MILLIONAIRE’S ROMANCE

Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6544, 28 February 1928, Page 11

MILLIONAIRE’S ROMANCE

A multi-millionaire .oil-kins' is to marry his adopted daughter. He is Ernest H. Marland, the oil capitalist and art patron, of Oklahoma .and has announced his engagement to Miss Lydie Marland, aged 28, Ho adopted his future wife and her brother ,12 years ago, before he had amassed his fortune. Her real parents were Mr and Mrs George F. Roberts, who lived in humble stances in Philadelphia. Mr Marland encountered great success in his south-western oil exploitation, and he said that Lydie had brought him good luck. She endeared herself to him still more by her: affectionate : nursing of the first Mi;s. Marland during .her long illness, - and her devotion to him after his'.wife’s death convinced him that she should become his second wife. Mr Marland, who is 58, will marry the girl in February at her Philadelphia home. The oil king’s fortune is .estimated at £18,000,000. He is building a palace on his estate in Oklahoma which is said to rival the residence of any monarch. It will bo furnished with costly works of art from all parts of the world. ~ Six hundred acres will be terraced and in these gardens will be erected “The Pioneer Woman" by the English sculptor, Bryant Baker. Mr Marland recently held a competition for a statue to honour the wives of the Oklahoma frontiersmen, and Baker's work of a young woman in a bonnet, with a Bible under one arm and leading her son with the other hand, was the winner. The estate will be completed in three years’ time, when Lydie Marland will become Its mistress and be known as “The first Lady of Oklahoma.”