The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-09-06
Wonder Grows In Chicago at
Vast Extent of Miser's Prop
erty-LegaI Embarrassments
Are Expected and Perhaps
Contests Over the Property.

erty. who have been for weeks pulling
| time-WOrn and diScoiOred documents
| from their hiding places and scrutiniz-
/ ing them, are treated to new surprises
almost daily 1t is believed that the
| great bulk of the estate has been To-
| Gated by means of these silent WITT
| nesses, but bits of farm property and
| city real estate are still being found.
| Until the last box of accumulated pa
| pers OF years has been searched the
| whole story will not have been teld.
Claimants Springins Up
! Hundreds of persons throughout the
| United States and Canada have sud-
| denly come to believe they were re-
| lated to the aged miser, and that they
may be entitled to a share of his hoard.
They are not backward about making
their views known to the trustees. Let
| ters are received every day from men
and women who hope to establish a
valid claim to part of the property.
All these. according to the trustees,
| are doomed to disappointment. A prop
erly executed will is in the hands
| of the executor. This document makes
| SPECIFIC provisions for a division of the
| estate among immediate relatives, each
of whom is mentioned by name.
The old man is said to have been In
/ full possession Of his mental faculties
when the instrument was drawn, and
so clearly expressed are its terms that
there is little likelihood that it could
be successfully aSSailed in the courts.
Generally speaking, the will provides
that the estate shall be divided into
four parts. One quarter each goes to
Mrs. Mary l.. Yeakle and N. 0. Cline
sister and brother of the decedent. They
live at Frederick Md, the old home,
and both are more than seventy years
old. They may get something like
eaT1in Ay1n ~
to Isaac t. Crum and Casper C. Crum,
of West Oakland. Cal, sons of sister
of Col Cline, now dead.
The other quarter is to be divided
among four nephews of John A. Cline.
who live in Los Angeles. John c. Cline
is collector of the port there, and his
brother, George T. Cline, is deputy col
lector. William H. Cline is In bust
ness and Caspar w. Cline Is a civil
engineer
The trustees are E. A. Warfeld, of
this city, an old friend of the family;
A. f. Yeagle, former mayor of Fred
ericlz, Md, and George T. Cline, of Los
have been here since the death of Coi.r
Cline to help take an inventory of the
estate.
Chicago Woman's Threats. ,,4sn
While the trustees do not look for
litigation endangering the execution OF
| the general terms Of the will, there Is
a chance that final settlement will be
delayed and embarrassed. 'a - ''"e.
There is an intimation that a Chi
cago woman may set up the claim of
| common law marriage. To Offset this
claim, if it be made, papers will be
| submitted showing that Col. Cline fire.
| quently used the word bachelor" in
connection with his official signature.
The fact is that he was divorced years
| ago, decree having been given to his
wife, who is said to be married again
and to be now living somewhere in ILL
nois. By her decree she forfeited all
| claim on the estate.
| Another matter which bids fair to
cause annoyance, If not something more
| serious, is the charge that a Maryland
| nephew of Col. Cline came into pos
| session of and wrongfully retained $780,
| 900, the proceeds of a sale of thirty
| three acres of land in South Chicago
| to the Illinois Steel company. The
young man, according to the trustees,
| does not deny that he has the money,
| but has not yet been frightened by
| threats of criminal prosecution into
| surrendering it. His relatives are not
! disposed to go to extremes, but when
| all the facts are brought out they may
| resort to heroic measures. Should the
matter get into the courts the young
man will insist that the money was
| given to him by his uncle. Witnesses,
| on the other hand, will swear that Col.
| Cline said repeatedly that he simply
| intrusted the $4,000 to his nephew for
safe keeping.
Saw No Active War Service.
Col. Cline won his title during the
| war by virtue Of having charge OF the
| prisoners at Camp Douglas. He saw
no active service at the front.
L Ia 10 hafa =
| war with a few thousand dollars. This
amount was greatly augmented during
| the war by various real estate and
| other business operations. Whether he
| made any money out of his military
position, as many others Of that time
| did. is not clear, but certain it is he
| was not man to let any legitimate
| opportunities get past him.
| Shrewdness in his business dealings
was characteristic of Col. Cline. His
| memory was infallible and his capacity
for detail was sufficient to have made
him a captain Of industry. He had a
masterful way of holding what he
owned and making it yield unfailing
revenue. With all his vast property,
| however, he was usually hard up for
ready cash. When he died he had only
$4,000 in bank. The rest was in real
estate, not dollar of government
bonds or stock certificates being found
| among his effects.
At and around Indian Harbor, just
! across the Indiana line, lies tract of
1000 acres of land belonging to the
Cline estate. With great foresight Col.
Cline bought this land for perhaps 81
an acre years ago. One estimate of its
market value today Is $1,000 an acre.
! This enormous increment comes from
the fact that Indian Harbor is today a
manufacturing center Of increasing i'm
| portance. 'ss5zs'
If this property were put on the mar
ket it might bring 100000 without
any particular effort on the part of the
| trustees.
To one Of his attorneys some time be-
fore his death Colonel Cline expressed
the wish that the land might be kept
intact for fifty years and then turned
| over to the living heirs. The old man
had the idea of preserving his naIne in
this way and of finally distributing