The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-11-15
SILENT MAN And
| HIS $25,OOO,OOO
Continued from Page One.)

a history of the industrial development
of the country, and especially the west
and discloses the obscurity in which the
owners and manipulators of vast for
tune have always lived
Mr.. Smith is a partner in the firm of
Geddes & Smith, with offices at 10 Wall
street. Early in October he was called
to London by cable message announc-
ing the death of his uncle, George
Smith, who at the time of his demise
was 81 years of age. George Smith
controlled a fortune of $50,00O0O0, and
while 1t is popularity supposed that JAS
H. Smith inherited practically the en-
tire fortune, this is now known not tC
be true. A Scotch nephew, George AL
eXander Cooper, divides the residue OF
the estate with Mr.. Smith after the leg
acies and other requests are settled.
Like all Of the business dealings of
Mr.. Smith, his life is shrouded in mys-
terry. Nothing is known of the birth
and parentage of this peculiar man,
and nothing can be learned at the office
of Geddes & Smith. If he has any init
mate friends who are cognizant of the
details of his life's history they are not
known to the brokers and bankers of
this city. Even the veteran bookkeep-
er, G. 7. Robinson, who was in the en-
ploy Of the elder Smith, assumes to
know little or nothing about the ante
cedents of his present employer. BY
the terms of the Smith will, Mr.. Robin
son is made the recipient of $4,000.
At the Wilbraham, Thirtieth street
and Fifth avenue, Mr.. Smith pays SILL
900 year for his apartments. The
contents of the rooms reveal the meth
cd of the only lavish expenditure he
makes which is also one of his prin-
cipal peculiarities. The clothes closets
are stocked with no end of different
stylish suits of the latest patterns and
cuts. Mr.. Smith is noted as always
making it a point of being one of the
most fashionably dressed men in town.
He is not known to have extravagant
tastes other than this. About the
apartments he is never known to speak
to anybody. He keeps a valet, but sell
dom is word exchanged between the
master and his man. No friend ever
comes to the rooms, and only on rare
occasions does Mr. Smith visit the sew
eral clubs in which he holds a mem
bership. Around about the walls of
his apartments are a few pictures,
mostly of members of the Smith family
of other days, including a portrait of
the rich uncle half of whose fortune
he inherits. Books and clothing oc-
cupy the other available space, and
when he is not closeted in his Wall
street office, he is kept company by
these books, which are scattered about
the floor in great confusion. The ta-
bles and even the corRrs of the rooms,
are piled high with books.
The life of the younger Smith is in
perfect keeping with that of his uncle,
who was known to be eccentric and
mysterious in his ways The latter
was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland,
and came to this country in 1884, set
Ting in Milwaukee and later removing
to Chicago, where he accumulated the
enormous fortune recently divided be-
tween his two nephews, some of his
old employees and various other friends
and relatives.
Concerning the conditions and codi-
ellis of the WILL information has recent
ly been received here from a reliable
source that besides James Henry Smith
and George Alexander Cooper, the
nephews who come into possession of
the lions share of the vast estate, there
is also about 100000 left in legacies.
Some of these legatees have already
been named, but announcement of the
amount willed to them all thoroughly
establishes the fact that each of the
nephews is to become enriched to the
extent of upward Of $25, 000,0 900.