The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-05-16

Gle; We viii suppose Il to he a4syo,
say. livery lawyer, however,, knOw'
that If there BE evidence; Of The making
Of q second will the frSt one q de
stroyed by tint act, and that the subse
duent destruction of the second Twill
t-does not revive the first one!"
1t was q turning OF the tables alto
gether that now took place. The i'm
promptu speech of the youth 'ul nephew
acted as a reviver upon all around eN
cept the now dismayed uncle. Breath
ing WAS again ~ heard. and -alse
several ha nurmurs, as IL speech wat
about to come back TO others of the
company. They all. however. waited
for the lncle's reply. Turning to me,
he said: "Mr. j., this a matter tina,
YOU can perhaps give an opinion upon,
for l look upon what my nephew has
said as be ng nonsense al. My brother
has left a will and hold it, and s1all
insist upon its validity until one of later
date be produced in complete and prop
er FORM"
The matter had com upon me as sud.
denly as upon the others: but l did re-
member something of decision of the
courts upon the question. which, per
haps, had not SO lately read and viz.
idly remember as did the younger law
student present. Saying that much in
reply, | appealed to him to say more on
the point if lie could better remember
the case. He replied: 1.-The case that
decides the point was one that was be-
fore the courts but few years back,
and was carried on appeal to the Judi
cial Committee of the. Privy Council,
who confirmed the decision of the court
below, that the making of a second will
destroyed the first one. and that no after
act of the deceased restored what had
been so destroyedr' r..,-
Renewed confidence from what Hiad
said, and more SO from what the late
speaker had uttered, came upon all
present except the uncle. He now re-
stored the unread paper to his pocket.
and endeavored to put 8 more placid
face upon the matter, as one evidently
having reserved force -another stone
up his sleeve. Turning toward me
again, he said: '.We will assume, Mr..
j., just for the sake of defining our
position here only, that my la;e brother
died intestate will not argue the
question that has been started rs to the
will hold my solicitors will do that
much better Assuming, l say, tnat he
died intestate, then let me tell you all
that |. as his heir at-law, am en- tiled
absolutely to all his landed estate. That
is the elder brothers right, l believe,
where the deceased leaves no family
and no father living. believe that you
all share equally with me in the per-
sonal estate only, and that Mr.. j
here will confirm what l have saidr
Turning toward ME as he said this. he
sat down as one who could do so well
satisfied. -..., ..-,-.............. s... g.
Again fell the faces of all present
save one-fOr the deceased's property
consisted-to the extent of fully one
half-of landed estate. ''Crushed
again" was mentally uttered. dare
say BY more than one o. those present,
as this new claim was asserted by him
who seemed in ogre fashion. to eat up
everything in one way or another He
had spoken, too, in tone of confidence
than was calculated to dash the spirits
of his dismayed hearers. Before Icould
speak. however, reply came from the
one present whom have alluded to as
not looking as downfallen as his rela-
tives. There was a twinkle in the eve
of the young David, who now rose as
before to tackle this Goliath Of the FAM
lily. y -F...f.H ...' f.-.'..f
"Why uncle. don't you know, what
everybody else knows, that we have
abolished the law of primogeniture here,
and thai an intestate's land is by our
laws now divisible the same as his other
You must be thinking that
you are at home in England, and that
Uncle John died there and not here
You will get only your share with the
rest of US of what the land brings when
it is sold" '.. ~ f.
There was Joy indeed in all the faces
around at this speech, and some rapp;ng
of the table ensuea by those who took
that means of expressing their approval
and pleasure The young mans two
aunts looked as if they would have
greatly liked to kiss him, and would
have wanted but little prompting to do
that much to their youthful companion.
No dire It look toward him was, how
ever made by the I'm lie, who would, l
have waited for the opinion
he had asked from myself on the matter.
He did not appear, however, to have
courage left in him 10 face the company
any longer. Buttoning his coat; and seiz-
ing his hat he said to me: o
swell, Mr.. j., will bid you and
the company here now good day. Any
thing further l shall communicate TO
you through my solicitors.
Waiting not for any response to this
little speech he hurried from the room,
greatly, it seemed, to the relief of those
whom he left there. A little laugh went
round to the tune of his descending
footsteps. and louder one to the bang
ing of the street door behind. He
doubtless felt that if he stayed much
longer he might find himself entitled to
nothing Whatever The will in his
pocket had. he thought at one time.
secured everything to him. Failing
that, he had fallen back. with certainty,
on the claim to one-half of the property
as heir at law to the land. The matter
of certainty with him being so rudely
iispelled, he had lost all confidence,
in anything. and might next,
probably, be made to doubt that he was
even one of the family. His visit to his
solicitors could but confirm all that his
smart nephew had told him, but never
heard how long period OF time it took
before that uncle and nephew became
friendly again. -.., r
The second of the curious cases of
reading of the will that I have to tell of
was that of an eccentric old gentleman
who was as much humor st As cvnic.
By his will he provided annuities for
several old servants and clerks. Then
followed donations to various charities.