WORLD’S MOST CHEERFUL LOSER

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20510, 28 May 1938, Page 18 (Supplement)

WORLD’S MOST CHEERFUL LOSER

i Brave Smiles After Vain Fight For a Fortune

Keen. Quick-witted. middle-aged . Miss Xonie Horton. Australian business j woman, who travelled 12,000 miles to I Appear in person before the Judicial I U'.mmittee of the Privy Council, says i : - London paper, has two claims to 1 • : me : ' ( ?he may well be described as the I world's most cheerful loser; and she i lies probably tho finest legal know- y h Jge of any untra ned woman outside J i the profession. ; i Miss Horton came to England last October to a«k -eave of the Privy ; Uojtih il to appeal >igrnst a decision of ,v ie Australian High Court which j fo-'owed a five years’ legal battle to .• si uilirh her right 10. i share of the £•10,1:00 estate of Mr Philip Jones, a slierc farmer, who died in 1931. Miss II rlon ha 1 .VJc-d as Mr .Tcnes*s hoii-vl,o:per and si'-uary and nursed • h.;n v.-neii he was seriously ill. Her case was that she had given up i a good business to look after him, and that he had promised to make provision i for her. Her petition to the Privy Council was based on an abstruse point of law. She arguea her case with a clarity and fervour that would have done credit ; to an eminent advocate. j But the Judicial Committee, after ] devoting several hours to the consideration of her application, were unable ' to grant hAr leave to appeal. “My Savings Gone” Although beaten. Miss Horton refused to be downhearted. There was a < brave smile on her face as, in these words, she summed up to a press rep- i resentative the results of her legal i fight. "I have spent hundreds of pounds in i fighting this case. ; "I am naturally keenly disappointed, but I hope I am going to prove to be ] a good loser. < "I am suffering from severe heart trouble, and have got to go into hos- i pital for an examination. Practically all my savings have 1 cone, and when I come out of hospital i I shall have to find a job to earn suf- i flcient money to pay my passage back to Australia. < If I cannot get a job I shall try to i work my passage back as a stewardess < or in some other capacity.” One thing that has cheered Miss Horton very considerably in her de- ] feat is the number of sympathetic and encouraging letters sent to her by <

1 women In all parts of the country. “I should like to thank them all very much,” she said. “In some ways, I suppose, my fight was for women's rights, and. although I am naturally I very sorry that I have not won, yet I 1 do not regret having entered on it. "It may, perhaps, be a lesson to other women—never to trust a man. Women were ever trusting—men were deceivers ever. My advice to women as a result of my experience is to get it in writing—no matter how much you feel you may trust a man. “I trusted Mr Jones. I would not do it again. “I gave up a good business to go to look after him. We had nothing in common. He was illiterate and T looked after him. He did not pay me anything during the three years I was with him. "He promised to make provision for me and I trusted him. Now I am beginning to doubt if he ever really intended to do so. "One Thing Left" "I would have settled this action in Australia if they had agreed to give me an equal share with the other legatees, but the offer they made to me was so small that I could not possibly accept it. "So I decided to fight, and I hope I have put up a good fight. I have been given access to all the Bar libraries to search for cases and Piaster the points of law involved, and I am indeed grateful for the wonderful kindness and courtesy shown to me since I arrived in London. "Now there is only one thing left. I must get back to Australia as quickly as I can to claim compensation for the three years’ service which I gave to Mr Jones, and for which I received not one penny. “After if. is all over I shall try to start another business and rebuild my life. And one day I hope to come hack to see some of the beauties of Great Britain in more pleasant circumstances.” 1 Miss Horton, the daughter of a doctor, was born in Scotland. She was taken to Australia by her parents when only a child. At one time she was a noted iceskater. She was a member of the Figure-Skating Club of Sydney, and frequently gave exhibitions of fancy skating.