The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 19, 1895, Page 12

12 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1895. ONS IN THE FAIR CASE THE CHILDREN FILE-A NEW WILL WHICH Is VERY FAVOR- ABLE TO THEM. SENSAT] ALLEGED TO BE A FORGERY. DEPRIVES THE EXECUTORS OF THE FAT FEEs EX- PECTED. It The sensation which Reuben H. Lloyd promised in the Fair will case startled even those who were waiting for something to drop. ltcame in the form of a new will, of later date by three days than the re- cently stolen will, and it caused a great shock to the executors mentioned in the submitted will. Fair's children, especially Charles Fair, are benefited greatly by the terms of the newly found will. Outside of bequests to relatives and orphan asylums the main be- quest is one of $500,000 to Charles Fair, w_ho is also given an equal share of the remai der of the estate with his two power given to the executors by the pre v ous will is taken from them, and the chil- dren are given the management of the estate instead of the executors, W. 8. Goodfellow and Louis C. Bresse, who were two of the four executors men- tioned in the stolen will, are dropped by the new will and Dr. Marc Levingston is substituted in their stead, making Thomas G. Crothers, James L. Angus and Dr. Levingston the executors of the new will. When the Fair will case was called in Judge Slack’s court yesterday morning, Reuben H. Lloyd, the attorney for Fair's two daughters, rose from his seat qaick: but with the cool dignity which he is known to po nd made a statement to the court which astounded not only the crowd of spectators in the courtroom, but also the attorneys who were not in the se- cret. Mr. Lloyd said: 1f your Honor please, shortly after the death of the late Senator Fair, reports came to his heirs that he had made a holographic will. Those reports were followed, and in several in- stances were found to come from remarks made by Senator Fair himself. He had stated that he had made a will, written it himseif, and related Low he hed disposed of his But where that will was deposited it s eemed impossible to discover until an a dental remark discovered the fact to the h that this will had been left by Senator Fair in the possession of a lady widely and favorably known in this city. She was very reluctant deed to have her name brought into this cas on account of the notoriety which has been given to it in the papers,and she naturally shrunk from such notoriety. But, finally, on the advice of her counsel that it was her duty to give thss document to the children of Mr. Fair, she produced it. When the Sc ator died, as you will recol- lect, ‘mme y after Ins death, the very next norning, a will was filed in this court. The lady referred to presumed that that was the last will, and paid no more attention to the one which she had until after the one that had been filed had been abstracted from the files. Then she looked at the will which she had in her possessjon, and to_her surprise and fright, she found that it was dated after the one which hiad Icen abstracted. On the impnlse of the moment she sent it away from the jurisdiction of this court, and it was not until after we had discovered this fact that she acted upon the ad- vice o her counsel thatit was her duty and that she must produce it, that she finally sent for it and brought it info the jurisdiction of this court, and 1 now, on behals ‘of the heirs of Senator Fair, present it this morning to the court It i }.“,m,“r or the he en in pencil on two sheets of n with a soft pencil, and counsel thought that every effort must be 1f handled the natural ration of the fingers would soon obliter- pencil marks, and therefore we thought sable to have it inclosed between two sheets of crystal glass for protection. The statute provides thatwhere a will comes into the possession of a party in this way it is his duty to present it to the court. Therefore we have brought this will into court, and we now present it to your Honor. We have had it photographed for extra safety, and we pre- sent herewith a photographle copy of the will, so that it can be certified and left with the clerk of this court. And in view of what has passed concerning the old will we hope that the court will make such orders as it deems fit and proper for the careful protection of this later will. We have this hotographic copy, which anybody can see is fuu the same as the original, and there will be ittle occasion for anybody to see this original document. We, theércfore, ask the court to meke an_order restricting the inspection of this paper to those who are alone entitled and who will of necessity have occasion to ex- amine i It is, as you see, on two sheets of paper, and 1 now present it, pursuant to law, to your Honor. The old will was filed with the clerk and abstracted, and I now propose to make the court responsible. Hereisa Photographic copy, which I ask to have certified and also put in the hands of the court. With my associate we have filed & petition {or the probate of this will eigned by the three children of Senator Fair; and I have here an order, and I ask an order of the court