The Naughty Borax King

“The Days of Real Sport,” by Clare Briggs. Mr. Thorkildsen submits a photograph of his wife in a “scanty” bathing suit.

Jan. 24, 1920: A deposition read in the divorce trial of borax king Thomas Thorkildsen catalogues the liquor consumed at one party: “37 bottles of Champagne, numerous cocktails and glasses of Burgundy, and innumerable Scotch highballs.” Mr. Thorkildsen and Mrs. Agnes Smith, a woman other than his wife, were “picturesque but terribly naughty,” the maid says.