THE WASHINGTON JOURNAL

Washington, D.C., U.S.A.

16 December 1922

(page 23)

Love Cult Head Failed as Mate, Wife Declares.

Albert W. Ryerson Sued for Divorce

After 30 Days’ Trial Marriage.

DETROIT, Dec. 15—Albert W. Ryerson, 51, head of the mysterious O.T.O. love cult, was a failure as a lover, his 18-year-old wife, Mazie, artist’s model said today.

Mrs. Ryerson, known as the “Queen of the Chalet d’Arts,” an artists’ establishment, is suing for divorce. She is Ryerson’s second wife.

“He asked me to marry him on 30 days’ trial,” Mrs. Ryerson said today. He agreed that if he could not make me love him at the end of that time, I should go free. When he saw that he was not making headway with his love making, he tried caveman tactics. He beat me severely on several occasions. I was able to drag through 29 of the 30 days. Then I left him.”

The case draws into the limelight once more the man, who as head of the Universal Book Stores, Inc., figured in a suit to determine whether the corporation’s money’s were being used illegally for the promotion of the love cult. During this court action the mysterious ritual of the cult was brought to light, creating a sensation.

Ryerson’s first wife, Elvira, obtained a divorce in 1919, charging her husband “professed love for many women who claimed to have the same ideals as himself.”