SOLDIERS' BEQUESTS

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XVII, Issue 5606, 1 May 1919, Page 3

SOLDIERS' BEQUESTS

I FORTUNES LEFT BEHIND. ■UOW THEY WERE DISPOSED OF. Ove: a."id over again we wove told by ~-ime of til--; Ausas'an Labour leaders j -.bat the war was a uip.ta.ists war, J writes •'Searcher ' in the Melbourne i Argus. By that they meant that capitalists oi all countries had planned the holocaust lor their own enrichment. As lar as the Brit'sli empire is concerned those who were born with silver spoens iu their mouths rushed to offer- their live'., their youtii, and their health to their country just as readily as any ! other section of the community. They ' did so freely long b:> ore there was any compui'sory «ervi'cj -in any part of the British Dominions, and in the records in which the-'r wills are effectively hidden from the gaze of the man in he .street, there are some striking figures Uustrative oi their uuselfisbness. La-it year alone there were lodged at Somerset House, I/jndon, the wills of ■lo fewer than 54 young naval and military officers, each of whom left an estate of over £50,000. A few of them were many times larger. Major Evelyn <l". Rothschilds, Bucks Hussars, who died > 'jom wounds in Egypt, .'or instau-'c, left property estimated at £SOO 000. and Major Miles Barnes, Suffolk Yeomanry, who (Ved from wounds m Fiance, had an estate valued at £445,000. SOME OF THE BEST.

Scores ami scores of the empire .«J best placed soils who in peace enjoyed to the fall the'r youth, their health, j and their ample fortunes, have given j then- lives; some oi their wills show that in face oi the realities of war and the danger of death thei- thoughts W ent bark to their schools, to their regi'ments. and to the dependants of foe gallant soldiers they led. Captain L I*. Clay, oi : the Yorkshire Dragoons, who was killed in France early last year, left £2OO to the Endowment Fund of Harrow school, and £l5O to the same school for an animal prize o--prizes for the boy or hoys considered by the headmaster to he most efficient in general knowledge. Lieutenant V . Ashcroft, Liverpool Beffmcnt, whose life was cut off in Fiance at the early age of 36, bequeathed £SOO for the benefit of any fund for a war memor s! for Birkenhead school. Captain (I. Sinclair, Black Watch, killed in action in April last, when, only 21, left £SOO to the officer commanding the Ist Battalion Black Watch for the benefit of the members thereof, whether past, -pro sent or future. LOVE OF THE REGIMENT. Those are typical instances of young officers’ thoughtfulness, and many more could be cited. Perhaps an even deeper sense of the sorrow and suffering the wa r has meant for the relatives of the Tommies was shown by Major R. C. F. Pollock, 32nd Lancers, Indian Army (all Indians except the higher officers), who bequeathed £SOO to the regiment, to be expended fin the two years follow • ing his death for the Irene fit of tin regiment, and £l5O to his native orderly, in recognition of long and faithful service. Another such bequest was by Major T. U. Barclay, of the Surrey Yeomanry, who was drowned at sea whilst on active service, and left £250 on trust for non-commissioned officers and men who had been hurt or disabled in m|ind and body during the present war! The largest bequest of this kind was by Lieutenant-Colonel R- P- Lewis. Manchester Regiment, who died from shell wounds in Flanders. He ;eL £2OOO to the 2nd Battalion, Manchester Regiment, for the benefit and comfoit of the officers and men during the war and thereafter for the widows of the men, £SOO to the same battalion for a painting on canvas depicting some ret of valour, £SOO for a bronze model for the officers’ moss depicting some act of valour, and £IOO for a similar bronze model for the non-commissioned office,s’ mess. Gunner H. P. Strong, who was killed in France, left £IOOO in trust during the life of Ins wife “to apply ' the income for a treat lor the children of Chelsea and district schools. Ban stead, such treat to consist of sweets, strawberries, or a visit to -the pantomime, and to be in the nature of a surprise. But of all the generous gifts by young officers the highest note of patriotism is struck in the will ol SubLieutenant J. E. 'Willis, 8.N.V.R.. who was killed in Franco. His total estate wms valued at only £B6l, hut out of tins ■ ho loft £3OO to His Majesty. “humbly requesting Iks Majesty to apply the ; same in the reduction of the National ■ Debt.”