INSANE MAN'S WONDERFUL WILL.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 257, 9 March 1917, Page 4 (Supplement)

INSANE MAN'S WONDERFUL WILL.

In tho jXK'kvt of an old, ragged coat belonging to 0110 of tlio lusano patients of t.-io Jncago poor ho use, there was tound, after the patient's death, a will, illy man had been a lawyer, and the will was written 111 a hrm, clear hand on a tow .-crap, of paper. .So unusual was; it that it wa, sent to a lawyer; and lie read it before tiie Chicago Bar Association, and a resolution wa» posed ordering it probated. And now at is ou the re.oid of Cook County, Illinois It rea- ay follows :

1, Charles Lounsberry, being of sound and disposing mind and memory, do hereby make and publish this my will and testament, in order, as justly as may Ise, to distribute my interest in the wor.d among succeeding men.

lli.it part of my interests which is known m lan* and recognised in the she:>p-lx>und volumes as my properly being inconsiderable and or none account, 1 mn.ko no disposition of in this my .will. My right to live, being ftut a fife estate, is not at my disposal, but, tueve tilings excepted, all else in the world I now proceed to devise and bequeath.

Item: I .eave to good fathers and mothers, in trust for their children, all good little words of prii.se and encouragement, and all quaint pet names and endearments; and I charge said parents to uso theni justly and generously, as tho needs of their children shall require.

Item : I leave to children inclusively, but only lor the term of their childhood, all and every the flowers of the fields and tho blo-soms of tho woods, with the right to juy unr ng them frce'y ar ;ording to the cu-tonis of children, warning th< m at the same tme against thi-t-'es and horns. And I devise o children the banks of the brooks and the golden sands beneath the water? then ;.f, and the odour* of the willows that dijt therein, and tho white clouds that float high over the giant trees. And 1 leave to the children tho long, long days to lie merry in, in a thousand ways, and the night and tho train of tho Milky Way to wonder at, but, subject, nevertheless, to the rights hereinaiter given to lovers. I l-.'iu : I devise to boys, jointly, all tho useful, idle fields and commons where ball may be played, all pleasant waters where one may swim, all snow-clad hills where one may coast, and al! stream i an.] pends where oiu- may fish, or where, when grim winter comes, one may skate, to hold the same for the jieriod of their boyhood. And all meadows, with lite clover blossoms and butt; flies thereof; the woods with their appurtane; s :the squirrels and the birds and eciioe-, and strange noises, and all distant places which may be vL-ited. to-

gether with the adventure-, there found. And I give to said boys each his own pace at tho fireside at night, with all picture.-* that may be -ecu in the burnnig wood, to enjoy tin 111 without let or hindrance or without- any incumbrance or rare. hem . To lovers I devise their imaginary world, with whatever they may lived, as the stars of the «ky. th? red p •; b\ the wall, the bloom of the hawthorn, the sweet strain- of music, and aught else they mal desire to figure, to each other the lastingue-s and beauty of their love.

horn: To young 111:11. jointly, I device and hcpioath all l>oi-uroii-\ i»;<r spo. t- or rivalry, and I jiive t-o thorn liif (!i-»i':iin or woakiu-s ;iini undaunted confidence in thoii* own strength. I'hciigh thov are i iitl. 1 . I leave to them the pr.'.vor to make I.t-tin«i friendships

:\:i dot po-sov-ino oninjiaiiioiis. and to them exeliisivclv 1 give all merry foticr and ' ' :.r r-cs to >-ii• with lusty voices. item ? And to tho-< who are no lonir- (■!• chi'drcn or youths or lovers. 1 leave iiio'ii rv. and lioijiieath to them the volume-. i f the poems of Hums and S'aakespeiro ami of other poets, if there lie oi'u 's. T.i i'm end that they mav live the old.'ays over a'ciin. fnvly a.nd fully. w itliout i tho i.r diiiiimiioii. 11<>;n : To our 1 v. I on - with -mop.t crown- I heipuath the haje»i:;e s ( i| o'd a 1 *", the love and irratitude of their c l lll< Ift■ ii. until they Jail asleep.