Fortune for Fecundity

On Halloween, 1926, mischievous Charles Vance Millar, rich, unmarried Canadian lawyer, silver mine owner and race track gambler, died in Toronto. When his will was examined it was found that he had left $500,000 to that Toronto mother who bore the most children within the next decade. To be counted, the offspring might be born alive or dead, legitimate or illegitimate. With Oct. 31 just six weeks away, the Toronto baby derby last week entered the home stretch. Five fecund women were running almost neck & neck. Of these, three would be out of the money if anyone bettered their record of ten children in ten years. A fourth, now pregnant, needs twins before Oct. 31 to win. A fifth, with ten offspring sure and possibly two more off the record, is also expecting to deliver again before the deadline.

Baby derby addicts got one of the contest's biggest thrills last week when suddenly Mrs. Pauline Mae Clarke, 24, revealed herself the mother of ten, eight living. Mrs. Clarke's reluctance to put her claim forward was not unnatural. Five of her offspring are children of her husband, a Toronto railroad worker from whom she separated four years ago. The others, including twins who died last year, are by "the only man I ever really loved, the man to whom I am married by nature if not by law. When we were first together we thought my divorce would come through soon, and then we would be married. My husband has promised to get one, but he didn't go through with it. I didn't have the money to do it myself."

Since Mrs. Clarke bore twin sons last July, the best she can do is to keep tied with:

Mrs. Lily Kenny, 33, claims to be the mother of 14 (seven living), of whom twelve were born within Toronto's city limits. City records show only ten registered within the decade. Rats killed one Kenny child. If the contest judges rule out her two unrecorded infants, Mrs. Kenny still has a good chance to break the tie and pocket Bachelor Millar's $500,000 by delivering the child she is now carrying before All Souls' Day.

Mrs. Kathleen Nagle, 31. who has had twelve children (eleven living), of whom ten are eligible to be considered for the prize, and

Mrs, Alice Timleck, 36, mother of 17 (16 living), has also given birth to ten within the ten-year period covered by the Millar will.

Dark horse of the competition is Mrs. Grace Bagnato, 43, sturdy Toronto-born Italian court interpreter, who habitually keeps working up to the hour of her confinement. Mother of 23 (14 living), she has already been able to produce nine to qualify for the Millar money. Last week she was due to produce again before time is called, hoped for twins.

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