The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-09-09
guaerspu gmteIIigemeer.
ECCENTRIC REQUESTS.
A Fortune For Carp-A Cheese Bank
A Witty Parson.

Amid the many varied forms which
eccentricity has from time to time ia
ken, curious wills and eccentric be-
quests have not been the least remark
able, says the London Standard. HUI
NOR of the grimmest, and at times Of
the most fantastic, the bitterest cyni-
cism, relentless revenge, as well as va
rious devices as erratic in themselves
as they are kindly in intent, have all
at divers times had their manifesto
tion in testamentary documents. The
traditional shilling with which a more
or less justly incensed father "cuts
off" an offending spendthrift or
ungrateful son has become proverbial.
An amplified form of the revenge
ful spirit which dictates suca a be-
quest is to be found carried to the ex-
treme in the will Of one Johr Hylett
Stow, which was proved in 1871. One
clause in the document runs: 81 here
by direct my executors to lay out the
FIVE guineas in the purchase Of a pic
ture of the viper biting the benevolent
hand Of the person who saved him
from perishing in the snow. Ifthe
same can be bought for the money !;
and that they do, of memory to me,
present it to -, Esq, a Kings
counsel, whereby he may have fire.
quent opportunities Of contemplating
on it, and, by comparison between
that and his own virtue, be able to
form certain judgment which is best
and mcst profitable, a grateful remem-
brance of past friendship and almost
parental regard, or ipgratitude and in
science. This direct to be presented
to him in lieu of a legacy of43, 900, I
had by former will, now revoked
and burned, left him." Whether the
picture was duly presented and pre-.
served as an heirloom iu the family of
the legatee referred to with such
scathing scorn is not on record.
In the same year a miller who long
lived and was a noted character in the
neighborhood of Toulouse wrote in his
will: II appointas my sole heir Pabil-
Ion, nv red-haired donkey. He is to
be left in the charge Of my nephew,
William, who shall rub him down ev-
cry morning, and let him rest from
his labors for the rest of his natural
life" This erratic will has curious
parallel in that Of Mrs Elizabeth
Balls, of streatham, dated tie 26th of
June, 1875. By this instrument it is
directed that The cob mare and grey
hound, which were herlate husbands,
were not to be sold. The mare was to
be kept in a comfortable, warm, loose
box, as it had been kept since her hus-
bands death; it was not :, to do any
other work, either in or out of harness,
and its back was not to be crossed by
any member of her late husbands
family, but to be ridden by some per-
son of light weight not more than four
days in each week, and not more than
an hour in each day, at a walking
pace. A sum of e65 per annum was
left for the support of the mare, and
e5 per annum for the care and keep
of the greyhound. BY curious coin
cidence, in the same year, DR.. Chris
tian, dean of the faculty at Vienna,
bequeathed to his favorite dog Cyrus,
5000 forms and his library. Such q
legacy would doubtless be suAi cient,
in this country, at least, to upset the
will on the ground of insanity, as
would that Of Countof Della Miranda
Ia, who died in Luccai in 1926, leaving
the whole of his personal property
amounting to considerable sum-to
a large carp which he had reared in
one Of his fish ponds, and which he
was accustomed to feed daily.
In February, 1889, a reputed old
maid, about go years of age, who had
for many years been in the service of
a grocer at the Halles, died. AS she
was believed to have saved a little
money, her niece, a young woman Of
Is, then lately married to police
man, searched diligently among her
clothes and boxes for the supposed
hoard. Nothing, however, was to be
found, although the mattress which
with French people of that class often
plays the part of a bank-had been
ripped open and examined carefully.
A large cheese was discovered in tin
box under the bed, but as it was too
strong for the palates of the policeman
and his bride, they disposed of it to
the late employer of the deceased aunt
for the sum of ten francs. The next
day, as the worthy grocer was cutting
the big cheese, his knife came in con-
tact with q hard substance, and pres
emily a stream of gold pieces followed
the withdrawal of the knife. The Sc
cret being out, the cheese was careful
ly examined, and found to contain
two thousand francs or ESQ sterling,
in notes and gold; but, unluckily for
the presumed heiress, there was also a
small piece of parchment, on which
the venerable Rosalie had penned
few lines, setting forth that she be-
queathed the money to her son, whose
name she gave, and who was serving
in an infantry regiment at Lyons.
None of the cold maids" acquaintan-
ces in Paris had ever heard of the
young man, or suspected his exist
ence.
There died some years since, in
hartford workhouse, sged 102 years,
one James Martin. He had been an
inmate of the "house" for nearly twen-
ty years, and till within a year of his
death used to take daily walk
through the town. He left holo-
graph will, in which he requested that
his pipe, together with his walking
stick, might be placed in his coffin.
He also left small sum of money,
which he had boarded, to be expend-
ed in tobacco, an ounce of which was
to be given to every person who should
attend his funeral. In a similar vein
was the will of a iovial Irishmap, who