The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1877-12-06
VANDERBILTS MILLIONS,

VANDERBILT,S Millions.
Mrs. LIE Bau, One of the mmodore's g
Daughters, Contesting the WiII-Re mark
sble Statements Made by Her Counsel.
Hon Scott Lord, counsel for Mrs
LIE Bau, who is contesting Commodore
Vanderbilt's will, made some remark
able statements in the opening of the
case in the Surrogate's Court of New
York, the ether day. Some of the
charges which he tiadc against VIM. H.
Vanderbilt were of very serious char
acter. Mr.. Lord, says the Times, I'D
H,itted that it seemed hazardous to say
that a nlan who accumulated 800, OOO.-
600, and was famous fof his strength of
will, had not the power to dispose Of his
fortune. Yet, there was not on record
more unjust disposition of large
estate. The deceased Commodore left
two sohs and eight daughters. who, un-
der the statutes, we're entitled to equal
shares of the property. To one Of his
sons he gives $95, 900, 900. Both of the
sons had equal claims upon him, and
the 0iie who bad been practically disin-
herited, having been heaueathed only
the interest at 5 per cent. upon 300, 900,
had an additional claim to consideration
because he had all his life been the VIC
tim OF a disease which, although it had
not impaired his m1fld, hsd yet been
very painful. The Commodore during
his life had not shown so much favor for
his eldest son as his will suggested.
When he called him from the Staten
island farm, and put him forward in his
railroad enterprises he was mere potter's
clay in his fathers hands. The Com
modore had put his son, who bore his
own Christian name, under revolving
the first specific charge against
William H. Vanderbilt, and as
his fathers will TIE daughters were
Cornelius by the will, but their injuries
were scarcely less outrageous. The
Commodore, for a long time before his
death, was suffering great pain, to re-
ieve which strong medicines we're given
to him, which were sufficiently powerful
to weaken his mind. His desire to have
became q mania. Commodore Wander
bilt, Mr.. Lord said, WAS addicted to o
form of vice which had direct influence
upon his brain. Moreover, he was
sufferer from chronic maladies, Bright's
disease of the kidneys being one of them,
and cystitis another. The last men
toned was the most painful and most
dangerous disease on record. The
agony which the Commodore suffered
from it was terrible. Tt caused him to
writhe, and he frequently acted like a
woman struggling with labor pains.
Medicine strong enough to allay such
pain Eaust have weakened his mind. and.
on the other hand, the pain itself must
have affected the brain. Sometimes the
Commodore exhibited a verv violent
temper. In his fits of fury he paid no
heed to persons near him, and created
havoc among the furniture. Then he
would become at other times Cheerful
and tranquil That his intellect was
weak, Mr.. Lord asserted was shown in
the fact that he was a believer in Spirit
Talist1, hot III its higher phases, but in
its lower types. He believed in clair
voyance; that the nature of his diseases
could be discovered from miniatures
and locks of hair, and that thev could
be cured by mesmerism. He spent,
counsel asserted, thousands of dollars
upon such vagaries.
After his second marriage, In 1869, the
Commodore becat11e silly ON occasions,
and he was evidently entering bis second
childhood. Years ago he had been Of
the opinion that an equal division of
parents PROPERTY upon his children was
the only proper distribution. He changed
his mind in his dotage. More than
twenty-five years ago, said Mr.. Lord,
Corn, Illus Vanderbilt became enamored
of d guverness, and to get the mother of
his children out Of the way he had her
sent to lunatic asylum. William Van
derbilt was the only son Of the old man
who sided with him and against his
mother in this matter. In telking of the
affair the son said that he sympathized
with his motetr, but that it was not
question of sympathy with him, but one
of self-interest. The old man was bound
to have his own way then, but he, the
son, would rule hereafter. His father,
he said, was bound to be ruled by
woman, either the governess or another
woman, and he (the SOM was determined
to govern that woman. When the mother
was released from the asylum by the Off
GERS of it, William 81. Vanderbilt joined
with his father in demanding that she
live i'll another house. He obtained the
entire control of his father by these
methods. He lost all sense of justice
and honor, and he made use of the Com
modore's susceptibility to falsehoods.
His conduct toward his brother was al
ways harsh and unjust, and was of late
years worse than that. The contestant
proposes, MIR Lord said, to prove all
these assertions, and also to prove that
after his second marriage the Commo-
dore, who had before been very harsh
to his younger son, thought better of
him, and talked about giving him large
sum of money to set him up in business.