Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-16


waiting unclaimed these hundreds OF
wears to enrich suddenly some remain
tic American stenographcr err dry
goods clerk don't exist despite the
aliNring letters with which shyster
lawyers periodically deluse the Well
known Sucker list"
The State Department receives TWO
or three letters every week, ana
others come to the Library OF Con
.,ress. from Americans who have
been duped. asking for information
on the existence OF the estates 10
which. they have been led 10 believe,
they have a valid claim which Will
lift them suddenly from poverty 10
untold riches. -,
me victim. as a rule, receives let
tor from some European law hrm
stating that an effort is being made
to locate all the heirs of some long
dead nobleman and that there is good
reason TO believe that the American
in uueSti ion is among these. A Sm2 II
retainer is requested to meet the eX-
nenses of filing suit to recover the
nroperty. which seldom runs below
1ifiv or sixty millions i'll value. Ill
tho "S,icker" bites he is bled periodi-
callv for small amounts until he be-
comes Suspicious.
No Unclaimed Property.
A comparatively few large estates
crop I'D in this correspondence from
year to year. some OIL tneSe may
once have existed, but if they have
thew long since have passed into the
possession Of the various govern
ments. so that no claim is valid.
Probably the most persistent claim,
according to State Department ON
Gals. is for the estate Of Sir Francis
Drake in England. AS matter OF
fact. this estate has been in a col
lateral branch of the Drake family FOR
hundreds of years aud is not eXten.
sive. There are no large, unclaimed
Ellropean estates. Any property Tor
which a claim never has been estab;
lished would amount to very little.
Hundreds Of Americans. from time
TO time have been led to believe that
tbev couId establish valid claim for
mart of the estate of one Paulus
Writ of Holland. This is one OF the
famous "urclaimed estates Of Europe
hut there is absolutely no foundation
for any claim.
TIE facts of the case. as given out
Tx the Netherla nds government. snow
that Paulus Writ, or Baron Won Arn-
holm. died unmarried at Hamburg III
1876. leaving Il will whereby ne named
as his sole heiress his houseKeeper;
Johanna van der Planken. she oleu
three years later leaving the estate 10
her daughter Bertha, minor. ne
child died in 1892. Her snarolails
pIaced some valuables LETT by her III
the custody of the Orphans court ol
Amsterdam which. after thorough
ltet, th1ttn
AIMS believed to have valid claim as
relatives of Writ. Other relatives
tiled suit in Hamburg and Vienna
Roth courts upheld the action of tue
amsterdam court. This apparently
closed the estate, but in 1852 new
suit was filed i'm Amsterdam. but IN"
court upheld the original action.
Easy to Take bait"
The Writ estate actually did NOT
amount to much, but in letters Whlch
periodically are sent to American VIC
Tins it is represented as having been
1884. OOO. 900. amaSsed in the East
Indian trade. Wirtz. according 10
these letters, had son JACOB ana
three grandsons. Conrad, Jacob ana
George. who emigrated to America IN
173o. City and town directories are
searched and feelers sent to every one
named Witt, WurtZ or anything with
a similar sound. 1t is not difficult 10
make most such persons believe 'hat
thew are direct descendants Of one OIL
the three brothers.
Claims are advanced to many es'
tates in Germany. Under the law
Of the empire, which has not been
changed by the republic, there is
time limit of 80 years during when
estates may be claimed. After TINS
the person in possession is declared
the legitimate heir or the property
reyerts without qualification 10 the
government. Repeated Investigations
have shown that, before the war.
there were no such estates. Since
that time, Of course, some properties
may have been left for which no helrs
can be found. due to the extraordinary
death rate of war years. In such
cases the proper procedure would ne
to place the case in the hands OF a
reputable German law firm. to when
the claimant may he referred by the
American consul general in Germany.
II would he necessary to furnish den
mite information. however. before
reputable firm would start work on
the case.
The most persistent OF all the
swindles is that Of band of shys-
tiers in Spain who still are operating
so cleverly that they can evade the
Spanish law. which has no provision
for barring them from the mails.
This swindle started during the Span
ish War and still furnishes its per-
petrators with a good living.
Letters From Prisoners.
The American receives a letter from
a political prisoner or a condemned
spy. The location always depends
upon what part of the world is at war
at the time. Just now the letter prob
ably would come from China, or pos
sibly from Russia. The recipient is
told that he is a distant relative of
the writer, who is held in prison con-
demned to death. The letter has been
struggled out by the prison priest.
The unfortunate man has daughter
about whose future he is greatly con-
cerned. and he wishes to entrust her
upbringing to this distant relative.
She has a fortune of 100000, one
fourth of which is to be the reward
for caring for her.
The relative is urged to write to the