Braves Surgeon's Knife; Balks at Facing Altar

1920

NEW YORK, N. Y., Jan. 1. — Dr. William Gray Vermilye, 62, a former naval surgeon, did not flinch when he was called upon to face the surgeon's knife in a Brooklyn hospital. But when it came to leading Miss Ruth M. Keeney, 35, to the altar he balked. In fact, he disappeared on the day he was to have been married and sought the hospital to have a minor operation performed rather than face the preacher with his intended bride.

Dr. Vermilye was found by Miss Keeney, who was on the verge of collapse. She carried a bouquet for him and sent to his room a request that he see her.

He refused.

Miss Keeney fainted.

Interviewers were unable to get a statement out of the physician for quite awhile. Finally he issued a prepared statement to the effect that on his return from South America recently he was met with an invitation to his own wedding. He denied he was hiding from any one, but intimated that he just didn't have the nerve to get married after living in single blessedness so long.