The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 17, 1902, Page 17

o | | | | 3 Pages SROXORIRG 020 PHOXGXOUGNS @OrEX XTI IEXILDX & X SXOXOXOXO RS X 0O Call. VOLUME iCII——J\'O. i 8. SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, AUGUST 1 s 1902—THIRTY-SIX PAGES. Mmmmmw Do g 1710 20 ArArL cbn axscacacaca JokeNOnGueN PRICE FIVE CEN1S MME. HOURDET, GATEKEEPER OF CHATEAU, TELLS WITH TEARS WHAT SHE SAW OF ACCIDENT THAT COST LIVES OF THE FAIRS PAVING WAY FOR ACANAL Treaty With Colombia to Be Signed in a Month. Congressesofthe Two Nations Will Act Promptly. Knox Thinks Panama Company’s Title Is Clear. Special Dispatch to The Call, CALL BUREAU, 146 G STREET, N. W., WASHINGTON, Aug. 16.—A treaty between the United States and Colombia the te Government for the con- probably f which this acquire a right of way Pa: the a canal uction will be signed ry Hay and Min- ister Concha ing their respect- represe! not later than Septem- he instrument is prac- pleted at the present time. The Government, which was fur- T a copy of the orig! draft, is e urged upon Minis- of EATY WILL BE RATIFIED. and ¢ of th is important egal experts can s that the P: clear title to the ing to sell to the will be ratified meantime th meet and also no doubt is there minds of lawyers who e investigation of title, that the r to sell its a clear title to St THINKS TITLE CLEAR. 1. He is 1 sat h will arise being carried t of Jus- visit the 84 ubt they now sent for. e court law tions of and fact. VATICAN PROPOSES NOTABLE ASSIGNMENTS | ing Monsignor Guidi to al Rampolia, the pa- of state to be apostolic del di: has be andoned be- cause not know sufficient Eng? lish, he will be sent as apos- India instead. As to ctor of the Catholic hington, whose D tment as apostolic delegate at has been rumored, the Vatican that his name has ever been con- in connection with the Manila sidered where, it is pointed out, the condi- tions demand a thorough man of busi- speaking fluently English and Span- post ness ish, of ungquestioned Iimpartiality withal persona grata at Washington. It seems probable now that Monsignor Merry Del Val, who was to have repre- sented the Pope at King Edward’s post- poned coronation, will be appointed pa- pal nuncio at Vienna, while Monsignor A\Faiconio, the apostolic delegate in Can- ade, may ultimately be transferred from Canada to Washington. ZEIGLER HAS FAITH IN BALDWIN’S PROWESS and NEW YORK, Aug. 16.—William Zeigler, who has financed the Evelyn P. Baldwin polar exploration expedition, sent a cable- gram of instructions to-day to Baldwin to acquaint him with the directions given to William S. Champ, in charge of the relief and exploring party, which might be termed an auxiliary expedition. The fact that @ letter of credit was cabled shows that Zeigler has not Jost confidence in Baldwin. The cablegram in full reads as follows “Baldwin, Tromsoe—Champ in charge of Frithjof with relief and exploring par- ty fully equipped; has been instructed in case of failure to meet Baldwin or his faflure to reach destination to winter in Franz Josef Land and to make independ- ent dash in spring of 1%03; Baldwin with America to return to Franz Josef Land to meet Champ's returning party, and in case their failure, to winter there and make another attempt for pole the fol- Letter of credit c: ZEIGLER.” &owing spring, 1904 bied to-day. ma Can- | General K s entertained | for several months from the him by persons was said to-day that | ssi- | Says the Husband and Wife Breathed Last at the Same Instant | Comte Louis de Rest | Asserts a Different | Tale Was Told Him Special Cable to The Call and the New York Herald. Copyright, 1902, by the New York Herald Publishing Company. ACY SUR EURE, Aug. 16.—As the conveyance bearing the bodies of the Fairs from the lodge of the Chateau de Buls- son de Mal to Pacy station passed slowly along the road this morning every head was uncovered in touching and spontaneous tribute to the respect for the dead, and many wom- en wept outright. The mystery surrounding the cause of the accident is only deepened by a close | inspection of the scene of the catastrophe. The road is level and was unobstructed, and Mr. Fair is said to have been very expert. It was immediately in front of the gatekeeper’'s lodge that the accident happened. The tree against which the fatal shock was given is on the opposite side of the road. The gatekeeper, Mme. Hourdet, a sym- pathetic, pleasant faced woman, her eyes red and swollen with weeping, who is still unnerved by the terrible spectacle of which she is probably the sole indis- putable eye-witness, gave The Call cor- respondent a succinct account of the ac- cident, though with reluctance, for