The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 16, 1897, Page 14

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 1897. [T LOOKS NOW LIKE A BACKDOWN Counsel for the Fair Heirs Withdraw Mrs. Craven. THE CONSPIRACY STILL UNPROVEN. Evidences That Their Accusa- tions Are Too Hot to Hold. THEY ASK FOR A CHANCE TO BREATHE. | Judge Slack Decrees That There Must B: Something Tangible B fore Fishing Can Be Renmewed. That proposal to prove a reeking con- spiracy to loot the humble Fair estate, apnd prove it at that out of the mouth of | Mrs, Nettie R. Craven herself—she, the | very author, so called, of the awful plot— | has proved itself to be too hot a stovelid for the attorneys representing the Fair heirs and estate to hold. They want to let go of it. After badgering the lady defendant through more than half of yesterday’s ses- sion and seeking by every trick and trap | known to legal legerdemain to draw from her something upon which they could base subsequent maneuvers, Lawyer W heeler threw up the sponge. An effort was made to accomplish the retreat without dis- r, but in that attempt what appeared o be veritable disaster and defeat was the | ome. These eminent counselors who oing to prove all sorts of fraud and | suboruation chose as their avenue of | ape & T en by Judge Slack, was ect that, inasmuch as . Crave denied that she ever | thought of g evidence in her be from * bn R. Aitken, she conid not be forced to give any testimony regarding ber re ns with that indi- vidual until something material was ad- duced showing that she had not told the Your Honor has ruled go shead any further with this witness until we bave offered other proof of the existence ol a conspiracy,” was the way Mr. Wheeler started in to announce the backdown. Then he went on to complain that in view of that ruling be and his as- | tes had fo d 1t necessary to ask the | court’s permision to withdraw Mrs. | Craven from the stand and also for the ege of putting her back again and | ng the direct examination. Slack said the attorney was in | regarding his ruling. The latter | applied to questions regurding the | defendant’s relations with A:itken. Some- thing more tangiole anent the vaunted d be required before she : ed on that point. | 4 Craven has testified that she de no attempt to procure Aitken for frlse testimony,” concluded his Honor. You will therefore have to give some proof e did do so before you can i ire furiher regarding that ma that we cannot error n. 1 the court would let him witu.- | draw Mrs. Craven from the stand without Mr. Wheeler resorted to promising completing her direct examination, and | then let him put her back again, he would make an effort to introduce something in the shape of evidence such as the courtde- manded. On behalf ot Mrs. Craven, Attorney Dei- mas objected to the granting of what he | termed such an unheard-o! and unprece- | dented privilege. The other side, he said, bad been promising to do a whole lot, but now found themselves uneqnal to the task ! and 1o their prom The witness had been on the stana four consecutive days, | and despite all the badgering she had | undergone she hzd given her torturers ng upon which 10 hang their cruel accusations. The lady was quite ill and ieeble, and it was unfair and unjust to continue her agony by allowing those charges of conspiracy 10 hang over her head, while tue attorneys for tiie heirs | fished around for something with which | to bolster up their case. He would insist, | d, that t ey finish up the direct ex- amination, and give him and his asso- ciates an o; poriunity to expose the fallacy of the conspiracy charges by means of | cross-examination. ) Judge Slack guve it out rather coldly | that he was voing to rule against the re- quest of Mr. Whee The latter floundered about desperately for some little time, now promising and | now appealing, but sil to no purpose. He was confronied with the proposition that he would have to show his hand before he could do any more fishing and tortur- ing. ana that was al ere was to it. He | «nd those with him could find consola- tion only in register:ng a formal excep- tion to the conrt's rulin Poor Martin Kelly escaped tue lash to a munificent extent yesterday, and Gov- ernor Budd was not hinted at as being a | conspirator at all. In fact apologies for tie executive seem 10 be iu order now. Counsel for the Fair heirs ali salaamed respectiuily and said they would hurl no stinkpots at his devoted curly head. When the morning session opened Mrs, Craven was placed on the stsnd again, and Mr. Wheeler bezan his inquiry at | exactly the same spot where he dropped it Monday aiternoon, and that was aiter Mrs. Craven had admitted that sie had | at Miss Dougherty’s | residence last Thursday evening. “Did you expect to mieet Martin Kelly | at Miss Dougherty’s house?’ asked the atiorney. “Well, I hoped to meet him there. I knew that he was in the habit of caliing | there. I wanted 10 sce him that evening and took that means of meeting him,” “You knew he would be there?" No; Ionly hoped he would be.' )id you “send word to Kelly to meet you there?” | “1 did not. tunity to do =0.” “Expiain why.you had no time or op- poriunity to send word to him.” “Why, I was on ibe witness-stand all | the afternoon, and when I got home I had many ti.ng> to attend 10. 1 had no time 1o send for Mr. Kelly.” Wheeler wanted the lady to be accurate | as to her memory in regard to the num- ber of times she saw Martin Xeily pre- vious to last Thursday, but she could only inform him in a geueral way that he might bave called at her house several unies, but if so she could not recall the circumstances. She denied positively, bowever, that she had met him at the Cuff House two weeks ago by appoint- wment. The attorney now let go of poor Martin Kelly’s tkroat for a moment and made s half-hearted grab at the windpips of Gov- &qor Budd. He wanted to know Low ses. I had no time or oppor- | | like Kelly, no ot | tors why we will not objec:,” | wnen the latter’s office was in the same | get in bis objection, so thut gentleman SOMETHING HAS GONE WRONG IN THE FAIR CASE. many times Mrs. Craven met Governor | Budd in Sacramento This gave Mr. Delmas another oppor- tunity 10 prod the opposing side in a ten- der spot. There had been rreat talk and ado, he said, about Martin Ke , but the | pleading did notshow that tk vidu was charged with conspiracy. Picking up Mr. Wheeler's original complaiuts in | intervention, Mr. Delmas read that the alleged conspirators were Mrs. Craven, Mrs. Haskins, Notary Cooney “and other whose true names were unknown 1o the intervenor.” Martin Kelly, said counsel bad been unfortunate enough to bs ac- cused by Mr. Wheeler in open court of being & conspirator and on no more sub. stantial grounds than his mere acquain- tance with Mrs, Craven. All that tue de- fense desired to know was whether or not Governor Budd was also charge | with be- | ing a conspirator. He felt sorry for the | executive, but if he was to be accused | jections to the inquiry would be offered. Heasked Mr. Wheeler to elucidate on the point. Wheeler haughtily replied that when a | serious question was asked he would | vouchsafe a se answer. | Mr. Delmas said he was perfectly seri- ous, and unless the otber side would say | that they intended to show up the Gover- | nor as a conspirator he would object to their asking any questions about the ex- | ecutive's talks witn Mrs. Craven. | Wheeler wasn’t picking a row with the | Governor, and sure enough Mr. Deimas formally put in the promised objection. The result was the court ruled that Wheeler would have to call a halt. The atter tried to dodge by saying that he was only trying to fix a date by asking Mrs. Craven questions about the Governor, but judge Slack insisted that the inquiry was improper. | A new line had to be taken up. The | witness was asked if <he went to Sacra- mento in January, 1895, in company with Miss Murphy and Mr« 'Bradley “Objected to,” said Mr. Deimas, “‘unless it is claimed here that Miss Murphy and | Mrs. Bradley are co-conspiraiors.’” | *I think the objection is well taken,” said his Honor. H Mr. Wheeler scratched his head and looked puzzled. He put the question in | another form, but it was no use for the court stood by the defense’s objection. That Iine of "examination had to be | abandoned. “Did you ever call upon Attorney A. Ruet at” bis office?”” was Wheeler's next effort at an opening. | “Now, if it i. charged here that Mr. Ruef is another of the horde of ccnsyira- interrupted Mr. Delmas, “‘otherwise we will."” No, Ruef was not accused, so the objec- tion went on record and was promptly