Show fop am 1 ra ya TA ra P 1 WN TA 0 0 o Z F J 41 14 11 1 1 7 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON drawing by ray walters walter T SEEMS that the american people are becoming 4 will conscious tor for it Is a curious tact fact that more people than ever before who have anything to leave after their deaths and anyone to whom to leave 14 it are making wills just why this Is true Is not easy to determine it may be badue due to the psychological factor actor involved in the statement that A will Is the only permanent expression of himself that the average man leaves to posterity or it mily may be caused by the fact that tire the increasing number of cases of litigation in our courts resulting from persons dying intestate has impressed upon us the value of a will in ID guarding against sordid orald disputes which have wrecked the happiness of families although it ft most be admitted that hat oot not even a will can always prevent that then again irmay be due to the tuf fa ct that bank era and lawyers are const constantly constanel antl urging their clients to make a will do it aw dont bont put it ft off for tomorrow may never come it if la in urging upon us the necessity for performing this important task before we lay down our lifes task the bankers and lawyers needed a good object lesson what better could be found than that offered in the following news stories which appeared to the newspapers with within in recent months cedar rapids rapid iowa three hour otter arter be bad driven to Lut lucerne terne to set tl tle hi bit mothers mother estate tat and nd make hl hip own will patrick farrell fifty arty nine wealthy farmer of was war found dead he bad been in ill health for or sev ev era ral months month and his hi friends friend are wondering whether he had a premonition of death which caused him to make ble will so 0 o hurriedly harrison Harrl Bon ark arkon on the way home with a printed form for or his hi will william walden seventy evenly was struck by a far car driven erlven by ralph taylor a neighbor he died a few ew hours hour later although a will Is usually regarded as one of the symbols of death it often offer reflects some of the most interesting facts of a mans life in no other document which he be writes Is there recorded so much which reveals ills true character it may show him film at mrs his bett best and at his worst for the old eld saying that thai where theres a will theres a way can by the addition of a few words ile be extended to cover the whole range of human psychology where theres a will theres a way to allow the nobler of roan man kind the mother of george li cohan famous actor who left ailin the bulk of her estate wrote in tier her will in 10 making this bequest to my son on I 1 desire to state that whatever property my beloved husband and I 1 have had bad seized and possess possessed pd of has fins come from the unselfish generosity of my beloved son who has earned ond and enjoyed our everlasting gratitude and I 1 affect affection lon fifteen years before the death of edward lanchester his friend richard oneill fought with a holdup hold hotd up man on top of a speeding freight train to save the hard earned money of lanchester when lan chester died he left his entire estate of to oneill and directed in his will that a five year search boarch be made for the beneficiary whose w u hereabouts were unknown not BO long ago there died a merchant whose belief in the observance of the golden rule was revealed in the terms of his will twenty pages in length it con bained legacies some borne large and some small to every one who had ever been polite to him or showed kindness to others in Ms his pre presence they included bequests to a conductor who had bad paid an old ladys fare to a clerk who curried home alusick aesch dug dog to a policeman who helped a blind man across the lite street bellhops were remembered for acts of courtesy con resy stage comedians for having made people laugh and editors and judges for bay ing sponsored humanitarian cam where theres a will theres a way t to 0 reveal the depths of human meanness unfortunate ll it Is but bui true tine and wills reveal more titan one unlovely example of carrying matri differences to the other side of the grave some interesting exam pies of these come from england where lawmakers are seeking to make vindictive will making illegal not long ago a 8 wealthy eal thy comm commercial erchil magnate after deliberately leading his wife to believe herself his bis sole legatee left her one shilling and he be thed to others including a servant she disliked another man left all his money to his wife hut but on condition that she should forfeit 1000 every time she appeared in pub lie without a veil while on an remarriage she was to forfeit all A Notting nottingham horn man who two years ago bequeathed a halfpenny to each 0 of f his family just missed tile the record in ID testamentary meanness which be longs to the testator who left his wife a farthing with instructions that the elie coin should lie forwarded to her in an unstamped eni envelope elope then there was wag william darley of herts england who never forgave his wife tor for having once taken seme money from his trousers pocket in its ills will he cut ul her off air with a shilling tor for picking my pocket packer of HO eal when charles Clu irles parker of england fill the principal prinell ial bequest tn in his will wit was to elizabeth parker the sum of E fill whom through sli my foolish fondness I 1 made my wife without regard to film lly ily fame or fortune and who in re turn has halt not spared most unjustly to accuse me of every crime regarding human nature save highway roli hrry but england Is not the he only place pance where post mortem spite has been beed shown there was the chizen fit if ills Hs ton who left his wife penniless tier 1111 less site she married again within hp hie years because he wanted else to find out how hard it was to live with tier ber contrast with abal the meekness of the EnglI shimin who left all his estate to his wife trusting yea sea I 1 may say as I 1 think assuring myself that bile bhe will marry no man for fear to meet with so evil a husband band as I 1 have been to her con trust also tile lie consider consideration ollon shown by gouverneur morris tile the new york statesman who left his wife a fortune and further prodded ded that in ruse case of tier her remarriage the income should be doubled quite different wilf the attitude of jolin john conkling of it southold Soul Sout hold long island toward ills his wife Ah abagail agail to whom he bequeathed the use rise nf at one third my lands rind and meadows and a clenry of firewood and the lib erty of dwelling la in which of if my horses houses site she plea seth to live luring during her and no nn longer auar as ninny many years ago if john were living now he be might not find it so an easy to take out his spite on for during the last year rear tile the new york leals lature recognizing the fill evil which mm men may do in the wills will they leave behind them enacted further limitations titan than thoe already existing ed fling upon a testators right to disinherit rat where theres a s will theres a way to display many of ten aliment find and reveal queer quirks i irks in the mind when edward K chapman a civil war veteran who became christmas tree king of N la ine died lie left in trust to flip lie y M C V A tile the income fiani willell IR 1 to hp be spent to interest young youna men in cli eckers buy new hoards boards unit men wid and alio 1 no to tit keep the boards anti and acinto clenn and sard arary mry william aci of fit new mew york an irishman arid and a devoted fisherman hennan ns phi pd a bit of a joke ke on ion ills hi fillow to in his ht will lie ile left VUK in his hip mend briend Clin riest whistler to he be spent on a fishing trip after my death arid anil gave cave him also W 50 fill fi the expenses lot if varr carrying arryl ying nii MR ills ashes out to sea pen after afler chiq hl body had bad been cremated to I 1 the ile new york times lip he left a fund nf if sam ekl to he utilized to americanize ami the flip irish in those thorp of amer lean birth john quinn seventy two ot at san francisco teleran street dir at fondue tor for left a estate and provided in ill ills will that ills his debtors need repay only 75 7 tier per pill of nf their debts to his ante tn te J J holloway of lit sl NI olle I 1 lllian lafi a tm 64 word will lit in which dilleh lie he hei lien thed his estate to his wife jolin john payne of lot Au autralia Aralia left if 11 for tune of avs over ta load that ills homp hoine ill br tip de lit in lire us as motor us atit file twenty ino full liar conf gath in al the arnio arne of Wil willinia linin P 1 lh ol of Ia forson ill to receive ranging front f ilal to tn mill ills 1114 will 11 allied I 1 vital hill ills lepirs ollio old lie at his tin on the flip first lit 4 bation aln ill hi rev revelvie elvi hie flip bioni conry y 11 ll rallied hard that di hut hur they were nil fill there |