Children of Norbert and Ursula Merz

The engagement is announced between Vivian H. Paull, son of the late Major J.P. Paull, of Goonvres, Perranwell, Cornwall, and Mrs. Paull, of 142, Oakwood Court, Kensington, W.14, and Rachel Alais Merz, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Norbert Merz, of Allerwash, Fourstones, Northumberland.

DECREE NISI

Wadebridge Woman As Petitioner

Mr. Justice Pilcher in the Divorce Court yesterday granted a decree nisi, with costs, to Mrs. Nancy Mabyn King, living at Crossways, Rock, Wadebridge. Her husband, Mr. Henry Shilson King, did not contest a charge of misconduct.

Mr. and Mrs. King were married in 1927 and lived for a time at a farm in Cornwall.

The case for Mrs. King was that her husband's conduct gave her cause for complaint. A Mr. and Mrs. Vivian Paull became paying guests at her home towards the end of 1933, and Mrs. King alleged that her husband and Mrs. Paull had since committed misconduct at an address near Tiverton. Because of his behaviour petitioner left her husband in 1934 and had not lived with him since.

Thorverton Divorce Case

Mrs. Rachel Alice Paull, of Stone Farm, Thorverton, was granted a decree nisi in the Divorce Court yesterday by Mr. Justice Pilcher on the ground of the misconduct of her husband, Vivian Hearle Paull. There was no defence to the petition.

Mr. and Mrs. Paull were married in 1930, and there is one child.

The wife's case was that the marriage was happy until 1933. In 1935, following differences, she and her husband parted. She lost sight of him for a long time, but last year when she learnt he was living with another woman in Cardiganshire she filed her divorce petition.

FARM FIRE DUE TO BLOWLAMP?

Building Gutted

THORVERTON 100-YEAR COINCIDENCE

Stone House, Thorverton, on the site of a 17th century farm burned down nearly 100 years ago, was almost completely destroyed by fire yesterday. Only the outer shell was left, and damage is estimated at several thousand pounds.

The owner is Mr. Henry Shilson King, 44-years-old farmer, who lives there with his wife and child.

It is understood that a temporary employé, Mr. Reginald Spiers, of Forwards Cottage, Bickleigh, was thawing a frozen tank in the stables with a blowlamp when straw caught alight. Within a few minutes the stables, which contained two tons of straw, was blazing furiously and the fire quickly spread to the nine-roomed farmhouse. Farmworkers and other helpers failed to subdue the flames with buckets of water, and by the time Tiverton N.F.S., under Section Leader W. Sowden, had arrived, the fire, fanned by a stiff westerly breeze, had gained firm hold on the old farmhouse timbers.

The only water available was from that in the fire tender, and as it was found impossible to save the farm, jets were played on nearby thatched outhouses and cowsheds, where many tons of hay were stored. The outbuildings were not damaged.

SOME FURNITURE SAVED.

Furniture and personal belongings on the ground floor were rescued, but it was not possible to salvage much upstairs owing to the intense heat.

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