The Figures, However, Are Tentative, as Final Appraisal Has Not Been Filed
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MORE HEARINGS TO BE HELD
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Partial Schedules in the Estate of Benjamin Guggenheim Show Assets of $748,000
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Edmond E. Wise, head of the law firm of Wise & Seligsberg of27 William Street, counsel for the estate of Isidor Straus, who losthis life In the sinking of the Titanic, expressed surprise yesterday athis home in Elberon, N. J., when informed of a published attempt togive a detailed account of the appraisal of the estates of Mr. Strausand of his wife, Mrs. Ida Straus, who perished with him. Mr. Wise said:
"The published report cannot and does not, I am sure, represent thefinal judgment of Appraiser Garvin, who promised that we should have anopportunity to offer more testimony before formulating his report."
Notwithstanding a statement that the appraisals had been filed, noreport in either of the Straus estates was deposited in the office ofthe Transfer Tax Bureau of the Surrogate's Court on Saturday, accordingto William H. Loughran of 224 East Fifty-third Street, chief of thatbureau.
Appraiser Garvin was not at his office in the Deputy State Controller'sheadquarters on Saturday, the day he was represented as signing thereports. During the last few weeks various incomplete and unsignedreports of the inheritance tax appraisers have been offered for sale atseveral newspaper offices. These were on the official stationery of theState Controller's office, and appeared to be carbon coples of lists ofsecurities and testimony given in appraiser's hearings.
Attorney Wise said yesterday that any published figures could representnothing more than a first draft of the estate, and that he had beenadvised recently that Mr. Garvin would not take any further action onthe Straus appraisals for some time.
Estate Placed at $4,427,608
The report in question gives this account of the assets and deductions from the taxable total of Mr. Strauss estate:
ASSETS.
Real property..........$400,000
Cash in hand and on deposit..........2,423
Personal chattels, bonds and mortgages..........20,516
Corporate bonds and stock..........71,004
Interest in co-partnership or business..........3,381,163
Total assets..........4,565,106
DEDUCTIONS
Funeral expenses..........$2,716
Administrator's expenses, including attorney's fees..........55,000
Commissions, including appraisers fees..........18,008
State inheritance tax and incidental items..........61,773
Total deductions.......... $137,497
Net estate..........$4,427,608
The gross value of the estate of Mrs. Straus was placed at $325,578 and its net value at $319,940.
Mr. Straus's interest in the various co-partnerships was thus stated:
R. H. Macy & Co.Tangible assets, $602,777; good will, $1,101,268: real estate, $1,637,834.
Abraham & Straus---Good will, $374,258.
L. Straus & Sons---Tangible assets, $9,741; good will, $165,194.
It a customary in appraisals of estates where the good will of a goingbusiness is included among the assets to give an account of the profitsof the business over a period of years. Since the appraisers usuallyaccept such figures as final on the sworn statement of the auditor ofthe business these figures will appear in the final appraisal.According to this draft of the report R. H. Macy & Co.'s profitswere divided on this basis in 1912:
Isidor Straus, 26 per cent..........$549,741
Nathan Straus, 50 per cent..........1,057,194
J. L. Straus, son of Isidor, 8 per cent.........169,151
Percy Straus, son of Isidor, 8 per cent..........169,151
H. W. Straus, son of Isidor, 8 per cent..........169,151
Total profits..........$2,114.388
Sons' Interests in Macy & Co.
It was stated yesterday that Mr. Straus, originally an equal partner inthe Macy corporation with his brother, Nathan Straus, had presented 24per cent. of the corporations stock to his three sons in equal sharesof 8 per cent. each four years before his death.
Mr. Straus's will created life trust funds of $500,000 each in favor ofhis three daughters. Mrs. Straus left no will. In accordance with thelong-established legal precedent, that in the absence of evidence tothe contrary that it shall be presumed when husband and wife perish ina common catastrophe that the wife died first, the divisible shares ofthe Straus heirs were computed without taking into consideration a$1,200,000 trust fund Mr. Straus had provided for his wife.
