593 Riverside Drive - 25. Chapter 25

Thursday, May 14, 1925, 10:15 AM

Ella continues to be cross-examined by Benno Lewinson.

Mr. Lewinson: How were your people circumstanced – I mean by that your father and mother. Were they poor people?

Ella: No. We were comfortable. My father had a business.

But you have already said that you had no servants, or luxuries, or anything of that kind, did you not?

I said we had no full-time servants. And we had comforts, but not the extravagances Joe gave me.

What was your father’s business?

He’s in shipping – the Fulton Supply Company on South Street. It supplies ships chandlery – almost any kind of supplies for ships. He’s always described it as a marine general store.

And he is the owner?

Originally. Now, he’s made two of my brothers full partners.

And he has been in this business before you married?

Yes. From my childhood.

How did the comforts of the home that you had with Mr. Spingarn compare with your home before you were married?

My parents have a plain home. Joe and I have an elegant one – an elaborate home.

It was a duplex apartment with nine rooms and three baths?

Yes. In addition, there was access to servants’ quarters shared with the other residences.

Have you any idea how much rent Mr. Spingarn paid?

The first year, six thousand dollars, on a sublet. From October 1923, seven thousand dollars a year on a three-year lease.

Again, how many servants did you keep?

Five. A housekeeper, cook, housemaid, nursemaid, and a chauffeur. And we sometimes had dayworkers in to do the laundry, windows, and extra work.

At the time of your marriage did you have any income of your own? Were you the owner of property?

No.

Did you have savings?

Just a little – from birthday and other presents. And money Mother occasionally shared with me from what we saved on household expenses.

After you married Mr. Spingarn, in what way did you get what I will call pocket money – money for your expenses?

Joe gave me weekly money to run the table, and he gave me a check that his father, Ira – who lived with us – gave him every month.

Was it Mr. Spingarn’s custom to receive from you the bills of the various trades peoples and then to give you a check or cash at the end of the month to pay those bills, or did he make you a stated monthly allowance in a fixed sum out of which to pay the bills?

I paid those bills from the weekly checks Joe gave me and the monthly one from Ira.

But you would hand over to him at the end of the month the bills of the butcher and the grocer and the man who had the fish market?

No. I paid them all.

How much did he give you every week?

$150. And Ira’s monthly check was for the same amount.

And out of that money you were expected to pay for all that was put on the table?

And we always had money left over. Joe was overly generous. Rosa – our housekeeper and Ira’s before that – said both of them always had been.

Did he pay, himself, the wages of the servants, or did you pay them?

He paid them, though sometimes I gave them presents – for extra work, holidays, or special occasions like birthdays.

But their weekly wages did not come out of your weekly $150?

No.

Did he also give you a weekly or monthly check for clothing?

No.

But you would go to the shops, buy what you believed you needed, and the bills would come to him, and he would pay them?

There were rarely bills of that kind.

Did he give you, in addition to the $150 check a week and the $150 check a month, any check to meet your daily expenses such as carfare, lunches out, money paid for theater tickets, taxicabs, and things of that sort?

No. Any of those were paid from the $150 a week,

Did you have that check whether you were in Central Park West or at Asbury Park?

Yes.

I suppose you had in your own name charge accounts with some of the downtown department stores like B. Altman & Company, Stern Brothers, and Bonwit-Teller’s. And accounts for clothes that were appropriate for fall and spring from some of the larger stores, like Hollender’s on Fifth Avenue, Franklin Simon, McCreery’s, Brookweis, and McCutcheon’s.

Yes, though Brookweis is for hats and McCutcheon’s for linens.

And the Maison Blanch. That is on Fifth Avenue and is regarded as about the finest linen shop in the country.

Yes.

And Bendell’s, which is about the highest priced dressmaker in the country, is it not?

I had all those accounts, but I very rarely used them – and often only for small presents for others, like handkerchiefs or gloves. I inherited the accounts from Joe’s first wife, Anna, who also very rarely used them. Joe used to joke that he’d married a pair of cheap women.

