Evening star., 1911-08-28
DEATHBED WARNING
MADE RICHES A CURSE
Heirs Needed Literally Injunc-
tion of Testator Never to
Sign Their Names.
areIgn Correspondence of The Star.

areign Correspondence of The Star.
MILAN August IN, 1911.
The last words OF the dying are very
properly regarded as sacred, but undoabt-
edly there are occasions when deathbed
exhortations should be obeyed not in the
letter, but in the spirit. Sucn. however.
was not the opinion Of two natives OF
Ferrara-Maria Zeni. aged sixty-hve. and
her daughter Emma. whose story provides
the latest newspaper sensation. These two
ladies are extremely wealthy. having in
herited between 10000 and s4oo,oo0
from the father Of the elder and the
grandfather of the younger.
The testator. feeling. as the tale has II.
that hts end was near. summoned his
daughter and granddaughter to his bed
side. told them his blessing AMI added the.
admonition. which he emphasized by an
extended and rhythmically beating fore
finger: Remember. confide in nobody.
never. never. never" Then he died. The
two women who remained to enjoy his
fortune adopted his last words as the
guiding maxims OF their lives.
Employed No Servants.
They trusted nobody and therefore EN-
ployed no servants. their modest meals
u
boring inn. Part Of their money was in
vested in mortgages. some of their prop
erty was leased. but in all their traneac-
tions they steadfastly refused 10 put
their names to a piece Of paper of any
kind. In the savings bank they had q de-
posit of $2NOOO, which on one occasion
they II. required a., to draw ont. ot Glad ID to s e,
officer made the payment In the pres
ence Of four witnesses and dispensed
with the customary signed receipt.
Recently q mortagee sought the as
sistance of the law, and obtained a de-
cree authorizing him to pay the sum OF
$1,000 In redemption OF a mortgage. and
in this case the two ladies were burdened
with the costs o, the .ss aetSn Sua nut nsy
the 500 costs due to the public treasury.
However, the treasury 10 an inexorabie
creditor, and soon bailin appeared at
the ladies' house in the Via Volta and re-
he might distrain upon their goods.
Bolted All the Doors.
At the first word of the functionsry the
doors were barred and bolted. and the
windows were closed. Carabineers were
summoned to enforce the decree OF the
laws Still no response. Firemen came
on the scene. and, hose in hand, prepared
to take the house by assault. Two OF
them scaled the gate of the courtyard.
the hose was put through window. but
the birds had flown to another part OF the
house. At last, while the door was being
attacked with axes, a window was thrown
open and the terrified women thrust out
their heads.
open the door," said the bailih; I'VE
will do you no harm"
Go away" replied the ladies, ''or We
will throw ourselves out OF the window"
A Jet Of water caused them to with
draw from the window. Finally the door
was beaten down. and the besiegers en-
tered the citadel. The ladies. however.
had vanished through q back door, and
were seen rushing toward the police sta
ton to demand assistance against burg
lars" Then they went to q church. and,
throwing themselves before the statue OF
the Madonna. implored her aid.
Meanwhile the bailif had carried out
his task and left the building. The ladies
returned unobserved, bolted and locked
themselves in the house and prepared to
Withstand another Siege. az they were
convinced by this time the authorities
were protecting gang OF malefactors
who were trying to deprive them OF their
substance.