Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-10-29

TREASURES FOR LOST HEIRS
By Frederic j. Haskfn

All of them leave something IN the
way Of personal effects and when
there are no relatives to claim them
| promptly the American consuls lake
charge. Ultimately the articles find
their way to the repository maintain
ed by the general accounting office
of the Treasury Department In
Washington, where they are held un.
/ til disposed OF at sales authorized by
Congress.
Thousands upon thousands of care
fully sealed parcels are stored away
in this repository. They range In
size from a stout manila envelope
to a packing case that might contain
| a grand piano. And the articles they
contain are almost as infinite In
variety as they are in number.
At the last sale of these trinkets
| and treasures. held in 1911. the
packages included pens. pen knives,
rings, watches, pistols, wishing rings,
curious charms, lucky pocket pieces,
foreign coins, medals, photographs
trophies and all kinds of toilet ac-
c~essories. The stories they suggest
of travel and adventure, of romance
and tragedy, Of successes and fall
ures. would test the art of a Dumas
and fill innumerable volumes.
When a citizen Of this country dies
in a foreign land the nearest United
States consul Is notified and that of.
fetal promptly takes charge of the
personal effeccs of the deceased. IL
there are relatives ar hand the consul
Immediately transfers the articles
to them. Otherwise the consul no.
tiiep the State Department OF the
death, giving the names and ad-
dresses of the relatives who should
be APPRAISED of the affair, or re-
questing the Department to under
take the detective work necessary
to find the next Of kim"
AS a usual thing, the consul selects
two local merchants to assist him in
making an inventory of the estate.
All outstanding debts are paid and
monyes due are collected. If the
debts exceed the assets the personal
effects are sold by the consul unless
the American relatives intervene
when notified and pay the debts of
their kinsman, thereby rescuing his
trinkets and jewelry from public
sale.
In case no relative or legal claim
ants put in an appearance, the con-
sui holds the decedent's personal
effects for a period of n year while
the Government agents make every
effort to locate missing or unidenti-
fed heirs. Then If this effort has
been %unavailing another parcel or
package Is added to the collection
in the Washington Office.
Many intricate and puzzling legal
questions arise in connection with
the settlement of the estates of Am
orleans who die abroad. In fact, one
of the most important activities of
the consular service Is the salts
factory adjustment of the complicat-
Cd entanglements that commonly
occur. Treaties which have been ne
gotiated with practically all foreign
nations include stipulations govern
ing the procedure is such cases.
When an American dies on the
high seas, aboard either q United
States or a foreign ship, the Ameri-
can consul at the port where the
ship mex docks takes charge of the
dead mans effects, unless he is ac-
companied by relatives.
All the cash funds from these ex-
traordinary estates are covered into
the Treasury of the United States as
a part of what is known as the de-
cedent trust fund a Federal finan-
cial account which now amounts to
many hundreds of thousands of dol
lars. Relatives or lawful heirs may
come forward at any time to claim
these funds, although Uncle Sam is
exacting in the matter of requiring
claimants to furnish ample legal
proof of their rights.
When American sailors other than
those IN the Navy die abroad their
estates are handled in very much
the same n If the State De-
partment can not find the heirs, the
personal effects are sold and then all
the cash is forwarded to the judge
of the court of the home district or
county of the deceased sailor. The
local judge holds the funds six years
while effort is made to locate the
heirs, and If he is unsuccessful in
this he returns the money to the
Federal Treasury where it is credited
to the account CT the National Sail
ors' Home.
Special provision is made in the
vaults of the general accounting Of
v IVA lib bAC pei sun HIOpSA "
of soldiers who die in the service of
the United States. Five large steel
lockers filled with sealed and in
dexed parcels, packages and enve-
lopes. numbering approximately L.
900 in all, that contain heirlooms
and small treasures of Civil War
soldiers who served in the Union
Army. These men were killed in bat
tie, or died in camp or hospital, and
the military authorities were never
able to find the mex of kin. Their
personal possessions have never been
claimed ano the Government has
been guarding them now for sixty
years. The value of these trinkets
is largely sentimental and 1t is doubt
full that Congress Will aver order
their sale.
Other strongboxess in this same
vault are crowded with the effects
of soldiers who were killed or who
died during the Spanish-American
War and the World War. There are
about $500 of these unclaimed es-
tates.
One of these packages which had
been opened recently by the officials
contained a dozen or so bloodstained
French coins and a fountain pen. In
another envelope there was what
is left of a gold watch thai had been
shattered by a bullet or a piece of
shrapnel. This had been owned by
an American soldier who was killed
in France on June 10, 1918.
II an enlisted man in the United
States Navy dies in the service, eth
er at nome or abroad. the captain of
MS ship may sell the decedent's