The evening world., 1903-12-15
eAlthough One Of. the Most
L Eminent Medical Men In the
\ Country His Property Is
Valued at but $4,000.
VIE CARRIED. ONLY SMALL
INSURANCE ON HIS LIFE.
Widow Shocked to Find that
Such Inadequate Provision
Was Made for Herself and
the Four Children.

The late DR.. Cyrus Edison, for many
pears M Of the most eminent medical
men In the country. with a practice
khat melted him many thousands of dol
lars q year, has left an estate amount
kng In all to but $1,000.
Mrs. Mary 2. Bdaon. the widow. nied
lnsttcrs OF administration with Surso-
hgate Thomas yesterday. and to-day the
tfaot that the weil-known physician died
b poor man became known 10 the public
for the first time. 1t was q shock and
surprise to the many professional and
social friends of DR.. Bdson. as 1t was
10 hrs. Edson herself. when in settling
tup her late husbands affairs last week
Ishe discovered tire meagreness Of the
estate.
Or. Edison had no % property of any
description. The $1,000 ne left is made
no OF a small bank account and some
personal property which had not been
f~nventoGied by the widow. The house
ut No. Sc West Fittieth street, In which
IDr. Edison lived for many years, and
(which everybody supposed he owned.
twas rented, and 90 reduced are Mrs. Ed
icon and her tour children that she in
tends to try and rent the establishment
lhdANllhlOu vi olCo n In. GucOH ilda -
Fsoug lease On the premises. which Mrs.
bdson will try and retain.
widow Cannot Explain 1t.
Mrs. Edison was asked to explain the
smadlness of her husbands estate to-
day. She said:
ut can be no more inoomprehensfble
10 the friends OF DR.. Edison than it In to
me, When I Finished looking over the
DOCTORS affairs and found that h left
Fbut 1900 I was dazed. for so many times
during u married life he q said to
me: Mary, when I die you'll know how
much I think Cd you I naturally sup
posed from This that he had made ample
provision dor mo and for our four chill
adren. When I discovered the smallness
of the personal estate I thought there
must be a large amount of insurance,
but ! aim SORRY to say that the insur-
ance Il very. o small, Indeed.
Tho insurance money and the $1,000
are all that Is left for me and my
children. After all, It is u another
instance Of the great truth tina the
greater o man Is professionally the
worse he ID as q business man. In
looking over his papers I fnd every
thing In q confused state. 1t took a
long TINT to s~traishten them out, but
! know now that there are no more
assets than those I have named in the
letters Of administration.
"Dr. Edison made an enormous In
come. He worked continuously, but he
was as strong as an OK and had the
greatest confidence in his own ability to
keep grinding away. When he was
taken down with pneumonia he said to
ne tha he was afraid for himself.
fIan, 3 strong. he said. succumb to
, He'd No Business Ability.
IA kinder. more generous husband
neyer lived, but he was a man without
lis family Is LETT NV Without tho tesa n o Of 't the
large amount Of money that he earned
70 his life time. 1 repeatedly told
sa Gnsht bs f. let &c me alw tass f ihsiafea Of ,b nas
make money. The chaffty Of the man
Ssar. sSSths ae oS M%oaldnt oh pags OF q r hiS
man a NTH part OF what other physi-
'cians of his rank would. and no one.
S nsaso Ss t RSor s,av Tss ts sssr th rHrn Ssms sT fos.
It really didn't matter. whether people
had money or not, III was always
ready e give them the benefit of his
SDr. Edison had no idea of the value
of money. When the. summer came
around and he was tired, he woul ask
me II / wouldn't like to go on a yacht
his vacation with him, and then he'd go
out and CHARTER a yacht for $500 or
$4,000, and by the time we got back
he'd have little or nothing left and
would plunge Into work to get money
I for the next great extravaganza.
"He made money easily. and spent 1t
easily. He always thought there was
| plenty OF time, and that ID the reason
We Ind ourselves in this position to-
day.
Dr.. Edison died two weeks ago of
= His death was q great surprise to all
who knew him, for he a a large,
powerful man.. the very picture of