LATE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 186, 4 May 1937, Page 5

LATE NEWS

SIMPSON DECREE Made Absolute in 50 Seconds FORMAL PROCEDURE Crowds Queue Up at the Divorce Court By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. (Received May 4. 12.30 a.m.) London, May 3. Fifty seconds and less than .100 words spoken by Sir Boyd Merriman. President of the Divorce Division, and by the clerk of court, sufficed to make absolute SO decrees nisi, including Mrs. Simpson’s, which was numbered 56. Although the procedure was merely formal hundreds of people queued up at the Divorce Court. The court was crowded when Sir Boyd took his seat on the bench beneath the rope and anchor, which is the symbolic sign of the Probate. Divorce and Admiralty Division. Immediately the clerk of court rose, and, reading from the official list, said: “Applications to make absolute decrees nisi in causes numbers one to 78 from the principal registries.” Sir Boyd asked: “Does anyone appear to show cause why the decrees should not I>e made absolute?” There was a live-second pause in which there was silence. After the break Sir Boyd said: “I then pronounce the decrees nisi as made absolute.”

Similar procedure was followed in the remaining decrees from district registries. The crowd then evaporated.

PENSION FOR WIDOWS Wonthaggi Mine Disaster (Received May 4, 12.30 a.m.) Melbourne, May 3. The widows of thirteen of the victims in the Wonthaggi mine disaster will receive £2 a week for 20 years and their dependants under 18 15/- a week from a fund raised by the public. The fund totals £29.121. The income is based on the assumption that the sum will earn 3} per cent. The total cost of weekly payments for 20 years is estimated at £25,101. Already hundreds of pounds have been paid in cash to each family. Emergency provisions have been made for payment in certain cases to widows beyond the 20 years. The balance of £2720 is to be applied to the special care of children and for educational assistance and medical aid.