to the clerk fixing the time for the hearing of this petition. There seems to be & doubt in the statute as to whether the court fixes the time or the clerk and, therefore, I ask a minute order of the court fixing the same time as that fixed by the clerk, which is Tues- day, the 2d day of April, 1895. I simply ask this as an extra precaution. At the close of his remarks, Attorney Lloyd presented to the court the newly found will. As he did so the faces of the attorneys for the executors of the first will expanded into smiles, which con- trasted greatly with the grave faces of the attorneys for Fair's children. The mys- terious discovery of the will seemed ab- surd to them, especially as it was pro- duced on the very day that was set for the hearing of the petition to admit the other will to probate. y The new will, submitted by Attorne; Lloyd, freed of some bad spelling, is as fol- lows: SAN FRANCISCO, September 24, 1894, This is my last will and testament. I revoke all former wills by me made. Ibequeath to sy sister, Margaret J. Crothers, $200.000, 10 be shared equally by her and her husband and children. 1bequeath to my brother, William Fair, $50,000, to be shared equally by him and his ‘wife and children. 1 bequeath to my brother, Edward Fair, $25,000, to be shared equaily by him and his wife and children. T bequssth o my sister, Mary Anderson, $200,000, to be shared equaily by her and et usband’and children. 1 bequeath to my brother, Andrew Fair, $50,000, to be shared equally by him and his wife and children, I bequeath to my niece, Jane Lundy, $10,000, to be shared by her and her children. 1 muemh 10 my ne, £10,000, to be shared by children. 1 bequeath to the Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco $50,000, to be divided by him among the Roman Catholic orphan asylums of Ban Francisco. 1 bequeath and direct my executors to pay in e%u‘l proportions $25,000 to the Hebrew or- phan asylums of San Francisco. Should an act be passed by the Legislature of this State c”‘“ngh a pension fund for aged teachers, I bequeath tosaid fund and direct my executors to pay to said trustees oi said fund the sum of $50,000, to be used for the pension- ing of aged teachers who have taught twenty- five years or more in this State, 1 bequeath to and hereby direct my executors to divide among the Protestant orphan asylums of San Francisco the sum total of $50,000. 1 give to my son-in-law, Herman Oelrichs, 1 give to Herbert Clarke £5000. I give Charles E. Stewart $3000. 1 give to James S. Angus and Louis Bresse the sum of $10,000 each, I give to my son, Charles L. Fair, the sum of 6.505,000 and direct my executors to pay this 1o him before the final division of my estate. All the rest of my estate, properties of what- soever kind, I bequeath to my three children, ‘Thoresa A. Oelrichs, Charles L. Fair and Vir: ginia Fair, share and share alike, and to their cnildren forever. Should any child die without issue said child’s share shall go to the surviving chil- dren, share and share alike. I appointas my execulors James 8. Angus, Thomas Crothers im and his wife gllew, James H. Flha d Dr. Levingston. I Tequire of them no l‘):nd nl;' bonds of any kind. ~ JAMES G. FAIR, San Francisco, Cal., September 24, 1894. When the new will had been submitted Attorney Lloyd asked for an order to show cause why the will should notbe admitted to probate. He then presented the follow- ing petition for the probate of the will: In the Superior Court of the city and county ot San Francisco, State of California. In the matter of the estate of James G. Fair, deceased. R To the honoravle Superior Court of the city ‘and county of San Francisco: The petition of Charles L. Fair, Theresa A. Oelrichs and Virginia Fair respectfully shows 0 the court: O rhint James G. Fair died on the 25th day of December, in the city and county of San Fran- cisco, State of California; at the time of his death he was a widower, over 60 years of age, & resident of said city and county, and left an estate of real and personal property therein. That said deceased left a last will and testa- ment made, executed and dated on the 24th dey of September,1894, which will was en- tirely written, dated and signed by the hand of the said James G. Fair himself, and which will has lately come into the possession of your | etitioners, and they npw deliver it to this jurisdiction of the “ honorable court, which has estate of said deceased. g That the persons named as executors in said will are James S. Angus, Thomas G. Crothers and Dr. Marc Levingston, all of whonr are over 21 years of age and reside in the said city and county of San Francisco. That said named executors have not consent- ed to act, nor renouneed their right to letters testamentary. That the names, ages and residences of the heirs and devisces of the decedent, so far as known to your petitioners, are as follows, namel; Charles 7 _years of age, Theresa A. Oelrichs, of "age, Virginia Fair, 20 years of are the only children and heirs at law of the decedent, and named as residuary legatees in said will; all of whom re- side in the said city and county of San Fran- ciseo. The other