MR. ALFRED BEIT'S WILL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13278, 10 September 1906, Page 6

MR. ALFRED BEIT'S WILL.

A GENEROUS DISTRIBUTION.

Tue will of Mr. Alfred Beit is a document remarkable alike for the importance of the bequests to public and Imperial objects and the character and scope of its provisions. The total bequests in actual cash amount to nearly £2,000,000, while there is also a large and valuable estate, worth several hundreds of thousands of pounds, left to tho city of Hamburg, a valuable Reynolds left to the National Gallery, and other legacies of an treasures to museums in Berlin and Hamburg. The only will that has in any way approximated to this (reports the Pall Mall Gazette of Julv 21) was that of the late Mr. Cecil Rhodes, who, in providing for the vast scheme of scholarships which have been given his name, and for other bequests, left a. sum which totalled nearly £2,000,000. Tho public bequests are as follows:—£1,200,000 for the promotion, construction, and furtherance of railways, telegraphs, and telephones, etc., in South' and North Rhodesia, Portuguese and German East Africa, and other parts traversed by the Cape to Cairo Railway. Two hundred thousand pounds to the University of Johannesburg. Two hundred thousand pounds for educational, public, or charitable purposes in Rhodesia. Fifty thousand pounds and 5000 De Beers Consolidated Preferred shares of £2 10s each to the College for Technology, London University. Twenty-five thousand pounds to the Institute of Medical Sciences fund, London University. Twenty-five thousand pounds to Rhodes University, Grahamstown, £20,000 for educational and charitable purposes in the Transvaal. Fifteen thousand pounds for the same .purposes in or near Kimberley. Fifteen thousand pounds for same purposes in Cape Colony (excluding Kimberley). Ten thousand pounds to Rhodes Memorial fund, Capo'own. Twenty thousand pounds to King Edward VII 'a . Hospital', fund.' Twenty thousand pounds to Guv's Hospital. Twenty thousand pounds for charitable purposes in London. Twenty thousand pounds for charitable purposes in Hamburg. Ten thousand pounds to Union Jack Club. London. The total amount of the money bequests to educational, charitable, and other pub'ic objects thus exceeds £1."60 000. Mr. Be.it al<© leaves large sums to his -relatives, legacies to friends, and gifts to his clerks and servants. The residue of his estate is bequeathed absolutely to his brother, Mr. Otto Beit. 1