Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-08

regulate after DEATH the distribu-
ton of their earthly possessions: In
the will of Henry Furstone of Alton,
N H he leaves his entire ana &C.
c,,unulated wealth of $35 600 to 1.-The first man
of nv name who shall marry woman OF the
same name to be paid them on their wedding
day." And in the will of an Englshman,
made few years ago, there is provided: i
bequeath to my monkey, my dear ana amusing
,Jacko the sum of f10 sterling per annum TO be
enuloyed for his sole and exclusive use ana
benefit; to my faithful dog, Shock, and my wen
beloved cat lib, pension Of E3 sterling; ana
I desire that, in case Of the death OF eltner
the elapsed pension shall pass TO the otner
two between whom it shall be equally divided.
On the death Of all three, the sum appro-
priated to this purpose shall become the prop
erty of my daughter, Gertrude, to whom give
this preference among my chi 1ren because OF
the large family she has and the difnculy she
finds in bringing them up.
velopment, for they 60 back rs far as the
custom of distributing property after death
by means of a last win and testament ITSELF
which dates into antiquity and has its early
beginnings, like the early beginnings OF most
things hidden by the accumulated dust Of
centuries.
As a point of Illustration we have the
Mohammedan story about how 70 legions Of
angels brought sheets Of paper and. nicely
nibbed quill pens to Our common forefatner'
Adam wherewith he produced Q win that was
witnessed by none other than the archangel
Gabriel himself. In the Vatican at Rome there
Is also q very curious document purporting to
be the viii Of Job and fun Of interesting de-
tails which somehow have not found their way
into the Bible-though an this evidence might
perhaps not be quite satisfying to a veratist
with an analytical turn Of mind.
Leaving the field Of the purely hypothetical
We ind that researchers in Egypt unearthed
a win executed about 5000 years before the
birth of Christi win, you please, which
was duly signed and witnessed in manner
almost identical to the customs Of this, the
twentieth century. Too. one OF the satires OF
Horace written long before the Christian era,
Is entitled Legacy Hunters" and contains
great deal Of information that might be
utilized today by those seeking to curry favor
from wealthy benefactors, while the fact that
Julius and Augustus. the two Caesars, deposited
testaments that stirred the Roman populace,
in the sacred temple Of vesta is a matter Of
record.
(OAnNG on up through the ages, we find
~ that disposition Of personal property by
means of will was q common occurrence at q
very early date In Great Britain. but not till
1910 was the right Of disposition Of real estate
conferred. Next, in 1876 comes the statute re-
quiring wills to be in writing and duly signed by
testator and witnesses. In those days. married
women rarely made wills, for they had little TO
poet to write:
men dying make their wills, but wives
Escape q work so sad;
why should they make what all their lives
The gentle danes have had?"
After the American Revolution the English
common law was adopted in the new Republic,
wherefore since the beginning Of the Federal
Union the procedure Of distributing property
by means of a will has been the customary and
daily occurrence in the Life Of the American
people.
In one Of Rider Haggard's best known stories
q testator, being shipwEecked and at the point
Of death on q desert island where there was
an absolute dearth Of material to write on,
caused his win TO be tattooed across the fair
white shoulders Of q young lady-an occur
renee that must have made many Q reader
wonder what happened when the win was
filed for probation. Fantastic though the story
may be. it Is hardly more fantastic than the
actual conditions under which some wills have
been written: for they have been scrawied on
pasteboard. labels, the back of blank checks.