The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1907-05-17
MISCELLANEOUS
Nephew Smiths Chief Heir.

The fortune held by the late James
II. Smith, known in Wall street as
"Silent" Smith, which was believed to
be near $5O,00O,O0O, has now been di-
vided among the heirs by the will pro-
bated at New York on the day of the
funeral. The real value of the estate
is found to be not over $25,OOO0OO. OF
this the largest piece goes to George
G. Mason, nephew, who has worked
his way up from the shops In the serv-
Ice of the ST. Paul railroad. He gets
$12,O0O,OOO. A third goes to another
nephew, William Smith Mason, a
ILL.,, while S3,OOO,0O0 is left to the wild
ow, $1O0O,O00 to a titled sister, Lady
Cooper of England, and smaller
amounts to other relatives.
Octopus Breaks All Records.
The submarine torpedo boat Octo-
pus, under trial at Newport, made
three speed runs with Captain Mark
and other members of the naval board
as passengers, during which she broke
all records by making an average speed
of 10 knots an hour and q maximum
Of 1915 knots for one mile. A feature
Of the test was the use for the first
time of q submarine bell with which
the Octopus is equipped, and by means
of which connection was kept up with
the receiving apparatus on a surface
boat constantly during the submersion.
Another Texas Storm.
tbo fnr %
Ridgway and Birthright, Tex, on the
9th inst, nine persons being reported
killed and many injured.
Ian Maclaren Dead.
DR.. John Watson, the English minis.
ter, known best by his pen name of
Ian Maclaren, died at Mount Pleasant,
Ia, May G after long illness. His
reputation as writer was made after
middle life, beginning in 1894 with the
publication of Beside the Bonnie Brier
Bush"
Railroad Wants BeardIess Men.
The Burlington Railroad company
has issued from general headquarters
an order requiring all conductors en-
ployed on its 5000 miles Of road to re-
move their whlskers by d certain day
or explain their failure to do so. II
has also been ordered that white vests
and ties shall be worn. The reason
given for the order Is desire to Sc
cure uniformity and the more business.
like appearance of the smooth shaver
face.
Heavy Fatalities on Railroads.
The report of the interstate com.
merce commission, covering the months
Of October, November and December,
1906, gives the number of collisions
and derailments during that period as
1906, of which sol affected passenger
trains. The number of passengers and
employees killed was Ala, of which $50
were passengers, the largest list on
record for any quarter, excepting that
ending with September, 1904. The to-
tai number of casualties to passengers
and employees on duty was 20,944.
The compilation of causes of forty
noteworthy train accidents showed
that In twenty-one cases the disaster
was. directly traceable to carelessness,
error of judgment or negligence on the
part Of railroad employees. In sur
prisingly large number of cases the
men responsible for these lapses were
either new to their duties or had been
worked for continued period until
they were presumably too exhausted
to efficiently perform their work
Marvin Boy Found Dead.
Clothed just as he was when he dis
appeared on March last, the body of
little Horace Marvin, Jr., was found
less than half a mile from his fathers
home, near Dover, Del, May 4. In a
place which had been trampcd and
burned over several times by search
ing parties during the past month.
This made 1t certain that the body had
been placed there within few days
and presumably by those responsible
for the boys death. There was no
mark of violence upon the body and
nothing TO indicate what caused death.
and the detectives were completely
baffied by this new development in the
The autopsy showed that
the boy was dead when put into the
shallow pool Of water where he was
found, and the doctors think that he
perished from exposure, though not Mt
the place where his body was found.
He had had nothing to eat for two
days before death came