Business & Finance: Distant Millions

Last fortnight Attorney Will H. Latta, of Indianapolis, was killed when a train struck his automobile. Last week Attorney Latta’s will left public bequests of more than $160,000,000. Yet no rich man was Attorney Latta. His total estate came only to some $170,000.

Explanation of the discrepancy lay in the fact that the legacies, bound up for the present in a $50,000 trust fund, cannot be collected until the year 2129, when they will go to various Indianapolis art, musical and educational institutions. By that time the laws of compound interest will, unless higher laws intervene, have operated to create the $160,000,000 figure.