The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 16, 1902, Page 1

VOLUME XCH-NO. 77, SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 1902. PRICE FIVE CENT LINES FORM FOR LEUAL BATTLE ROLLING UP DEBT OF ROAD Southern Pacific Will Issue New Bond Series. The Call. W YORE. Aug. 15.—It was definite ascertained to-day t he committee of the Southe at a regular meeti rmally adopt g an issue of $100 )00 4 per cent ble into stock at par at any twent f the date der certain n Pacific Com- t is said, matter to-day Southern Pacific C sai without doubt scme would e before the convertible 1 propo- be formally presented to the for their approval. The fic is a finance or bonding zed under the laws of n legal matters will have to be adjusted before such.a cor- poration could create as large a bonded issue as one involving $100,000,000. It is the purpose of the company, so soon as the Jegal matters are arranged and the issue s approved, to offer shareholders the right to subscribe to a portion of the new bonds—about $25,000,000—at an attractive figure somewhat under par. The purpose of the bond issue is to pro- vide for the improvement of the road and nt. Although the Southern Pa- bas been doing splendidly officlals state n the matter of earnin; tate of modern efficiency pete on equal terms with company kas vast stretches r h rails weighing but sixty- one pounds and Poor's Manual gives the ht of from thirty-five to rails at seventy-six pounds. Much the road requires ballasting, but there is urgent necessity for a re- duction of grades, elimination of curves, rebuilding of bridges and the like. Officials have determined upon a con- vertible bond issue as the best means of providing a portion of the necessary funds mprovement. Heretofore it has been their policy to meet such expenses from the company’s earnings, a plan which has the resentment of the minority holders, who desire some portion of the earnings distributed in dividend: The company has needed so much mone; however, that such distribution was deemed unwise, However, to hasten the period of dividend payments somewhat a convertible bond plan has been hit upon. A direct mortgage could not be placed upon the property, first, because the Southern Pacific system is very widely diversified, operating under charters granted by numerous States, and also be- cause the credit of the company would not permit of the sale of mortgage bonds to advantage. There was a wide divergence of opinion in Wall street over advantages and dis- advantages of the financial plan. The of 1 on Thurs- | tion recom- | ully $40,000,000 is needed to bring the | CASTRO’S \ FATE IN BAILANCE | \Anxiety Concerning Conditions in Special Dispatch to The Call. CALL BUREAU, 1406 G STREET, N. W., WASHINGTON, Aug. 15.—Consider- able doubt exi in the minds of the Navy Department officials here regarding the situation in Venezuela. The dispatch | received from Commander Nickols of the Topeka at Puerto Cabello yesterda: stated that the town wa: in the posses- sion of revolutioni but that there was no danger of attack by the Government Inasmuch as no previous advices had been received telling of ‘the capture of the town by the revolutionists this socmewhat mystified the department, and to-day after an examination of the dis- patch it was decided that some mistake has been made in its transmission, and orders were sent to Commander Nickels | to report anew on the situation. Minister Bowen, it is thought by the officials of the State Department, would have reported if such an important poiut as Puerto Cabello had fallen into the hands of the revolutionists. The only news from Venezuela received to-day was a dispatch from Commander Rodgers of the Marietta reporting the ar- rival of that ship at La Guaira. The | Marietta, which has only recently re- | turned from a cruise up the Orinoco Riv- er to various points of disturbance along that stream, was ordered to La Guaira at the wish of Minister Bowen. racas is now threatened strongest revolutionary force. between the revolutionists' army under General Matos and the Government troops, which is reported to be imminent ncar Caracas, will undoubtedly go far in deciding whether the Castro Government will weather the storm. In the event the present Government is overthrown and the revolutionists enter Caracas foreign residents may need assistance, and for this reason the Marietta has anchored at La Guaira, which is the port of Caracas and only eight miles distant. In the event of trouble Commander Rodgers can put a force of bluejackets in Caracas in two forees. by the The fight Southern Pacific has an enormous capi- talization. There is $197,847,788 stock out- | standing and a funded debt of $353,062,029, |or a total of $550,909.817, issued against 8655 miles of road, or on a basis of $63,651 per mile. The authorization of $100,00,000 in convertible bonds, although but $25,000,- 000 are to be issued first, swells the capi- talization heavily. Although the plan will unquestionably hasten the payment of dividends it will be the shareholders who, through their subscriptions to convertible issue, will provide the means with which dividends are paid. MRS w K VANDERBILT IR Jisk= e ARLES J e H;GG;nfl-y 7 J——— FOOMN A RN A T PURLIC ADMINISTRATOR * ALTS® Y. Puoro OVER WEALTH OF CHARLES FAIR | | | | A PICTURES OF MRS SCENE AT THE DISCOVERY OF THE WILL OF MRS, CHARLES L. FAIR | OELRICHS AND MRS. VANDERBILT ARE REPRODUCED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY TABER. HE fight for the millions that Charles Fair left is on. Scarce- | ly had the flowers with which the peasants of Saint Aguilin covered the bodles of the dead millionaire and his wife as they lay by the roadside been removed by the Coroner’s men when the lawyers were at each other’s throats and all who thought they ought to inherit began snarling at the heels of those whom they feared would inherit. Public Administrator Farnham wants to be made administrator of the estate. It means a fortune to him if the courts grant his petition, and he.has lost no time in taking whatever advantage the first move may give him. The mother of the dead wife is preparing to hasten to San Francisco and her sons and sons-in- law are consulting lawyers and talking of the division among them of $10,000,000, while ‘the sister’s body lies wrapped In | a silken shroud in Paris. 'Other lawyers, with apologies on their lips for the un- seemly haste they are compelled to ex- hibit, are fortifving their position of de- fense against those who will attack the claim of the sisters of the dead man to his enormous wealth. LITIGATION EXPECTED. Attorneys scent the battle from afar, Bitter litigation, prolonged legal warfare, is anticipated. Certainly that or expen- sive compromises are inevitable. As yet nothing decisive has been announced to determine whether Mrs. Fair lived even an instant after life passed from the body of her husband, and possibly nothing le- gally conclusive on that subject will be nailed down until the depositions are had . }or testimony in court secured of the few Wife’s Will Is Found and With Husband's May Bé Filed at Once in Oppqsing Public Adminis-= trator’s Petition. people whose accounts of the tragedy must settle that important question. One eve-witness, the wife of the innkeeper in front of whose maison the tragedy oc- curred, says both were killed instantly. Another eye-witness, M. Raimond, an au- tomoblist, asserts that both lived for a few moments. ‘While the attorneys are profuse in their statements that there has developed no friction as yet between the Fair heirs and the relatives of Mrs. Charles Fair over the disposition of the estate, they are al- ready making preparations to ward off any litigation of that nature. Attorneys Knight and Heggerty have been the legal advisers for both Mr. and Mrs. Fair for years, and it is quite unlikely that they will take any stand in the matter other than to take every precaution to see that the last will of both is carried out to the letter. Mr. Heggerty was a warm per- sonal friend of the deceased, and he has declared his intention of making every possible effort to ward off any attempt to | thwart the carrying out of the wishes ol' Mr. and Mrs. Fair as expressed in their respective wills. It can be stated upon good authority that Mrs. Fair willed most of the few hundred ‘thousand dollars’ worth of property which she possessed in her own name to her mother, Mrs. Anna Nelson. Neither made provision for a simultaneous death, and in one of the wills which they made Mrs. Fair named her husband as executor, and he in turn named her as executrix in case of his death preceding hers. SENDS FOR MRS. NELSON. There was an unusually warm bond of sympathy and trust between the unfortu- nate millionaire and his wife. In speak- ing of the likelihood of a contest over the estates of Mr. and Mrs. Fair a mu- tual friend remarked last night: “If Char- lle Fair thought that his wife or her kith or kin would not receive every dollar that was coming to them he would turn over in his coffin.” Joseph Harvey was one of the closest and most intimate friends that the Fairs had in this city. After a consultation with the attorneys yesterday Harvey sent a telegram to Mrs. Nelson requesting her to come to this city at once. There was no particular warlike attitude in this move, so the attorneys. say, and those who are familiar with the affairs of the heirs vouch for