sustained. The questioning lawyer protested he wished to break down Mrs. Craven’ssiate- ment ihat she called on Judge Aitken building ‘ns was Ruef’s sanctum, but bis | words fell upon deaf ears. 8o sti | another line had to be dropped and Wheeler returned to his hobby—as ing conundrums about Politician Kelly. He got some unimportant responses about conferences and then stumbled by | 1 asking il the witiiess wver entered infoa contract with Keily by which he was to profit if she won her suit. Mrs. Ciaven answered with an em- phatic “No!” before Mr. Delmas could asked that her reply be stricken from the record. *'Of course,” he said, with cutting sar- casm, ‘‘these gentieman bave that con- tract'in their possession, for they would not otherwise be asking such questions. Of course, they are not tishing for informa- tion—not they. As long as they have the contract let them produce it here in court. T object to any questions regarding it un- ulitis produced, if your Honor please.” | The court ruled once more that Mr. | Wheeler was essaying to exceed his pri le:es, and sustained the objection. So el another avenue for prying had been closed, and a new one must be sought out. The witness’ attention was called to the act that she had testified that one of her Teasons for not retaining Altken in her employ was because her attorneys ob- conspiracy jected to him. Bhe was then asked who the objecting counsel were, and ker reply was that she remembered the complaints of Mr. Deimas and Mr. Roberts in par- ticular, Others were of the same mind, but she did not remember just what they said. It was at this point that Mr jarred his adversaries again b; all of the attorneys for the deie oing to be charg-d with being conspira- tors, too. He followed this up enumer- ating from tue record the number of at- torneys employed by the Fair side. There Delmas was So-and-so and So-and-so, and last but not least his *‘distinguished and learned young friend, Mr. McEnerney. There were twelve of them ail told. “Just an even dozen—exactly the num- ber of the apostles of the Lord,” quoth Mr. Delmas. 1t Mr. Wheeler’s arguments constituted good law, he ccntinued, any one of those twelve lejzal giants might be accused of nd corruption. Judge Siack said that there had been no preliminary proof that what Mrs. Craven had test would accordingly W heeler again. When an effort was made to introduce as exhibits the letters Mrs. Craven hsd recognized, Judge Denson, of her counsel, objected on the eround that they we! material to any issue in the case. Their purpose was obvious enough, he said, but they did not constitute legitimate evidence. Now, if they expect to put upon this stand a member of this var,’"he said, “who will come into this presence and testify that he gravely negotiated with a client with a view to his coming upon this stand ana swearing to a lie? 1 wouid like to see the shape of the bead of that member of the bar.” Mr. Wheeler (interrapting)—I object to the remark, if the court please, and assign have to bhalt Mr. | the remark as misconduct. The court—Judge, that does not assist me in solving the questiou before the court. Judge Denson—I think it will. Mr. Wheeler—I object to any continu- | ance of this line. Judge Denson—I think I know what is proper. I was practicing law when he was playing marbles. Mr. Wheeler—Perhaps you were prac- ticing law before I was playing marbles. The court—Do not comment on this at present; reserve that for the argument. Judge Denson—I want to say tbat I don’t propose to nave auy insolence from any- body in this court or anywhere else. I am able to take care of myself and 1 wil, | do it Before dismissing Mrs. Craven, Wheeler asked that the two notesste had recog- nized as bewng in her bandwriting be in- troduced in evidence. ‘This met with an objection first from Juage Denson and then from Judge Curus. They argued that the samples of handwriting were con- pected with no issue in the case. Judge Curtis ulso held that the law with resject to the confidential relations between client and counsel acted as a barrier against this | class of evidence. Judge Curiis at the end of his remarks spoke of every cause having a leader. He “That leader decidss what is best, is for the poiicy cf the case. I trust that my discipline and obedience are as conspicuous as my desire