Evening star., 1923-11-03
GOULD HE|RSSEEK
ESTATE OF BROTHER
Claim George ]. Owed $20,'
OOO,OO0 to Fathers For
tune, Held in Trust.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, November S.-Old Jay
Gould, in his time the richest mau
in the United States, has been long ir
lis grave, but the fight for his mil
lions remains eternally in the courts
New phases of the battle to gain con-
troll of the estate, rated now at $780,
100000, have just opened up. The
ramifcations reach far and wide and
run the entire gamut Of human frail-
ties and emotions.
The influence of the Gould millions
has reached far and wide. 1t en-
compasses Anna Gould's disastrous
marriage to Boni de Castellane and
her further determination to make a
success of her French career by mar
riage to the Duke de Tallyrand. The
Castellane children are interested
parties" in the family fight, which at
this time involves the disposition OF
some $40, 000. 900 of the estate.
The court proceedings revolve about
the acts of the late George ]. Gould
eldest son Of the founder of the Gould
fortunes and the chief executor OF
his will until 1919, when he was de-
posed by the courts. 1t is the claim
Gould that George Gould, the son
owed the estate some S2O.OOO,0oo al
the time of his death. They are now
trying to collect this sum from the
independent fortune left by George
Gould and thus cut off from any fur
ther participation the ten children OF
George Gould. In particular, there Is
X fight against the three children OF
George Gould who were born out
of wedlock, the offspring OF Mrs
Cfuinevere Sinclair, who were 1egiti-
matized" by the marriage of George
Gould to Mrs Sinclair shortly before
his death.
Mr.. Goulds first wife was Edith
Kingdom, the actress.
Court Faces Problem.
There is a question as to whether
or not the three children born out OF
wedIock can be considered as Issue
within the meaning of the terms OF
the original Gould win. The diction...
s,~ - -'he issue. as Offspring
and progeny" but make no differen-
Legitimate children. Perhaps, how :
ever. the courts will make such A
distinction. The Gould family circle
is hopeful of that result, for II
the three unfortunate children are cut
off the income for the rest of the
heirs will be enhanced that much.
A great estate, placed in trust as
the Gould estate was and the Astor
estate and the Vanderbilt estate nave
been, is to be likened nowadays to
Il throne in Europe.
The millions are handed down from
generation to generation. AS each
heir is born. ii is entitled to its share
in the estate. Often different ratio
is provided as between boys ana
girls, the boys getting a larger per-
centage. Hence, as III royalty, there
is often a race for early marriage and
for the birth of son or sons. Ihls
accounts for some of the large faInt-
lies. George Gould evidently deter
mined to do his share, as his seven
children by his first wife and three
by his second wife clearly show.
The second wife's income has been
shut off. at least that part of it de-
rived from a trust fund of $1,0OO,000
in tax-eXempt liberty bonds. made
over to her before George Gould died.
Payment of the interest was stopped
on complaint of the Gould children
by the first marriage. who are at
tacking the legality Of the transfer
of the bonds by their father.
George Gould's double life was
known for some time before the sud-
den death of Edith Kingdom Gould
made it possible for him to marry
Mrs. Sinclair and acknowledge to the
world the three children born to her
and MIR. Gould.
While the two families of George
Gould are fighting each other, all the
rest of the Gould heirs are fighting
both these families. The battle is
another case of wheels within wheels
and il is generally believed the fight
will go on in the courts for years to
come. The legal fees are sure to eat
tangled affairs are Strengthened out,
for some of the most expensive law
yers in the entire country are Ell
gagged by the opposing factions.