this statement. All unite in saying that the property will be di- vided just as Mr. and Mrs. Fair wanted it to be. Mr. Harvey requested Mrs. Nel- son to come to this city, they assert, be- cause her presence here will facilitate the disposition of the estate. The peculiarity of Mr. and Mrs. Fair's demise and a provision in the law relat- ing to simultaneous deaths, however, give a wide latitude for speculation over a probable contest. The law of California provides that where two parties die in the same catastrophe the male is presumed to have survived the female. If there is no evidence produced to show that Mrs. Fair lived longer than her husband, the opposite will be presumed in law, and her relatives will only receive that por- tion of her estate which she decreed them in her will and that portion of her estate which she decreed her husband will re- vert to his heirs. On the other hand, if it is proven that Charles’ Fair expired before his wife that portion of his es- tate which he bequeathed to her in his last will and testament will fall in equal shares to the heirs of his wife. ATTORNEYS WORRIED. The will question is worrying the at- torneys quite a little. Both Mr. and Mrs. Fair are known to have made more than | one will. Fair, it is said, made at least | three. His will which is in the possession of Messrs. Knight and Heggerty was | made in April, 1900. Before the discovery | of Mrs. Fair's will yesterday the attor- | neys were of the opinion that it was| made some time after her husband made | his, but the comparison of the date line | of both wills disclosed that they were | both made on the same day. Charles Fair was peculiar about his private affairs. He scarcely ever dis-| cussed his private business matters with | snybody, and the fact that the attorneys | are rather reluctant to discuss the pro visions of the two wills or even to give | out the date when they were made is | taken to indicate that they are not ab- solutely certain that they ave in posses- | sion of the last will of the deceased. When it comes to discussing the will of either Mr. or Mrs. Fair the attorneys | generalize and talk of the matter in | guarded speculative tones. A varied ex- | perlerice with wills and other legal docu- | ments disposing of vast estates which | they underwent in the recent litigation | over Senator Fair's property has proba- | bly filled them with all sorts of fears of | what might happen in the matter of the | existence and subsequent production of | other wills. | 1t is a little early in the day for any-| thing of a real hostile nature to develop | in the impending squabble, but the war | clouds are gathering on the legal horizon | and it is not unlikely that the Fair mil- lions will-be again sifted through the nel:‘ of legal controversy. Eye= Witness Relates Story of the Tragedy ‘M. Raimond Says Both Lived a Few Moments. Special Cable to The Call and the New York Herald. _Copyright, 1902, by the New Yori Herald Publishing Company. OULGATE, Aug. 15.—Jean Raimond, traveling from Paris in a new crimson col- ored ten-horse power Pan- hard-Levassor automobile, arrived here last evening. The Call correspondent interviewed M. Raimend, who saw the accident to the Fairs. He said the Fair automobile was going at breakneck speed, making over 100 kilometers an hour, when the front tire exploded with a loud report. Mr. Fair attempted to steer sfraight, but it was impossible to stop and the machine struck a tree, the machine rising like a horse on its hind legs. The heads of both Mr. Fair and his wife struck the tree with such force that their lunettes were smashed to splinters and entered the flesh of their foreheads. Both died in a few moments in spite of every skilled medical effort. M. Raimond saw the dead bodles, whose faces were badly damaged, but still rec- ogrizable. One theory advanced to ex- plain the wild speed is that Mr. Fair was desirous of breaking Mr. Vanderbilt's rec- ord of two and a half hours between Paris and Trouville. There is a splendid wide road at the place of the accident. The catastrophe is the sole topic of con- versation in the French and American colony here, and the Duc de Bressac has expressed great sympathy. ishi \BODIES REST IN CASKETS IN CAPITAL ARIS, Aug. 15.—The bodies of Mr. P and Mrs. Charles L. Fair, who were killed in an automobile accident yesterday near Evreaux, were em- balmed and placed in coffins to-day, after which they were shipped to Paris, whence they will be taken to San Francisco. The chauffeur said to-day that before the accident he noticed the tire of the left hind wheel of the machine was de- flated and that the rim of the wheel was rubbing on the ground. He told Mr. Fair, Continued on Page Two