The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-12-13
ODDITIES OF WILLS.
Some OF the Curious Ways In Which Persons
Wished Their Money Disposed of
After Their Death.

Wished Their Money Disposed OF
After Their Death.
Among the curious wills and requests
that deserve mention is that of a French
merchant who, in 1910, left a large lega-
ny to tba lady who had Tilted him, in or
der to express his gratitude to her for
her forbearance and his admiration for
her sagacity in leaving him to a happy
bachelor life. jasper Mayne, who died
in 1920, left to a bibulous servant an old
portmanteau which, he wrote, tho lega-
tee would value when he found that it
contained something (which would en-
able him to drink" The something"
proved to be a red herring. A Scotch
gentleman having two young daughters
bequeathed to each her weight, not in
gold, but 81 bank notes. The elder
seems to have been simmer than her sis
ter, for she only got $3.50, 600, while the
younger received $2S7, 720. An annuity
of $3.50 was bequeathed to the bell-ring-
ers of Bath Abbey by Lieutenant
Colonel Nash, provided they should
muhlo the clappers of the bells of
the said abbey, and ring them with dole
full accentuation from eight a. m. to
eight p. m. on each anniversary of his
wedding day, and during the same
number of hours, only with merry
peal, on the anniversary CT the day
which released him from d0mestic
tyranny and wretchedness. Requests
of bodies for anatomical purposes, or of
skulls as curiosities or relics have been
sufficiently numerous; but unquestion-
ably the most curious will of this sort
was that made by Mr.. 5. Sanborn in
1871, when the testator left his remains
for dissection and provided that the
/ flesh stripped from his bones should be
used to fertilize an American elm, and
his skin be converted into two drum
heads, inscribed with the Declaration of
Independence and Pope's Universal
Prayer, on which Yankee Doodle
should be played at Bunker Hill an
s nually on the 18th of June.
A testat0r can not, it need scarcely
be said, be too careful in drawing up a
will. My black and white horses do
not bear the same meaning as my
black and my white horses" A near
friend of Victor Cousin, the philoS-
opher, lost a large legacy through a
tritling accident and delay. Cousin
intended to include his name in
his will, but there was no stamped
paper in the house, and he told his SER
want to obtain some. The servant said
he wOuld--tO-mOrrOW on the NOR
row Cousin died at dinner, Just as a West
of England millionaire was choked at
breakfast with a fish bone, with the I'M
signed will which would have altered the
disposition of his vast estate living on the
table. People should intimate the ex-
ample of Lord Eldon, who, when very
rich piece of patronage came into his
gift, having received the news while
riding with the relative upon whom he
intended to bestow it, wrote out the APP
pointment while sitting in his saddle,
lest he should be thrown from his horse
before he got home. An officer in the
Indian army, who had not much to
leave, but was on friendly terms with
two of his brother officers, made will,
leaving his property, consisting merely
of personal belongings, to be divided
between them. The testator came I'M
eXpectedly into a very large fortune, but
he forgot all about his will and never
made another. When he died the will
made under such different circumstances
held good, and his aged mother sisters
and near relations were left out in the
cold.
Of requests to animals a few NAV be
mentioned. In 1881 a peasant of Tou-
louise made his horse his universal heir.
Doctor ChristianO, of Venice. left 5000
tlorins for the maintenance of his three
dogs, with d condition that at their
death the sum should be added to the
University of Vienna. A Mrs. Elizabeth
Hunter, in 1873, left 81, 600 a year to
her parrot, and the Count of Mirandola
bequeathed considerable legacy to a
pet carp. Lord Chesterfield left sum
for the support of his favorite cat, so
also did one Frederick Harper, who set
tied $500 a year on his young black
cat, the interest to be paid to his
hOusekeepcr, Mrs. Hodges, as long as
the cat should remain alive. The most
singular of these wills, however, was
that of Il Mr.. Berkeley, of Knights
bridge, who died in 1905. He left 1928
to four of his dogs, During journey
through France and Italy this gentle
man, being attacked by bri gands, had
been protected and saved by his dogs;
the four animals he pensioned by his
will were the descendants of this faithful
friend. Feeling his end near Mr. Blake
ley desired that two arm-chairs might
be brought to his bedside and his four
dogs seated on them, received their last
caresses, which he returned with the
best of his failing strength, and died in
their paws. BY an article in his will he
ordered that the busts of the four dogs
should be carved in stone and placed at
the four corners of his tomb. Phiiadel-
pbiG Record.
Delaware claims to have the largest