El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-12-21

the vault is sunk is officially a ceme-
terry Ihe only one in Venice and prob |
ably the smallest cemetery in America.
a cemetery for two, laid ont decided
and dedicated by county ordinance as
cemetery property. 1t is but IL feet
square.
Left Nothing to Chance.
With astonishing attention to detail
and entirely without morbidness Mr.
KelIner some four years ago began
to plan this unusual burial place. With
his accustomed business thorOughness
ne Ie4I nOIH!ng 70 chance He decided
the square bit of land in his back ward
to the city of Venice. He secured the
passage by the county Supervisors of
an ordinance declaring it cemetery
property he got an ordinance passed
by the city trustees of Venice oivin1r
special permits for the burial of himself
and his Wl1e, provided the bodies should
be inclosed in hermeticallv sealed
baskets of copper.
These legal phases attended to, to the
end that obstacles unforeseen might
not prevent the burial he planned. MIR.
Kelln6r directed the building of the
vault and the installation of a burglar
alarm system connected with the house
and OF electric lights within the vault
Slabs OF granite now cap the vault and
over the slabs grow turn level with the
remainder of the lawn
Baskets Are of Copper.
The caslzets were manufactured in
Philadelphia from copper Mr.. KeIIner
shipped from Globe. Zach weighs close
to 1000 pounds. Bank locks are fitted
to them, and they are adorned with
Masonic emblems in relief. Each casket
has four handles and on each of the
handles IS engraved the name of a son
or daughter Of the couple, of whom
there are four.
Carefully stored in the basement of
the house has rested a derrick which
Mr.. kellner had built, with which to
lower the heaVy caskets into the vault.
Never explaining why he did things
out of the ordinary, Mr.. Kellner simply
went ahead and shaped events TO suit
himself. he never discussed his rea-
son for desiring to be buried under his
own lawn. 1t was his wish, that was
all
Though in failing health for a year
past Mr.. kellner's death was entirely !
unexpected. He was taken to the hos
pital on Wednesday morning for an
operation for intestinal stOppage. He /
failed to rally after the operation and |
died at half past 10 than night Mrs. |
kellner and a son, B. J. Kellner, of
Los Angeles, were with him when death
came.
Sent $1,000 to Lodge.
The other children OF the couple are
Mrs. w. K. Claypool of Globe. Mrs J.
Baxter Lewis of FL PasO and Z. F. Kell-
ner, jr., of Superior, Ariz. They ar
rived Sunday and funeral arrangements
were then made.
J. D. Wick, jr., worshipfuI master of
White Mountain lodge of MasOns, with
other Officers of the lodge, conducted
the services, under authorization ar
ranged through the grand lodge of
California and the grand lodge of Ari-
IONA Mr.. kellner had given the Globe
lodge S1teO, with the request that the
lodge conduct the funeral rites.
Mr.. Kellner was born in Texas, May
rs, 1S49. He established a successful
general merchandise business in Silver
City, n. NJ, and in the early SOS he
freighted the entire stock by team to
| Globe. From his start there he eN-
panded the business until he had branch
| stores in many cities and on a number
of indian reservations, doing a large
contract business with the govern
ment
It was Mr.. Kellner's boast that he
| never borrowed a dollar. His estate
/ has no debts. When his mercantile bust
/ ness had Increased to large proportions
| he decided to be his own banker and
| he established a bank at Globe. When
| the panic of, 1907 came he had a gold
| reserve out Of all proportion to de-
! pCsits and had no need to resort to
| scrip Any. deposiuor who wanted his
| money got it. The result was that after
| the panic a tremendous rush of de-
positors came to him. With his Unfail-
| ing trait of eccentric decision he closed
| his doors TO them and sent them back
| that he did not want to be bothered
| with a commercial banking business
He incorporated his bank then under
the name of the Z. T. Kellner Trust
| company. He owned all the stock and
operated entirely on his own capital.
The next year Mr.. KellneT decided to
| retire from business. With accustomed
UneXpectedness he decided that among
( his offspring a daughter was the best
| qualified to manage the bank, and
/ Mrs. ClaypoOl has been the successful
! manager and cashier of the family bank
since that date.
High Fence About Home.
In 1908 Mr.. Kellner bought the big
( house and ample ground of his last
home, On PicO boulevard near Lincoln
boulevard, Venice. He and Mrs. Kell-
uCr lived there, withdrawn almost en-
tirely from social Intercourse He in
closed the place with a high fence and
put locks on all the gates. Once a day
he drove to the postOffice at Venice
IN his gray electric coupe, got his mail
and sat in the coupe while he read it,
then he drove the car back home and
the gate was locked behind him.
! Having established a bank of his own,
Mr.. kellner provided by will for a trust
to handle his estate after his death, the
trust to be administered by the family
bank Each of the sons and daughters
have copy Of the will. The estate is
estimated by friends who have intimate
| knowledge of his properties to be close
to a million dollars in value. B. J. Kell>
ner, the son stated today that he
thought 1t would not be more than
! 100000. It includes the bank, nearly
a section of valuable alfalfa land close
to Phoenix, other timber and agicul-
tural land, a great deal Of money loaned