legatees under said will are: Margaret J. Crothers, a sister of deceased, aged about 46 years, residing at San Jose, county of Santa Clara, State of California, and John Crothers, her husband, aged about 60 years, residing at the same place; and also their children: John Thomas Crothers, aged about 32 years, residing at San Jose, aforesaid; ceased with eaid will annexed may be issued 10 your petitioners: and for such further and other order as t“;“:g“" m‘-y deem meet and be able to grant in the premises. And you% &euuoners, as in duty bound, will ey B O FATRS ever pray, ei il THERESA ALICE OELRICHS. VIRGINIA FAIR. Knight & Heggarty, attorneys for Charles L. ir. . BLloyd & Wood, attorneys for Theresa A. Oel- richs and Virginia Fair. Garber, Boalt & Bisho?, ‘Wilson & Wilson, of counsel for Charles L. Fair, Theresa A. Oelrichs and Virginia Fair. Dated San Francisco, Cal., March 18, 1895. Attorney Lloyd asked that the court ap- point Tuesday, April 2, at 10 o’clock, for the hearing of the petition to probate the will. The order was made by Judge Slack. Garret McEnerney arose and said he presumed the new proceedings did not in- terfere with the matter set for hearing by the court—that of accepting the certified copy of the stolen will. He then presented the'copy of the will which has been held all the time by Attorneys Pierson and Mitchell. Attorney Wheeler objected to the offer of the copy of the will being accepted. Judge Slack overruled the objection and granted Attorney Wheeler ten days to file a bill of exceptions. A Garret McEnerney then made a motion that the copy of the stolen will be filed in place of the original. 2 Attorney Wheeler again objected, but his objection was overruled, and he was given ten days to file his bill of exceptions. The attorneys all agreed that the peti- tion to_probate the will should go over, and Judge Slack ordered that all the mat- ters in the case be continued until April 2. This ended the proceedings and the at- torneys gathered around the clerk’s desk to examine the new document. The new will is written entirely in lead pencil, presumably by Fair himself. Asit was written in lead pencil Attorney Lloyd had placed each of the two sheets of paper on which the will was written between pieces of glass and then framed the exhibit. This precaution, was made so that the wording of the will would not ibe rubbed out by meeting of the atwmegs was held and it was decided to divulge the secret. Mr. Lloyd said: “Immediately after the death of the late Senator James G. Fair several persons told Charles Fair and others that the Senator had made a simple will, giving his property to his children without creating any trust, and that he bad given Charles Fair a half million above a third of the estate after leaving legacies to relatives and charitable institu- tions. We tried hard to locate this will. In fact the delay we caused in the proceed- mfis was for the purpose of finding the will which we firmly believed to exist. Mrs. Craven has been championing the project to get a law passed by the Legis- lature tOJ)ension the aged school teachers. She called on Governor Budd to see how the matter had been understood by him, and while talking to him made an inci’ dental remark that Senator Fair had left a | provision in a will givin, ,000 to the pension fund. sl “Governor Budd is entitled to the credit of finding the will. He telegraphed to me immediately after his conversation with Mrs. Craven, and we started anew on the search. ““At first Mrs. Craven disavowed any knowledge of the will, but finally, on the advice of her attorney, she admitted that Senator Fair had made the will in her house, and that he had left it in her pos- session. Senator Fair had been well ac- quainted with Mrs. Craven foryears. They were old family friends, and hé frequently visited her. “On September 24 last Senator Fair called on Mrs. Craven, and in the course of conversation told her he had made several wills, but that none of them were to his liking, as the attorneys who drew them up influenced him to put in-some provisions he did not like. Mrs. Craven asked Sena- tor Fair why he did not sit down some time, and draw up a will in a manner to suit himself. “On the spur of the moment Senator Fair sat down and wrote out this will. He was very careful in writing it and asked Mrs. Craven several times how to spell | regard to the genuineness of the will. The attorneys have taken sides according to the way the new will affects their clients. Mrs. Oelrichs and Miss Virginia Fair will favor the new will. The executorsof the first will, even Crothers and Angus who are named as executors of the second will, have stated that they will oppose the pro- bate of the new will. Ti appears that Senator Fair either had a. mania for making wills or changed his mind nearly every day as to how he should leave his wealth. " Three wills are known to be1n existence. Attorney W. S. Good- fellow has the first one, which Senator Fair had him draw up alone. Then Fair went to Pierson & Mitchell and had them draw up the stolen will, cautioning them not to tell Goodfellow anything about it. Three days later he