Born. To Phyllis Potter Astaire, 33, and Dancer Fred Astaire, 42: a daughter, their first; in Hollywood. Weight: 6 lb. There are two sons, one Mrs. Astaire's by her first marriage.

Married. Esme O'Brien, 22, much photographed glamor girl of 1938; and Robert William Sarnoff, 23, Naval Reserve ensign, son of R.C.A. Chief David Sarnoff; in Washington.

Sued for Divorce. Circusman Henry Ringling North, vice president of Ringling Bros.; by Ada Mae North; in Sarasota, Fla.

Died. George Edgar Merrick, 55, land-boom multimillionaire, founder and developer of Florida's Coral Gables; of heart disease; in Miami. He had been planning to develop modest land holdings into a Utopia for the aged when the boom started; within ten years he and his associates created a city of some 3,000 houses, sold an estimated $150,000,000 worth of land. In 1926 Merrick founded the University of Miami with a gift of $5,000,000 and land. When the boom collapsed, he lost his fortune, retired to a Florida key to run a small fishing camp.

Died. James Mills, 58, veteran foreign correspondent (who in 30 years traveled 340,000 miles for A.P.); after a paralytic stroke; in Ventura, Calif.

Died. Carolyn Wells, wholesale thriller manufacturer (81 mysteries in 33 years); of heart disease; in Manhattan. She had been writing juveniles and highly popular nonsense verse for some ten years before she turned her hand to detective fiction in 1909. A semi-invalid, she was once given only two years to live, prepared herself for the end by ordering a chiffon gown and cocktail jacket as her deathbed costume, then lived ten years and wrote more than 25 more books.

Died. Joseph Harry Benrimo, 67, actor-dramatist, co-author of The Yellow Jacket; in Manhattan. In the 1890s and early 1900s he played supporting roles with Modjeska, James O'Neill, Mrs. Leslie Carter, William Faversham.

Died. "Commodore" Basil Muse Hatfield, 70, Van Winkle-bearded "First Admiral of the Trinity, Master of the Marshes, First Lord of the Swamps"; in Liberty, Tex. He was an unsuccessful candidate for U.S. Senator in 1941. His platform: a five-ocean navy.

Died. George Shiras, III, 83, naturalist, "father of wild life photography"; in Marquette, Mich. He discovered a successful method of taking flashlight pictures of wild animals, for more than half a century photographed them in wildernesses from Hudson Bay to Mexico.

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