Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-08-31
osos.~oee vsoss~ses

should be those 20 be dealt with All measures
would naturally be taken 20 safeguard the m
terests OF any claimants who might appear
And Of course, as Lord Marchamley has md
Gated. apart from stores Of iHgots gold coins
precious stones and works Of art. there might
be many documents Of immediate national
Importance
Naturally it is impossible 10 form any
estimate of the value Of this hidden wealth
stored away in its dusty home But none with
any knowledge Of the customs OF Brjtons
during the past fcw centuries would deny that
II would easily amount 20 one hundred millions
sterling Some economic experts have placed
the figure at ten times that amount
OF course. legislation would be necessary
before any Government could deal with The
matter and. normally speaking, such is the
conservatism Of the English race the process
would meet with strong opposition, whatever
safeguards were LAID down But curious
things happen m national emergencies such az
that Of the moment IN Britain and even sHefJ
"A drastic course AS this meht,one day be put
:. into operation
In April 1888 the British Government vas
advertising for the owners of over So 600 600
in the Post office Savings Bank and also for
people 20 whom $4,000 made on account of
telephone deposits belonged
What unclaimed amounts there are IN the
$40 private savings banks rs mystery Three
years ago. in an advertised list Of dormant
accounts the Bolton Savings Bank included
the name OF Elizabeth ogden OF Turtou near
Bolton Her last transaction with the bank
was IN 1921 i2O years ago Since then she
has not been heard Of Then here was Mary
Barry OF Bradshawgate, who last visited the
Bolton bank in 1910.
And there are fortunes which have not
been paid into Chancery but are still m the
hands OF lawyers and trustees At the last
return in 1888 these amounted to So 900 600
There are also unclaimed bank balances.
largely made up Of small sums At the end
OF 1919 "A House Of Commons committee set
up by the Government 10 investig gate the mat
ter found that these balances amounted 20
between $4,000 600 and $50 600 II
then stated that these funds are never ali
sorbed into the capital Of banks, bat are car
Rcd forward year after year.
Many OF these larger balances il was
stated. had been left by women. one an old
lady. walked into "A branch bank deposited
60 800 in one pound notes and was never seen
heard Of again When the bank made in
qutIles. il was found that she had only stayed
at the address given for one month and even
the lawyer who had given the bank reference
on her behalf had no idea what had happened
60 her.
Long after the death Of Roald Amundsen, ,
the Norwegian explorer II was found that he
had deposited 81 500 in an English bank but
had apparently clean forgotten the occurrence.
hundreds of instances like this occur TO banks
and it is seldom that owners Of unclaimed
amounts are found even although their names
are advertised,
OF course this forgetfulness is not con-
fined 10 Britain II will be remembered that
il was found in 1897 that there we're five mil
lion people in the United States who had for
gotten amounts which totaed S1s9,03o 0O0