The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-02-19
TAnGLE
TO ROMAN ROTA
Affairs Of Postley-Curran Fami-
lies Prove Involved
Problem.
MRS. sTINEss DETERMINED
Begins Divorce Proceedings.
The Singers Appear in
Public Eye.
BY VANCE THOMPSON.
Special Cable to The Times-DIsnatch

Farls, FEBRUARY 1S.-NewS reached
the various Paris friends OF the Post
ley-Curran families. that that in
defatigablc campaigncr. Mrs. Clarnnce
Postley. Of New York. has carried the
ma trimonia1 tangle OF her children to
the Fatican's high and mighty court
or matrimonial cases. TO wit-the
great Roman Rota.
Mrs. Postley. 1t ma he remembered,
has two children, n son. Stirling. who
married Mrs. Ethel Cook. of San
Francisco. and n daughter, who mar
ried Ross Amber Curran. Of New
York. Mrs. Ross Ambler Curran di-
Vorced her husband last November and
Mrs. Stirling Postley followed suit by
divorcins her husband last December.
Then Mrs. Ross Amber Curran's sis
ter-in-law, Mrs. Guernsey Curran. fell
Into the procession by divorcing her
husband somcwhere in Long Island
about the first OF the year. and that
chapter received especial interest from
the intimation that Mrs. Ross Amber
Curran was going to marry her ex-
hrother-in-lnw, Guernsey Curran.
An Involved Problem.
So that, as may be seen, it is quite
a many threaded tangle that Mrs.
Clarence Postley will petition the con
gregation Of tho Rota to s%traighten
out.
It Is understood thai Mrs. Postley is
proceeding on the advice OF the pastor
of San Silvestro Church.. Of which she
is a great benefactress. She has every
hope that the Catholic Church will de-
clare her daughter Elise's marriase
null and void, as that took place at
the Church Of Heavenly Rest, in New
ork. But the case of her son is
more difficult, as Stirling and Miss
Cook were married by Father Prem
darypG CT . nC f. Cop T1r, 4, 4, - -, U 4. , LII
presumed he got the necessary dis
pensation for the affair.
AIRS. Postley has also been informed
by ieal1ied canonists that n special
dispensation Will be required before
ner can marry Guernsey Cur
ran, as the latter being her former
husbands brother. there exists the i'm.
pediment OF affinity,
Mrs. Clarence Postley and Mrs Cur
ran are in Florence. but will go to
Rome for the decision Of the Rota
and the services OF Holy Week. The
Eota is n congregation exclusively
tor matrimonial cases, and since its
revival by Plus X, it has decided many
american cases, such as those OF the
rLincess Rospigiosf. the Princess dc
Nhimay and the Castellane trouble.
The PosIley mansion at As Rue
Rassano. Paris, is locked up, but IT
VIII be occupied after Easter.
Mrs. stiness is Determined.
Mrs. Henry q. stiness, n grand
daughter Of Ex-Governor Sprague. of
Rhode Island. has written and cabled
10 her Providence lawyer to go ahead
with her divorce from the young man
she married four years ago.
Mrs. Stiness was Miss Inez prague
pclore her marriage, and is the daugh-
ter OF William Sprague, Jr, Whose
tragic death near Tacoma called forth
much sympathy for his father. the
venerable Governor. and his mother
the late Kate Chase Sprague. Tho
mother of Mrs. Stincss was n Miss
Weed. Of Wilmington. who married
Colonel Wheaton, Of Cleveland, after
the death of young Sprague. and who
is at present the wife Of Wencclaus
Borde. q northumberland Porto Ri
can.
Mr.. Stiness, whom his wife is about
to divorce, is the son of the former
Chief Justice Of Rhode Island. He is
a Providence lawyer. The formal
charge against him is non-support and
this is easily proved. as Mrs. Stiness
mas been in Paris over a year, dur
ing which time her husband has con-
|ttributed nothing to her p
Mrs. Stiness consulted Paris law
yers about getting a divorce here In
this French Reno, and they advised
her to get 1t in Rhode Island. There
is one child, a little girl two years old,
about whom the courts of Providence
also have TO decide. The tragedy or
this divorce is emphasized by the fact
that the young couple eloped from
Inez Sprague's grandfather's mansion
at C~anonchet, N~arragansett Pier. four
HHEH-H aNaLMHL by i.