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was indeed
VgmEM ,w / Wp' -.-»ding divorce of most of
—-A its terrors. The Alfred
JY J \j v anderbiits could now laugh in the monster’s /
face and snap their fingers at its teeth.” . \
THEIR. Plg-HUPTIAL DIVORCE
Ho? the Interesting Alfred Vanderbiits |
{Each Divorced Once, Most ot Their ■ j|
Friends and Relatives Divorced Too) Have
Planned to Rid Themselves of Divorce’s
Annoyances if They’re Ever Divorced Again
London. Sept I<’
Ifi the midst of the truly regal
preparation for the advent oi a
VanderbH: heir reports of a
curious pre-nuptiai divorce agree
ment entered into by Airs. Margaret
Emerson McKim and Alfred Gwynne
Vinderbiit a few days before their
marriage in 1911 are current among
the friends of the interesting couple.
From the terms said to be included
in this pact it would seem that
American fashionable society has
really made an innovation in the
ancient code of courtship.
From time immemorial the man
and the maid have been supposed Io
be too much in love with each other
to contemplate anything but an un
interrupted term of marriage Do
not the fairy books say. “And then
they lived happily ever after?” In
fact, it used to be thought indelicate
fcr a girl even to ask what her
lover's prospects were —and the
lover would never have thought of
inquiring into his beloved’s dishar
monies of temper. The very idea of
thinking abou’ divorce while still in
contemplation of matrimony would
hav° been deemed outrageous.
And yet it. would seem that the
Vanderbilt forethought is more or
■ess enlightened. The girl nowa
day? informs herself very fully upon.
h»r lover’s financial standing and
his prospects before she weds him.
Eugenics are to the fore with their
coldly scientific idea of mating.
Matty men when they become mar
red get insured for the benefit of
their wifo and he prospective fam
ily ‘‘Tn the midst of life we are
in death!” Therefore, it would
that the Vanderbilt id°a. detri
mental *o romance ns ft may seem
Is. after all. highlv sensible and
r’'s A *h'al and nn to date
“How the divorce tferm has af
fected the families.”
Mr Vanderbilt is the first man of
his class to at‘empt to solve certain
divorce problems before marrying.
Os course P is impossible to draw
»P any contract and set of regula
tions that would have any legal
T aiue in this country without run
ning the risk of being convicted of
collusion.
Mr. and Mrs Vanderbilt have evi
dently satisfied themselves that
their agreement will help them both
materially in the event of a divorcs
suit, and their friends say they are
Perfectly satisfied with it.
It was, too, the most natural thing
for this prospective bride and
?nom to be the pioneers in such a
movement. The divorce records on
both sides presuppose a tendency
to divorce in any member of both
families. On the immediate Van-,
derbilt side there have been two di-1
’orces and two near-divorces. Mr.
Vanderbilt himself w'as divorced by
hi? first wife. Elsie French Vander
bilt His uncle William K. Vander
b It. was divorced, his first wife
later marrying Oliver H P. Belmont.
His cousins. Willie K. Vanderbilt
and the Duchess of Marlborough. _
' • "Z ♦ ° L —•—- ♦
are separated from their domestic
partners.
On Mrs McKim's side the record
showed “everybody was doing it.”
Her sister Mrs. Jack Horner, di
vorced her husband and married
James McVickar. Then her parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Emerson. w r ere
divorced and each lias since mar
ried again. Mrs McKim's divorce
occurred just before that of her
parents. Thus each member of her
family has passed through the
divorce court.
With these records before them
the prospective bride and groom, so
the sto.ry goes, decided to take this
most unusual step. A week or two
before the marriage was to be cele
brated in the quaint little village of
Reigate Borough. England, Mr. Van
derbilt appeared at Mrs McKim’s
country estate with several very
legal looking documents and hfs
lawyer.
“In the midst of courtship pre
pare for divorce.”
There was the marriage settle
ment and a new will to be signed,
and then this divorce agreement
was brought, forth and discussed in
this manner, according to friends
who are fully acquainted with the
deta’ls:
“We must do all we can to avoid
any divorce complications. We have
both suffered from too much pub
licitv and newspaper notoriety. It
behooves us. therefore, to fore
stall any such publicity in the
event of our marriage proving un
successful,” announced Mr. Vander
bilt.
Mrs McKim nodded In assent
and pointed out several things to
be considered. "We must arrange
the financial side, then, so that
there will be no fight over alimony
—poor mother was always in hot
water over her allowance!”
“Quite right,” responded Mr. Van
derbilt.
It was. therefore, arranged that
Mrs. Vanderbilt, the bride, was, in
event of divorce, under no condi
tions to talk to newspaper people
or to give out any information
about herself or her husband. Mr.
Vanderbilt, on his side, was not to
talk to any newspaper people on
any subject but horses.
While their marriage continues
happy and they live together. Mrs.
Vanderbilt’s personal allowance is
to be, approximately, one hundred
thousand dollars a year. Mr. Van
derbilt is to pay all house and sta
ble maintenance.
In case of divorce. If Mr. Vander
bilt is at fault three million dollars
are to be settled on his wife. Each
girl child is to receive one million
and each boy three millions. It is
further specified that each child
ehall spend six months with each
i parent —no matter what the causes
of separation. In case of a son, his
entire education is to be arranged
by the father.
If Mr. Vanderbilt secures the di
vorce, or it is secured by Mrs. Van
derbilt. although she be at fault,
her allowance will be one hundred
thousand dollars annually, Mr. Van-
derbilt to pay all expenses for the
children and to arrange for their
education.
