Mr. Davis, of Clapham, England, left the sum of 5s. “to Mary Davis, daughter of Peter Delaport, which is sufficient to enable her to get drunk for the last time at my expense.”
Imaginary Wife and Children
A Mr. George, resident of one of the British Colonies, who died possessed of a large property, contrived to puzzle the brains of his executors by imagining and inserting in his will two heirs who had no existence but in his brain. After bequeathing his worldly goods in the usual form, he named as his residuary legatees a son and daughter, whom he stated to be his children by a beautiful Circassian he had married at Plymouth in St. Peter’s Church. He added that, though the lady had subsequently eloped with a parson, he bore no ill-will to the children, whom she had taken with her, but should be glad to think they would be traced and apprised of their good fortune.
The whole romance turned out to be a complete fabrication, but not until it had severely tried the patience of the executors.
This Foolish World a Dream
Harris Bletzer, who died on August 21, 1910, at his home, 35 Moore Street, Brooklyn, N.Y., worth about $10,000, had pretty definite ideas as to how he wanted his money to go after his death, and he also had come to the conclusion that, after all, this was a foolish world and a dream, so he wrote down in Hebrew his philosophical conclusions and had it properly attested as his last will and testament. This remarkable document has been translated for Surrogate Ketcham’s benefit, and it has been offered for probate.
Mr. Bletzer wants his wife to have all his money for her lifetime, and she isn’t to be dictated to by anybody, either, as to what she does with it, the testator says, for she worked for it as hard as her husband did. But he says that when their two daughters, Sarah and Mazie, get married, their mother can spend $2000 upon each of them, and it shall be considered as their share of their father’s estate. After the widow dies, then the money is to be divided among the sons. The reason for his opinion of life is given in language not quite grammatical, as follows:
“Lying in my bed, with my weak strength, and figured out with a clear mind and a clear conscience, man going through his life in this foolish world; so I have decided, with my full reason, that the entire world is a dream. The years run by and the day of leave-taking is expected, and I have decided to declare what shall be done with my little wealth which I have accumulated by my sweat through my hard work.”
It paid to be Heavy
A Scotchman left to each of his daughters her weight in one-pound bank notes. By this provision, one daughter, being stouter than the other, received $30,000 more than her sister.