THE HOUSTON MILLIONS

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 3, 3 July 1926, Page 9

THE HOUSTON MILLIONS

FIGHT FOE CONTROL CONTINUES.

(Australian-New Zealand Cable Assn.) LONDON, Ist July.

A sidelight on the fate of the Houston millions was in evidence in the Jersey Court to-day. The Court declined the application of Lady Houston to its appointment of a controller for the estate under the old Jersey^custoin for a year and a day. The »late Sir Eobert Houston's American grandson, who claimed to be sole heir, opposed the controlship of the estate, whic! is now estimated to work out at £6,000,000. The real trial will come on Saturday, when, on behalf of Lady Houston, eight of the most eminent London specialists, whose fees amount to £10,000, will certify to the Appeal Court that she is sane and capable of managing her own affairs.

On Ist May, Lady louston, widow of the Liverpool shipowner, Sir Robert Houston, who died in leaving a fortune of several millions, was declared mentally and physically incapable of taking care of herself or her future. The Court decided to appoint an annual curator of her estate.

Lady Houston, whom four specialists recently examined and declared mentally and physically fit, petitioned the Jersey Court against the annual appointment of a curator of her late husband's large estate.- She pointed out that a specialist's report showed that her ill-health culminated in an attack of jaundice, accompanied by mental confusion, which disapneared when the jaundice was cured. The Court adjourned the application to enable the principal residents of the island to hear medical evidence in accordance with the Channel Islands law.

Lady Houston, on hearing the decision, collapsed, declared it unfair, and alleged a conspiracy against her.