The sun., 1905-08-26
MUST HAVE QUARTER BILLION.
rOWAN SCORNS S1S5, ,OOO,O 900 FOR
SLICE or NEW YORK.
Dallas Man Says wall street syndicate
with Newport Spokesman 10 Climbing
10 His Figure Meantime There's y
Letter Asking 61B OF Detroit Heir.

with Newport Spokesman 10 Climbing
10 His Figure Meantime There's q
Letter Asking 67B OF Detroit Heir
Joseph r. Cowan Of Dallas. Tex, who
.ome here several days ago with Lieut.
Gov. j. p. Carter Of Mississippi to lay claim
~ a considerable slice Of the most valuable
nortion Of Manhattan Island, said yesterday
that slss 900 900 had been offered him for the
interests he represents but was holding
Al, for an even quarter Of billion. He
v.. then asked II he had written the follow
noletter, which local lawyer had received
from an attorney in Michigan with re-
ouest to investigated
s,oadxay AWAY and Thlrty-sixth street. New York.
s"e''1;Ms'9fis n fi.ssss. HSss. 2sa...r;,. IT,.
", wm Van Nostrond. Richmond. Maoomb
DEAR So.s siR: SHY You have undoubtedly read In
yns ssss. fm hsrs IN
wall &c Street T fnanoiers 70 sell out my interest
:nd noass ana a. si
seI need need money M 70 meet the great expense
hffs o.e ASd Ss fs aes ssa' sad ons fss
+ nein NV ~ duty to interest myself In those who
h.ve not assisted me In this Investigation.
! am giving each an opportunity to chip IN
oeiYe II YOU u wish to have me recognize you as an
heir. you will remit me BY telegraph. y pos
rmneediately There is no time now for delay.
iii sell out my interest and those repre- resent
10 syndicate which have ths Sstnos,syy SsI. sny
anne Ar al ali the work. it will Be Impossible for
Shose left out ever to secure anything from
Hoping I will receive telegraph or money
order fof the amour, at once and have h. Xou
counted in as one OF the benenclaries when
settled, remain yours tnsTeT tslnTere'Ty cou.x
Send care Of the Marlborough Hotel.
Mr.. Cowan blushed when the question
was prupounded
Il have myself expen ded over $40. 900 in
pefecting the claim. he said. -and I have
them, like Lieut. Gov. Carter, have also
advanced large sums. Our expenditures
on lawyers fees and in searching titles
have been large. but we have plenty of
money left. Even II We did need money,
there isn't the slightest doubt, that we
belonging to the syndicate which has
siready ma de us an offer Of 3lS5, 900 900.
who are the members Of this syndioate?'
he was asked.
Il do not care to have their names pub
lshed," was the reply. They are prom
One OF them lives at the Casino at New
port and it is he that is conducting the
negotiations for the syndicate. On its
behalf he made me an offer OF so, 900 ,00O
for a fifteenth interest over week ago.
Afterward the offer was increased to
$4,000 900 for all the interests represent,
and few days later they came up to $685.
100000. Forty millions more and not a
penny less will satisfy me and my asso-
But is not this William Van Nostrand
to whom 1t is alleged you wrote the letter,
also an heir to the property was the next
question.
He may be-" admitted MIR. Cowan.
sThere are over 200 heirs. all told, but only
thirty-five of these have large holdings,
holdings which would descend according 8
to the English law Of primogeniture. This
Van Nostrand may be one Of group OF
I heirs residing in Michigan. He wrote me
to Texas and I have but recently received
II. have not answered it"
Mr.. Cowan then dug into suit case
full o. documents and produced the letter;
In it Mr.. Van Nostrand said that he had read
an advertisement in Q Detroit paper In which
Mr. Cowan. He offered TO- supply Mr..
Cowan with documents tending TO sub
stantiate the claim.
Mr. Cowan went on to say that the papers
have magnifed the amount OF property
he claims,
They have said" said he, that We claim
all the property between Seventy-f1fth and
l74th streets. North and East rivers.
distinctly told all the reporters that we
claimed only the 100 acres which Andrew
Hartzielder leased to the city In l795 for
ninety-nine years and day. The re-
porters show a woful ignorance OF the city,
Tor the tract they speak Of is much larger
than 100 acres.
All we claim is the strip between Seventy
hfth and Eighty-sixth streets, Riverside
Drive and Second avenue. When the
case comes into court 1t will be found that
we can prove our title without difficulty.
! have better maps and blue prints that they
have in the Hall Of Records, and can prove
that the lease from the original Hartzfelder
was recorded in book 8, page rs. This
book is now missing, and has been for
long time
Mr.. Cowan concluded his remarks with
diatribe against the croo kedness which he
says has resulted in the loss Of the book in
question. He then broke on the interview
10 answer telephone call.
1t is probably the syndicate representa-. :.
tive who lives in the Casino at Newport,
he said. y cannot keep him waiting