Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-03-10
aeliseellaneu,1s 8eadins.
CANNON AND DlSRAELl.
Curious Coincidence In Bequest Made
to Both of Them BY Two Grateful

mons incredulity as TO the S2'ooo'ooV
an old lady in Indiana, whom he
doesn't know, is said to be prepar-
ing to leave him in her will, If he re-
hected on the fact that another states
man. Benjamin Disraeli, in the Will Oh
another queer old lady. was also left
q fortune.
At present Speaker Cannon is lit
tie conservative as to believing In that
two million. In fact, he openly says
that in the course of long and pub
lie life pretty nearly every variety OF
propositions has been carefully pre-
sented to him and that he CONSIDERS
talk about a future fortune In the
light of a final crowning effort,
The circumstances OF the speaker )
landslide are as follows:
Mrs. Waddell, Of Bombay, feellng
that she has not long to live. wishes to
Iet Sneaker Cannon know that she is
leaving him all her money. Conse-
ouently sha sends him letter
through her lawyers to that effect.
She gives him her fortune, she eX
nlains. because she is childless ana
because her husband owed his start
in life to Representative Joseph ".
Cannon, OF Illinois"
MIR. Cannon cannot remember meet
ing any Mr.. Waddell, much less DONG
him a solid favor.
Disraeli also received the first ad-
vances of his patroness with lively IN
credulity. In fact, mot TO put 100
fine a point upon it," he thought she
was crazy.
Having already intimated that the
circumstances of DisraellS lnnerl-
tance were similar to those OF MT.
Cannon's possible inheritance, II Is
perhaps superfluous to say that they
were unusual. However, unusual as
they were. they are little known. The
reason for this is that up to the pres
ent date no satisfactory biography OF
Disraeli has been written. The offl-
cial biography is just being issued al
The present writing. The first vol
ume has appeared, but it does not
reach the date of Disraelfs first let
ter from the woman VINO was 10
leave him her fortune.
She was Mrs. Brydges Willyams,
and, like Mrs. Waddell, a widow
without children.
At the beginning of 1851 she wrote
to Disraeli, whom she had never seen,
She told him that she had a great
admiration for him. She also asked
his advice on a matter of business.
Disraeli, like most big public men,
was in the habit of getting a great
many letters from people he didn't
know. He threw Mrs. Willyams's
note away and promptly forgot about
it.
Mrs. Willyams wrote again. She
repeated her protestations of eXtrava-
CANT admiration and also asked again
for Disraelis business advice-which
was worth, by the way, exactly MOTH
ing, Disraeli's business achievements
being limited to losing his money at
the start of his life, and paying in
teresl to money lenders with his wife S
fortune through pretty nearly the rest
of it-until, in fact, Mrs. Willyamss
own death put him on his feet hnan-
cially.
This letter, too, Disraeli ignored.
Mrs. Willyams wrote again.
Disraeli asked with mild curiosity
a person he met at house narty VINO
had a home in Mrs Willyams's part
of the country whether he knew any
thing of "a mad woman living in
Torauay named Willyams."
The man said with surprise that
Mrs. Willyams was not mad, although
She had a reputation for being &C.
centric.
She was of a Jewish descent, he
said. She had a large fortune, no
relations, and lived very retired
life.
Evidently Mrs. Willyams could
thrive without encouragement. In
her next letter she placidly proposed
to Disraeli-Disraeli who was known
all over London-a meeting at
fountain in the middle Of the most
prominent building in the Worlds
Fair London was giving.
give the liberal cartoonist a chance
to stop thinking of what would be
the most striking thing to draw.
He felt that the fountain meeting
would have its drawbacks.
Once more Mrs. Willyams's letter
was unanswered.
She wrote again. She must see
Disraeli. 1t was absolutely neces-
sary. Let him not neglect this op-
portunity. AS place of meeting she
would appoint-and again she named
the impossible fountain.
This perseverance struck Disraeli as
peculiar. Mrs. Willyams was not
crazy, he had found out. If she
must have some special reason for
wishing to do so.
He told two of his intimate friends
of Mrs. Willyams's previous letters
and showed them this one. Both ad-
vised him to go and meet her. There
was probably, they urged, definite
reason for her eagerness.
Disraeli went. Seated on the bench
encircling the fountain he found a
very little woman, who was strangely
dressed and queerly hammered, and
seemed altogether as if she had walk
ed out of a fairy tale.
What a nice picture ii would make
-Disraeli dressed as usual, in super
lative degrees of bright colors that
didn't go with each other, but that
at least had the merit Of bringing out
his very black hair and his livid skin,
walking around a fountain in the mid
die of a large Worlds Fair building
looking around for-he doesn't know
who. And the little old lady gazing
intently up at him!
As soon as Mrs. Willyams and Dis
raeli had greeted each other she
started in at once telling him eagerly
somu involved story of her business
troubles.
Disraeli after a few minutes got
I'm patient. he was ANXIOUS 10 get
away. He felt sure once more that
the woman waI mad.
The more impatient he showed him
self the more entangled the old lady
got.
Finally. feeling evidently that things
were becoming hopeless, she gave
him a business paper she had written,
on which she wanted his opinion, and
walked away.
One feels rather sorry for the dis
appointment she must have felt as
she went home, thinking over her long
attachment for DiSraeli and then the
days meeting.
Weeks passed and she heard moth
ing from him. This was queer, be-
cause inclosed in the paper were
fl. 900 las an humble contribution for
your election expenses"
What had actually happened was
this: Disraeli had gone home, told
his wife, who was eagerly waiting to
hear of the meeting, that the old
lady. if not mad. was trembling on
the verge, and then had erased the
whole affair from his mind and gone
on his busy way.
tbrDSt tho manor i'm the