alice, however, who by this time seemed utterly out of touch with reason.
Shelton urged a distraught Flagler to remove himself to Florida for the ensuing winter, where he might better regain his spirits without the specter of his disturbed wife to torment him.
Flagler went, but it was an unhappy winter for him. When he returned north in June, he found his wife greatly improved, and prevailed upon her doctors to let him take her back to the Mamaroneck home he so loved. Though the doctors were still concerned, not the least because Ida Alice had vehemently threatened Flagler’s life during her breakdown, they relented.
Flagler, by now a man of sixty-six, took his wife home, resolute that this time things would be different. Though it was not long before Ida Alice was again begging for her Ouija board, and friends were advising him to have her committed once more, Flagler stood firm.
“I shall not let her leave home until it becomes absolutely necessary,” he vowed, though that would not take long.
When Ida Alice attacked her doctor with a pair of kitchen shears, the matter was decided. In March of 1897, Ida Alice was removed to a private asylum in Pleasantville, New York. Flagler would never see her again.
5
Empire Building
Flagler did not want for distractions from his
Similar Books
