SOME FRAGILE HOPES

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4326, 10 August 1937, Page 2

SOME FRAGILE HOPES

One of the tilings which struck John Gibbons when ho used to answer questions for a popular paper was the vast number of people who were encouraged by reports of auctions to think that they possessed valuable old books or pictures. If a rare edition of ‘ Pilgrim’s Progress ’ were auctioned at £I,OOO, there would be floods of letters from people who also had very ancient books, and wanted to know how they could get their £I.OOO. “ This has queer pictures in,” one letter said, “ therefore it must be still more valuable.” It was the same with pictures and coins, and Mr Gibbons often thought it was pathetic for hardup people to waste stamps sending in stuff not worth twopence. Another class of letter writer was composed of those who believed that they were heirs to lost fortunes. “ I’ve known people go literally mad, hunting for estates like that,” said Mr Gibbons. “ They give up their jobs and spend their days haunting the Law Courts and searching old papers in free libraries, and they get shabbier and shabbier, and finally go insane, bunting for a fortune which isn’t there. Those are extreme cases, of course, but I know there must be thousands of decent families believing themselves owners of some mysterious estate if only they had their rights! It’s no secret.

“ The Law Courts themselves periodically issue a statement warning the public against lost fortunes, but because it’s an official statement in a drylooking paper, the public doesn’t read it.” Air Gibbons admitted that there is money left to people, and there are old books and so forth worth big sums; but it is not wise to set too much store on fragile hopes.