CARE OF CHILD

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19960, 19 November 1934, Page 5

CARE OF CHILD

LEGAL STRUGGLE IN U.S.A. VANDERBILT FAMILY INVOLVED United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright (Received November 18, 6.30 p.m.) NEW YORK, November 16. The Supreme Court trial to determine who should have custody of the child, Gloria Vanderbilt, ended with Mr Justice Carew issuing a somewhat cryptic decision to the effect that the child was entitled to a better life. Although full details of the decision were not published, it was learned that the Judge ruled that Gloria will remain with her aunt, Mrs Harry Payne Whitney, for four years, until she reaches the age of fourteen, when she will decide for herself if she wishes to continue or return to the custody of her mother. As something of a compromise, however, the child will be allowed to visit her mother on two days a week. Neither Mrs Whitney nor Mrs Gloria Vanderbilt are satisfied with the decision. A sudden and dramatic climax occurred on October 24 in the feud between two of the most socially prominent American families, when the ten-year-old Gloria Vanderbilt, heiress to a fortune of 3,000,000 dollars, was brought in a Chambers action in the Supreme Court, before Mr Justice Carew, to decide whether she preferred to remain in the custody of her paternal aunt, Mrs Harry Payne Whitney, or her own mother, Mrs Gloria Vanderbilt. Mrs Vanderbilt brought the suit recently to recover her child from Mrs Whitney, who refuses to yield on the ground that plaintiff devotes too much time to social obligations, drinks excessively, and is otherwise unfit to be a mother. It was learned that the child chose her aunt, with whom she has been living for the last two years. Previously the Justice had indicated that the child's preference would have great weight with his decision.