The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-29


 Mr. Rogers line. runs southea sterly to E naultimat terminal at Charleston, s. c. Mr. Rogers tidewater railroad. the name of which has been changed. runs almost in air line from the coal fields to Norfolk, Va.
 After Five Years
 After five years there comes official report of the value of Mir. Rogers es- tate which was fixed upon by the trans fer tax appraiser of New York state. It caused some astonishment in this city to e'rn that the appraisal of the gross value of the estate was a little over A9 900. GOO. That is a larger sum by nearly $1000J.0v0 than the highest estimate upon the value of his estate at the time of his death. The net value of the estate was fixed by the appraiser at nearly $41, ,OO0.0OO The tidewater railroad was presumed to have cost somewhere in the neighborhood of S41, ,000O00, and at time represented almost exclusively MT. Rogers personal investment.
 The distinguishing feature of this re- port is to be found in the fact that the tax appraiser has discovered that MT. Rogers railroad fulfilled his highest ex- pectation. It Is a purely personal tri- umph,. for it vindicates his exclusive judgment. Almost every one of his friends was persuaded that his venture would be followed by disaster. st has occa sionally happened that an estate as it was at the time of the death of him who created it has appreciated greatly in value before the tax appraiser made his final report to New York state. That was the case in the estate of c. P. Hunt ington, and in lesser degree with the estate of William c. Whitney. There are also believed to have been some appre- citations in the value of the estate of the late John S. Kennedy.
 C. P. Huntngton's estate at the time of it's settlement in New York state was found to have increased in value by nearly $6.000,0 900.
 Mir Rogers interest in the tidewater railroad was found by the appraiser. five years after Mr. Rogers death, to be of the value of $20,OO00O0. The appraiser also discovered that Mir. Rogers when bufsd- ing the road utilized practically his entire fortune. At one time he was compelled to hypothecate a considerable part of his large holdings of Standard oil certificates in order to secure advances upon hIs own paper. In his case the appreciation off estate differed from that which charac- terized the c. P. Huntington estate. MT. Rogers heirs owe the very large fortune which is to come into their possession in great measure to the demonstration of the successful operation of his tidewater railroad. MT. Huntington's heirs were benefited through the market apprecia- tions of many of the stocks of which Mir. Huntington died possessed.
 On the day the tax appraiser made his report of the value of the estate of Mir Rogers. he also reported the value of the estate of James Everard, who at one time was numbered among the wealthiest brewers of the United States. One pe- culiar incident in MT. Everards life was disclosed by the investigations of tho tre .cF tu~ .l~>~ Ioop v1aS that MT. Everard years ago placed upon special deposit in the valuts of one of the banks of New York . large amount of gold coin. Upon, this deposit he gained no interest. He made 1t because he wanted to feel secure whatever i'll for tune might betide his business undertak- fngs. He must have lost good deal of money through the fact that this deposit paid him no interest.
 It was the impression among the younger men of the financial district that there was no precedent for a special hoarding of gold of that kind Yet there was a precedent well known to the men of the older generation. At the time of the passage of the so-called Bland silver law in the mid-seventies. the late Wilson G. Hunt, who was a very wealthy man, secured $1,000.O00 in gold coin. The can. vas bags in which these coins were placed were deposited in the vaults of one s,f the New York banks. There the gold re- mained untouched until after Mir. Hunts death. When his executors took charge of 1t they found 1t necessarily to handle the bags with the utmost care. for some of them had routed so that the gold coins were dropping out. Mir. Hunt made this deposit because he was apprehensive that the effect of the Bland law would be the placing Of the United States upon an ex- elusive silver basis, and would cause great depreciation of the value of prop erty. He felt that It would be expedient to protect himself in any emergency. For that reason he made this deposit of u.000.- 600 in gold. He paid dearly for It,. since the loss of the interest upon the money must have amounted lin the aggregAte to at least $10Q.0oo