to treat all with whom I bave dealings us a gentleman and | with respect.” Here one of the jurors was so carried away with the Judge's eloquence that he impulsively clapped his bands in ap- plause. Ths little spontaneous demoustration | caused Judge Siack to frown warning against a repetition of it. After the arguments had been finished utter a Judge Slack said he thought the methods | proposed by the attorneys lor the heirs were clearly objectionable. If the hand- writing on’ the duplicaie contest was dis- puted, ruled the court, witnesses shou'd | be put on the stand immediately to testify regarding the writing-. counsel for the heirs did not wish to do tois, and another argument ensued that lasted till adjournment time. The court announced tuen that a final ruling would be given this m«rnin The world’s population increases at the ratio of 1 per ceut per annum. ied to was untrue, and that he | not | MBS, HINCKLEY 15 NOT VERY HAPPY Litigation Appears to Be the Bane of Her Life. Former Adviser, Makes His Demand. ;A:ks for $50.000 in Addition to the | 3 Per C:nt of the Biythe Block Property. Mrs. Florence Blythe Hinckley looked anything but contented as she 100K her seat in Judge Hunt's court yesterday morning to hear the reading of her depo- sition in the case of Attorney Thomas I Bergin acainst herself. Suits for millions are so common with this young heiress t some surpris: by refusing to settle her llawyer's claim for $50,000 on his own he aifference in this macter may termis. ve explained by the fact that she had | periormed the services for which he de- mands payment, and tuey bave not been able to assent to Mr. Bergin’s estimate of the value of his work. That Mr. Bercin was actively engaged in the litigation that finally resulted in making Mrs. Hinckley the heiress to what was left of old Tuomas H. Blythe's mil- | lions is not disputed, but the lady says e bas already fully compensaied him | for all h | this she points to the fact that Mr. Bergin | holds a lien on the realty embraced in the | Blythe block for 3 per cent of the total vaiue of that property. Mr. Bergin responds that the fee for which he holds a lien on the Biytne block was earned befors tie motion for a new trial was presented to the court; that his original contract was ended wuen the case was won by a decision in favor of the claimant for the Blythe estate, and that what hie did afterwara must be paid for as extra services 1t is on this point that the litigation | turns. The weeds of widowhood are becoming to Mrs. Hinckley. She has losi some of the spirituelle expression that character- ized her appearance at (he later hearings of her case in Judge Coffey’s court and also in the Supreme Court where the final decision .n per favor was entered. Sne | now bears the form and manner of a mature matron, and is besinning to show the tendency to stoutness that was so notice- able in the personal habit of her father. Her face, t0o, has been transformed some- | what by the years that have passed since she first faced a jury in the trial court, and even within the last three vearsa | change is to be recorded. The girlish fea- | tures have given way to the lines of ma- turity and she seems to be in a reflective mood more or less all the time. Ex-Judee Sullivan read from Mrs. Hinckley's deposition touching the cir- cumstances that led up to the present suit. Much of the deposition appeared to be in regard 10 the way in which the lady has lived since her arrival in this City in 1883. It was developed that she has a lvcrr poor memory in regard to passing Attorney Thomas I. Bergin, Her | she has creuted | about a dozen attorneys when Mr. Bergin | as done 1n her benhali. Toprove | |events. She said she had a wretched memory during the taking of her deposi- tion, but the day following modified that statement by saying that she meant that | her memory was bad on that particular day. Aiter recoraing her loss of memory in regard to other matters Mrs. Hinckley | told the jury that she did not remember | that she ever made an agreement to pay | Mr. Bergin anything extra for his services after the death of his partner, the late Hall McAliister. In fact she insisted that the original contract with those eminent attorneys was intended to include, and in her opinion did include, all the services that were