A Curse Upon Him

This one struck my eye as it included two familiar names: Thaw and Bingaman. What I found by a bit more research was that Pulliam's middle name was Clay, another familiar name for western PA researchers.

Pulliam Feared Curse 

Pittsburg, Pa. Aug. 4 - A tale of the blighting curse of a cripple is out here in connection with the suicide of President Harry C. Pulliam, of the National league. Pullman with Harry K. Thaw and Dr. Walter S. Bingaman, both close friends of his, were standing in front of the Hotel Henry in Pittsburg, four years ago, and three laughed loudly at some joke just as a cripple in passing slipped and fell on the pavement. The cripple, thinking the trio was laughing at his fall, became most bitter and pronounced a curse to the effect that none of the trio would ever die a natural death. 

Pulliam was much exercised over the incident and hurried after the crippled man trying to explain that he and his friends had not been laughing at his fall, but the cripple stormed away and would not have anything to do with Pulliam. 

The famous baseball man apparently never forgot this curse of the crippled man and mentioned frequently to it among his friends. One year later Thaw killed Stanford White and has been in the hands of the law ever since. Recently Dr. Bingaman was sent to the Dixmont Insane Asylum, and Pulliam is dead by his own hand. 

Source: Grand Forks Daily Herald 1909-08-05

A DuPont Elopement

The du Pont family is always good for providing grist for the rumor mills:

Dupont's Daughter Elopes with Student

Wilmington, Del., Dec. 19. -- Miss Madeleine Dupont, oldest daughter of Alfred I. DuPont, the millionaire vice president of the Dupont Powder Company, and niece of United States Senator, H. A. Dupont, eloped to Washington yesterday with John Bancroft, a Princeton sophomore.

News of the clandestine marriage became known upon the return of the couple to Wilmington.

Simultaneously the bride announced that she would never have eloped but for the cruel treatment accorded to her by her own mother, who is Alfred I. Dupont's divorced wife. The girl told her friends pathetically that life with her mother had become unbearable, that she was forced to run away and wed the boy to whom she has been engaged for four years.

Young Bancroft is 24 years old, He is the son of John Bancroft, the millionaire textile manufacturer of Wilmington.
Source: The Boston Journal. 1907-12-20

This particular marriage had quite a few issues, which I'll talk about later.