MILLIONAIRE’S FATE.

Waikato Times, Volume 105, Issue 17786, 10 August 1929, Page 14 (Supplement)

MILLIONAIRE’S FATE.

LAST LETTER OF SIR MORTIMER SINGER.

“NOTWITHSTANDING THE DRUGS I HAVE TAKEN.”

“Still wide awake, notwithstanding all the drugs I have taken. I cannot stand it any longer.” This was an extract from a letter left by Sir Mortimer Singer, 65, the famous millionaire sportsman, horse-breeder, and aviation pioneer, who died in a Hampstead nursing home, where he had been under treatment for internal trouble and sleeplessness. Sir Mortimer was the eldest son of the Singer sewing machine inventor, whose fortune was estimated at £4,000,000. The inquest on Sir Mortimer was opened by the Central London coroner, Sir Walter Schroder, who adjourned the inquiry in order that Sir Bernard Spilsbury, the Home Office pathologist, might make an analysis of the contents of the stomach.

Mr Washington Singer, a brother, stated that Sir Mortimer had been suffering from sleeplessness for about three years. He had received frequent medical attention. The matron of the nursing home, Miss Lund, explained that she saw Sir Mortimer daily. Recently he, remarked, “Is it any good going on? Am I getting any better?” He had expressed his intention of going down to the country, when he was due to leave the nursing home, and he seem-, ed quite cheerful. Mrs Muriel Harris, a nurse at the home, related that she had attended Sir Mortimer since his adimission. When she entered his room on the morning of June 23 she saw him lying on his side hardly breathing. “He

Was Holding a Letter in his hand,” she added. “Nearby was a tumbler containing a spoon and a white sediment. On the table near his bedside was an envelope containing a tablet." Mrs Harris added that Sir Mortimer died in the early hours of the following morning. Dr. Robert Turle Bakewell, of St. John’s Wood Court, Hampstead, stated that he had attended Sir Mortimer for some years, the first occasion being after Sir Mortimer had been involved in an air crash in 1910.' Dr. Bakew ; ell declared that Sir Mor-

timer worried a great deal of late about his wife, who underwent an operation for septic tonsils recently. He never really recovered from that worry. He used to take medinal, and always carried some about with him. He went' to the nursing home for treatment with a vaccine to :restore his health. Witness added that he had prescribed a dose of two fivegrain tablets of medinal for Sir Mortimer daily. When he saw him on June 23 he was in a state of collapse and unconscious, and more or less rigid. Asked by Sir Walter Schroder if he could state the cause of death, Dr. Bakewell replied, “Not definitely, although it might be due to coma,” but he did not think it wffi due to natural causes. The coroner, before adjourning the inquest, read the extract, quoted above, from the letter left by Sir Mortimer. It was stated that Lady Singer, the widow, was too ill to attend the inquiry. Sir Mortimer Singer was born in the United States, but became a naturalised British subject in 1900. He was educated at Cambridge. He was an ardent and practical sportsman. His fame as a breeder of racehorses and as a yacht owner was established_ many years ago, but he was even better known for his inteest in aviation. Sir Mortimer’s intense interest in aviation was the indirect cause of his second marriage. He had an aeroplane accident in Cairo in 1910, and was nursed by Miss Aline Pilavoine, and they were married in Hove Parish Church, in 1913. Sir Mortimer’s numerous charitable gifts, which brought him a knighthood in 1920, included the equipment of a convalescent home at Milton Hill, Berkshire, during the war. By living the greater part of his time in England he sacrificed annually a large portion of his income. Por under the system in force, against which he once protested to the income-tax authorities, -70 per cent, of his income was deducted either at its source in the United States or in England.