it was plain that the memory was one from which she shrank almost with terror. From her story it appears that she was near the lodge when she heard a sort of report, presumably caused by the burst- ing of the tire of the left rear wheel—not the front wheel, as earlier reports re- lated—and looking out saw an automobile 1 Continued on Page Eighteen. \ \ AN —— HERMANN OELRICHS | | | HE possibllity that other eye- witnesses may spring up, will- ing to testify that Mrs. Charles Falr was still alive after the breath of life had left the body of her husband is the specter that would be supposed to strike terror to the guardians of the rights of the kin of the deceased millionaire. Yet the sang froid with which attorneys and agents awalt developments leads to the conclusion that not much has been left to the element of chance in this matter. The wife of the gatékeeper of the Cha- teau Boisson du Mai has said that both Charles Fair and his wife were dead when she reached them. The chauffeur, Louis Brety, says he was so dazed and terrified by the ghastly sight that he does not know if either showed signs of life. These two claim to have extricated the bodies from the wreckage unaided, and their testimony would in consequence op- pose the claim of any one else to have been an eye-witness of the catastrophe. Attorneys and agents here for the Fair heirs are much relieved to know that X | g i H 1 (= — - i : ———— = ATTORNEY WHO OFFOSED FARNHAM’S PETITION, AND INTERESTED AUDITORS. i —— —— Brety is the chauffeur who was with the unfortunate couple. They are confident that he will testify honestly when the time comes for evidence to be taken. WITNESSES MAY BE MANY. Charles J. Heggerty admits the possi- bility of the discovery of a dozen per- sons who may claim to have seen the tragedy and who will be willing to swear that Mrs. Fair survived her husband. Charles S. Neal, manager of the Fair estate, admits the same, and yet there seems to be no uneasiness in the mind of either in consequence. The natural inference is that the San Francisco at- torneys have lost 1o time in securing as- surances of what the testimony of Brety and of the wife of the gatekeeper of the ‘chateau will be. The heirs have won the first skirmish against the Public Administrator. Judge Cook has continued the case until to- MOITOwW, when he will hear arguments on Farnham’s petition for appointment as special administrator, demanding first, however, legal proof of the death of Fair and his wife. All sorts of rumors are rife over the evident disposition on the part of the at- torneys to keep the contents of their wills from becoming public. Mr. Heggerty states that they have absolutely no rea- son to retain strict silence about the con- tents of the two wills except that of com- mon decency. ‘““When the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Fair are laid in their final resting place we will make the wills public,” says Mr. Heggerty when questioned about the con- tents of the wills, and that is all he will say in reference to those two documents | in which so much public interest is. cen- tered just at present. MAY BE OTHER WILLS. There is a persistent rumor going the rounds to the effect that the will admit- ted to be in the possession of Attorney Heggerty is not the last document of that nature executed by Fair. This it is claimed accounts for the reluctance on | the part of the attorneys to discuss the contents of the wills. Falr is known to have made several wills, but it is stated on good authority that neither of the Attorneys for the Heirs Win First Skirmish in the Courts, Securing Delay in the Matter of the Public Administrator’s Petition, and Specter of the Possibility of Other Eyewitnesses of Tragedy Being Produced Does Not Seem to Disturb Them dccuments differed materially in the mat- ter of disposing of his real property. The attorneys for the Fair children say that Mrs. Anna Nelson of New Jersey, who is Mrs. Fair's mother, will receive every dollar that is coming to her as a result of the terrible accident. It is un- derstood that Mrs. Fair willed the bulk of her property to her mother and sisters. Whether or not Mrs. Nelson will take steps to ascertain positively which of the deceased died first is not known. She will arrive in this city some time next week, and by that time it may be definitely set- tled whether Fair outlived his wife or whether she gave up her hold on life after he did. Those are questions which materially affect Mrs. Nelson's position. In fact, upon that point hangs the owner- ship to millions of dollars of property which Charles L. Fair bequeathed to his wife. The testimony of eye-witnesses will be needed to