The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1936-10-12
UNK|NDW0RDS
EXPECTED,
SHE SAYS
I Love Ny Babies Too
Much to Forfeit
Chance to Win
BY H. r. ARMSTRONG
Copyright, 1886, by King Features
Syndicate, Inc }

Syndicate, Inc y
TORONTO, Ontario, Oct. IL.
"When 1 decided to enter my
name in the Charles Vance Mil
lar stOrk derby, 1 expected
lot Of unkind things would be
said about me. Well, they are
being said. But love my chill
dren too much to forfeit this
chance Of securing their finan-
cial independence, just to es-
cape the jeerS or insults that
may be leveled at me-"
Such is the answer Of 24-year-
old redheaded Mrs. Pauline Mae
Clarke, to the public taunts that
have fallen to her lot since she
announced herself as a contest
ant for the fortune of about one
million dollars provided for in
Millar's will, frankly admitting
when she did so that five of the
10 children she lists as eligible
were born out of wedlock.
THAT Woman"
Other contestants, who Chal-
lenged her right to enter illegiti-
mate children as eligibles, openly
and UNDERSTANDABLE speak of her
as that woman" and say they
wonder that she had the brass"
to come forward as a contender.
With 10 children born in the
last eight years Mrs. Clarke has
stepped into the charmed circle
of mothers leading in the contest
for the fortune of the eccentric
bachelor attorney who willed the
bulk of his estate to the woman
giving birth in Toronto to the
largest number of children, within
10 years after his death. which
occurred on october 81, 1925.
Mrs. Clark'S story is unusual
enough to match this weird con-
test. Married at Is to youth of
10, this youngest of all the contest
ants separated from her husband
after five years of youthfuly
tempestuouS married life. They
had five children, all Of them still
living.
Within a year from this domeS-
tic breakup the girl of 20 found
herself attracted to another man
with whom, after several months
friendship, she went to live. In
the past three years she has given
birth to five children-twinS arriV-
ing in May, 1885, and again twins
in July of this year.
Mrs. Clark says:
II am prepared to face all
that is being said about me,
and shall not try to exOnerate
myself. 1 have had a difficult
life, and it has all been my
own fault. AS to publicity
my friends have always known
all about me. am not in a
position to let myself care what
others think or say. l have
done some foolish things, but
never any underhanded things"
Thoughts of winning the Stork
Derby, Mrs. Clarke said, never en-
tered her head until after the ar
rival of her twin boys last July.
Wed Secretly
Recalling her brief girlhood,
Mrs. Clarke feels now that, as the
favorite daughter, she was per-
haps a spoiled child.
"When still in high school
felt the urge to maryland I
secretly wed. I t h ought
wouldn't be afraid to tell my
parents, but after it was done,
I was, went to school until
the Christmas holidays of 1927
and played on the champion
ship Humberside Collegiate In
stitute basketball team. A few
days later my first babe.
Jimmy, was bOrn-On New
Years Day, 1921"
Her hazel eyes darkening al the
memory, she explained humbly
why she and her husband broke
up their home.
1--WE were married much too
young. We lived together and
auarreled together for five
years. Then-we just separated"
Her husbands aunt took two Of
the children, both girls, into her
family, and still has them. Mrs.
Clarke's father took the Oldest
boy. The worried mother ap-
pealed to the Children's Aid So
ciety to find good foster homes
for her other two little girls.
Meets "Other Man"
Mrs. Clark took an office job
in a wholesale electrical concern
and went back to live with her
father. About year later she
fell head over heels in love" with
"the other man" She said:
"When we went to live to-
gether / felt sure Mr.. Clarke
would get a. divorce, and then
I planned to marry Marvin. 1
thought marriage was only a
few months ahead. But my
husband never brought divorce
action, as 1 thought he would"
It wasn't long until the young
wife, who had dared to flaunt
convention, began to understand
the danger of her new position.
'Marvin must have come to
think, at times, that seeing 1
had gone to live with him
without being able to marry
him, might do the same thing
with someone else if / took the
notion. 1 knew what he was
thinking. We weren't happy.