Show wh aas BAP asi e 01 I 1 R M 4 J an 1411 X I 1 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON drawing by ray hay walters T SEEMS that the ameri can an people are becoming will conscious for it Is a curious fuel fact that more people than ever before who have anything to leave after their deaths lea and any one to whom to leave it ore are making wills just why this Is true Is not easy to determine it may be due to the psychological factor involved in ID the statement that A will Is the only permanent espres slon blon of himself lf tint that the lie average man leaves leaps to posterity or it may he be caused by the fact that the increasing number of cases of litigation in our courts resulting tram from pel pei sons lying intestate tins has impressed upon us the value of a will in guard rig ng sordid disputes which hine have wrecked the happiness of families although it must be admitted that hint not even a will can always prevent that then again it may mav be due to the fact that hank bank ers era anil and lawyers are constantly urging their clients ts to make a will do it will now dow dont don t put it off for tomorrow way may never rume come if in urging upon us the necessity for or performing this important task before we lay town down our lifes task the bankers and lawyers needed a good object fesson what better could be found than that offered in the fol lowing news stories which appe tired in the newspapers Dews pipers within recent months cedar rapid iowa lo 10 three hour after he ha had d arl driven e n to az zerne t to 0 set tle tie h his mothers estate eft he and make hip hi own will patrick farrell li rrell fifty nine wealthy farmer of was found dead he had bad been in III health for sev arri ral mon months ta and his friends are won bering whether r he had a premonition of f death ea h w which aich caused him to make bla bis will so BO hurriedly arkon ark on the way home with a printed form for or hla his will william ll im walden seventy was struck by a r aar 1 1 r driven by roalph taylor a nr iati b bor 0 r he fie died a few hours later although a will Is usually regarded as one of the sy symbols of deith death it often reflects some of the most inter esting facts of a mans man a life in no 0 ther other document which lie he writes la is there recorded so much which reveals his true it may show him at his best and nt at tits ills worst lor for tile the old saying that where theres there s a will ft theres a way can by the addition of a few words bo be extended to cover coer tile the whole range of human p where theres a will theres a way nay to abow the nobler qualities of tann kind the mother of george al colian colan famous actor who left him the bulk of tier estate wrote in tier her will in making this inquest bequest to my mv son boa I 1 desire to suite state that thai whatever property nay my beloved Ini shand and I 1 have had bad seized and possessed posse sRed d of tins has come from the uns unselfish ellIsh generosity of iny beloved son who tins earned and enjoyed our ever everlasting listing gratitude and arx affection fifteen years before the death of edward Lane lanchester bester his friend richard oneill fought with a holdup hold up man on top of a speeding freight train to save gave the hard earned money of Lau lanchester chester when lanchester died he left his entire estate of to oneill and directed in his will that a five year i ear search be made tor for the beneficiary whose where a bouts were ft ere unknown not so long ngo there died a merchant whose belief in the observance of the golden rule kule was revealed in the terms of tits his will twenty pages in length it con bained legacies some large and some small to every one who had ever imen been polite to him film or showed kindness to 0 others in his presence they included bequests to it conductor who had put paid an old ludis fare to a clerk who carried can led home a sick dog to a policeman who helped a blind nian min across the street bellhops Itell hops were nere re for nets acts of courtesy stare stage comedians for having guide people tough and editors and judges for hav ins ing sponsored humanitarian cum cam where theres a will theres llie ies a way to reveal the depths of tinman human meanness nie inness unfortunate it Is but true and wills reveal more than one unlovely example of carrying mabrl differences to the other side of the lie grave some interesting exam pies of these conie come from ingland where lawmakers are seeking to make v vindictive Indle tive will making malting illegal tol not long ngo ago it wealthy commercial magnate after deliberately leading its his wife to believe herself tits his sole legatee legat pe left tier her one shilling shifting and be quenched quei quen thed to others including a servant she disliked another man left all bis money modey to his wife but on condition that she forfeit 51 1000 every time she appeared in pub lit lie a veil while on remarriage she wits to lo forfeit nil all A nottingham man who two years ngu ago bequeathed a n half halfpenny fienny to ench of tits his family just missed the record in testamentary meanness which be tongs to the testator who left tits ills wife a farthing with instructions instruction tint that the coin should he forwarded to tier her in tin nn envelope then there avas its Willi lilliarn arn darley of 0 lberts england who nevor never forgave his wife for fir having once taken soine boine money from tits his trousers pocket in tits will he fie cut her off with it shilling for picking my i dikel of it GO gul guineas when charles charlei fjarli er of england died the principal bequest in Ws his will wits to elizabeth parker the sum of ia ahm whom through my foolish fondness I 1 made my wife without regard to rum fain ily III fame or foi tune and art who in re turn has not slin red most unjustly to accuse rue me of every crime regarding human nature save high wity robbery nut flat england Ing lund Is ii not the only place where postmortem post mortem spite has been shown there was the lie citizen of ios ton who left tits his wite wife penniless all less she married again within live five years because he wanted somebody else to find 0 out how tid nud it was to contrast Con live with her contrast trust with that the th meeka meekness 1189 0 of f the englishman who left all 11 ills his estate to his wife trusting yen I 1 way mas say BUS as I 1 think assuring myself that she ore will marry no man for fear to meet with so evil a hus band ns as I 1 have been to her con on trust also the consideration shown by gouverneur Gouvern cur morris the new york statesman who left tits his wife bif I 1 a fortune and further provided that in case of 0 tier her remarriage the income should be doubled quite different was the at etude of john conkling of southold Sout hold long I 1 OIK island toward tits his wife Ab abagail agall to whom tie he bequeathed the use of oni my lands and nd meadows and a salli clency of firewood and the lib erty of dwelling in which of 0 my houses bouses slie she plen plea seth to live during her widowhood and no longer that was man many y years A ago go it if john were living now he might not find it so easy to take out tits his sp spite te on gall for dur ino ing the flip last year the new york legis lature recognizing the evil which men may do in the wills they leme behind them enacted further llella eions than th those cise already existing upon a testators right to disinherit where theres there s a will theres there B a way to display many oddities of temperament and reveal queer quirks in the human mind when edward K chapman a civil war ve veteran who became christmas tree king of maine dik died he left 1000 1 oot in trust to the portland niKl Y al 11 C A the income from which Is to be spent to inhere In tere young met men in checkers buy bay new n ew boards and men and also to keep t the he hoards and game clean and danl annl tary william lellam kreter of new york fork an irishman and it devoted fisherman played it 11 bit of a joke on oi his fellow countrymen tn in his will tie fie lett left WO to hi his friend charles whistler to be spent on a fishing trip after my iny death and gave him also sio 50 for the expenses epen ses of carrying his ashes ou out to sea after his body had bun been caremn ted to the new york lorl times firms lie he leffa left B fund of if to he be to americanize the irish in particular those of amer lean jelin birth john quinn seventy two of sin san francisco veteran street lar car conductor left a estate and provided in his will that his debtors need repay only 75 7 per cent of their debts to ills his estate J J Hol hollowoa Hollo lowny woy of st Clairs clairsville ville ohio left it 14 word will in which he fie bequeathed his estate to tits ills wife john payne of australia alln left a fortune of over 2 loo and requested lint flint ills magnificent home be de sliced by fire anre as soon as practicable twenty two persons persona gathered Rn at the grave of william P fler herrinng rinar of paterson rn terson pa to receive bequests ranging from VAX SW to 2000 ills his wilt will that lint his heirs should be nt at his mausoleum on the first decoration day sifter after tits his death to receive the ahe money it ruined rained hard that day but they were nil there |