Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-12-05
ODDITIES IN WILLS.
SOME PECULIAR REQUESTS AND Curl
Gus CONDITIONS.

4 Patriotic Americans Desire 10 Be
Heard After Death - Wills which
Proved That In the Cases OF Theis
Makers Marriage Was "a Failure.
The admiration of our American cous-
! ms for their country is prominent
! characteristic of their daily life. ana
| some years ago Mr.. Sanborn desired
| that in death as IN life his body should
| proclaim the glcry of the republic. He
left 81, 900 q the late Professor ASassiz.
/ in return for which he was, hy an ex-
tremely scientific process set forth IL
! the viii 10 tan his (Sanbo-n's) skim
| into leather and from II have 4 drum
made. Two of tire most suitable bones
| of his body We're to be made into drum
| sticks, and with these Il Mr.. Warren
! Simpsou-Jo whom SanbOrn left the re
m2iuder of his property-Tas ION every
! 18th of June to repair 90 the foot Of
| Bunker hill and at sunrise beat o. the
| drum, the parchment Of which had been
made out Of the testator's skin, the
| spirit stirring strains Of Yankee Doc
| die. -
= somewhat similar beques5 vas
made by German in 1887. He died in
Pittsburg and by his will directed that
his body should he crematei and the
ashes forwarded to the German consul
at New York, who was 20 deliver them
to the captain Of the steamship Elbe.
When IL midocean, the captain was 10
request a passenger TO dress himself ii
nautical costume, and, ascending with
the funeral urn 10 the t9pmast, 70 scat
ter the ashes to the four winds OF heav
en-. These strange directions were faiUn
fully carried out.
Quite as peculiar were the directions
for the funeral Of = Mr.. John Under
wood. He willed that he was TO &c
buried in green coffin with 4 copy OF
Horace under his head and Of Milton
under his feet, a Greek testament III
his right hand and q small Horace III
his left. six friends, who were not to
wear mourning, were to follow him to
the grave and there to sing Il verse q
the twentieth ode of the second book Of
Horace. After this they were to take
cheerful glass and think no more OF
John Underwood. -
Wills may also be admitted rs evil
dence Of the mixed blessings Of the
matrimonial state \ nCbleman wrote,
Il give and beqUe3th to the worst of
women, whom I unfortunately married,
10 brass haIfpence, which viii buy her
pullet for supper.
y Glasgow doctor, dying some ten
years ago, left the whole OF his estate to
his two sisters, and then came this ex-
traOrdiuaTy clause: Ito my wife, rs "a
recompense for deserving me and leav-
ing me IL peace, ! expect the said sister
Elizabeth to make her gift Of 10 shil-
Eugs sterling, 70 buy her pocket hand
kerchief to weep in after my dCcoase."
y Mr. Sydney Dickinson bcgueathed
10 his wife the sum Of eco, 600, Ion
condition that she undertakes TO pass
two hours Il day at my Eraveside, for
the ten years following my deCease, II
company with her sister, whom have
reason to know she ICathes worse than
she does me. -
Another husband stated that ne would
have left his widow go, 900 il she had
allowed him TO read his newspaper in
peace, but as she always commenced
playing aid singing when he started 70
read he left her only g. 600. Such in
stances could be multiplied indefinitely,
bat one other Is worthy Of note.
y husband Left his wife &12. 600, TO be
increased to $24 900 provided that she
wore Il widows cap after his death. She
accepted the larger amount, wore thG
cap for six months, and then put it of.
\ lawsuit followed, but the judge held
that the tcstatOr should have inserted
the word always" and gave Judgment
III favor Of the widow, who the day aft
er re-eutcrcd the state Of matrimOny. |
Thus the husbands little plan for pre-
venting his widow marrying again fail !
cd.
But the most curious will which the !
writer has ever come across Is that Of l
II ZaIesky, q Polish landlord, who died /
in 1889, leaving property valued at !
100, 600 rubIes. His viii was inclOsed ia |
an envelope bearing the words, Ito BE /
Opened After My Death. Inside this |
was another envelope, ITO BE Opened |
Six Weeks After Ny Death" When this
time bad passed, the second envelopes |
was opened and "a third uncovered, ITO
BE Opened one Year After Ny Death. "
At the end of the year fourth en-
velope was discovered, to be opened two
years after the tcstatOr's death, and so
the game went on until 1894, when the
actual will was discovered and read. |
It was quite as eccentric In its DISPOSE
tons as the directions attached To its
opening The testatOr bequeathed half
his fortune to such Of his heirs Is had
the largest number Of children. The
rest OF the property was 20 be placed il
= bank and a hundred years after his
death TO be divided, with the accumu-
ated interest, among the viii maker
descendants. Thus by 1859, at ) per
cent compound interest, the 90, 600 ru-
1les viii have swelled into 5000, 600
-ubles. But what Will this be among 50
many decentralization Words.