File:Ask God's Help by the United Press in The Philadelphia Inquirer of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 31 August 1953.jpg

Ask God's Help In Custody Ruling. Easton, Pennsylvania; August 30, 1953 (United Press). Northampton county judge prayed "for divine guidance" today to resolve the custody of a 6-year-old girl sought by her stepmother and her uncle. When Harold E. Mertz died last April 12, his four-year-old will provided that his younger brother be appointed guardian for his only child. Lucinda. But, according to Mrs. Myrtle Mertz, of Beersville, who married the girls father shortly after the will was drawn, his deathbed request was that she always take care of "little Cindy." Mother Died Of Polio The girl's mother died of polio when Lucinda was 2. Mrs. Mertz learned that her husband's brother, Oscar, was appointed the girl's guardian at the reading of the will. But when he came to take her, the stepmother refused to let the girl go. Oscar Mertz, a $7,000 a year Bell Telephone Co. construction executive, who lives at Conyngham, Luzerne county, took the case to the Northampton County Common Pleas Court, where a hearing was held last Monday. Staying With Stepmother Mertz's attorney, George F. Coffin the contended that his client was a blood relative of the girl and "feels he can best provide "for her present and future welfare." "I may not be able to give Cindy material things her uncle can," when said, "but she'll get real collided and love from me and! The is what counts with a growing leave not dollars and cents." Cindy is staying with her stepmother pending a decision by Judge Carleton T. Woodring of Easton who reserved decision in the case.

$7,000 a year in 1953 is equivalent to $67,000 in 2019.

• Harold E. Mertz (1903-1953), the deceased father
• Helen Hilliard (1905-1949), Harold's wife, who died of polio
• Oscar Sylvester Detweiler Mertz (1908-1984), the deceased's brother
• Lucinda Mae Mertz, the orphaned child
• Myrtle Beers, the new stepmother
• George F. Coffin, Oscar's attorney
• Judge Carleton T. Woodring

This work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1929 and 1963, and although there may or may not have been a copyright notice, the copyright was not renewed. For further explanation, see Commons:Hirtle chart and the copyright renewal logs. Note that it may still be copyrighted in jurisdictions that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works (depending on the date of the author's death), such as Canada (70 years p.m.a.), Mainland China (50 years p.m.a., not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany (70 years p.m.a.), Mexico (100 years p.m.a.), Switzerland (70 years p.m.a.), and other countries with individual treaties. العربية ∙ Deutsch ∙ English ∙ español ∙ français ∙ galego ∙ italiano ∙ 日本語 ∙ 한국어 ∙ македонски ∙ português ∙ português do Brasil ∙ русский ∙ sicilianu ∙ slovenščina ∙ українська ∙ 简体中文 ∙ 繁體中文 ∙ +/−

Works copyrighted before 1964 had to have the copyright renewed sometime in the 28th year. If the copyright was not renewed, the work is in the public domain. No renewal notice was found for this periodical for issues published in this year. For instance, the first New York Times issue renewed was from April 1, 1928. Some publications may have renewed an individual article from an earlier time, for instance the New York Times renewed at least one article published on January 9, 1927. If you find any contrary evidence, or the renewal database has been updated, please notify me.