The taxable share of each of Mr. Straus's sons was put at $465,859.67in the tentative report, and those of his daughters as follows: Mrs.Sarah Hess of 154 West Seventy-second Street, at $701,851; Mrs. MinnieWeil of 163 West Eighty-sixth Street at $708,074, and Mrs. VivianScheftel of the Hotel Plaza, at $723,701. The discrepancy in the taxesagainst the daughters was due to the fact that owing to differences intheir ages it was presumed that their life estates in $500,000 haddifferent values. Mr. Straus's residence at West 105th Street, Broadwayand West End Avenue, was appraised tentatively at $488,000.
Benjamin Guggenheim's Estate
What purported to be a list of the assets and liabilities of BenjaminGuggenheim, who also perished in the sinking of the Titanic, was alsomade public yesterday. Schedules of these assets were said to havebeen. deposited in the State Controller's office by Mr. Guggenheim'sbrother and the executors of his estate. The schedules showed holdingsestimated by the executors at $748,010.16 and large stock and bondholdings on which no estimate was offered. The list of liabilitiesincluded $908,172.86.
Among the claims held by Mr. Guggenheim was one of $500,000 againstElie Cohen & Co., Elie Cohen individually and Rudie Kahn,individually, all of Paris, now in the hands of Coudert Brothers forcollection. The report of the executors of the Guggenheim estate showreal estate holdings at 192½ to 200 Greene Street, Manhattan, valued at$13,812.50. They also report:
Cash on hand and on deposit:
Cash deposit with M. Guggenheim Sons..........$114,196
National Bank of Commerce..........3,406
Standard Trust Company..........128
E. de Goldschmidt & Co., Paris.... 2,163
Seligman Freres, Paris..........3,012
Society Marseillaise..........653
Deposit H. Content & Co..........218,305
Total..........$341,863
STOCKS AND BONDS
2,000 Auto Club of America 4 per cent. bonds..........$2,000
61,000 Newton Gas and Electric 5 per cent. bonds..........18,000
2,000 Century Country Club 4 per cent. bonds..........18,000
1,000 City Athletic Club 4 per cent. bonds..........1,000
5,000 Criterion Club second mortgage 4 per cent. bonds..........5,000
6,050 Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining and Concentrating Company, par value $10..........90,750
5,000 Doeuillet, Ltd.,an English company ..........23,190
3,009 Preferred New River Collieries Company..........120,360
200 Banque Continental de Paris..........10,000
2,857 shares Guggenheim Smelting Company at 10..........28,570
1,426 share Great National Mexican Smelting Company at $5..........7,130
143 shares Mexican Union Railway Company at 25..........3,575
NOT ESTIMATED
10,500 shares International Pump common and 2,000 shares preferred assecurity for loan at National Park Bank.
6,000 shares International Pump Company common and 1,000 shares preferred as security for loan at National Bank of Commerce.
2,700 shares International Pump Company as security for loan at Hirsch-Lillienthal Company.
50,040 shares Justice Mining Company, Incorporated, New Jersey, par value $1.
DEBTS
Loan at National Bank of Commerce..........$150,000
Loan at National Park Bank..........300,000
Loan at Hirsch-Lillienthal Co...........46,687
Loan at Seligsberg & Co...........27,631
J. & W. Seligman, "put-back" contract made by Guggenheim topurchase on May 31, 1912, 7,400 of InternationalPump common stock at $38..........281,200
Hallgarten & Co., contract to purchase 300 shares InternationalPump common, May 31, 1911..........11,400
Post &. Flagg, put-back contract to purchase 3,000 sharesInternational Pump at $38, May 31, 1912..........114,000
Jules Porges, through 'National City Bank, "put-back" contract topurchase 2,000 shares International Pump commonMarch 17, 1913. at $30..........60,000
Speyer & Co., "put-back" contract for 2,000 shares InternationalPump common, May 31, 1913, at $30..........60,000
H. Content & Co., account in the name of Willis Farrington,guaranteed by Guggenheim, amounting to $87,216.98,for which there were 1,000 shares International Pump preferred, valuedat $81,500, leaving balance dueof..........5,716
Alphonse Jongers, artist, claim of $5,000 for painting two portraits ofMr. Guggenheim. Mr. Jongers heldtwo notes aggregating $2,145.03, leaving unpaid due onclaim..........1,000
Owed to International Steam Pump Company..........15,200
Florette Guggenheim..........9,407
Benita R. Guggenheim..........3,607
Marguerite S. Guggenheim..........2,303
Hazel Guggenheim..........1,632
The International Steam Pump Company is a Guggenheim corporation.
Comment and discuss