[PW] ] FW: Grace Singer

Wed Jul 18 21:19:03 PDT 2007

Hi!
>From what I see in perusing the many links to this story, the debunking 
appears to have come from the the Singer company. Another site details 
the award to Jack  Wurm as 6 million dollars and $80,000.00 per year
from Singer stock and an equal amount to Daisy Singer's attorney as 
specified in her note in the bottle. If the court case is factual, it
should be possible to find records of the case. One of the links suggests
that the bottle traveled North of Finland and Russia and South to its'
destination. I think it is more likely that it went through the NorthWest
Passage. I'm not sure that any ships, let alone bottles, have traversed
Northern Europe from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Many ships have passed
through the NorthWest Passage, including the Royal Canadian Mounted 
Police ship the St. Roche, which did it in both directions and also 
traveled from East to West through the Panama Canal. I was in the
Canadian Navy at the time they went through the Canal. They had a 
break-down in their air-compressor in Colon on the Atlantic Side and
if there is anything atall wrong with a vessel they are not allowed
to enter the canal system. They had to have repairs done to their
ancient air compressor before they were allowed to proceed. I was
a radio operator on a 100 foot ketch called the Oriole, that the 
Canadian Navy was transferring from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Victoria
British Columbia. We traveled in company with the St. Roche until
Colon and then proceded on our own while they stopped for repair.
They caught up with us later in Mexico and traveled with us to
Victoria. The St. Roche is now in a museum as a display in Victoria
and the Oriole is a training vessel for officer cadets. 
If you are able to find out any definitive information concerning
Daisy Singer, I would be very interested to follow up on the story.
Cheers!
Jim
Quoting Sue Kamm <suekamm at mindspring.com>:

> I don't have the URL, but when I was browsing Snopes on the reference desk
> the other day, they debunk the Wurm story.
> 
> Your friendly neighborhood CyberGoddess and ALA Councilor at Large, 
> Sue Kamm
> Email: suekamm[at]mindspring.com
> Inglewood/Los Angeles, CA
> Los Angeles Dodgers Truest of the Blue, 2000
> Visit my blog:  http://suekamm.blogspot.com
> Baseball Is Life...the rest is details.
> 
> 
> > [Original Message]
> > From: Hatch, Patricia <patricia_hatch at harvard.edu>
> > To: <list at project-wombat.org>
> > Date: 7/18/2007 7:40:03 AM
> > Subject: [PW] FW:  Grace Singer
> >
> > Re-reading my own message, I cannot assert that my number 1 below,
> > "there was a message in a bottle" is true.  A gentleman named Jack Wurm
> > contacted the lawyers claiming he had found the message, but provided a
> > hand-written copy only, and the lawyers were seeking a photocopy of the
> > original.  So, using Brian's points below, this story may in fact be all
> > three things (urban legend, practical joke, scam)
> >
> > Sorry to clutter up the list,
> >
> > Patty Hatch
> > Harvard University-CWD/FSS
> > Cambridge, MA 02138
> > Phone: (617) 496-3242
> > Email: patricia_hatch at harvard.edu
> >  
> >  
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org
> > [mailto:project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org] On Behalf Of
> > Hatch, Patricia
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 10:15 AM
> > To: list at project-wombat.org
> > Subject: Re: [PW] Grace Singer
> >
> > Well, there are some truths to the story:
> >
> > 1. There was a message in a bottle
> > 2. There was a gentleman named Jack Wurm that found the message in the
> > bottle, and the message did read that whomever found the bottle would
> > inherit half of her fortune, and the other half went to her attorney
> >
> > Someone earlier cited the New York Times article written in 1955 about
> > this.
> >
> > In an article from the Los Angeles Times dated July 26, 1949, the story
> > goes like this:
> >
> > --Lawyers Ronald and Barry Cohen were looking for Mrs. Alexander's will.
> > Barry Cohen is the attorney mentioned by name in the message in the
> > bottle.  The attorneys were based in London.
> > --The article indicates that Ronald Cohen told a reporter that Jack J.
> > Wurm of Palo Alto, CA, had written the firm about the message he found
> > in the bottle, on a San Francisco beach. Wurm sent the firm a
> > hand-written copy.  The date on the hand-written copy sent to the Cohen
> > firm was January 20, 1937.  Mrs. Alexander died on Sept. 19, 1939.
> > --The message did not indicate where it was written and the signature
> > was not witnessed.  Cohen was seeking a photocopy of the "alleged will."
> > --The article also says "He (Cohen) said two friends of Mrs. Alexander
> > and her butler had told him she had talked of throwing bottled notes
> > into the ocean to see where they would turn up."
> > --Ronald Cohen claimed he had drawn up several wills and codicils for
> > Mrs. Alexander, but after her passing, none could be found except one
> > that was dated in 1909.  This will had a page torn out of it.  A nephew
> > and niece of Mrs. Alexander was drawing income from that will.
> >
> > A later LA times article, dated April 7, 1957, reiterates the finding of
> > the message by Wurm, but does not mention the lawyers, and claims that
> > the case was still "in litigation."
> >
> > So it would be interesting to know if in fact a case was ever brought
> > about this, and if the case was brought by Wurm, the Cohens, or both, or
> > if the fact that there was a will executed in 1909 was the final say on
> > this.  Since the Cohens were London lawyers, I'm wondering if the case
> > (if any) was being litigated in England.
> >
> >
> >
> > Patty Hatch
> > Harvard University-CWD/FSS
> > Cambridge, MA 02138
> > Phone: (617) 496-3242
> > Email: patricia_hatch at harvard.edu
> >  
> >  
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org
> > [mailto:project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org] On Behalf Of
> > Brian Whatcott
> > Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 9:01 PM
> > To: list at project-wombat.org; list at project-wombat.org
> > Subject: Re: [PW] Grace Singer
> >
> >
> > Ah: I see there is a difficulty in allocating this story to an
> > appropriate category:
> > 1) Urban legend
> > 2) Practical joke
> > 3) Scam
> >
> > I am pretty sure that there was no big payout from the Singer estate,
> > all the same!  :-)
> >
> > Brian Whatcott
> >
> > At 03:12 PM 7/17/2007, Doty, Fadia wrote:
> > >This article is found in
> > >http://www...............
> > >"Columnist L. M. Boyd recently described the amazing good fortune of a 
> > >man named Jack Wurm.
> >
> >
> >
> > >-----Original Message-----
> > >From: burchell at telusplanet.net [mailto:burchell at telusplanet.net]
> > >Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 10:55 AM
> > >To: list at project-wombat.org
> > >Subject: [PW] Grace Singer
> > >
> > >
> > >Hi!
> > >Several years ago while on a long drive, I heard a story on the car 
> > >radio, purporting to be true, concerning Grace Singer, the heiress to 
> > >the Singer Sewing Machine Company fortune.
> >
> >
> > Brian Whatcott    Altus OK    Eureka! 
> >
> >
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