Arizona silver belt., 1895-05-11
MYTHICAL FORTUNES.
Improbable Stories of Great Eng
 lish LegaCies,
An old Letter That Reveals tho scurriI- ous scheme Employed by sharks in This Country for Duping Cred
 uious Americana.

Some recent romantic tales about im- mense English estates which belong to American heirs suggest republication of an opinion written by Juduh P Ben iaulin tweuiy-siX years ago, says the Chicago Herald. Following is the great lawyers letter:
 Lamb Buildine, Temple, London, Feb 8, 1s09 Editor New Orleans Times: Will you permit me through your columns to send word of warning to the public against scheme of swinding which is now extensively practiced in the United States?
 ''Since my call to the English bar hundreds of letters have reached mo from Louisiana and other parts of the union, written by persons, many of whom are educated aud intelligent, making inquiries relative to estates represented as existing in this country unclaimed aud awaiting the appear unce of heirs residing in America. In every instance that has come to my knowledge the statements are false, and evidently made for the purpose of deiraud.ng parties out of sums, large or small, under preteNt of paying the costs of records, copies, etc, sad to be necessary for the assertion of the pre- tcndrd'c,aim.
 One claim may be selected as an cx- ample A banker by the name of James Wood died in Gloucester in the year s88, leaving q fortune of about ss00,o10 His will was the subject of much litigation, but finally decided to be yalid and the estate WIS ordered Co be divided among the lcgatees under decision of the house of lords in lsf7, Anyone dcsirous of having particulars of Che litigation can trace it through tho different charts, as follows; E. ln the prerogatiVe court of Canterbury Cantgrbury) reported in 2 CUrleiss 2. 52 9. On appeal Co the piYy eoUa cil in ? Moore's pliyy Council Caass nt ?. 3aJ;au5 g, lu che house of lords in Che cnsa entitled The Corporation ot Gloucester vs Osborne House ot Lords Cases D. 212 Although bis tale haa taus been finally zeNt.ed and distributed for mere than tWau years l do moi at all C&ugrerase iu atiug that not a month pa,sca witugg Hy ceiyug one or more letters ilom per sons who ere approached by some lrg- tended agcut ot some imaginary great Grm oi laad9u solicitors cuEagel B screng hers of the great intaslat banker JuW2s Wood whose ior,uu. amounting ta eiQ.UU,0g0, i8 lying il tho Hanl. oi England awaiting claimant
 tThc uaua mode of proeeel.uEad ed $ Go propose Co undertake the bu' ness free of expense, the pgoP0aar 60 receiver only share of what may lc recovered This seems go reasonable that in most cases the dupe readly swallows inc bdlJ. h snort ume after- ward be is informed that all inquiries and researches have resulted faEJrably and that nothing is wanted to insure success except the gast of few copies of records and other papers. and that thG pzopasar, having already incurred great expense in eonaue'iuw the ueces- sary inquiries and rcacarehc i lait without resources at the very mCmcr' ,Wael 1 tFW uJ-asa ,saul sut-iac Co secure the fuiIscf hislabgIa and oEpeu dture Manyar. tba victims from hgm sums varying from goo 70 E511 have been thus extracted and ihc uuubarof persons engaged .u his stcm uust De very grelt, and the sums received by them very considerable, if an in pro- portion 10 the number of letters re- ccjyed here on the ubjgct Many thousands ot pounds are known to have been expended by those who could Fl afford to bear the loss in thc pursuit of the great Jennings estate; and some oi those who have spent money in this way have actually been deluded into writing 10 me their convictions that they were cat,t,ed to dtsi3dge the pres ent duke of Marlborough from tbc R.euheim castle by virtue of their de- scent from the famous Duchess Sarah Jcuujugs Most of the persons whoare oaped nrc ignorant on two points, which. iu nearly every instance, would satisfy them at once of the utter folly of the hopes they indulge The first is that an alien cannot be an heir in Eng land whcH there is no will and that he cannot take real estate even if left to him by will The second is that in England estates devolye upon the cid ost son alone, and on his eldest son in succession and are not divided inshares among all children as in Louisiana and other states. Yet nothing is more com mon than for persons to assert hcirship Go the supposed shares of younger brothers and sisters, or 10 claim as na- tives of tho United States heirship to Engliahmcn who had left no wills
 In tho hope that this exposure will be of some use to my fellow citizens, iu whose welfare retain the deepest in terast and may protect them 10 some cXtont from the sharpers who are plum deriHg them, l remain very respectful Iy, your obedient servant,
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