isalleged to have'made the newly produced will.” He is believed to have made several wills before the one which Goodfellow now holds, and which he expected to file in case the stolen will should have been set aside. Dr. Marc Levingston, the new executor, attended Senator Fair for several years up to_his death. He is associated with Dr. Mizner and has an office at 215 Kearny street. He was friendly with Senator Fair and kept with him so much in his last ill- ness that he was called the “‘death watch.” Dr. Levingston is also very friendly with Governor Budd. He was reported to have heard that Senator Fair made a holographic will. He stated last evening that he knew nothing whatever about the newly dis- covered will. He had been told by Angus and Bresse that they had once seen Senator Fair write out a will in his office. This was prior to the time of the writing of the last will. Charles Stillwell, the detective, was in the employ of the attorneys representin the Fair children. He was instrumenta in h\mtinfi down the new will. He said that not the slightest doubt could exist as to the genuineness of the will, as it would be clearly proved when all ‘the circum- stances in connection with it were made public. George A. Knight said: *‘The accusa- 6——”/(.«%45& 4 7 fiyaal&}_é f—&m—;, 4 Vo 2oy ant & G LLrerod 7 ) 2% £ FAC. 2 FriThr 286 ¢ 0ndsll o Yo Ao POk £ ¥ & A Belrene o nay /0000 4&(4«4%4« P Rare h. eAbctren ~ 2 ho wen Jo o Ropnnas Catlotie . y ‘g’_}?‘f’ffl,ua-d»“m Zhe Alairtict, fifiw Gonomy ZE g v it VP Gp e laT : o, K S fote 2481~ R e TS el . Gt hens 205000 Aoltlory 70 NS A ard. WW Fru~ Secoca v Wdflm Cdrrarcn Tae— v \ amnwacqoag‘dtl_(a,i;;',é,,%t fiz,cu ——~r— P 7 S 8 Fpi— S 000 (Ll T o e o o~ Ayt~ 9 Aq b7 /QEJE_M/L/% Alpn— e X Zao Ao Ay LATE JAME; [Photographed from the Uit o~ =0 = Qo QAo F I%6 con — ot b Samast an A:P&Wiz%/wv%% fool « 2 dol VA 7 o 4 = AL AT "y’c‘“)&* ey - R Mg 5T s s T A el 8 G. FAIR. original for the “Call.”) ?(/I\d.;rw Fraursh <72W U ek g ot < 'f"yuzfl"’t i Rt o G e tea ™ ff&y 70 staio o wslics poted /Za,\d’/‘?fc_p"fl/:-’v? Re VIT A il Fax J/urr\q (2 ke 20 o= o2 P R '{WMW fqébo.w e Rt § Ao artm F00 0~ Lo bl - 2~ Catia Goog e 7 peov = Qelr ks THag L, Z iy gy o S -SIMILE OF THE DOCUMENT THAT WAS YESTERDAY OFFERED IN JUDGE SLACK'S COURT AS THE HOLOGRAPHIC WILL OF THE G 2 oLl Fotr st ZZ/Z{W%(%:M Al T lsithm = L L AS Aol loiaiyy /f /7/:7, Lt G5 T ¢ [4 [ Fannie Jane Graham, residing at Ida Grove, Ida County, State of Jowa; William Henry Crothers, aged about 28 vears, residing at San Jose, Santa Clara County, aforesaid; Thomas rothers, aged about 26 years, residing at San Francisco; George Edward Crothers, aged about 24 years, .‘\lnri’ liza Crothers, aged about 22 years, Charles Falr Crothers, aged about 20 years, Theresa Emma Crothers, aged about 18 years,and Wesley Ellsworth Crothers, aged nb(:’ut 16 years, all residing at San Jose, aforesaid. William Fair, a brother of deceased, aged about 47 years, and Rachael Fair, his wife, aged about 40 years, residing at Ida Grove, aforesaid, and the following-named children of said Wil liam Fair: Virginia Fair, aged about 14 years; Emma Fair, aged about 12 years; Evelina Fair, aged about 8 years; James Fair, aged about 1 years, and John Fair, aged about 5 years, all residing at said Ida Grove. Edward Fair, a brother of said deceased, aged about49 years, and Martha Fair, his wife, aged about 45 years, residing at Ida Grove aforesaid and the following-named children of the said Edward Fair: James Birney Fair, aged about 33 years, residing at Newark, Alameda County, Stateof California; John Fair, aged about 1 yeurs, residinr at Newark, Alameda County, tate of California; Mrs. Margaret Lindsey, aged about 25 years; Mary Fair, aged about 23 years; Maud Fair, aged about 20 years, and Andrew Fair, aged about 27 years, all residing at said Ida Grove. Mary Anderson, a sister of deceased, aged about’50 years, and James Anderson, her hus- band, aged about 66 years, residing at Ida Grove, Ida County, State of Jowa, and the fol- lowing-named children of said Mary Anderson: Margaret Jane Hall, aged about 30 years; Mary Eliza Lipton, aged about 25 years; William James Anderson, aged about 23 years, and Thomas Andrew Anderson, d “about 21 years, ell residing at said Ida Grove. Jane Lundy, & niece of said deceased, aged about 30 years, residing at Wausheka, Ply- mouth County, State of Iowa, and her children, whose names and residences are at present un-. known to your petitioners. -James H. Fair, a nephew of said deceased, aged about 25 years, and his wife, whose chris- tian name and whose age are at present un- known to your petitioners, residing at Ida Grove aforesaid, and his children, whose names, ages and residences are at pres- ent unknown to your petitioners. Patrick W. Riordan, Most Reverend Arch- bishop of San Franc csiding at the city and county of San Francisco. The Hebrew Orphan Asylum of the city and county of San Francisco. The Protestant Orphan Asylum located in the city and county of San Francisco. Hermann Oelrichs, over 40 years of age, re- siding at 1120 Pine street in the city and county of San Franeisco. Herbert