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Show ' ... I TALK OF NEW YORkI 1 J $ ; Gossip of People und Events Told $ & in Interesting Munncr. $ I fcl Fair Estate Reported Settled Again NKW YORK. Mrs. Wllllo K. Vandor-bill, Vandor-bill, Jr., ntul Mrs. Herman Oolrlclis oiUBt Ixj breathing easier than they navo for boiiio yenrB If It Is true, aa reported, Unit their lawyers havo at 'aHt bottled with tho last of tho heirs Jf tin- lato Mr Charles Fair. The lnt-tor lnt-tor was tho brother of tin ladles mentioned men-tioned nnd with them equal heirs of Iho estate or tho late bonanza king nnd United States Senator J. O. Fnlr. It will ho renioinbored that tho lato Chnrllo Fair and his wlfo were victims of an automobile accident In Frunco and that nftor their deaths a dlsputo arose as to which died first. If, as Mrs. Charles Fair's relatives contended, con-tended, tho wlfo survived her husband, hus-band, oven by a mlnuto's time, they wore rightful heirs of tho wife's share In tho husband's estate. If tho husband hus-band lived longer, or the sanui tlmo nfter the accident, Chnrles Fair's fortune for-tune went to his two sisters, Mrs Vandorbllt and Mrs Oolrlclis. Tho sisters' lawyers made no less than threo spttleinentH with tho only known relatives of Charles King, being be-ing foieeil to succeeding and more fa-voiable fa-voiable settlement owing to lenewod reports that Mrs Fair, as a matter of fact, outlived her husband by half an hour. After the latest of these threo settlements, which was for a relatively small sum, $260,000 I have heard, tho sisters divided Charles Fair's estate, probably not less than $5,000,000, bo-tween bo-tween them, and tho matter was t hough t to be closed Then appeared n brother of Mrs. Fair, who was supposed to bo dead, one Frank Pieston Smith of Newark, who proved tn be not only alive but kicking. He also demanded a aettlo-incut. aettlo-incut. What troubled the lawyers of Mrs. Vanderbllt and Mis Oolrlclis was the fact that this Iroublcsomu lost heir had been In Franco niaklug Independent Independ-ent Investigation and claimed to have amplo proof that his sister survived her husband not loss than 10 minutes nrier both were dashed against a trco upon being thrown from an automobile. automo-bile. No figures have been given out by lawyers on either side as to tho amount the sisters were compelled to settle with the latest heir, but It Is rumored that the sum was large Mystery of the "Man in Black" Solved I1THO Is tho Man In lllack? If That has been tho mystery of :ho "Wall street boat" or tho Sandy Hook Steamship lluo throughout tho icason. Tho Man In lllack has out-Wllklo out-Wllklo Colllnsed 'Tho Woman In White." Ho has set 300 brokers guessing guess-ing and has kept them guessing every morning and overy afternoon as tlioy rnado tho Journey from tho Jursey shore to tho city nnd vice versa. Every attempt that hns been made to fathom tho Idontlty of tho stranger has met with failure. If tho attendants on the boat havo known they havo kept the tntf V- secret well until now. Approached jCr'""" and spoken to, tho Man In Iilack, as - V ho has come to bo known, hns mum- !' bled Inartlculatolyi anil has walked quickly away. J Who Is tho Man In lllack? Tho question has been asked and unanswered fully a thousand times by tho Wall street men this season. Tho soared for knowledge of tho man's Identity has aroused a much Interest even among tho holders of staterooms state-rooms ns havo market discussions, i races with passing yachts or Lnwson's advertisements. Kvon more. Ho Is about GO years old, of stooped shoulders, slight build, moiisollko face, furtlvo walk nnd twitching hands. Ills attire Is always black, even to his tie. A black derby Is pulled down over his eyes. As soon as tho boat that carries tho Wall street men to tho city In the mornings steams away from tho Highlands pier tho Mnn in lllack appears. No ono has seen him at any of tho connecting trains. No ono has seen him walk down the long wooden walk to tho landing. Yet ho Is nlwas on hand. With his hands clasped behind him ho walks around tho boat. Now and again he drags nut a chair nnd slta down. Soon ho Is up again, however, and walking around tho decks. Ho