The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-05-17
SOME CURIOUS WILLS.
How the Oddities of Men Creep Out in
Their Last TeStam ents.
El.onl Az RnItimore Hernld.

and cunningly concealed, the idiosyncracies,
the passions, revenges and heterodoxies of
rrivate life generally crop out in some
shane in their wills and testamentary
REQUESTS, provided they have anything
besides very ordinary name to bequeath
=. ,osterity. Idiotic and eccentric legacies
ere next to the method of making a will,
i curious and interesting studies. 1t has only
been a few years since two dozen words
arritten in a grabbed, uncertain hand on
The hack of a yellow envelope by a soldier
While dying ON a Southern battlefield, were
admitted to probate as his will in the courts
of Pittsburg.
written was that of Joseph Cappur, man
worth S250,000 He was wholesale grocer
in London, and had amassed a fortune by
sneculating in securities. His eccentric
habits of life first called attention to his
SUBSEQUENT career. He lived at one hotel
"a for over twenty-five years, and In that time
engaged his room and board only for one
a doy in advance He insisted on sitting in
"a one certain seat at the table, drinking out
"a of the same cup and using the same knife
and fork He was the prototype of Jules
a Vernes Phineas Fogg, in that he ate, slept
and walked by an unvarying rule His sole
amusement was that of killing flies in the
a summer time He died suddenly when II
wears OF age Ills Will was IOund at the
N bottom of box of clothes curiously
worded and written on the backs of lot of
n old bank checks. He had detested his poor
relatives during his life, but by this strange
4 instrument Of his devising, every cent was
distributed among them, save 900 which
4 he gave to two nephews.
HIS HEART BURIED ON A BATTLEFIELD
Among the extraordinary conditions i'm
posed upon the descendants that OF the
a Duke of Valmy, Marshall KeIerman and
general of the French republic, stands
prominently in history. On the crest of a
hill Just outside the village of St. Menehold,
IN France, stands a monument to mark the
SPOT where the heart of Kellerman, taken
from his body after death, disappeared in
dust in the soil of his beloved France. 1t
was his will that his heart might rest among
his old soldiers who had been slain in the
4 battle of Valmy.
Matthew Robinson, Lord Rokeby,
prominent and peculiar Englishman of the
4 last century, nephew of Richard Robinson,
4 Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of
Ireland, became famous for his long beard
and his hatred for medical practitioners.
In regard to the former, it is said that on
one occasion, when going to an election, he
Il stopped at an inn, where the country people,
who had assembled for miles around, took
him for a Turk and nearly worried my lord
# to DEATH His dislike Of physicians was
a carried to such an extent that he left a
codicil in his will disinheriting a favorte
"a nephew, if i'll his lord Rokeby's) last ill
N ness his sympathies should be so excited
~ that he would call in doctor to attend him.
81 The present Marquis of Queensberry,
81 whose name as patron of pugilism ana
81 pugilistS is known wherever the sO-called
science of soaring Gods image in humanity
n is practiced, comes by his sporting proclivi-
III ties honorably. William Douglass, Duke of
n Queensberry, was an old sport Of the last
century, who rode his own race horses and
81 performed other acts that set England by
81 the ears. 1t was he who originated matches
81 against time. Before discussing his will, the
n famous match mentioned may be described.
NJ Queensberry made a wager with Count
Iaafe that he could put upon the road
n four-wheeled machine which should travel
10 miles in one hour. With the aid of Mr..
q Wright, designer, he had built a light
carriage, to which, on the day of the race,
81 he harneSsed blooded horses, driven by
trained grooms Vast sums of money
N changed hands on the result, the duke win
ming handlly. In his will, though he was
king of the turf for half century, he left
"a various large sums to charities. He pen
Fl stoned several opera singers, and gave
ri $4,000 for widows and orphans of the
British navy This was SO wholly unex-
pected in a man of his characteristics that
1t occasiOned great talk for years after
ward
LAWYER GILPIN's STRANGE REQUEST.
AS means of preserving his memory to
future generations, Lawyer John Gilpin, of
hlttanning, Pa, adopted a novel method.
N In his will Mr. Gilpin, who was one of the
brightest and wealthleSt members of the
Armstrong county bar-leaving an estate
valued at $500, 000-directed that annually
upon each Christmas day his executor
II should pay to the priest, or other proper
official of the Catholic church in Kittan- |
n nlng the sum of 800 In consideration of
thls amount the authorities were to have |
n the church bell rung upon each anniversary
Oh his birth in November for an hour or |
a more The church for three years has full |
nlled It's contract, and thus far $500 has |
n been paid. 1t is stated as the origin for |,
thls eccentric bequest that Mr.. Gilpin had |
a conceived the idea from reading of the daily |
IeedlnS OF the pigeons in Venice.
when | am dead long years." he said, in |
speaking to an intimate friend of this before |
N MS death, land the church bell rings and |
Startles the town on my birthday anniver-
Sary, people will ask: What is that forP |
and then the oldest inhabitant will say: |
Il why, that's in memory of a fellow named |
Gllpn, who died and lefb money to have |
tnat Dell rung every year Mr.. Gilpin |
u was an Episcopalian in religion but he left |
Nh
as he said, he believed that it was consti- |
IIted TO outlast every other church.
hzIC was IN this same town of Kittanning |
nat Banker Brown died four or FIVE years |
ago, leaving certain sum in securities, the |
interest OF which, amounting to 81. 900, was |
70 De distrlt uted every Christmas to the !
widows of tuettown.
n HIS BODY SCATTERED TO THE WINDS.
The death Of Baron De Palm, the theoso- |
pnlSt and mystic, whose body, by will, was |
GTemated at the LIE Moyne Crematory at |
" ashlhgton some years ago, with various |
#eecret rites, and whose dust was conveyed |
away In precious urn, recalls another
#celeorated ann similar will. Paul Reidel is
= muscular, intelligent man, and is at pre-
SeiC engaged as a teacher to turnverein.
?y MS Will, which has already been pub
med, he directs that after death his body
nan ne cremated and the ashes shipped to
We" Y ork. Here they will be entrusted to
oIHe seatarlng mana personal friend, if
onVenlent-who will carry them to mid
oCean, and there scatter the dust broadcast
.pon the winds that sweep above the mighty
waste OF waters.
Inc Ffenchman, whose remarkable will
ooncerning his wifes inheritance created
VI ous!qQerable newspaper comment some
.OnghS ago, had a parallel some years ago
Iandelay, Burmah III the case of the
Iehcl gentleman he made it obligatory
<4.Pon MS wife that her title TO the full en- |