to be rendered in and about that litigation until it was finally settled. Attorney James Boyd, a veteran member of the San Francisco bar, was the | first witness called for tie plaintift. Mr. Boyd confessed to having been fty-two years in the practice of the legal | rrofession, forty-six of those years in San Francisco. He was then asked as to the | standing of Mr. Bergin at the bar of this | State. |~ Judge Hunt ruled that Mr. Boyd might answer the question and he said that Mr. | Bergin ranked among the leaders of the profession. Mr. Hart said he knew that and was willing to admit it. He only objected on technical grounds. Then Mr. Suliivan read a question that occupied half an hour to deliver. It coy- ered twelve pages of typewritten matter, | and contained no less than 3600 words. | This was called a bypothetical questios and contained a statement of Mr. Bergin’s claim in_its strongest possible lighr, set- ting forth the many times he appeared in the Supreme Court, and the voluminous | | briefs written and filed by him. Assum- | | ing all these things to be true the witness | | was asked how much ne thought Mr. Ber- | | gin ought to be paid, and he said $5 would be about right. { Mr. Hart wanted to know how much an | attorney ouznt to get who hsd taken an estate like the Blythe estate and had car- ried it through the entire trial from its inception to a successful termination, and | Mr. Boyd thought that 50 per cent would | | be a fair figure for com pensation. | ~““Then if the estate was worth say $2.700,- | 000 the attorney would be entitled to $1,350,0002 " asked Mr. Hart. ““Yes, sir,” replied the witness. “That | would be about right.”’ | “Tnen, suppose he were associated with eminent lawyers as John Garber, | | Generai W. H. H. Hart, Judge Boalt, W. W. Foote and other gentiemen of like | caliver, how wouli the others get a fair compensation for their services? ~Oh, I supnose there would be enough to go round.”” Even the jurors joined in the laughter | | | NEW TO-DAY —DRY GOODs. 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TELEPHONE GRANT 124, b ORPORA, ey 20 111, 113, 115, 117, 119, 121 POST STREET. | missioner | One of the prin Nicholas Harris Jr. | found dies and coins in the cellar of the house of defendant, 6 Chesley street. | The other witnesses were the secret service | agent, Albert Matthews, Mary Rodgers, { aefendant’s sister, and Frank Smitd, a i messenger boy. The story of the counter- feiting, as heretofore published, was briefly told by the witnesses, and deféndant was ordered held. FIGURING ON AN ELECTION | Commissioners in Doubt Regarding thae Primary Law Passed by the Legislature. The Election Commissioners—consist- . - ing of Mayor Phelan, Auditor Broderick, The Train Which Has Been | ity and County Attorney Creswell, Sare Running Ev=ry Fifth Day | veyor Tilton and Tax Collector Block— -4 e met yesterday to consider tae question of a charter election. Is Hau'el Off Heacock vesterday morning ral wi w nesses was o swore that he Southern Pacific Excursion Rates Apply to Daily Travel. It was a question in the minds of the Commissioners whether the new primary law passed by the last Legislature is oper= ative at present, and in view of this fact it was thought best to defer action until the question can be settled. The Regis- trar, however, was directed to estimate the cost of un election for freeholders, and also of a charter election, and the Super- visors will be asked to include the ex- pense of both in the estimate for the next appropriatio — A TFRACTURED SKULL, The War Is Carried Into Africa. Agent Connor of the O. R. and N on the Change. | | | | | | The northern rate war took on s new phase yesterday — the Southern Pacific definitely decided, beginning with to- morrow, to haul off its rezular every five days' excursion trains between here and Portland and carry passengers every aay on its regular trains al excursion rates. These rates are $10 first class and $5 sec- | H ond, berths included. | pi alin a critical conditio The change has been on the programme | “’é‘l’;fn’:;:-! e e R since Saturday, but it was not till yester- morning in an unconscious condition day that the Southern Pacific made a | with biood on his heud and coat. He was clean showdown of its intentions. This | taken to St. Mary’s Hospiial, where it means