Clarke, aged about 31 years, resid- ing in the city and county of San Francisco aforesaid. Charles E. Stewart, aged about 40 siding in the city and county of San aforesaid. James S. Angus, aged about 43 years, resid- ing in the city and county of San Francisco aforesaid. Louis C. Breese, aged about 33 years, resid- iu'f in the cil{ and county of San Francisco. he probable value and character of the property of the estate petitioners are at present unable to_state, but aver it exceeds in value the sum of ten thousand dollars. Your petitioners ask that letters of adminis- tration, with said will annexed, may be issued 10 your petitioners. ‘herefore. your rmlonen pray thata time and place may be fixed for the hearing of this application; that due notice thereof be given 2s required by law; that citations be issued to said executors, requiring them to appear at said time and place and elect whether they ears, Te- raacisco will consent to act as executors or renounce their trust; that said will may be admitted to probate as ‘the last will and testament of the | closely examine it. handling. The attorneys for the executors under the first known will objected to the framing of the document,as they could not . It was finally agreed that a close exam- ination of the "papers could be made on order of the court when representative at- torneys on both sides were present. As it stands now all the attorneys of the heirs are opposed to' the attorneys of the ex- ecutors named in the first will. The will has been pronounced by the atwrnes's of the executors to be a forgery. They admit, however, that the writing is remarkably like that of the late James G. Fair. In fact, they state it is the greatest and cleverest forgery known in the istory of the world. The will is written in a straightforward manner and has every ap- pearance of being genuine, thought he Dr. Marc Levingston. [From a photograph.] way in which it was introduced and the peculiar time at which it was produced caused many to be skeptical. The attorneys for Fair's children, who belong to the most reputable legal firms in this city, state they made the most minute examination of the will before accepting it, and they point to the fact that Mrs. Craven, who was the custodian of the will is a very reputable lady. She is princign‘ of the Mission Grammar School, and has been a teacher in the public schools of this city for many years. The other wit- ness to the will is Mrs. Haskins, an elderl widow, who resides in the same house wit Mrs. Craven. The history of the newly found will was made public by Attorney Renben H. Llgyd. At the time the will was produced in court all the attorneys having knowl- edge of the newl, fo\mg will had a said James G. Fair, deceased, and that letters of tion upon the estate of said de- | raphic | have been' certien. to some words that he put in the will. He misspelled some words, rubbed them out and rewrote them. After he finished the will he left it with Mrs. Craven. “When Senator Fair died Mrs. Craven realized the responsibility placed upon her. She was afraid of being brought into noto- riety that would not fie very agreeable to her. She was afraid remarks would made and she made up her mind not to produce the will. She even went so far as to send it somewhere out of the jurisdic- tion of the State, but when advised by her attorney she sent for it. We secured it Saturday and immediately had it photo- graphed by Archie Treat, the confidential clerk of Charles Wheeler. “‘These photog; copies of the will by County Clerk Curry, who has charge of the original, and every precaution has been taken that noth- vill. Mrs. H. Mrs, ins, the other witness to the will,is a very respectable lady who lives with Mrs. Craven.” The terms of the new will do not differ very much from the former will as regards the amounts of the legacies. The impor- tant part is that no trust is created as un- der the first will, and therefore the execu- tors will lose a small fortune in fees. The children will, therefere, fall into the man- agement of the estate as soon as the execu- tors can comply with the legal formalities in probating the will, he principal difference between the two wills outside of the creation of the | trust is the amount of money left to Charles Fair and the fact that instead of being given a life estate he falls in for millions without any restriction, and his children may inherit his share on -his death. C!mr]es Fair is given $500,000 be- fore the distribution of the estate is made. The object of Senator Fairin leaving this amount to his son is to_ make his inherit- ance from the whole Fair estate equal to that of his sisters. They were left $1,500,000 each by the mother. Charles Fair was left only $500,000 by his mother, but he fell heir to $500,000 bequeathed to James Fair Jr. This made his total in- heritance from his mother $1,000,000, or $500,000 less than each of his two sisters. The father now equalizes the general in- heritance by giving Charles Fair $500,000 above the third share of his estate. The other differences in the legacies are minor ones. Herbert Clarke gets $5000 under the new will, whereas