The Savannah morning news., 1904-02-21
THE DUNSMUIR MILLIONS.
History of the Fortune for Part Of
which Mrs. De Wolf Hopper I'm
Tn, nd

History OF the Fortune for Part OF
which Mrs. De Wolf Hopper I'm
successfully sued in British Co
Iumbia.
From the Toronto Mail and Empire
Viewed from a business standpoint
Edna Wallace Hopper's unsuccessful
suit against James Dunsmuir, former
ly premier of British Columbia, and
one of the richest men on the Pacific
coast, has not been altogether a fall
ure. IT'S true that the millions for
which the actress struggled have elud-
ed her grasp, and that she is ordered
to pay large share of the costs in a
suit which has been remarkably ex-
pensive. but there are compensations
The free advertising which she has re-
ceived and the sympathy which has
been expressed for her in some quar-
tiers are worth it all. In the theatrical
profession sympathy and publicity are
just as good as unlimited gold, for
with little trouble they can be turned
into ready money.
At present the likelihood of the
PLAINTIFFS accepting congratulations
with composure is slight. Only few
weeks ago 1t appeared that her
chances of spending some of the Duns-
muir millions were very bright. So
rosy did her prospects appear that the
mother of the man whose estate was
in dispute Joined Mrs. Hopper as a
plaintiff. Had there not appeared to
be grave danger that the actress would
win her point, this unexpected move
would never have been made. Mrs.
Dunsmuirs step was obviously made
in the interests of the defense. and
was quite reasonable, for if James
Dunsmuir were to be deprived of his
brothers millions, surely his mother
had as. much right to them as young
coincidence, in whose veins flows not
drop of Dunsmuir blood. Mrs. Duns-
muir's claim was strengthened by the
fact that it was she who gave the
millions to her two sons in the first
place. Both were good business men
and increased the capital with which
they set out, but to their mother both
owned their fortunes. She could have
disinherited either of them, and this
possibility, in the past, has a vital ef-
feet on the lives of some of the chief
actors in the play which has just come
to an end.
The prologue of this Strange. event.
full history" opens with the death OF
Robert Dunsmuir, some fifteen years
ago. Dunsmuir had made a large for
tune by developing the famous coal
mines at Nanaimo, on Vancouver
Island. The coal deposits were not only
of great extent, but unusually good as
we'll So superior was the Vancou-
yer article that it was able to go down
to San Francisco and handicapped by
hostile tariff practically put the
United States coal out of business. It
was exported to Japan, and wher-
ever it came in competition with other
American or English coal 1t more than
held it's own. When Robert Dunsmuir
died, this great export trade in coal
had attained huge proportions. Itshad
demanded a fleet of vessels and several
lines of railway, all of which were
owned by the coal magnate, and by
him bequeathed to his widow.
Mrs. Dunsmuir decided to put James,
the elder son, in charge of the actual
mining work, and all the business
which arose on Vancouver Island while
Alexander, the younger, went to San
Francisco to see to the distribution
of the coal in its chief market Thither
Alexander repaired and threw himself
into the work with enthusiasm. He
was a man of sound judgment, in
dustrious, and enterprising. Mrs. Duns-