Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1908-07-14

more than - years old, Will release
la property worth at least a quarter OF
la million dollars and Ciose the most
mysterious financial venture ever
jSancti toned By the safe OF Connecli'
cut. or. possibly, by any ether COM
monwralh. The Old man whose death
lis await Il does not know and never
has known that he was n party TO TN"
mystery. ana. as his death Is nereS-
sary to mnseal the lips Of those who
Iere in the secret. h" never will !"
told. III. j. in rapidly failing health
and the chanc ar" that the facts
which have been hidden for 81 years
will soon come to light.
The enterprise which has com" 10
hinge upon his life is the Tontine Ho-
tel corporation Every traveller
through y. W England knows tn" Ton
tine Hotel. of New Haven. and most
OF them hav" stopped there. Few OF
them however. have been told the"
hi lnrc of the famous hosiery. ana
still fewer know that its existence l'|
to close as soon as the mysterious
old man. whose name no che outside
the official set knows. passes away.
and that ~ soon as that event hap
pens a million dollar building will go
up in place OF the present structure.
Scheme Seemed Quite Harmless.
The petition for the formation or
the Hotel Tcntine corporation came
before the Connecticut legislature in
1924 At that time and before hostel
rics had hp' n sanctioned by the state
and legislative acts had been passed
authorizing them. two or three Yale
dOrmitories were erected from the
proceeds of the drawings. so that inc
touiine scheme seemed to the law
makers quite harmless. insurance
was then little known, and tonfine
policy looked like any mutual scheme.
although from thf other end. Com
parativsly few people know today mat
n tOntine system is based on living.
not diving and is named from its in
ventor. the Italian Tonii. Incidental
", Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a
STORY based on tontin" scheme, en-
titlcd THE Wrong Box.
: The tontine corporation which the
Connecticut legislature Of 1924 was
asked to sanction permitted a stock
companv to be formed OF $50 shares
cf 500 each, making a total OF $23.-
Ultl. tnp NDlVtT vi tdtH ""'
to nominate some person and OF the
$50 nominations the seven Survivors.
or rather the persons VINO nominated
them. were to share the properly
when the o43 others were dead. me
pctition ci,ed the need Of "conee
house" in New Haven. and stated that
the s250on to be raised was to he
devoted to the erection OF snch
building.
Now Oldest Hotel In New Haven.
The recrn was the construction OF
the Hotel Tontine. now the Oldest anu
ono of the largest in New Haven. FIX
actlv PAT shares were taken. and the
hotel was. therefore. built with VA
-Oo The nominations made were
mostly from babes in the cradle. ana
in moot cases mains were taken to
select infants whose pedisrees on both
onco trial rnns showed longevity. AS
every holder Of one share was entit'u
IN make nominations. some eXtensiV"
c.oceholders made more than a dozen
nominations to the "fntur'tE Ihr
bctcl has aourished throughout elght
decades. and has always paid n diVr
d.ra exclusive of the PRINCIPAL
Gradually the HIST of nominees was
reduced l., death. II has heen tne
po,icv cf The stockholders not 10 IN
FORM their nominees that they are
really such for fear Of CXtortion being
necessary TO do So Tradition has II
tb,, a youny man about to fight
duel was Informed that he was Ton
,;ne nominee and that he fhereupon
refused 10 fight Several iusty ma
a,e..red mon were dis Tuaded from en-
,;s,;rc during the Civil war nv receiV-
inc information that they were Ton
,;no nominees In these cases y mas
icon rumored tho nominees made me
T,n,;nc ,harrholiprs settle generously
for the sacrifices they made.
Nearing the End.
| cr,a-,,,v however. the list sank IN
,,mher Fer five years IL has been
los .bnr twenty. and Il has just been
learned that II now Sands at eiTh.
nv only orc more than 'he number
,a,,od for dissolution Of the trust. As
~ nominations were made 81 years
,ro the survivors must he n'der '"h"
-, ar, Two or ,nr = al them are
fcw years Older. Ito
,-o,cr, Hotel Tortine. on Church
street, huf gooGSUtn h" -,
roar. containing several smaii p''
incs. 4 low city tax rate as ~
estimates their valuation ~ si'Z."
7, is known that n New YORK s'na |
, cate ctarIs rcadv to rTrcnaSe me SUI
for aroni $3.50 eeo and =" erec' III
400 ooo hotel faciu c'he historic green ,
tn. charter granted nv the fsiS
,rrr rrchihi's the settlement OF W.
nrnprrtv I'll only seven SURVIVORS
Ieft hut the n'c hath dar"hnaheranl
lcf,. Int tho III health q: ihs oid"st ~
the nominees macs IL certain thar
the date cf closing the estate Is near
Al hand THO 7aic cf the property 'or
goo oaa VII give tho seSSn shar'~
boIie,s Il tnrrc arc only scy"n. NOR"