These vital questions fully con
sidered, there were several minor
ones to be settled. Not a stone, it
is said, was left unturned in Mr.
Vanderbilt’s grim effort to do away
with the divorce troubles that have
so annoyed his family. During his
previous matrimonial episode every
step he took, every breath he drew,
was construed as bearing in some
way on the divorce case. He did
not intend to have this happen
again. If he took a long and un
expected journey and his wife fol
lowed him on the next train the
gossips said that she was chasing
him.
“In our life together.” said Mr.
Vanderbilt. “I must be able to
travel as I please, without any in
terference.”
“Most assuredly.” said his future
partner: “and I. in turn, must be al
lowed to spend as much time in
Paris as I wish, without question
from you.” ' %
“Agreed. Neither your visits to
Paris nor my journeys into the un
known are to be considered as
grounds for unhappiness,” was Mr.
Vanderbilt’s statement.
This was a great step in the right
direction. Many wives, in society
and out of it. make themselves ter
ribly unhappy when their husbands
seek one-sided vacations. This un
happiness frequently leads to the
divorce court. Husbands in the
millionaire class often object to
their wives spending much time
and money in Paris, and their ob
jections frequently lead to the same
bitter end. Mr. and Mrs. Vander
bilt have discounted this danger by
their plain and concise pre-nuptial
pact.
“Absence must not make the
heart grow colder.”
In her first marriage Mrs. McKim
suffered keenly when her husband
reproached her for her devotion to
yachting. She would often go with
her father on long cruises. Mr. Mc-
Kim objected bitterly. There were
quarrels and so much unhappiness
that at last Mrs. McKim had to give
up yachting.
With this in mind. Mr. Vanderbilt
made further stipulations. “I do
not like your fad for cruising, but if
you must live on the water I will
provide you a beautiful houseboat,
where you can spend as much time
as you please, and this will not
cause me to seek divorce.”
“Very well; then I shall not com
plain when you devote yourself to
your horses and when you go on
your coaching trips,” was Mrs. Mo-
Kim’s counter-plan.
In this stipulation both Mr. and
Mrs Vanderbilt showed their ap
preciation of the fact that husbands
and wives should display toleration
for each other’s pleasures. There
was one thing more to be consid
ered —friendships.
"You must be friends with my
friends if we are to avoid the hazards *
of the divorce mill,” said Mr. Van
derbilt
‘Of course,” said Mrs. McKim;
‘•your friends will be mine and mine
will be yours. If you flirt with any
of my friends I wUI not object, and
if I flirt with yours you are not to
object.’
This matter of the friendships of
husband aud wife is no trivial one.
Many marriages are wrecked be
cause husbands refuse to like their
wives’ friends aud vice versa. it
was frequently said that Mr. and
Mrs. Emerson, Mr. Vanderbilt’s
parents-in-law. laid their first trou
ble to the fact that neither would
make friends with the other’s
friends, in Mr. Vanderbilt's case this
was also true. His first wife wouid
not fraternize with his friends.
■mO-w
|W' ' '
HasWMr . <
/
■ I1
Mrs.
Alfred G
Vanderbi't,
Whose Unusual
Forethought Is
Reported to
Have
Created
the Pre-Nuptial
Divorce Pact
idea.
, _
C» Indenture tnade the .... day Os I9rl> i
;';Jj MriTt’K Bitted (Jwynne <>f the City, ? I
■ . County ami h'tate of A'?.' Ya-h. /'<:-•'v of the first I'crt, and
K?" et f.thetJ>oU ♦/ Baltimore, Afaeyland,
C.( llu seroitd fart. lyitHtSStib:
lUbercas, the forties la this a</reet>tent eoMemplate I
eiitei‘ingthe Myil>&nds of-malrmiony\and ■? <•■<<:<:<■■: ■>.
I > lUfcmas, . they ei.. both mindfid of the many pitfatis T
\ y zaltkh iieset-the >i,at' 'al path, and are desirosu of priding
against them as far as tray l>e possible, and
liJIKIW, t'-e ,’onial records of t’.;eir respective >
S famlHes is such as to make it ertremely doubtful whether they may/
, I suii e.’d -a si'i'h i/edies. and I
\ OJbereas. iff /'■ ■•vcu‘ nt untoteard eouttngeHcu-s -adiiclv'l
\viay maw it d.sira'd,. f or the emtraetitig parties to sever the I
JynOfriage r e, it is the desire of the contracting parties to avoid as far f
t as pessi'-h- the usiia,’ aittioyarce, pubheify and tincertainty peftainiug I
. / io di voice litigdtiQH)
Row for the better securing
A tentioiis, and -n consideration of thd sum of One Dotlar. ImH
j of the United Stales of America, each to the other
Ol the reccrpt whpreof is hereby acknowledged, a»(^' -- IJl *
\ of the tiliettuil promises
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A Charming New Picture of Mrs. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt (nee
Margaret Emerson McKim).
Many of the stipulations In this Thus in lonkine nnr fnr ih.u
z“‘SE“
legal ground for divorce But tbit h ti,„ir .
hat inay actually lead to one! The n Vappv and
l‘" S ?i" d °^*‘ CtS t 0 ! 1R ‘ hat - hateS tO there seems every reason It wHI be
s< e his wife wear it, and, perhaps. Society mav take the «t«na *» J
secs anothei woman at this moment dnorce pact helned ° a
wearing a hat (hat makes her look lumws-perh ins thN ™„ A i‘ l^ Wh ?
ss»3 SKV& “