New Britain herald., 1923-01-12
MOST BEAUTIFUL
 WILL EVER DRAWN
Chicago Pauper Leaves Remark
 able Document

Tn the pockets Of an old ragged coat belonging 70 one of the patients of the Chicago poor house there was found after the patients death a will
 The man had been lawyer. and the will was written in a firm, clear hand on a few scraps of paper,
 So unusual was II that lt was sent ta a lawyer, and he read it before the Chicago lar association, and reses lution was passed ordering il RFohat- ed. And now it is on the records of Cook county, Illinois
 The will reads as fallows'
 T. Charles Loundsherry being of sound and disposing mind and mem ory, do hereby make and publish this, my last wiz and testament, in order. as justly as may be. 10 distfir bute my interest in the world among succeeding men,
 That part Of my interest which is known in law and recognized m aheep-bound volumes as my property being ineonsiderable and of non-ae- count. I make no disposition of, in this, my will. My right to live being but a life estate. is not at my disposal, but these things excepted. all else in the world now proceed to devise and bequeath,
 Item. I give to good fathers and mothers, in trust for their children, all good little words Of praise and en- couraeement, and all quaint pet names and endearments. and l charge said parents to use them justly, but gem erously. as the needs of their chill dren shall require.
 Item. I leave to children inclu- sively. but only for the term of child hood. all and every flower Of the fields and blossoms Of the woods with the right to play among them freely. according to the customs of children, warning them at the same time against missiles and thorns. And, l devise to children the banks of the brooks and the golden sands beneath the waters thereof, and odors of the willows that dip therein. and the white clouds that float high over the giant trees.
 And I leave to the children the long, long days to be merry in, in a thousand ways and the night and the train of the Milky Way to wonder at, but subject nevertheless, to the rights hereinafter given to lovers.
 Item. I devise to boys, jointly. all the useful. idle fields and commons where ball may be played, all pleas ant waters where one may swim, all snow-clad hills where one may coast and all streams and ponds where one Gel, ,,.1,1 ter comes, one may skate, to hold the same for the period of their boyhood. ! And all meadows with the clover | blossoms and butterflies thereon: the 1 woods with their appurtenances, the squirrels and the birds and echoes and strange noises, and all distant places which may be visited, together with the adventures there found. And l give to said boys each his own place at the fireside at night with all pie lures that may be seen in the burn | ing wood, to enjoy without let or hin- | drance or without any incumbrance E of care.
 Item. To lovers I devise their inn aginary world, with whatever they may need as the stars of the sky, the red roses by the wall the bloom of the hawthorn, the sweet strains of \ music, and aught else they may de- II sire to figure to each other the last tngness and beauty of their love.
 Item. To young men, jointly, l II devise and bequeath all boisterous, II inspiring sport of rivalry, and I give to them the disdain of weakness and undaunted confidence in their own strength. Though they are rude, ] leave to them the power to make last ing friendship and of possessing com panions, and to them exclusively ] N give all merry songs and grave chor- uses to sing with husky voices. Item. And to those who are no longer children or youth, or lovers, leave memory and bequeath to them the columns of the poems of Burns and Shakespeare and of other poets. If there be others, to the end that they may live the old days over again, freely and fully, without tthe or diminution. Item. To our loved ones with snow crown I bequeath the happiness of old age, the love and gratitude of their children until they fall asleep"