WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 125, 14 October 1912, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted by "Eileen.") THE NEW ASTOR BABY. A 3,000,000 DOLLAR CHILD. London, August lfi.

Millions of curious people are now breathing freely over the safe birth of the late Colonel J. J. Astor's posthumous son. Xew York is pictured as being in a frenzy of joy. For a week.past crowds have gathered daily outside the £4,000,000 mansion in Fifth Avenue, awaiting the arrival of '"the 3,000,000 dollar baby," •o-called from the provision made for it under the will.

"Throughout all this time (says a correspondent) Mrs. Madelaine Force Astor, the young widow, whose escape from the Titanic on the return from her honeymoon was one of the most striking incidents of this tragedy of the sea, has borne with the utmost patience the peculiar attentions showered upon her by the .millionaire-loving public. Sightseeing motor cans daily paused in front of her windows, into which the curious passengers gazed intently, while guides expatiated on the cost of the mansion, its art treasures, and, above all, on ! the sumptuous nursery provided at a I cost of £2OOO for the prospective heir. I '"On Tuesday morning shortly after eight o'clock the butler came to the j door and beckoned to the crowd, to i whom he made the joyful announcement: | "It's a fine boy. We had feared that j it would be a girl; but it isn't.' 1 "A few minutes later the following I bulletin was issued:—'A soil was born to Mrs. Astor at 8.15. His name will be John Jacob Astor. Both mother and son are in good condition.' This was followed by a second bulletin, setting forth: 'Tli'e baby weighs 7%1b. Both mother and son are doing well. No other doctor is present but Dr. Cragin.' The last sentence is due to the fact that the » statement had been made that the Astor mansion was inhabited by an army of special physicians and nurses, whereas only one doctor and two nurses were in { attendance.

"To-night sensational reports were

current that the parents of the widowed mother intend to dispute the will of the late Colonel Astor, as they considered that the posthumous son ought to have £4,000,000 instead of only £GOO,000. These reports are probably inventions. Young John Jacob will, have the absolute disposal of his fortune, which, however, will revert to Mr. Vincent Astor (Colonel Astor's heir by his first wife) if he _shOuld. die intestate. Mr. Vincent Astor will come of age and attain full possession of £60,000,000 in November.

One correSigpnilpn>t. states that in spite of rumors to the contrary, a friendly settlement oi}t pf Court, by which a share of' the esta'te''larger than the 3,000,000 dollars bequest will be.given to the new baby, is probable. The lawyers, rather than the heir, are anxious to bring the following questions into the Courts: — Can a will be so construed as to make the 3,000.000 dollars the only provision for a posthumous child? Can the 3,000,000 dollars provision be rendered void, and the infant declared entitled to a full one-third of tfhe interest in the descendants' share of. the estate ? And can Mrs. Astor make a legal claim to the full widow's third on the ground that as

a minor she was not competent to forego her dowpr rights for a cash settlement before marriage?

MARRIAGE OE CHINA'S POLITICAL • 'ADVISER Dr. G. E. Morrison, who resigned the position of Pekin correspondent to the Times on 1 appointment as political adviser to the new Chinese Republic was married recently at Croydon (England). Tlie bride was Miss Jeannie Wark Robin, whpse parent's reside at South Croydon. A Xew Zealahder Ly birth, she has been a great traveller, and it was during a tour of China, that she and Dr. Morrison first met. For two years she acted as Dr. Morrison's secretary. "Dr. Morrison has given an undertaking that he will take' up hjs important position in China in. October," says the Chronicle. "His beautifully- appointed house in Pekin is one of the features of' the European quarter,, and it was the news that he intended to s£ll up his home ana to part with his famous library of books on China— : reputed to be the finest in the world—4liiit led to.the disclosure of his plan tp..quit tne c,ity after. 17 years of journalistic labors, and caused the President' of the Republic to make tne dramatic offer;: of advisorship in order that his great gifts, knowledge and influence might be retained for the Chinese.

■ WOMEN'S NERVE , CAN IT BE DEPENDED ON IN "V" '/.'EMERGENCIES? ... ' ' i■ .'.New York, July 27. Has a. woman ; nerve and self-posses-sion enough to qualify her for posts such as "signalman" on a'railway or wireless operator in a ship, where hundreds of lives may depend on her calmness in an emergency ? This question has been raised in acute form .by the issue of a wireless operator's certificate by. the United States Department of Commerce and Labor to Miss Mabel Kelso, and her appointment as operator in the Mariposa, a liner running between Puget Sound and Alaska. Her appointment, says the New York Sun, coincides with the verdict of a coroner's -jury in Illinois which investigated a, .railway wreck in which thirteen lives were lost. - A woman was employed in the signal-box, and the jury declared that meii should be employed in such, places, as a woman's judgment was uncertain in'a crisis involving human life.

Mr. E. T. Chambers, United States Commissioner of Navigation, believes that women are fully as competent as men to hold wireless posts.

"Tn nearly every marine disaster," he said, "women .]«ivc kept their nerve; the panic and rush come from the men. The courage and nerve of stewardesses have been demonstrated repeatedly in collisions at sea.

"The general discomfort of sea. life might repel women from radiotelegraphy, but for the work itself many of them n»re specially qualified by temperament. Miss Kelso really .passed the highest examination before navy officers of any candidate on the Pacific coast."

Miss M. Y. Kelly, who is the most highly paid woman in the employ of the American Government, said: —"1 do not think the coroner's jury was fair. They had to put tlu> blame somewhere, and they picked out a woman. 'Phis particular woman may not hive been comyietent; but her failure iV no worse than: that of lots of men in similar places. I think women are to be fully trusted in cases where lives depend on them. I would feel just as safe in an ocean liner that had a woman wireless operator as in one that was manned by men."