The sun., 1919-07-18
COUPLE FIGHTS FIVE
YEARS TO ADOPT BOY
Stephen Fair and His Wife
Have Celebration After
Long Litigation.
EMPLOYER PAYS EXPENSE
Worker Repays Loan in Week
ly Instalments and Wins
Addition to Family.

The love Of foster parents for their
adopted child. love which survived five
years Of controversy in the courts and
heavy drains from limited means was
rewarded yesterday when Surrogate CO.
halan signed the adoption papers which
give Stephen Fair and Josephine Fair
absolute possession Of year old Joseph
Neubert.
Fair Il teamster employed by Henry
Maher q Son In East Twenty-second
street, and for years his pay has been
SIS week. When the struggle to keep
the little boy began and the long contest
developed with the Catholic Home Blu
reau Fair went to his employer. Mr..
Maher. saying neither he nor his wife
could bear to surrender the baby, and
Mr. Maher agreed to finance the legal
night He said he would advance what
ever money was necessary and that Fair
could pay II at the rate OF IS a week
In hve years the legal contests cost Fair
500, which meant that he and his wife
had to do without many comforts. Now
they say they received far more happi-
ness from the sacrifices than II they had
been receiving hundreds Of dollars a
week.
1t was in May. 1914. when little Joe
was 26 months old, that the Fairs took
him from the Catholic Home Bureau
agreeing to report every two months for
period Of two years At the end Of
that time an investigator for the bureau
took the boy away from the Fairs on
the ground that they had not been mar
ried by n priest and that Mrs Fair had
been married before her marriage to
Fair. The foster parents went to the
bureau and protested, proving that they
had been excellent guardians for the
child and maintaining that II would be
hardship and an injustice II he were to
be separated from them. The bureau
authorities agreed to return little Joe to
them IL they could furnish proof that
Mrs. Fairs FIRST husband was dead. and
II the couple would agree to be remar-
ried by priest. The Fairs complied
readily but the bureau kept possession of
the child. Then the Fairs secured a
writ of habeas corpus and compelled the
bureau to restore the baby.
After that there was a series of legal
fights. the Fairs taking their case from
court to court and winning every time
until finally the Court OF Appeals de-
Cioeu IN their favor. Acting upon the
decision Of the highest court Of the
State. the Surrogate gave them the
necessary papers yesterday.
Last evening Mr.. and Mrs. Fair held
a reception for friends and neighbors in
their apartment at $50 First avenue, and
little Joe was dressed In his Sunday best
and shinod and scrubbed until he fairly
cleaned. Occasionally no developed
nervousness because there were 30 many
strangers present and finally he escaped
from, Mrs Fairs lap and crawled under
the bed
I'VE are very happy" said Mrs Fair.
while her husband smoked his pipe and
nodded agreement III the child were
our own flesh and blood we could not
love him moro. nor could he love US more.
Everyday concerned can be sure that
Steve and I will be mighty good
father and mother to him I'll say one
thing. the poor can get Justice in our
courts. Where Is that chiid?'
Tho child was found and the foster
mother asked him who he loved.
YOU" said Joseph without the slight
est hesitation: you and pa. Gimme
some Ice cream"