FORTUNE OF £3,000,000.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXIX, Issue 56, 25 February 1913, Page 6

FORTUNE OF £3,000,000.

■ '""I" '■ HOST OF CLAIMANTS. ' AUCKLAND Feb. 21. The fortune of '.:3 ( 00(J 000 which it was ascertained reoently might hive been claimed bv the army veteran RiohaM John Walters, who died at Point Chevalier recently, is arousing a great deal of .rsteiest. It will bo rj meiribered th<it . Walters was m the em Dloy of -jilr W Mayson, of Point Chevalier, ;mi \Va,< ol' eccentric habits. He often hinted that he was heir to an English: estate of big proportions, but he always said that he was too old to bother about the money as he could not enjoy the fruits of it if he went to the trouble of Retting it. It has now been found that the estate which Walters might have claimed is that known as "Westlands," in South Wales. Upon it are very rich coal, lead and slate deposits, and together with a large number of bonds and securities the whole estate runs up to the value of over £8,000,000. There are a host of claimants to this magnificent fortune, and it is surprising how many people are writing to Mr Mayson in order to find out if they are any relation of the dec-eased pensioner. Some of the letters are very interesting. It is said by those who have gone thoroughly into the estate that the claimant who appears to have the most hope of obtaining the fortune is Mr John; It. Walters, a young man who is now resident at Benoni, Transvaal. Some years ago Mr John Walters, sen.' (now deceased), father of the claimant, heard that in the family there were estates of considerable value. His inquiries led him to London, where the matter was brought before the Chancery Court. Mr •Walters, jun., now writes to Mr Mayson to say that when the case had been dealt with the presiding judge said that the claim to the heritage had only one missing link. If Mr Walters, sen., could find a certain "Richard John Walters," and clear up the mystery of his whereabouts, the fortune would undoubtedly revert to the claimant when the Richard John Walters died. A world tour was then taken by Mr Walters. sen., and his son, Mr j. R. Walters (the present claimant from South 1 Africa) in search of Richard John Walters. Only two years aco they returned to the Transvaal without' discovering his whereabouts. Mr Walters, sen., subsequently died. Another active »uri suit of the big estate is being made by Mr J. R. Walters, and he has engaged a London firm of solicitors to further his claim, pending his arrival in London from Capetown. There are a number of other cla'mants. One is a_ young man named Stanley Arthur W r alters, now of Leicester, England, but formerlv a sorter in the General Post Office in Wellington. In a letter to Mr Mayson he states that he often heard that he had an uncle in New Zealand, but he could never locate him. In the meantime the estate still lies in Chancery at Home, and the .Public Trust Offices of both England and New Zealand . are pursuing inquiries about the claimants.