A LIBEL ACTION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 281, 19 April 1913, Page 5

A LIBEL ACTION.

AX ECHO OF OSCAR WILDE,

/By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. London, April 17. Lbi'tl Alfred Douglas lias commenced an action for libel against Arthur Ran--1 some and the Times Book Club in connection with Ransome's book on Oscar Wilde, alleging that Lord Alfred Douglas was responsible for Wilde's public disgrace and his abandonment without a penny. Lord Douglas gave evidence that lie paid three months' rent at Naples for a villa for Wilde, and gave him large monetary help at various periods. He also paid Wilde's funeral expenses. The evidence produced astounding revelations of the career of Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas. WILDE'S DQWNFALL. ■Received 18, 10.40 p.m. London, April 18. Ransome's book suggested that, after his imprisonment, his wife provided £l5O per annum for Wilde to enable him to start fresh under the name of Sebastian Melmoth. Douglas, however, took Wilde to Xaples, where (hey shared a life of momentary magnificence. Douglas was put under searching cross-examination, particularly with reference to articles in Truth in 1S!)5 and his own poems. During cross-examination, the defence produced unpublished sections of '' De ■Pro'funclisi" of which the manuscript is in the British Museum. These included a letter to Douglas, written by Wilde during his imprisonment, the rending of which occupied an hour and a half. The remarkable literary style was a reflection of Wilde's moods after his downfall. Wilde bitterly accused Douglas of "being the cause of his ruin, and said that he made play-writing and intellectual work impossible.