Wichita eagle., 1890-01-30
LoND0k'S WILL OFFICE.
THE GREAT DEPoslToRy OF Ies-
TAMENTARY LITERATURE,

Questions They. Ask-Miehty Volumes
Made of Parchment and Bound in
Leather-Searched by Fortune Seekers.
: If you enter Somerset house through one
OF the arches in the Strand, and go straigh,
across the court yard to the other side, under
the cupola in what was formerly the navy
Office, you viii find the will Office
We stop to read the notice exhibited at one
side OF the entrance, that the officials in their
several departments viii give all necessary
Information for the guidance Of the public,
and In case of any assistance being required
m searching for and reading wills it win be
provided on application to the record keeper.
Passing through two pairs of swing doors
you enter into the public hall, and see at
once arranged On the shelves at the side and
Qnder the desks the calendars containing the
lists OF the names of the testators whose wills
have been proved, and also the names Of
those persons, dead intestate, of whose per-
| sonal estate letters of admistration have been
| granted.
LOOK LIKE BIBLES.
There are also mighty volumes made of
parchment and bound IN leather, with strong
brass clasps, containing the registered copies
of wills. 1t was in respect of these big books
that the country visitor inquired of the at
tendant whether they were Bibles, connect
| ing them in her mind with the big Bible in
the pulpit of her old parish church. The at
| tendant promptly replied: mo, ma'am,
| they're the testaments Only few of the
| most recent of these books are in the public
hall; the others are kept on a lower floor,
whence they are brought up when required
to be seen. The volume is placed before you
on one of the strong desks, the attendant
| finds the will you have previously searched
| for, and you stand there and read it. All the
| original wills are kept in the strong room,
which is also on lower floor You do not
read these in the public hall, but go little
way down tbe passage, on the left, TO room
called the reading room. The will you have
bespoken is brought to you, and you sit down
to long table comfortably to read it, but
always IN view of one or two argus eyed
officials, who watch carefully that you do
not damage the document or take surrepti-
tious extracts beyond the permitted notes.
There are many persons who believe that
if they had their rights they would be pos
sessed Of considerable property, and that
their ancestors more or less remote have been
unJustly kept QUITO great estates or large
sums in chancery. This belief is the cause OF
a constant flow of visitors to the will Office,
who delight in reading the will, perhaps 100
or $50 years old, wherein something has been
left to one of their forefathers, or at least to
some one of the same name, and, sublimely
obhvious of the statutes of limitation, thereon
build castles in the air. Undoubtedly, if the
money is in the court of chancery, and if
Notwithstanding the length of time it may
have been there, person can show a good
title to it, he will be able to get it; but the
adventures in search of property begin at
the wrong end. They ignore the Baconian
system OF philosophy, and, starting with the
family tradition that there was once consid-
cradle property in the family, look up a lot
of old wills and waste their time and money
on speculative possibility of discovering
something they can lay claim to. The pro-
fessional finders out of heirs to unclaimed
property begin at the other end They start
with the property or fund in the court of
chancery or elsewhere wanting an owner
and work back until they find the person
whose claim to it can be supported. Then
they 20 to him and make bargain that if
they succeed in putting him into possession
they shall receive proportion-in somecases
as much as one-half-of the money OF estate
retrieved from the court or wrongful DOS
SCISSOR.
THE FORTUNE HUNTERS
Because person has been advertised for,
perhaps, 100 years ago or more, with the sig
nifcant addition that if he will apply as di-
rected he will hear of something greatly to
his advantage, it does not follow that if his
representatives now apply they will find
there is something to claim. The advertise
ment may have been issued in respect of
some small dividend under bankrupt's es-
tate, or on tie winding up Of some company,
or even to find some person who was a wit
ness to will or other document for the pur-
pose of obtaining his evidence; the man him
self may have come forward at the time and
received his money or given his testimony:
but the advertisement still remains in the old
newspaper, or in the published books of the
collectors Of these things, who have no knowl-
edge that the object of its being inserted has
long since been satisfied. The unhappy for
tune seeker buys the book and finds tine name
only; he then has to buy a copy of the adver- |
then to expend his money and time |
in making various searches TO prove his de !
scent from the person advertised for, and |
then to trace the people who inserted the adj |
vertisement; and after all he may find that |
the whole matter was settled years ago. In /
some cases years have been spent and small |
fortunes wasted In these,searches.
Wills sometimes pass through strange vi
cissitudes before being, admitted 10 probate, /
and testators are often themselves to blame
for it They either hide them away 50 care
fully in such secret repositories that at thea
deaths they cannot be found, or leave them
about 50 carelessly that they get converted to
other purposes or gathered up with the waste
paper and rubbish. The great Lord St Leon
ards, who had for several years thonghtfully
considered how he should dispose of his prop
erty, had left a will, that was certain, but it
could not be found at his death; it had been
kept locked up in box, but when the box
was opened the will was not there. The
court being satisfied by the evidence OF Miss
Sugden of the contents from her recollection,
granted probate Of the viii as contained in
her evidence In one case, boy seeing his
fathers viii lying about, and finding it was
written on good. strong paper. cut 1t into
strips and made it into a tail for his kite.
These were afterwards carefully placed to-
yether, the patchwork state of the viii was
fully explained, and it was then admitted to
probate. In another case, after having been
lost for long time, a visit from the d1ssznsn
ed to the viii being found at the bottom OF
the dustaole. One case taat we know OF was
not the fault Of the tesrator; the executor, at
public dinner, handed the WI 70 MS proc
-or TO prove but the will could not after
wards be found The proctor was sure he
gave it 20 his clerk. vvko was just as sure he
never received it; the safes were searched,
ne bundles of paper were Endone and shaken
out, and ali the drawers were turned out but
he viii was not forthcoming. The Iegatees
RI, 81 lsef- .
ly the proctor went 70 another dinner, and
m --,-rir- hie hand ,rt, his dress r,s- ,,,.L-a-