The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1899-04-21
liz LOST
HIS Arm
And With II a Fine
Estate.
STEilCE STORY on A BRIT0N
---s--=---a-~-----
whose Ts,,ooed Limb Bers Upon
u identinestieo MARKS Nos
Lost Forever.
STRANGE STORY on A BEIT0N

CHICAGO. April si.-rhe loss Of
ah arm. dinsected by medical stu
dents In chloago. may prevent JAS
Barnett Mason from claiming the
title and estates Of an English baron
etoy In Wiltshire.
The arm was tattocd with the
motto and crest " the family iaalg-
MA q rank. and lts amputafion has
been serious blow 60 the we'll
built EnEliahmAn Of forty or there
ahouiu who IL al present awaiting
funds 20 cross 10 the other side TO
complete his claims for recognition
Here is the story teid BY the heir
pruRumptive;
Ny father was the youngest ~
three sons. ard he followed the usu.
~ program Of pulling ent 70 one 81
the colonies With enough money 10
give him a start lie drifted TO
Australia as praspector. then a.
as owner and promoter. lie dld not
make millions. but Haitrd down a
respectable fortune when I was a
yeunxstrr In schoei at sydney
lie dici when ! Sas eighteen. and
when came ~ axe I was very weii
to do and pretty wrli alone In the
world. as lost my mother at a
much earlier age. and my only sister
bad married district judge In New
Zealand.
Il had never hesn In England. and
knew OF our family thor. Only
through their letters 20 my father.
HIS eldest brother died before my
father, and the Hsxt one came inio
the title. That's the iasi heard
af the Family fnr good many years
Ny father had an odd fancy for
tattooink. which ] think was the re-
suit 81 a stay In Japan. where he
VAS attached Go the British LeEa-
ton before he landed in Australia
when I was lad ne had my left
arm tattoed wtth IN. family letters,
and rev Of s!x letters. ". L. T. A.
n g.
Il vas rather slid and unsteady.
and I got into trouble. rpvsf about
Tor fsw years. ard fetched up I'm
America three years axo by way 20
San Francisco. with a sorry looking
remnant Of a fortune. I had lost
all track Of my English connections
and never thought % looking them
NJ. aad no one In Australia knew
where I had dafted.
4 happened 60 see an advertise
meat and notice which made me
Jump. A nrfn Of London solicitors
asked for news ~ my whereabouts.
with the emphasis Of important hpsl-
meas. cte.. and the paper srplainsd
elsewhere that a cousin u mine
having died. IL was probable that
vas next In succession 10 she baron
ctry
Sow. I had scarcely any papers
left 10 show who I Was and waE Nat
broke. but I knew that the iAtteoed
marks on my arm would 10 a long
way because % these letters. which
stood a. some sort Of a family trade
mark. ~ to speak. and which WAS
known 10 no one outside.
= earned little money In Chic
ago. aud managed 70 work along.
sometimes catching frclgh; trains.
unsu disaster overhauled me near
Fort Wayne.
ION a black. slssty night I slip
ped between two freight cars ana
was smashed nearly t. death.
vas picked up unconscious and car
risd to a hospital. where the sur
geans gave me up as hopeless
wreck. But they cut OF my left
arm.
= had been raving 50 about my
arm. and that II vas worth all the
wealth In the world to me. that nat
uraiiy the hospital authorities
thought I was crazy. I was told
tina, the arm had been sent 10 the
dlsaectiuR room Of a medical school
IN Chicago week before. One ~
the surgeons had made a tracing %
the tattoolnR aa an Identification
mark In the event Of my death while
In the hospital. lie told me that
the idea Of tanning this curious bit
Of skin az an uncanny souvenir had
suggested Itself 10 him. but that he
had a great dlsfaste for such me-
nentaH. lie regretted that he had
not done n after he heard my story.
'-rhe surgeons and nurses furnish
"a me with affidavitH setting forth
important facts to which they we're
able 70 swear: that my arm had
borne In tsttooing certain marks and
characters. and the tracing made by
the surgeon was sworn to as n true
and exact copy.
Il have almost wholly recovered
from my injuries. although sadly
handicapped by the loss OF my arm.
I have received one letter from Eng
land. asking further information and
papers. and promising remittance
= IT. 4. ..tl.fartoYsy