"A WOMAN'S PRIVILEGE."

Otago Witness, Issue 3018, 17 January 1912, Page 45

"A WOMAN'S PRIVILEGE."

LIEUTENANT'S LOVE AFFAIR. IN FEAR OF RIDICULE The example of " Ruzzio Lamb" Griswold, who sued a wealthy society lady in America for breach of promise, .ind was ignominiously laughed out of court, has been lost upon Eeluard Starz, described as the ?cion of a wealthy family and a lieutenant : in a orack Austrian cavalry regiment, who : has filed a suit to recover £SOOO damages ! from Miss Helen M'Murray, the daughter •of a wealthy American manufacturer. i Counsel for plaintiff, when questioned by j reporters, emphasised the distinction between the action of his client and that of | " Ruzzie Lamb " The latter had received : many presents from his wealthy patroness aJid lost nothing, whereas Starz would be able to show that he had suffered aotuai ' damage, not only of heart, which any jury 1 professing regard for the equal righto of ; man and woman must respect. Oounrel said ' emphatically, " This isn't another ' Ruzzie Lamb' case; there is no question of another Siegfried and another Bruneholde." The Austrian lieutenant is described as having met Miss M Murray at a race meeting in Vienna in August, 1910. The American girl was then 22, and her admirer 27. Within a month, says complainant, MisI M'Murray promised to be his wife. Star/ says that his love affair compelled him to ■ incur heavy expenses, and he had to dispose of his sta-hte and horses at great loss. He became run down physically also, and was obliged to go to a sanatorium. His absence from the army cost him his pioniotion to a first lieutenancy, and also his year's pay as second lieutenant. Lieutenant Starz still professes, love for the lady, but since last July ho has not haen able'to see her. His friends and relatives in Austria, hi; declares, knew of his atten--1 tions to Miss M'Murray, and, as a gallant i cavalryman, he feels that he cannot return home "without being made the object of ' ridicule. The father of Miss M'Murray, . interviewed, declared that a woman's inalienable privilege was to change her mind. ' He and his daughter, he «ud, had now i agreed to fight, the ca--e to the end, and no I threats of a lawsuit would secure a single cent by way of settlement