scandal sheet
f e i l e R c i l Pub
I
f you’ve been to England or hang around a few chaps from the old country, you may have heard the expression ‘Gordon Bennett’ to denote shock and surprise. Well, get your smelling salts ready for the ever-so-scandalous tale of how that turn of phrase came to be. The event that took place at the May residence New Year’s Day, 1877, and would later go down in Guinness Book of World Records under “Greatest Engagement Faux Pas” was so outrageous that even the Victorians—famously skilled in innuendo, gesture, and implication—had to stretch their talents to get their point across. It was a snowy holiday, and the three unmarried May sisters were receiving callers in their elegant Fifth Avenue home stocked with seasonal goodies. Bachelors concentrated on the two sisters because one, Caroline, was engaged to a certain Mr. James Gordon Bennett. A playboy known for his reckless behavior and overimbibing ways, he was very rich, having inherited the lucrative New York Herald (the paper that sent Stanley to look for Livingstone), and the then-boggling sum of $7,000,000. Bennett arrived in poor condition, drunkenly reeling and swaying, with eggnog stains on his tie. About 50 years later, an anonymous report of the incident, entitled “James Gordon Bennett . . . Most Noted American Example of Human Beast,” told what happened next: “Responding to a liquid call of nature while in the presence of a lady of high character to whom he was paying attention, he simply retired behind the parlor door and let fly.” Other reports had him relieving himself on the piano. Quite the performance! Caroline promptly fainted, her sisters ran, and their mother shrieked. The men tossed Bennett into the snow to try and cool things off but nothing would be forgiven. Two days later, Caroline’s brother Frederick stalked Bennett outside the Union Club and horsewhipped him. The two then fought a pistol duel on a muddy field in Delaware. Both missed, luckily, but the upcoming wedding received a killing blow. Caroline ended up marrying a chap with better manners, while Bennett moved to Europe and continued on with his poor behavior. ✦ 36 | AVENUE MAGAZINE • JUNE 2012
Above: Legendary bad boy James Gordon Bennett
James Gordon Bennett’s engagement faux pas