A STRANGE WILL

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1777, 17 January 1918, Page 4

A STRANGE WILL

PENNILESS MAN’S BEQUEST

TO MANKIND,

In the pocket of an old, ragged coat belonging to one of the insane patients of the Chicago poorhouse, there was found, after the patient’s d „tb, av, i 1;. The man had been a lawyer,tand the will was written in a firm, clear hand on a few scraps of paper. So unusual was it that it was sent to a lawyer, and he read it before the Chicago Bar Association, and a resolution was passed ordering it to be probated. And now it is in the record of Cook County, Illinois. It reads as follows; —

I, Charles Lounsberry, being of sound and disposing mind and memory, do hereby make and publish this my last will and testament, in order, as justly as maybe, to distribute my interest in the world among succeeding men.

That part of my interests which is known in law and recognised in the sheep-bound volumes as my property being inconsiderable and of none account, I make no disposition of in this my will. My right to live, being but a life estate, is not at my disposal, but, these things excepted, all else in the world I now proceed to devise and bequeath. Item: I leave to good fathers and mothers, in trust for their children, all good little words of praise and encouragement, and all quaint pet names and endearments; and I charge said parents to use them justly and generously, as the needs of their children shall require. Item: I leave to children inclusively but only for the term of their childhood, all and every the (lowers of the fields and the blossoms of the woods, with the right to play among them freely according to the customs of children, warning them at (he same time against thistles and thorns. And 1 devise to children the banks of the brooks and the golden sands beneath the waters (hereof, and the odours of the willows that dip therein, and the white clouds that float high over the giant trees. And I leave to the children the long, long days to be merry in, in a thousand ways, and the night and the train of the Milky Way to wonder at, but, subject, nevertheless, to the rights hereinafter given to lovers.

Item: I devise to boys, jointly, all the useful, idle fields and commons where hall may be played, all pleasant waters where one may swim, all snow-clad hills where one may coast, and all streams and ponds where one may fish, or where, when grim winter comes, one may skate, to hold the same for the period of their boyhood. And all meadows, with the clover blossoms and butterflies thereof; the woods with their appurtenances; the squirrels and the birds, and echoes, and whispering leaves, and murmuring streams, and all distant places which may he visited, together with the adventures there found. And 1 give to said hoys each his own place at the fireside at night, with all pictures that may be seen !n the burning wood, to enjoy them without let or hindrance, or without any encumbrance or care. Item: To lovers I devise their imaginary world, with whatever they mav need, as the stars of the sky, the red roses by the wall, tbc bloom of the hawthorn, the sweet strains of music, and aught else they may desire to be-tow upon each other the sweetness of their love.

Item-: To young men, jointly, I devise and bequeath all boisterous, inspiring sports of rivalry, and I give to them the, disdain of weakness and undaunted confidence in their strength. Though they arc rude, I leave to them the power to make lasting friendships and of possessing companions, and to them exclusively I give all merry songs and choruses to sing with lusty voices. .Item; To onr loved ones with snowy crowns I bequeath the happiness of old age, the love and gratitude of their children until they cross the border into the Summerland.