The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-08-19
WHEN YOU MAKE A WILL.

| Lewis Edwin Thess warns every
man and woman to make a will. He
gives the following excellent reason
| in the Pictorial Review for July:
| If you chance to be business man
OF average prosperity. one who owns
a little real estate, has some personal
property and some money in the
bank, can almost hear you reply:
Everything will be all right. have
real estate and bonds and money.
May wife will not suffer" And II you
are the wife of such man. can al
most hear you say: "Evething will be
all right. My husband is comfortably
! situated. I should not suffer" But
fact that everything will be all right.
and that there would be no suffering
OF course, Mr.. Business Man, you ex-
pect your wife to come into your
property, and of course she expects
to inherit 1t. But have you made sure
/ that she will inherit it? Have you
prepared against those tragic days
following your death so that your
wife may be plentifully supplied with
money? Have you seen to it, o wife,
that your husband has made such
preparation?
Let me tell you the story OF a man
just like you. who died Unexpectedly.
He owned real estate and personal
property, had a bank account, and
carried insurance. He thought his
wife well provided for. So did she
until she tried to get some Of her
husbands money. Then the bank tell
er and the insurance agent both said
Sorry, Madam, but we cannot pay
you any money until you have had an
administrator appointed" Then the
widow tried to collect second in
surance policy payable to her. It
was In a shaky fraternal order, and
It was six months before she got a
cent. Meantime the worry over the
situation almost Frustrated her. To
be sure an administrator would have
had to be appointed even II her hus-
band had made will; but f the will
had named an executor the legal for
malittes would have been attended to
promptly. There would have been no
embarrassment. AS it was, the ignor-
ant widow knew not what steps to
take. She was simply dazed, as
many another woman would have
been; for to the unframed feminine
mind. legal proceedings OF any kind
usually hold terrors.
All the while the tradesmen were
pressing this poor woman; and
though they could not sue her for at
least year. they harrassed her sore
ly. She did not know that the law
thus protected her.
For weeks she lived a life Of flnan-
cial distress, even falling into the
clutches Of q loan shark-all because
her husband who thought everything
would be all right alter his death
had not made sure that everything
would be as he wanted It. He had
mot, like Ahithophel Of old, put his
house in order.
Now in order to put your house In
order, to make sure that things will
go as you desire after death, there
are numerous things that must be
done. And inasmuch as the present
is the only time Of which you are GER
tain, the time to do these things is
now. II you have not already done
them, do them now, while you have
mental strength and power and the
time to plan wisely and to make
sure that your plans will be carried
out after your death. Delay is dan
gerous. At the last moment you may
forget or you may do it Intellectually
or you may not do it at all. So do
IL nnw Make a will