he got but gzooo under the first one. Charles E. tewart gets but $3000 under the new will while under the other he would get $10,000. Mary Anderson and Margaret Crothers, sisters of the deceased, get $200,000 each under tl}e new will. The first one gave them $250,000 each. Edward Fair, a brother, gets an increase from $20,000 to 25,000. W. S. Goodfellow and 'Louis resse are degnved of all fees as executors mfl Thomas Crothersand James 8. Angus will lose the larger part of the fees tfiey would secure as trustees of the estate. he new will being free from forfeiture or disinheriting clauses makes it much more probable that the illegitimate chil dren of James Fair, if he left any, will Spring into the contest. The $50 clause be- ing out of the will will give them extra in- not to make nb{ic the name of the two ‘Witnesses. te yesterday afterneon a | ducements to artempt to gain some of th deceased millj 5 pton 5 e oy ionaire’s property. revent the probate of this | tion that the will is a forgery is absurd. Its hislory is a little peculiar, but no one should think for a moment that reputable attorneys would introduce it into court until they had become thoroughly con- vinced that it was genuine. The names of the attorneys fathering the will ought to have considerable weight. Garber, Boalt, & leht()ip, Lloyd & Weod, Wilson & Wil- son and my partner, Mr. Heggarty and myself would never sanction a forged will. We investigated it thoroughly before we became satisfied that it was genuine and we feel confident it is.” “Isaw the new will in the Fair case in Attorney Lloyd’s office yesterday,” said Captain Lees last evening, “‘and I alsosaw a photographic copy of it. While I did not examine it very closely, 1 must say that it has many of the Fair earmarks about it. There were quite a number of attorneys in the office at the time. They were Knight, Lloyd and others who are in- terested in the case. The original will was sbown, then a photographic copy of it was produced and those present were asked to sign the copy.” The attorneys for the executors do not hesitate to ]gronounce the new will a forgery. R.B. Mitchell said: It is very funny that a_lead-pencil will was found in the possession of & woman, the iden- tity of whom the attorneys saw fit to hide. James Fair died on December 28, and on De- cember 29 his will was filed and made public. Everybody knew about it. Still on March 18 & lead-pencil will is filed. Some things are funny to a manup & tree, and I must confess it is curious too. It is clearly our position to defend the certified copy of the stolen will. We believe it to_be the last will of Fair, and that the other oneis bogus. The will looks odd, One of the pages is written on ordinary letter paper and the other is on type- writer paper. Tee other attorneys must account for the Whereabouts of the new will from September 24 to March 18. Itis certain that it received very careless treatment, and that isnot very much like Jimmy Fair. He was very careful about the will left with us. He put it in an en- velope and indorsed on the back of it that it was his will. Garret McEnerney, the attorney for W. 8. Goodfellow, simply said: “The will is undoubtedly -a forgery, and we will fightto have the certified copy of the real will ad- mitted to probate.” Angus and Bresse both admit the hand- writing in the new will is very similar to that of the deceased Senator, but they will both fight to have the new will declared a forgery. Attorney Kowalsky, who always has opinions in will cases, said: “This re- minds me of the Dama will case. [ st!l{ contend that the mysterionsli found wil which was admitted_to i Bio WAS & forgery. Attorneys Lloyd and Wilson, who are putting forth this new will, W:fi"’ also the attorneys who backed up ede Dama will, which I believe was forg % This new will has a very fishy aspect, and I do not take any stock in it. rg‘.fs 0 romantic, melodramatic and absurd.”’ T Persons who know Fair well say it s justlike him to make one will ”;in en turn around to make another re\fi)_s o rgent- the clauses in the previous one. Hsl e ment of men was very erratic. i and make curse them behind their back a I ’ THE PORTIAS AND THE NEW CHARTER. MR. CLEMENT TELLS THEM SOME- THING HE KNOWS ABoUT IT. WILL TAKE THEIR TURN NEXT AND TELL THE PuBLIC WHAT THEY THINK OF IT AT So MUucH PER HEAD. The Portias, capped and gowned, in numbers sufficient to fill their clubrooms in the Mills building, last evening looked with kindly eyes upon the proposed new charter. Heard with kindly ears is more literal—for students though they are and lawyers though they would be, the Portias are still women, and having the charms of the new charter presented so entertainingly as H. C. Clement did it, they must neces- sarily sympathize. To be sure some of them asked him some sharp questions about the charter, but he met them all so promptly and answered them apparently so satisfactorily that when he looked at his watch for the last time, with a look that cried out “time!” as eloguently as perfect silence may cry out, and then sat down and the worthy dean took the chair to suggest a vote of thanks, the heartiness