Evening star., 1937-05-24

/ Z kS.y
no immediate cause for alarm and
nothing about his fathers condition
to warrant special trip to Florida.
Saturday night he lapsed into a
slight coma. The heart that drove
him through all the tempestuous
years Of building an "oil empire
pulsed with slowly weakening
tempo.
At 2 am. he reused to murmur
something to his valet Of 20 years,
John H. Yordi.
He asked to be raised higher in his
bed, and when it was done, he whis-
pered thinly:
There, that's better"
So far as is known, they were his
last words. Apparently he had no
realization that the end was near.
He closed his eyes, and two hours later
in the hush of the Sabbath dawn, he
breathed his last.
Flag Signals Death.
His death was formally signaled to
the outside world at $50 am, when
a red-haired youth employed on the
estate raised worn American nag
to the top of the flagpole at the
Easements and then lowered it to
halfstaff.
Beyond the statement that his estate
was relatively small" no immediate
information was forthcoming as to
how much the one-time multi
millionaire retained for his own per-
sonal needs.
He had disposed Of most Of his
vast holdings. however, as early as
1922. In that year, according to a re-
port to Congress, he paid tax of only
$l2,063.03 on his net income.
Almost legendary figure to genera
tions which have grown up in the
past 80 or 40 years, the modern
Midas" as he was sometimes called,
bobbed into public attention with
clock-like regularity once a year-on
his birthday.
Otherwise, except when his natal
anniversary brought forth the familiar
pictures Of his frail. stoop-shouldered
figure with the silvery toupee, the
sunken, parchment-like face and
deep-set, twinkling blue eyes, he
lived in quiet seclusion-an almost
forgotten anachronism of Americas s
roaring industrial pioneer days.
Yet to the last he clung tenaciously
to life. He was confident he would
reach 100.
Then" he said, with a quiet
chuckle, "I1l really begin to live!"
His major concern. in the last two
decades, was to prolong his life as
much as possible. Physicians con-
stantly checked on his physical con-
dition, watching his diet, regulating
his exercise and relaxation. His
habits were clock-like, all ordered with
a view to conserving his health.
He travelled with the seasons, spend
Ing the Winter at Ormond Beach
and the Summer either at his Lake
wood, N. J. home or at Pocantico
Hills, at Tarrytown N. Y.
He lived on diet of at least IS
per cent vegetables. He rose regularly
at 7 am. and retired on the dot at
9pm.
And it was to this regularity-and
to his lifelong habit of catching
40 winks" during the afternoon-that
he attributed his longevity.
Although his sight had dimmed in
recent years, he retained acute hear
ing to the end, and 1t was said that he
could hear whisper clear across the
ROOM"
Despite his advanced years he kept
well informed on current world events
having his secretary read him the
newspapers every morning. It wa,
said he followed with keen interest the
romance Of former King Edward VIII
and his hmerican-born bride-to-be
Mrs. Wallis Warfield.
The man who earned pennies at Z
dollars at 10 and untold millions at
20, pyramiding his savings into the
Standard Oil trust, which once con.
trolled three -fourths of the country's
petroleum output, turned all his ener-
gies in the last half of his life to giv-
ing his millions away.
Il believe 1t Is every mans religious
ouCy w ee' @A Aie CoA AoAeotAJ auo
to give all we can," he said once.
He practioed his precept-to q
greater extent, both ways, than any
other figure In history,
Beneficience WIDESPREAD.
Institutions in far lands benefited tc
the extent Of huge sums from hi,
highly organized benefcence- -univer.
stiles, hospitals, scientific research
laboratories. churches and othe,