THE STORY OF A REMITTANCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14301, 22 February 1910, Page 6

THE STORY OF A REMITTANCE.

WINDFALL FOR OTAGO UNIVERSITY.

[from our OWN,- correspondent.]

London, January 14. Br / a peculiar chain/of: circumstances / the /University? of Ot-ago will further ■ benefit to the. extent of possibly £100 under the will of the late Arthur Beverley, the well-known scientist: The story has the: elements of: a mild romance. Away back ,in the -'fifties the glamour "of tho Australian goldfields

drew -Mr. ISavcrlejv -among thousands of others, from the quiet humdrum-of life in Scotland. " Ho loft an aged mother, to whom i until her death a : few years later he ' con tinued to write and forward money. One .'of these remittances, despatched from Vic- . toria about. 1853, : was-on the way; when the : old lady died.-.The money had been senl to ■ the car©' of; the : clergyman; the - Rev James Stirling,", and he, being unaware ; o the address 7 ' of > the sender, was at a los: hat to* do with it. Kvonually ho decidcc

A - otg to do Si»»*._ -ypp-.; — vwa v . to place it in ~ the savings bank, and by i . tricic of memory he opened f the ' account in •'the' name of • Alexander Beverley." " 'Tho, years rolled. by, and nobody appeared to claim tho money. At lensrth the time came ■when, by the ; winding up of . the estate of Mr. Stirling, the money - would have been paid into Chancery, in the, alienee of a claimant. The duty; of winding up fell to the lot of the deceased clergyman's son, Lord Justice Sir James , Stirling, and lie determined to make one more effort to ascertain who was entitled to the money. •One. of the advertisements for the next-of-kin of -"Alexander Beverley, who had been in Victoria at such and such a' date," went

■v* to a Melbourne paper, where it caught the - eye, of Mr. Dunn, who was for* many years a bookseller in Oeorge-stroet, Dunedin.He suspected the name, and wrote to the solicitors, advising them to communicate with Sir Robert Stout, whom he knew as a close friend of Mr. Beverley. The ' letter from ,the solicitors passed Sir Robert whilo lie. was pn his way to England, and eventually caught hiin up here. As a result '.lie i-: met. Lord Justice Stirling and they discussed the case. Sir Robert held the opinion from the beginning that the name " Alexander" was a mistake ior " Arthur.?;. Tie described Mr. Beverley's personality and his accomplishments. . When Sir Robert mentioned that he was' fond ,of making telescopes, microscopes,'etc.. Lord Justice Stirling was at once convinced. " That is the man," lie declared. "I have one of his microscopes myself." Having satisfied himself as to the identity ci the two Bevorleys; Sir .James considered the way clear for the application of the money as provided in Mr. Beverley's will, - ft will, therefore, go to the University of Otago. , - [<• -