settle that point. As yet no definite reports upon the subject have been telegraphed here. The chauffeur ad- mits that he was shocked into partial in- sanity by the horrifying calamity, but REBELS MAKING HEADWAY Serious Condition of Affairs on the Isthmus. Colombian Soldiers Are Bottled Up at Agua Dulce. Loss of a Gunboat Is Also Heavy Blow to Government. Special Dispatch to The Call, SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, Aug. 18—Au- thentic news from Panama via Port Li- mon indicates a serious state of affairs on the isthmus. About 2000 soldiers of the Colombian Government who have been in Agua Dulce were attacked on July 29 by 4000 revolutionists, commanded by General Herrera, and up to August 6§ the government of Panama had not re- ceived satisfactory news. The insurgent forces on August 1 took possession of the harbor of Agua Dulce. When the Govern- ment vessel Chucuito tried to land am- munition and provisions for the Govern- ment troops she was attacked and obliged to come back to Panama, where she is lying now, with a big hole in her side. She will be unable to move for several days. CAPTURED OR SUNK. The Chucuito upon her arrival at Agua Dulce had been surprised by the insur- gent gunboat Padilla, which fired on her. The Chucuito having been hit hurried away, leaving the Boyaca to fight it out with the gunboat Padilla. When the Chucuito last saw the Boyaca the latter was being pursued by the Padilla. As nothing has been heard from the Boyaca she was undoubtedly captured or sunk by the revolutionary war vessel. The en- gagement between the Boyaca and the Padilla took place on July 3. The Bo- yaca had 300 soldiers on board and a large quantity of arms and provisions, All advices show that the port of Agua Dulce is still in the possession of the revolutionary forces, which are well in- trenched, and that the insurgents are in a position to operate freely on the Pa- cific, because they have control of the sea. APPEALS FOR TROOPS. Latest advices from Colon give assur- ances that the district of Magdalena is in the hands of the revolutionists, and this | 1s confirmed because General Fernandez, Minister of War, lately cabled from Bo- gota to Governor Salazar of Panama to send him 2000 men to bar Ranquilla as soon as possible, because the available ! troops of the Panama government are bottled up in Agua Dulce. | Besides, the situation on the isthmus is | very critical. Neither can forces come from Buena Ventura, because the mail | steamers do not wish to run the risk of carrying troops, knowing that the revo- lutionary war vessels control the bay of Panama. News from Kingston, Jamaica, says | that General Faciol Soto with a powerful | military expedition arrived lately in Rio | Hacha, where General Foliaco was re- cently defeated and surrendered, together with 1500 Government troops. The mortality on the isthmus among the Government troops has been so con- siderable that the garrisons of Panama and Colon have been very much reduced. There are now no troops on the borde: and the regular guard of trains on ti Panama Railroad has been suspended, and therefore there is now no Govern- ment protection on the border. @ il @ then that information is contained in press reports, and when it comes to giv- ing testimony which will settle the dispo- sition of millions of dollars his recollec- tion as to which lived the longest in all probability will be clear and distinet. Al alleged eye-witnesses may have to be brought here to testify in case of a con- test. The Fair heirs have had more than their share of tiresome and costly litiga- tion, and it is said by those who claim ta know their feelings in this regard that they will compromise at any cost rathes than enter into another will contest. COOK DEMANDS PROOF. Arguments on Farnum’s Petition Will Be Heard To-Morrow. The efforts of John Farnham, Publie Administ r, to secure control of the estates of 'he late Charles L. Fair and his wife, Caroline Decker Fair, received a setback yesterday morning from Judge Cook, who intimated plainly that unless Farnham produced other than hearsay evidence as to the death of Mr. and Mrs. Fair he would have to dismiss the peti tion of Farnham for special letters of ad- ministration. The argument on the petition, whick bad been presented to the Judge Thurs- day evening a few hours after news ol the death of Mr. and -Mrs. Fair had reached the city, was set for 10 o’clock yesterday morning. Punctually at the hour Attorney Charles J. Heggerty ea- tered the courtroom, accompanied by Hermann Oelrichs, €harles S. Neal, John Seymour and Joseph Harvey. The Publle Administrator was accompanied by his at- Continued on Page Eighteen.