Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-07-01
LoNDoNSRoCK- IssE.
THE GREAT DEPOSITORY OF TEs-
TAMENTARYf liTERATuRE.t

Made of Parchment and Bound In
Leather-Searched by Fort une Seekers.
If you enter Somerset house through one
Of the arches in the Strand and go straight
across the court yard to the other side, under
the cupola in what was formerly the navy
office, you will find the will of &c.
We stop to read the notice exhibited at one
side of the entrance, that the o ficials in their
several departments will give all necessary
information for the guidance Of the public,
and in case of any assistance being required
in searching for and reading wills it will 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
under the desks the calendars containing the
lists of the names of the testato whose wills
have been proved, and also the names of
those persons, dead intestate, o, whose per-
sonal estate letters of admistrat on have been
granted.
LOOK LIKE BIBLES.
There are also mighty yolu mes made of
parchment and bound in leather, with strong
brass clasps, containing the reg stored copies
of wills. 1t was in respect of I'll ese 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: No, 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 &. lower floor,
whence they are brought up when required
to be seen. The volume is placed before you
on one of the strong desks tie attendant
finds the will you have previou sly searched
for, and you stand there and real it. All the
original wills are kept in the strong room,
which is also on lower floor. You do not
read these III the public hall, but go a little
way down the passage, on the left, to a room
called the reading room. The VIII you have
bespoken is brought TO you, and YOU sit down
to a 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 permit led 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 out of great estates or large
sums in chancery. This belief is the cause of
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
oblivIous of the statutes of Emitat ion, thereon
build castles in the air Undoub tedly, if the
money is in the court of chancary, and if,
notwithstanding the length of time il may
have been there, a person can snow a good
title TO 1T, he will be able to get it; but the
adventures in search of property begin at
irl
system of philosophy, and, starting with the
family tradition that there was once consid-
cradle property in the family, look up lot
of old wills and waste their time and money
on a speculative possibility of discovering
something they can lay claim to. The pro-
fessional finders out of heirs 10 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 supper ted. Then
they 60 TO him and make bargain that If
| they succeed in putting him into possession
they shall receive proportion-in some cases
| as much as one-half-of the money or estate
retrieved from the court or wrongful pos
SCISSOR.
THE FORTUNE HUNTERS
Because person has been advertised for,
perhaps, 100 years ago or more with the sig
nificant 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 a banlrupts es-
tate or on the winding up of some company,
or even to find some person who vas wit
ness TO a 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 knowi
edge that the object of its being = ,.,I has
long since been satisfied The unhappy for
tune seeker buys the book and finds the name
only; be then has to buy copy OF the adver-
LIsement, 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 ad-
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 20 blame
for it. They either hide them away so care
fully in such secret repositories thai at their
deaths they cannot be- found, or leave them
about so carelessly that they get con yerted to
other purposes or gathered up with the waste
paper and rubbish The great Lord ST. Leon
ards, who had for several years thoughtfully
considered how he should dispose of mis- prop
artI haH oft a will hafr l,,,& -
could not be found at his death; it had been
kept locked up in a 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 will as contained in
her evidence. In one case, a boy SEEING his
fathers will lying about, and finding it was
writ N on good, strong paper, cut it into
strips and made it into tail for his kite
These were afterwards carefully placed to-
gether, the patchwork state of the will was
fully explained, and it was then admitted to
probate In another case, after having been
lost for long time, a visit from the ustman
led to the will being found at the bottom of
the dusthole. One case that we know of was
not the fault of the testasor; the exec 1tor, at
public dinner handed the will to bis proc
tor to prove but the will could not after
wards be found. The proctor was sure he
gave it to his clerk, who was just as sure he
never received it; the safes were searched,
the bundles of paper were undone and shaken
out, and all the drawers were turned cut, but
the will was not Forthcoming. The legatees
began to clamor for their money, when luck
lily the proctor went to another dinner, and
on putting his hand into his dress coat pocket
pulled out the missing will.-London Illus
trated News.
The apple came from Asia, according to
some authorities; according to Others it IS
African, aud reached Normandy through
Spain and France.