carrying the war into Africa, as| was found that his skull was fractured. was stated in the yellow building yes- | | Police Investigating the Cass of Ed. | | ward Ciyne, a Printer. The police are investigating the case of Edward Clyne, a printer, living at 769 . Mary’s Ho:- frac- Harrison street, who i from ‘a n ter secret but the police learned about it “Tickets formeriy sold for the excur- | were detailed to investigate. h on sale in San Francisco, Sacramento and | been able to gather b a rival.” | Judah said in reierence to the | The family intended 10 keep the mat. terday. . They traced daily train each way. Tickets will only be | Saturday night, and from what they presented at the office on the day of ar. | his skull. lats applying to the change. { “it is all we expected and more. that followea 1bis sally, but Mrs. Hinck- ley was denied the privilege of participat- | ing in the merriment because she had been excused for the day and had gone | home. Juror Hawke asked the witness a question and received an an- swer that evizently was not satis- factory, it being almost as long and | involved as Mr. Sullivan’s hypothetical | uestion, for leaning over the jury-box | Mr. Hawke sa d: “In other words, Judge boya, you, like a great many other law- | yers, linv: managed to sav a great deai Without meaning anything. | Another burst of Jaugh.er greeted this | sally from the jury-box, and Judge Hunt | hastened 1o paich up an understanding in rezard to the situation. Mr. Hart finally drew from Mr. Boyd that in estimating the sum said 10 be due Mr. Bergin be had gone on the assump- til that he had closed his connection | with the case when he had made the agreement of settlement in 1892, when he was givena lien for 3 per cent of the Blythe block. If the original contract between McAllister and Bergin called for | the performance of all | | services until the conclusion of ail litigation in the case, then Mr. Bergin ought to be entitled to nothing more at this time. If, on the other hana. his original engagement ter. minated in 1892 and the argument on the new trial and t!.cse other services were | done under the new contract, then $50,000 is a fair compensation. With this statement of the situation both sides appeared satisfied and an a .. iJournment was taken until this morning, | yesterday and Policemen Ryan and O'Dea sion tran will be sold for the regular | ne’s movements up to ave Portland, and rebate draits have to be | belie: hat he had f: This was the brief statement of particu- | volume of t1avel: ! Our | last excursion train on Saturday carried | 301 people. That is the biggest number | we have ever had. We are satisfied. I | see nothing (0 indicate at pregent that the ! war is to ve declarea off. | “We exvect to get a great many people | by the reduced rates who will attend the | Christian Endeavor Convention here, | That convention is calculated to do Cali- | fornia more cood by far than any oiher | that bas ever been held here. They are a good class of people and will help the | State and coast.’” | General Agent F. F. Connor of the Ore- | 3 gon Railway and Navigation Company | said he had heard the rumor that the railroad was going to carry passengers | every day. “It will not cause us to make any change that I now know of, however,” | he said; *‘we are carrying a great many | veople, all our steamers can accommo- date with berths, but no more. The| steamer State, leaving here on Thursday, is completely sold out. So is the Colum: | bia, leaving here Tuesday, the22d. We | bave reservations well atead. I think | the Southern Pacific has concluded to| make its service daily, because running a | train once every five days the cars are | kept waiting for a time.” | HELD FOR COUNTERFEITING. James F. Compare Columbi; Bicycles with others—-compare others with Columbias. You might as well compare a fine watch jith a cheap clock compare a C le with mos s except th: $100 toana 1896 Columbias, $75. $60, $50, $45. Second-hand Columbias are better than most othier new machines—-ail kinds at all Jrices. Cash or on easy payments. | POPE WFG CO. San Francisco Branch— HARTFORDS. Kodgers Must Answer for His Crime. 3 James F. Rodgers, the boy counterfeiter, was held for trial by Unijed States Com- 344 Post Street. Golden Gate Park Branch— oet. 1970 Page Street Near Stanyan