Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1898-02-09
MUSIC IN HIS TOMB.
How New York Widow Mani
tests Her Love for Her De-
ceased Husband.

ceased Husband.
A cemetery with daily concerts in it's
receiving vault is an attraction that Sara
toga, n. Y, now offers to the world, in
addition to its mineral springs and great
hotels. The town would never have been
able to do this had not the late Robert
Ireland, before his death, made the re-
quest that after his body was entombed
there be music of some kind in the sepul-
cher every day. In carrying out this re-
quest a woman who inherited Ireland's
fortune and who says she is his widow
has placed a Swiss musicboX in the re-
ceiying vault of Greenridge cemetery,
where the body is. Every day the wom-
an visits the vault winds up the box and,
taking a seat beside it, softly weeps while
the fayorite airs of the departed Ireland
are played.
Ireland died at Catskill, n. Y. Septem-
Der 16 He had been in the habit of
spending his summers here for many
years. The body was brought here and
placed in the receiving vault of Green
ridge. Not much was known about the
man in Saratoga, except that he was
man of leisure living on his income and
that he had stopped at one of the largest
and best of the Saratoga hotels. He came
early in the summer and stayed until the
hotel at which he stopped closed. He
was always accompanied by the woman
VINO now says she is MS WIDOW.
Ireland was something over 60 years
when he died. The woman is not much
more than 40. On account of his pecu-
liar appearance he was nicknamed 1.-The
Jack of Spades When Ireland first
came to Saratoga he did not claim that
the woman was his wife. She passed as
near relative and was known as Miss
Reynolds. The devotion of the two was
so marked, however, that it OccasiOned
comment. Never, by any chance, was
one seen without the other. During the
morning and evening music hours at the
hotel they would often sit on the piazza
or in the parlor and hold hands, totally
obllvlous, apparently, that they were at
tracing attention.
Finally, five or six years ago, the wom-
an sprung a surprise one day upon num-
Der of women with whom she was talk
ing. They had been addressing her as
Miss Reynolds. She said little for a time,
Miss Reynolds, but Mrs. Ireland. She
told when she was married and where,
and thereafter she was known and adj
dressed as Mrs. Ireland. No question
would have been raised, probably, as to
her right to use the name had not Ireland
died. A short time afterward his will
was offered for probate in New York, and
then the skeleton in the Ireland closet was
laid bare. 1t was shown that Ireland was
a member of an old New York family and
the son of the late W. 3. Ireland, whose
home was at 30 North Washington
square. Robert Ireland inherited the bulk
of his fathers property, which was III
valuable real estate. Ireland at that time
was married and had one son. He and
his wife did not live happily together,
and twenty-five years ago she procured
a separation from him. The decree of
separation required that Ireland should
furnish to his wife a certain sum each
year for her own and their sons support.
The wife and son are still living, their
home being in Montclair, n. J. Immedi-
ately after her separation Mrs. ireland
ceased to use her husbands first name,
and became known as Mrs. Anna S.
Ireland. After the separation from his
wife Ireland continued to reside in New
York and woman named Mary Reyn-
Odds was his housekeeper. 1t is she who
is now accepted here as Ireland's widow.
An appraisal of Ireland's estate showed
its value to be about 100000. By the
terms of his will all of his property, real
and she was named as the eXecutriX, with
a special stipulation in a codicil of the
will that she should serve without bond.
The will was dated June 4. 1892. and the
date of the codicil was May 20, 1893.
When the will was made and when the
codicil was drawn the legatee was Ire
lands housekeeper. A clause of it reads:
Il devise my estate, both real and per-
sonal, to my friend and housekeeper
Mary Reynolds, for her own use, benefit
and behoof forever"
When the will was probated and for a
time afterward the beneficiary under it
lived at the Hotel I\ensington. Fifteenth
street and Fifth avenue, New York
Later she came here and has taken 4
house for the winter. Whether the wom-
an is Miss Reynolds still or is really Mrs
Ireland, Saratogians are unable to de-
termine. According to her present plans
she is to erect q mausOleum in Green
ridge in the spring, to which Ireland's re-
mains will be removed. The woman says
she will import mammoth music box
from Switzerland and make it part of the
interior furnishings of the tomb. She
says that Ireland's views of the future
life were such that he believed the sounds
of the airs which cheered him on earth
could reach him in the spirit land. Ac-
cordingly, among the airs that any music
box designed for the tomb of the deceased
must have are "The Heart Bowed
Down. "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" and
II Know That My Redeemer Liveth."
In it's story Of the present music box a
local paper today has this touching para
graph:
'"The bride Of two decades ago is today
the mourning widow, who sits by the side
of her husbands casket in Greenridge's
vault, while a music box, placed on a
stand at the head, plays sweetly the
chosen selections of Ireland, who was
passionately fond of music"
Politics and Commerclalism.
A manifest and increasing evil in