BATTLEFIELD WILLS.

SOME STRANGE, PATHETIC DOCUMENTS.

"I leave her all." These four brief bui pregnant words, hastily scribbled by a mortally wounded man on the back of a lady's photograph, constituted the last will and testament of Lieut. Joseph A. Child, who fell fighting recently for King and country. Pathetically curious though the circmn-: stances of this will undoubtedly are, they are not by any means unique; for although every British soldier, before going on active service, is enjoined to make his will on one or the other of the forms thoughtfully provided for that -purpose by a paternal Government, many neglect to do so, with the result that when they find themselves mortally stricken on the field of battle, and with no one near to aid or advise them, they must perforce scribble their dying wishes as to the disposal of their effects on whatever material comes handiest. •Such documents are quite valid tinder these circumstances 1 , for the will of a soldier dying on active service need not necessarily be signed in the presence of witnesses; nor even signed at all, for that matter. WRITTEiN IX BLOOD. For instance, "Ail for my wife," were the words found scrawled with a nail on the back of the metal identification plate of a man killed at Xeuve Chapelle. This is probably the shortest w_l on record, for it ■was not signed, nor even Initialled. Xevertheless It was admitted to probate. Another will, written in blood on a. cigarette card, which was found on the body of a man killed near 'Mons, in the early of the war, contained only one word more:

"Everything to my dear wife." In this case, however, the signature was added.

The nickel-plated bullet now In vogue cannot be utilised as a pencil; bet the old, heavy, leaden Martini-Henry one could, and often was.

Thus, in the Soudan campaign of ISS_ after the battle of El Teb, a will indited | -with this curious "pencil" was found' scribbled on the inside of the flap of a dead soldier's ammunition poach. Another poor fellow, mortally wounded at Tamanieb hna i strength enough left, nevertheless, to utilise the bnllet In one of his undischarged carrrldges for the purpose of scrawling on his j helmet-pugaree the words, "All to my mother." Both "documents" were held to be good and valid.

Battlefield wills scratched with nails oa the soles of "ammunition" boots, oh bayonet-scabbards, and on the rough inner sides of the buff cross-belts which held together the old Slade-Wallace equipment, have also been registered at Somerset House, while (similar wills hastily scribbled on the backs of old envelopes, on the white edges of fragments of torn newspapers, on playing cards, and. In lacr, on any odds ana ends of material that can be written upon, are fairly common.

These precious documents are frequently deposited for safety ln the small chamber In the rifle-stock, designed primarily to hold the oil bottle and "pall-through." The reason for this is obvious. A soldier's rine is the last thing he will part with, even though he may be desperately wounded; and he knows perfectly well that it will be the very first articles ot his equipment which will be sought for, what time the men of the bearer-companies stumble upon his deaa body.

In the stocks of the old Martini-Henry there was no proper chamber, bat there did exist a curious little hollow ln the wood directly under the butt-plate. This hollow the soldiers of those days used to utilise ln a similar way, removing the two screws which held the plate in its place, and replacing them as soon as the precious scrap of paper had been safely deposited. So well was this practice recognised that, if no will was found secreted about the clothing of a soldier killed In action, an inspection of the cavity In questfbn was Invariably made.

These scrap-of-paper battlefield wills have also been, found wrapped round the bottom of the cieanlng-rod which' went with the old-pattern rifle; and in two cases, at all events, hidden within the breech-block. | Quite recently, too, the will of a man killed in action on the Western front, and whlcn had been written in pencil ou a torn piece: of a letter just before going- "over the top,--1 was found tightly rolled up and plugged Jnto the bowl of his briar-roo. pipe.

In the Crimea a sergeant of Dragoons traced his dying bequest with a forefinger j dipped iv his own blood on the bull of His glove, afterwards thrusting it Into the ear of his dead charger. The will was recovered in due counje, and deposited at Somerset House. WILL OX A ROCK. A curious battlefield will, made by a soldier killed in the first Afghan war, had, however, perforce to be left where It was. It was found Inscribed in blood on a tali rock situated about halfway up the famous Khyber -Pas 3, near the spot where oat brave fellows made their last stand against Akbar Khan's- wild Ghilzais.

It is not alocc soldiers, -however, who leave behind them these curior.s wills. Very many of the cases instanced above can De paralleled in civilian life.

For example, a Air. William Valentine, ot Melton Mowbray, who died a short while back, left a will written in red ink on the back of a cigarette-card. The document was duly witnessed, and was admitted to probate.

Written on the back of an old envelope, a three-word will of a Sir. Thorne, of Stre-th.-im, disposed of over £8000. "All for mother" was all that was contained in the body of the document.

Then, again, there is the historic case of Lord St. Leonards, the famous lawyer, who drew up his will so badly, utilising for the purpose two small scraps ot dirty paper, that the writing was found on his death to be absolutely Illegible, and his wishes as to the disposal of his property, which was very considerable, had to he interpreted in open court by the verbal evidence of his daughter, who had acted as hia secretary during the closing years of his life.— "Lloyd's News."