Yet you are very well dressed, are you not? And in accordance with the latest style and seasons of the year?

Most of my clothes are made by a seamstress the women in my family have done business with for years. We bring her drawings or photographs and the fabric for what we’d like, and she makes it for comparatively little. And some clothes, like the dress I’m wearing, I’ve had since before I was married.

Did Mr, Spingarn pay the doctors’ bills whenever there were any? And the dentists’ bills when there were any?

Yes.

As a matter of fact, the table bills amounted to about how much a week?

I’d have to go over them for each week because they varied, and you didn’t ask me to bring my account books.

You know how to keep books?

Our parents taught us all as children. My father taught the boys, for the store, and my mother taught the girls, for home.

And you say there was a considerable margin between what you had to pay out for food and the $150 weekly payments?

There was a small but fairly predictable difference. But I had quite a large household – Joe, Laurie, Laurette, Ira, five servants, and myself.

The chauffeur got his meals in?

Except when Ray was in Jersey City with Joe.

Judge Crain to Benno Lewinson: As with yesterday, some of these repetitive questions may not be strictly necessary.
[To Ella] Now, have you told in my presence and hearing all that you feel I ought to know to guide me as to how I should decide this case?

Ella: Yes, your honor.

Judge Crain: And is there anything that for any reason you have left unsaid that you think that I ought to know to inform me as to the relations between yourself and your husband?

Ella: Unfortunately, I think, you know it all.

Judge Crain: You have not kept back, from timidity, modesty, or the nature of the questions as put to you, anything that as a matter of fact you think that I ought to know?

Ella: No.

Judge Crain: Then is there anything further that is necessary, Mr. Lewinson?

Mr. Lewinson: Not at this time, no.

Judge Crain: Mr. Steuer?

Mr. Steuer: Yes, I do have some questions I would like to put to Mrs. Spingarn.

Judge Crain: Then please continue.

Mr. Steuer to Ella: First, could you find your appointment book for 1921.

Ella: Yes. I have it here.

This was from before you and Mr. Spingarn began to court?

Yes. We probably hadn’t seen each other for several years. Though I did send him a card when Anna died.

And then in spring 1922, you met again at his Aunt Minnie’s home?

Yes. I’ve said that already.

I just wanted to assure the court that Mr. Spingarn had no influence on you or your social life in 1921.

None at all.

Good. Could you open your 1921 book to any date.

Any date at all?

Yes, please. [Ella does.] And what is that date?

Monday, April 11th. The appointment book begins on Mondays and continues through Sundays. Then you turn to another two pages.

Were you having lunch with anyone on that afternoon?

Yes, my friend Marie Rosenbaum. We meet nearly every Monday afternoon for lunch.

Did you note where you were having lunch that day?

No – which probably means in Riverside Park. It was getting warm enough.

Is there a restaurant in Riverside?

No – it’s just a city park along the river. Marie and I often took our picnic baskets and ate on a bench. When it was even warmer, we’d take a blanket and spread it on the grass.

Did you spend any money on this picnic?

Only as part of my family’s usual household expenses – so not very much. We usually had egg salad sandwiches on white bread and accompanied that with pink lemonade.

Did you make that at home, too?

That was Marie’s contribution, though sometimes it was iced tea. She’d bring it in a thermos.

Now, did you happen to have any evening plans on April 11th?

Yes. The book says, “Dinner with the Pecoras.”

Those were your neighbors?

No – they were my sister Lee and her husband Arthur’s neighbors. I occasionally babysat for their son, Lewis.

Were you taking care of Lewis that evening?

Not if my book says “dinner.” The family and I had become friends.

Did you take care of the Pecora’s son often?

Not really.

Did they pay you for doing this?

Oh, I couldn’t take money from friends. Besides, when I took care of Lewis, most of the time I took him to Lee and Arthur’s apartment, down the hall, and he played with my niece Ethel. Or Lee played the piano, and we all sang.

On this particular evening, since you were a dinner guest, did you bring a gift – flowers or baked goods?