novcr looks at anyone. Ills half-h half-h closed eyes nro seemingly always directed di-rected at u Bpot on tho door five or six foot ahead of him. Thnt ho Is not In Wall .street has been known. That ho Is not an offlcor or nttendqnt on tho boat has also bcon known. , Kvery effort hns evidently been mndo to veil tho mnn's Idontlty In a cloud of mystery. Threo weeks' quos-Honing quos-Honing brought no light until a day or so' ago. It was learned then and tho solution wilt settlo many wngerd that havo been made during the season sea-son among tho Willi street crowd thnt tho mysterious Man In Ulnck Is the father-in-law of the man who controls con-trols tho bootblack privilege on tho Sandy Hook boats, Ho acts ns "spotter" "spot-ter" among tho bootblacks on tho ves-' sels and sees to It that tho boyH ring tho bell twice Instead of otico. Tl;o well guarded mystery has been solved nnd tho Wall street commuters may once ngaln tako deep hreatliB. ! The Value of Russell Sage's Estate rHB olllclal nppralsal of tho estate of HiiBsell Sago, now on Mo In the urrognto's otllce, not only discloses '.ho valuo of tho property, but also .brows an Interesting light on tho extent ex-tent of tho call loan business for which Mr. Sago was best known In Wnll street. ' Tho report of tho nppiulser shows that right up to tho day of his death, which occurred on July 22, 1900, Mr. Sage's ticasury was open to call to any borrowers nnd thnt It was no unusual un-usual thing for him to loan sevornl million dollars In n day. Tho executors, Chnrjos W. Osborn tnd John I'. Munti. on taking charge of tho ostato. found a great many call loans still outstanding on tho day of Mr. Sago's death, home of which had been made m far bark ns tho begin-olng begin-olng of tho year T1IK Mgh-clnss restnurants In tho Wall street district, which nro patronized by brokers nnd bankers, ro-port ro-port a decided Improvement In business busi-ness In tho Inst month. In tho panic and post-panic period there was a mnrked falling off In tho number of customers who patronized tho restnurants restnur-ants and cafes of tho hotter class In the financial section, but with tho return re-turn of prosperity trndo plckod up ,. 'rupldly. f When business Is good und com.nls- Ions plentiful, tho broker takes a A partial list of Mr. Sago's loans In tho six months previous to his denth shows the amounts ho loaned and tho firms thnt came to borrow from him. No stnglo loan Is for more than $950,-000. $950,-000. Tho total amount of these loans, with tho Interest, which tho executors called In nnd collected, wns mom than $29,000,000. Mr. Sago also owned largo blocks of gilt edged bonds and stock.8, tho total valuo of which, figured at tho market price of the day of Mr. page's death, exceeded $!)0,000.000. Most of these stocks and bonds nro tolny (Hinted nt lower figures thim they would have brought If sold nt market prices on the day that Mr. Sago passed away. , Summarizing the whole appraisal, tho gross personality is valued at $01,111,218 and tho gross realty at $l,9ir.500. u total of Jflfi,3;iG,71S. As told today, the state will recelvo $t;r.7,fK from tho legatees as linns-for linns-for tnx Tho executors will come In for $995,030 each, aH against tho $25,000 each left by Mr. Sngo to each of his 2C nophows nnd pieces. Mrs. Sago's share of tho ostute Is $03,778,-800. Wall Street Men on Full Feed Again party of his best customers out to luncheon with him almost nvory dny, and, of courso, foots tho bills. Ho patronizes naturally tho best restaur-nuts restaur-nuts nnd his weekly bill for luncheons Is couuldoiablo of an Item. In bail times, however, all this Is changed. Whoro tho broker's ofllco was filled with customers In tho boom days, it Is now deserted and tho few clients on hand aro not usually In cheerful mood. Tho bioker, who seeB his dully office expenses eating heavily heav-ily Into his capital, is In no mood to Incur additional outlay. Instead ot the merry luncheon putty, ho slips out to tho nearest restaurant and eats a frugal weal. ' v.-, however, choorftilnebB has -ippunted pessimism In Wall street and broker und olllco boy nliko aro fooling ths effect of It. So Is tho res-tnuruut res-tnuruut keeper. |