The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-08-22
CHARLES ]. ROOT
 LEFT LARGE ESTATE Bristol Mans Fortune Believed to be Nearly Two Hundred
 Thousand Dollars.
WILLS LEFT BY BOTH MOTHER AND HIMSELF
Triple Funeral of the Automo bile Victims Held Yester-
 day Afternoon.

Bristol, Aug. 21.-A very close friend of the late Charles J. Root, who was killed in an automobile accident Sun- day and was buried to-day, stated to- day that he positively knew that MT. Root left will. The document was prepared about year ago by a well known Bristol lawyer The existence of such document puts an end to all controversy relative to an inheritance tax
 It is also believed that the mother of | MT. Root, Mrs Catherine R. Root, who leaves a considerable estate, made a will also.
 MT. Roots estate is conservatively estimated at between $175O00 and $200,GOO, and 1t is left to Theodore T. Root a brother of the deceased, and his daughter, Miss Catherine Root. The condition of the latter who had a miraculous escape, is such that she may be said to have recovered from the accident.
 1 A telephone message from Pittsfeld, Mass, during the morning was to the effect that while Miss Mary P. Root l had taken little nourishment, her con dition was no better and continues ex- tremely critical.
 Many statements have been printed gEregarding the wealth of MT. Root. I Some of the statements made him a millionaire while none of them placed his wealth at less than s500,900 As ! careful an Inquiry as it is possible to make into the state of his finances at the present time demonstrates that all estimates made thus far are nothing more than wild guesses Mir. Root was not a millionaire, far from it, but was considered to be well-to-do man, probably worth nearly $2OO,O0O, so his most intimate friends say.
 When Mr Roots father died, twen- ty years ago, the entire estate, ex- cept the factory, went to the widow and was part of her estate at her death. The factory was operated suc- cessfully and its earnings showed a large profit each year under Mir. Roots careful and efficient management The most of these earnings went into real estate, bonds and stock The de- ceased was the owner of the Gridley House building; Roots building, To- cated next to it on North Main street, and the Root block, farther down l North Main street All of the above property, estimated to be worth S120,- 900, IS said to be mortgaged at least one-half It's value, so that roughly speaking MT Roots equity was ap- proxinately 600O0. Of his holdings of bonds and stocks but little is known by even his most intimate friends. He was the owner of a considerable amount of both that he bought out right and of stock holdings that he margined. He was a shrewd spec ulator and always purchased when prices were low. His speciality was mining stocks, particularly Raven and North Butte, and 1t is believed that al one time he owned over 70OOO shares of these two stocks alone. A veal ago his paper profits were known tc have been in the hundreds of thous ands, but the steady decline in the market prices reduced these profits materially. If there are no further breaks in the market 1t is thought tha' at least S115,00O can be realized iron security sales Mir Root made a con
 fidant of no one and did not talk free
 ly about his wealth to any one I he said that on account of hi varied holdings. and the sharp fluctu ations of the market the past eigh
 months, there have been times that i
 would have required a good deal o figuring on the part of Mir. Root him self to determine his exact worth. Stores and most of the factories il town out of respect to the famil, closed during this afternoon when tn funeral of Charles J, Root, Mrs. Joe : Root and Miss Candace Roberts, tn victims of the automobile wreck a
 Ashley Falls, Mass on Sunday, wa
 held from their late home in Higl
 street. The service was conducted b,
 the Rev. Calvin B. Moody of the Firs [ Congregational church, assisted b
 the Rev T. M Miles, former pastor
 now of Acton, Mass, and the Rev ? Arthur H. Goodenough of the Pros y pect Methodist church The hous n was filled with flowers and many strik n ing pieces were among the floral offer
 ings, especially those from the mer chants and the employees in the Roo 0 factory The interments were in tn y family lot