The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-02


letters from some Of Adams's children which
seemed TO show that there was a very strong
bond Of Affection between them. Some Of
the letters were from Adams's married
daughter, Mrs. Paul Napoleon, who was
then In Paris. In some she acknowledged
rsmiteAnoes from her father. one amount
mentioned was 81 900. There were bundles
OF checks for large amounts and papers
regarding various real estate deals. One
In particular seemed TO show that Adams
mad been negotiating for a large estate On
Long Island owned by W. Gould Brokaw.
AS soon al possible Adams's family were
notified cthls death. They have been busy
moving from $50 West ElRhty-fft street to
their new home on West End avenue. Living
here now are MIRA Adams, her daughter.
Ida. and her sons. Albert j. Adams, Jr., and
Lewis Adams. Another son, Walter, 10 in
Mexico, in charge OF the Guanaiuato mines.
Mrs. Napoleon is travelling with her hus-
band. Albert J. Adams took charge Of his
fathers affairs yesterday. His mother and
the other children visited the rooms at the
Ansonia for a few minutes and then re-
turned to the West End avenue house. They
were dressed in black and seemed 20 be
much affected.
Adams left a will, which 10 said to have
been drawn recently by his son. Charles
+. Bauerdorf, a lawyer OF II Broadway,
Is n Of the executors. He said that he
would file the will in about a week, Mr..
Bauerdorf would not say what disposition
Adams had made OF his property. Mr..
Adams, he said, had been In to see him only
last Saturday to ak over some real estate
matters. He gave no indication then that
he was contemplating suicide. Adams
was also at the Office OF the Colonial Securi-
ties Company, where he made HIS head
quarters, for a long time on Saturday.
He complained then OF feeling very III and
suffering from loss OF sleep.
Mr.. Stokes said yesterday that Adams
had told him he had lent his son over 81
900, 1000. Half Of this was put into the Sage
concern.
THE newspapers and the police have
been bounding me so long about the policy
and bucket shop business that | can stand
it no longer, and il there's no letup | will
kill myself" Mr.. Stokes said Adams re-
marked TO him once. Mr.. Stokes said that
40 man ever felt the disgrace of imprison-
ment more than Adams. Mr.. Stokes went
up to Sing Sing once and found Adams,
he said, nursing Sam Parks, who was then in
the hospital with him. At that time Adams
appealed to him to try and get him out,
as the disgrace and the grief it meant to
his family we're killing him.
1t was learned yesterday that Adams
had traded with a lot of brokerage concerns,
among them Cat 81 d 20. Robert Maclay
said last night that Adams had used a
branch office Of his company in the Ansonia
for a small amount of his business, but
that he had closed his account with a profit.
The tssI 600, he said, simply represented
the par value Of the stock dealt in.
Adams was 90 years old. He began life
as a brakeman down East. He started in
the policy game years ago and reaped the
kind OF harvest that the game made possible.
1t came in pennies culled principally from
the poor, but il came fast. Until he ran
afoul Of the late y. Norton Goddard, Adams
got along all right. CapksG0ddard started
his anti-policy society and its efforts were
crowned with success when the headquarters
Of the chain Of policy places was raided and
all Adams's private papers were seized.
Adams fought conviction through the
courts on the ground that tn ese papers
could not be used against him, but was
unsuccessful. He got an ndeterminats
sentence in April. 1903. II was then that
Justice Scott characterized him a. @the
meanest criminal In New York city" Part
of the time at Sing Sing Adams made mats.
He was released in October, 1904, and then
went TO live at the Ansonia.
Besides his penchant for getting pennies
from the poor Adams had another, and that
was to see his family surrounded with
luxury and enjoying social standing. His
children were kept entirely unaware OF
what their fathers real business was. They
were educated in the best Of private schools
and two Of the sons were sent to college.
When Adams's headquarters were raided
the police found a lot OF programmes
Of musicales given by Mrs. Adams at which
well known musicians appeared. The hard
est blow apparently that the old gambler
ever had to suffer was when his arrest
brought home to his children the shame
that he had tried to hide from them.
In the years that he had lived at the
Ansonia he saw little Of his family except
his sons. Neither his wife nor his daughters
called upon him there. When his eldest
daughter, who was Mrs. Robert Lee Armitt,
married Napoleon in Newport after some
difficulty was experienced in getting a
clergyman to perform the ceremony owing
to the Hact that both we're divorced. the
papers gave great prominence to the fact
that she was the daughter Of the policy king.
1t was then that Adams told some OF his
friends that the newspapers would never
forget him and were killing him.