Probably not, and it wasn’t expected. Occasionally, I’d bring friends cookies or part of a cake Mama and I had baked, but I have no way to remember that evening.

Did you have plans after dinner?

No. It says 7:00 o’clock, which would have allowed Pic to get home from his office. And we usually ate and visited for several hours. So there wouldn’t have been time to go anywhere else. Besides, Mother and I usually got up with the sun.

Who is “Pic?”

Oh. I’m sorry. He’s Mr. Pecora.

How much did it cost you for dinner then?

Nothing, really. Only my busfare home, because I probably walked there – it’s fewer than 15 blocks. But I feel safer riding after dark, no matter how short the distance.

Now, on the next day, did you have any plans?

Yes. My afternoon note says, “1:00 o’clock. Louise Cohen. Altman’s.”

Who is Louise Cohen?

A girl I went to school with, so she’s no longer a girl. She’s my age.

And what is Altman’s?

The well-known department store. If we were meeting at friends of mine – Frieda and Joe Altman – I would have written that.

Did you shop at Altman’s often?

Oh, we weren’t buying anything. It’s reasonably priced, but still far too expensive. We were window shopping.

Did you ever spend money at Altman’s?

Yes. Before my marriage, usually for small gifts for friends or for Ethel, – again, my niece, who I was closest to. Or for my other nieces and nephews. No more than trinkets.

Did you spend money for gifts at other stores?

Not really. Mostly we looked.

And did you have dinner plans that evening?

Yes. With my sister Nellie and her husband.

At what time?

6:30. Erich – my brother-in-law – usually gets home earlier than Pic.

And do you remember how much it cost you for dinner that evening?

I wouldn’t have written that down, but of course, there would have been busfare home. They also don’t live far. And I’m sure I would have brought something Mama and I had baked. I almost always did when I was visiting family.

Did you note if you went out after that dinner?

There’s nothing written, but I doubt we went out afterward and certainly not to a club. As I’ve said, I’m usually in bed and reading by ten o’clock and asleep by eleven.

Do you have notes for the rest of the week’s lunches and dinners?

Yes. Wednesday says “new Mack Sennett” with Ella Mallamon – that’s the friend who shares my name, and that was probably at the theater on 125th Street. It would have been a matinee, so it only cost a nickle.

And did you have dinner plans?

No, which means I ate with Mama, Papa, and Solomon. That would have been at 6:00 o’clock, our regular time. But after that, it says, “Lecture at Bard College with Ethel.”

Would you remember how much it cost to attend the lecture?

They’re always free, like the museums – that’s why we go to so many. You can do so much in the city without it costing you more than busfare. There’s the zoo, and outdoor concerts in the bandshell in Central Park. And the art galleries, and libraries, and botanical gardens, and Friday night services at our temple. Sometimes, Marie and I would even go to St. Patrick’s because it’s so beautiful, and, occasionally, there’d be a wedding.

D your appointments for Thursday and Friday list similar lunches and dinners?

Yes.

And could you turn to any day in any week, and would it probably be the same?

Yes – before Joe and I married, I’d help Mama in the mornings and have the afternoons and evenings to myself. Still, I did try to be home with them for dinner several nights a week.

Do you have a lot of friends?

I don’t really know what to compare to. But I usually take a few minutes every night to write social notes, because I like to stay in touch with people, and we often try to see each other at least once a month.

Could you estimate how much time you spent visiting?

No. But frequently.

And how much money?

Very little. As I’ve said, it was often only busfare.

Did that change after you married Mr. Spingarn?

Only in the expenses – Joe liked to take me places like restaurants, and the theatre, and concerts, and the opera. But when I saw my own friends, it would be for our usual window shopping – or matinee movies and picnics.

Thank you. [To Judge Crain] I have nothing further at this time.

Judge Crain [to Mr. Lewinson] Mr. Lewinson?

Mr. Lewinson: Also nothing more at this time.

Judge Crain: Then let us recess until 2 PM, when – as requested – we will see Dr. Louis Casamajor.