of the response seemed to say: “Oh, wise Jud{ze! oh, just Judge! the charter is just right.” Mr. Clement prefaced his entertaining talk by expressing his pleasure at _being called to address the only woman’s law club in_the country and saying that when the ladies of a commonwealth begin to take an interest in such dry-as-dust topics as fundamental law the fact speaks for itself. The charter was hedged with difficulties, sald Mr. Clement, but the greatest of these is the tangle in which the Supreme Court finds itself concerning charters in general. Their decisions have made all charters sub- servient to general laws, even the charters made by freeholders. The only way the freeholders’ charter may be made a general law is to take it to the Legislature, have it read three times and passed and signed by the Governor. “Just imagine such a proposition,” he said, “to emanate from intelligent men—but 1 ought not to say that, for these are men eminent in their profession.” But Mr. Clement made it clear that when we have our charter it may be overridden and its best points neutralized by acts of Legislature under the decision of the Supreme Court. e stepped over this subject to that of the “vast powers to be placed in the hands of the Mayor, about which there has been so much talk.” . The fact is, he said, the oply officer whom the Mayor can appoint more than he has power to appoint now is the City Attorney. He has vast power for good, but none for evil, for he can remove any officer, even the elective officers, upon proof 'of wrongdoing. It is a modern in- strument following those of Eastern cities that has been tried and approved by experience. It isthe first city charter of the country to introduce civil service rules inits departments and will do away with the paltry trading in clerkships that makes bosses. “The Assessor just now is engaging a number of clerks to assess property and fix the assessment-rolls. How is this done? The Assessor must ask the Supervisors for an appropriatiom. ‘All right,’ say the Supervisors, ‘how many of your deputies will you allow us to appoint—there are twelve of us? He grants them the privi- lege of appointing a certain number in consideration of a liberal appropriation, ‘‘Tt is so with the Tax Collector, who also periodically employs large numbers of deputies. " In this way they intrench themselves with patronage and dicker away the people’s money. This city ought to be carried on with half the money that it costs now. Any business man could go down there to the City Hall and take charge of the whole thing and run it for half what is spent. The whole system of patronage tends to corruption and bad gov- ernment. It has grown up through years of complaisant Legislatures that have given powers to the different departments year after year, as they asked for them. *‘The new charter seeks to rob all the de- partments of powers that do not belong to them. The legislative, judicial and execu- tive functions will be separated. The Su- pervisors will appoint only their clerk— and they have been wise enough to ap- oint year after year the same clerk, and I Eo not know what would become of us without that same John H. Russell. The . officers are designed to be appointive, but by the civil-service rule the low element of trading is eliminated. The voter need not et lost in the great nmumber of officers to e voted for. Some distinguished man whom we all know is singled out and the contest made on him.” Mrs. Bradstreet wanted to know what assurance we had that the Mayor would be so0 much above the politician: A The speaker said that it was the experi- ence of Eastern eities that where the office was made desirable by its honors trust- worthy men were found to fill it with honor. Mrs. Bradstree nfuch power thought that where so placed in the hands of one man designing and }mwerful corpora- tions might put in_plial ble men for their own purposes, but Mr. Clement replied to this by saying that corporations exercised their powers over conventions, secured the nomination of men to their purpose and when elected udeer the p{esent Sys: v were not to be removed. 'e'xl‘nh'éhg!ean, Ms. Foltz, paid Mr. Clement a high tribute of praise for his discourse, and the club joined in a vote of thanks. It was decided to discuss the charter at the next meeting by the members, and upon motion of Mrs. Harrison, the registrar, with a view of replenishing the treasury, the public, it was decided, should be ad- mitted at the rate of 25 cents per capita. TrERE are many ways of baking—Dr. Price’s Baking Powder fits them all. YOUNG AROHITECTS. mization of a Students’ Class at the oo Hopkins Institute. A number of architects and architectural students met last evening at the Hopkins Art Institute, corner of Mason and Califor- nia streets, with George W. Percy, chair- man, and S. A. Copper, secretary. A stu- dents’ class in architecture was formall: organized, with B. R. Maybeck, Willis Polk, George H. Sanders, directors, and S. A. Copper,. secretary. This board will meet soon to pre{:{are for the institution of regular class work. The conditions of membership proposed by the Hopkins