The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-03-10

put in claims for the estates. When no
heirs are found the personal property Is
turned over to the county treasurer.
BY some strange omission of the law the
administrator is not allowed TO sell real
estate unless it is necessary to pay the
debts of the deceased man, nor does the
law allow the real estate to be turned over
to the county. AS the law stands this real
estate must be let alone until il is eaten
up by taxes, which must be paid by sell
ing it.
From personal property, Mr.. O'Donneh
has turned into the county treasury many
thousands of dollars since ne has been in
office. Nearly all of this comes into his
hands in the most surprising ways few
months ago Bill Furney well known
West Side character, died, leaving il was
supposed, nothing but the little bundle of
songs he had been peddling the day before
his death. For fifteen years Furney mad
continuously put in his days in a sturdy
effort TO sell war songs at the corner or
Madison and Halsted streets. Madison and
Halsted at their intersection make strong
combination on some things, but they're
pretty weak on buying war songs when
there's no war in sight So the only little
squirt in trade in fifteen years was enjoyed
by "Bill'' last spring
Ii amounted 10 so little. however, that
Furney got but few pennies more than
usual from II. w men ne ui6u every DOQy
supposed that he passed away much poor
er than the traditional church mouse. The
public administrator delved around among
'Bnrs" things and discovered that William
H. Furney had $1O00 in a safe deposit
vault down town and owned an orange
grove in Florida. No heirs have yet APP
peared to claim the Furney estate.
George Mann, another old character
who died not long ago, was also a song
cd To- ,f1O fF,er ra.ar
papers containing articles which ne had
marked. At the side of his bed was a
stack of newspapers reaching from the
floor to the ceiling. The pile weighed
nearly 300 pounds. Mann was a great
spiritualist, and had pictures of himself
and what he said was the spirit of his
wife at his side. Mann died at the county
hospital, and il was supposed he hadn't
left a dollar in the world. When the pub
lie administrator searched Mann's mean
little room in a South Dearborn street
lodging house he found the deed to good
piece of property on the North Side and
six deposit bank books on six different
banks situated in six different states. The
books showed deposits ranging from 81
| up to several hundreds. No heirs of Mann
| have been found.
About a year ago Charles Piercy died
| over on the West Side. He was an old
! man, We'll known IN MS HSiSnDOfHoOu, anu
it was supposed he left about $500 worth
| of property, MIR. O'Donnell tunneled into
| the papers of the deceased and found he
| had left $S1 900 in bonds and 5000 in good
! mortgages. Before long several heirs ap
| peared for this estate. Mr.. O'Donnel all
| ways illustrates fraudulent claimants who
turn up after the burial of the deceased
| from distant parts of the country by ask
| ing them to send personal description
! esc4 nd oily he M M
| of his mother.
| Mr.. O'Donnell says that swindlers gen.
orally build their cases from the news
paper accounts of the life and death of
| their alleged relative. These accounts
rarely mention the points referred to- so
that by quizzing along those lines he can
frequently satisfy himself as to the hon
esty of the claims.
! Some months ago Davis Davenport died
on the South Side surrounded by all the
evidences of abject poverty, but with fond
| remembrances of his dead children pre-
| served here and there about his wretch
ed bedroom. On shelf covered with dust
| was the tiny shoe of a baby boy who
| died twenty-seven years ago, and near it
| was a child's bank In which were 107
| pennies. Written on the rocker of a little
chair was, This was Marys chair" Mr..
| O'Donnell found that Davenport left a
little fortune of $4,000 or $4,000 in mort
cages and real estate, with little or no
known heirs
Not long ago John ]. Staubs died in a
squald little room over on Rush street AT
| first all of the possessions of Staub that
could be found were sold for 20 cents.
| They consisted of brass watch chain and
| charm. Later the administrator found that
| Staub had mortgages and money in East
ern banks to the amount of 5000
In strong contrast to these cases in
which unsupported wealth has been dis
| covered is the case Of Orlando d. HadseH,
whose liberal and generous bequests in
his viii attracted some attention last sum
mer. BY his win Hadsell directed that
$4,000 be devoted to dressing poor girls,
| giving them picnics, etc. Altogether the
will disposed of over $4,000. The inven-
tory OF this herless maus estate has
made IL shrivel dreadfully. Six hundred
notes that he left are practically worth
| less, and altogether his estate will not
! pan out over $4,000.
In half a dozen different ways Mr..
| O'Donnelrs attention is attracted to the
cases which requires his services The
most important channel and the one
| through which 'heffeafAs of far more cases
| than any other is the newspapers. He has
an assistant who scans every newspaper
ia the city for death notices which give