The colored patriot., 1882-06-01
Estates Of the Unknown,

heavy load Of valises and bundles. These
ne dumped on the floor in the office.
effects of dead man." he said, as
he Strengthened up.
One OF the other men, who proved to
oe Mr.. Daniels, purser of the steamship
Colon, then explained that there had
come aboard that vessel at Aspinwall an
Invalid named G. Schneider, the head
Of the firm of Schneider & Martin, pro-
prietOrs of the Great International Hotel
ofthat city, and that he died the follow
inc day His remains were buried at .
sea. and, after IN inventory of his eff
tectS had been taken, they were tied up,
sealed, and when the steamer reached F.
her dock, brought at once 10 the Public .
Administrator. The assistant in charge .
1f the office was making q minute of
'hese facts when the man who brought |.
the effects interrupted him
"Giye me dollar and let me CO."
said he
"How can give you dollar?"
"Why, there's plenty of money in
hat envelope" the messenger replied,
pointing to an envelope that the purser
had put on the desk together with a
collar box and a pocket-book. The as
sistant tore the envelope open and took
from it bills and gold pieces amounting
70 $3.50. He gave the messenger one
dollar. Then he ticked off the items in
he purser's inventory: One hundred
and fifty dollars, gold watch, gold
chain, amethyst ring, diamond ring,
S1.4O in soils, three shirt studs, pocket
book, valises, etc. He gave the purser
an itemized receipt, and the purser said
that Schneider's brother lives in New
York.
"Now, what will the Public Admins
traitor do with those things?" the assist
ant was asked.
First, we will enter all the facts in
what we call our rough book, and next
we will put the valuables and money in
the safe" said he, "and store the
goods in the back room. When the
! brother has qualified as administrator
we will turn the estate over to him If
here had been no brother or other rela
tive here we would have sent the jew
alry to the safe deposit vaults, stored
the valiseS in our stOrerOOm in Duane
street, and deposited the money in one
Of the banks, which, under the law, the
Comptroller specifies shall be used for
that purpose. After a certain time, If
we had not heard from the relatives or
friends of the dead man we should have
sold his effects and turned the proceeds
and the other money over to the City
Chamberlain, who would hold it in
trust forever for the next of kin. We
very often 90 through this, and our
sales, which are by public auction and
are advertised, are attended each time
bv about the same men and women.
They are dealers in secondhand mate
rials and are our regular customers, so
to speak"
"You had right to pay that mes
senrer for bringing those things here"
''Oh, YES; Just as we should have had
RIGHT to bury Schneider and pay for
the funeral if his body had been brought
here If his brother administers on the
estate we will account to him, but II we
administer upon it we will act exactly
as if we were n private party, paying
the debts OF the deceased, collecting
what was due him, and selling his prop
erty to the best advantage. A cousin
could qualify as we'll as a brother, if he
was next OF kin. The law is, first the
wife, next the children. third the faith
er. next the mother. then the brothers
| or sisters or cousins, males OF the near
| est decree of relationship being pre-
, ferred TO females The Public Admin
! iStratOr comes after the relatives, bu'
ahead of creditors. friends and al
; others. We have on hand the case o
b John ID. Grady. who was receiver o
b stolen goods His fence was sort o
I icwelry or pawnbroker shop in SlNtE
\ avenue. He died. leaving relatives, bu
/ they were not able 10 give security. an(
man named Haughton, who claims
! flat Grady had property that had beer
/ stolen from him, applied for letters o
= administration. We applied also, an'
. the Surrogate appointed us. We hoi'
i the estate and dispute Haughton
). claim"
I'm the last annual report OF tn
! Public Administrator are very man
/ names of persons classified rs 'un
{ known. whose estates are representa-
i hy sums ranging from S5,S9 down t
ten cents What about them?'
y They are cases of those who die q
I. sea-oftcn sailors; vagrants who die i
e the streets and in the public institution,
y persons who die in hotels and boarding
houses. and Ccroners cases Of all sorts
< The master OF every vessel upon whic
A 4 death occurs must report and SUI
n render the estate Of the dead person
IN Us. So must boarding house and hote
al keeners. and the Coroners are ais
=, oblired In turn over to rs the effects
ID those that come under their notict
el Sometimes five cents. OF even cent.
ID All that is found belonging to a man G
perhaps his estate may consist Of a rin9
:. slacket. ora broach. but the law make
20 distinction between such estates On
those like thar Of Theodore Gentl. h
d. merchant. which we recently ADM.
" ;>tarod. Gertl was wealthy Ne
r Y--.. merchant who retired from bus
he ness and went 20 France He die
1e there leaving in New York an es.A'
m valued at over $50, ,00n. partly in c--
h. deposited n banks. and partly
ey ~ trr.t.r> H. had - Dad cousins
rs Paris. who applied for the right ~ 81
e mini,.erthoC-ra,c Weal>o apple Z! a:
Oh were represented iE 'ae Paris court
Se counsel The l'ra.a aw j. lisr ous
n, and wlel ]. ~#~ ..at..el tha' h- r.-
ur of residence vt- >as York. wr Wr
o. appointed ut.s r..H.r THE e~ta." i.
"a. t.