Institute were adopted with modifications, and a committee will confer with the directors of the Art Asso- ciation as to the terms of admission for the class. Representatives of the faculty of the University of California, the Chapter of Architects and the Guild of Arts and Crafts were present and promised co-oper- ation with the organization. The class will haye the benefit of the university ex- tension lectures. L ————— Great Plate Sale. FIVE CENTS EACH FOR PURE WHITE DINNER PLATES. They won't last long at this price. GREAT AMERICAN IMP. TEA CO.S STORES Other lines of Crockery equally as cheap. ROBBED IN THE PARK, Danfel Sheehan the Victim of Two them believe he was their friend. — Frrtz ScuEeL at the park keeps the P"k\l great difference of opinion in | News presses rushing to sGpply Programmes. Footpads. Daniel Sheehan, an employe at the umping-works, Golden Gate park, was Eeld up by two young men between 6 and 7 o’clock last night. - Sheehan lives near the pumping-works. He had been downtown and as_he reached the short tunnel not far from the Haight- street entrance the two young men spran, upon him. They knocked him down anc one of them kicked him _in the ribs while the other struck him in the face. He rappled with one and threw him down, Eut the other soon overpowered him and they robbed him of $4, all the money he had in his pockets. He was taken to the Receiving Hospital, where an ugly cut on his face was dressed. Sergeant Thomson of the park police arrested two voung men in Hageriy's saloon at the Cliff House shortly afterward. Sheehan identified one of them at the hos- pital but he was not so sure about the other. They were not charged but were placed in the “tank 'E. V. DEBS COMING. The Railway Union Leader to Speak Here Next Tuesday. E. V. Debs, president of the American Railway Union, who directed the great railroad strike last summer from Chi 0, and by one word paralyzed communication throughout the greater portion of the United States, will be in San Francisco this week. His advance agent, James H. Hagan, a member of the board of directors of the American Railway Union arrfved here on Sunday and wentto a friend’s house. He made himself known yesterday to local officers of the union, whom_ he told that Piesident Debs will lecture in Oakland on Monday night and at Metropolitan Hall on Tuesday night. REWARDS WILL BE OFFERED CHIEF CROWLEY FORWARDS A DISPATCH TO GOVERNOR BuDD. RN ERN No CrLEw OBTAINED As YET TO THE MURDERER OF COR- NELIUS STAGG. Every effort is being made by the police to trace the murderer of Cornelius Stagg and his accomplice, but as yet they are absolutely without a clew. Thomas Holland, one of the two young men arrested on suspicion on the San, Bruno road on Sunday night, was dis charged from custody yesterday morning. James Baley, his companion, is being held, but it is more owing to his past record than anything else. Nobody really believes that he was connected with the Stagg murder and robbery. Yesterday afternoon Chief Crowley sent the following dispatch to Governor Budd: On Saturday night, 15th inst., Cornelius Stagg was murdered at his home, The Ingle- side, near Lake Merced, in this county, the murder being premeditated and in cold blood, I respectfully suggest that you offer a suitabie reward for any information that may lead to the arrest and conviction of the murde; desire to have it understood that the rev will not apply to any persons now une rest, nor will the police expect or be per: to receive it or any portion thereof. dition to the reward that may you, I will pay, on the part of t pariment, the ‘sum of %200 as an additional reward. The Chief has also telegraphed deserip- tions of the two men all over the State, as there is a possibility that they may have left the city. At the Tequest of the police, Coroner Hawkins will not hold the inquest till they are in a position to supply the neces- sary testimony LaApies AND GENTLEMEN: Tt affords me great pleasure to call the attention of the public to Yale’s Excelsior Hair Tonic, which is the first and only remedy known to chemistry which positively turns gray hair back to its original color without dye. It has gone on record that Mme. M. Yale —wonderful woman chemist—has made this most valuable of all chemical discov eriea. Mme. Yale personally indorses its action and gives the public her solemn guarantee that it has been tested in every conceivable way, and has proved itself to be the oNLY Hair Specific. It STOPS HAIR FALLING immediately and creates a lux- urious growth. Contains no injurious in- gredient. Physicians and chemists invited to analyze it. Itis not sticky or greasy: on the contrary it makes the hair soft, youthtul, fiuffy, and keeps it in curl. Fer gentlemen and ladies with hair a little gray, streaked gray, entirely gray, and with BALD HEADS, it is specially recom- mended. All druggists sell it. Price, §1. 1 It Anybody Offers a Substitute Shun Them, MME. M. YALE, Health and com- plexion specialist, Yale Temple of Beauty, 146 State stroet, Chicago. REDINGTON & CO., Wholesale Drug- ists, San Francisco, are supplyln Goaiers of the Paciiic Const with 11 o] my remedies.