The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-02-18
Nssr Wells Declared Competent to Keep the
Money He Has Made.
HIS COUSINS DILEMMA.
Proceedings that Were Enivened by Legal
Tits and Wrangles.

the roll OF the jury yesterday afternoon, the court
room was packed with cousins. second cousins
Ruckleses and people generally. who occupied every
available inch of and made the conduct Of
affairs matter of extreme difficulty TO officers.
counsel and all concerned. Some delay
CURED. but Immediately after the roll call.
Mr. Luther r. Marsh. senior counsel for
the defendant Wells addressed the jury at
great length Mr.. Wells sat near his counsel and
at every thrust at Cousin George comical smile
rippIed his face. now and then breaking out
into laugh which contagious and found vo-
luminous echo on the floor and in the gallery. The
counsel for the interrupted the speaker fire.
quently and the Commission was powerless to sup
press him. Mr. Marsh made much Of the fact that
while poor and women rarely interfered
with frequent instances of rich old recorded
where their relatives invoke the law to interfere
with their liberty and divert their property into
interested channels. Instancng the of Cor
neius Vanderbilt Mr.. Marsh said he considered the
present contest of his will disgrace to civilization
"If," said he amy second cousin had attempted in
vanderbilts lifetime to shut him up and take
control of his property the entire community
would have risen in indignant remonstrance. and it
is only because this old wfeess childess and
homeless that these cousnly' proceedings per-
mitted. In his case his money is his life. For
than forty years he worked and shaved and saved
and here find him without fire in winter. shabby in
dress and patched from top to toe, that fortyve
buttons are needed to keep his clothes together.
confess can't understood how old man can hold
on to his money in this way, but he and does.
He was wise enough while making his money and he
is bright enough now to keep pretty tight hold
upon it, These New Jersey cousins-one the COM
painant and the other the lawyer-are very anxious
about his property. but the old man himself can
here. there and everywhere unattended and IN
protected
"And It is astonishing fact that all these pro-
ceedings kept secret from the old man. Cousin
George drew all the afdavits, and so meagre was
his magazine that he used the language in all
of them. The boarding house people have him in
their clutches. He goes nowhere else, because he
has nowhere else go. He made acquaintance
in his business; he had no friends outside of
his office: He made his fortune ss,l IN ms own
now anxious lest he should waste their inherit
ance They make no suggestion of proof that the old
man has alienation of mind and all they show is
eccentric manner and the natural enlightenment of
old age They gave him no notice of their intention
a receiver. Like a sleuth hound Cousin George
smelled money and tracked it until he saw it safe in
the hands of receiver Then George felt easy; then
Charles smacked his llps.'
Mr.. Sibley-I object to all this. The counsel has
no right to sum up in that way
my upon it. Already the public are alarmed by
the frequency with which men-always rich mem
found to be insane. Since these proceedings be-
gan public meeting of protest has been held in the
city of Boston, at which Wendell Phillips spoke and
said there time in twenty years past when he
might not have been pronounced insane and shut up
in asylum where his voice could no longer be
| heard.
For more than forty years this man has had his
Office in one place. There he has worked day in and
day out. He has gone without sufficient clothing;
in winter he had FIRE; but idea dominated all
his thoughts, and that was the getting Of money.
mouse about his papers while he has the poor priv
ilese of sitting in the wind and snow upon the
place, for which he pays the rent. 1t
| is not fair-it is preposterous-to judge of
his condition under the excitement OF this inyesga
ton. This is shock more severe than any he sus-
tanned by blow from horses hoof. Now he thinks
every body is his cousin and even Marshes and kents
become Sibleys and Tafts. Everybody is against
| him-his first second and third cousins, aud the
gossips of his boarding house. one and all The one
! question here is Is he of unsound mind There is
| no question in any ones mind to his ability to
take care of himself but his distant relatives and
prospective heirs greatly exercised lest he should
disspate his estate and thus dcspou their inheri
lance.
During Mr.. Marsh's long and exhaustive address
the cousinly host were most uneasy. Cousin George
ratified the leaves of book, walked about the court
and occasionally appealed to the Court for pro-
throng and desired be known that she believed
the old gentleman to be all right, and if he wasn't
she sure she didn't want any of his money.
WHAT A BUSINESS MAN
Samuel Churchill testified: II am native Of Mas
sachusetts; have known Wells well for twelve years
and have done business with him down to the present
time; have found him careful, prudent business
men; have been owners of the same kind of prop
erty and have frequently consulted about 1t, and
i have taken his advice and counsel and found it
good; of late months have found his memory and
| mode of talk impaired somewhat, and thought he
needed time to strengthen his memory; II sub
jects were suddenly started 1t would stagger
him little and his first answer might he
ineoherent. but later he would be all right; change
of subject embarrassed him. knew considerable OF
his transactions, and never knew any one to over
reach him in business he spoke of his making an
overraf and he heard of it he referred to his
book and fixed 1t up; should judge Mr.. Wells to be
competent to take care Of himself and his affairs
regard that he has always been sane and never in
incapable of taking care of his affairs ON re-
Mr. sibley-wherc do yon go in New York;
Mr.. Churchill won't answer.
Mr. Sibley-Yes you viii.
Mr. Churchill--No, won't I am not cousin.
| and am not on trial. Great applause.l
OFFICE NEIGIiBoR SAYS.
Alden S. Swan ed:-I live i'll Brooklyn and do
business in Maiden lane and Nandewa:er street; am
next door to Mr.. Wells Office; have known Mr..
Wells six years quite intimately. he
in my Office often, where we talked in friendly way;
III cold weather ne came III to SIT by our stove and
get warm; his eccentric and peculiar, he
was always rational: there was slowness of appre
hension and Appreciation he deiberated before an
swering, but then spoke to the point; would not
take him to be man of unsound mind consider
him capable to manage his own affairs.
To Mr.. Sbicy--1 joked him about getting married,
aud chsfrcd him about having girl; he said ".rhe
girls couldn't catch me- aud that settled it, have
seen him ,ooSs AZ the % hi IN qneet ,S ne
back hold up his hands. point at the clock and say.
what time have you now?' never saw him talking
TO the clock.
''what do you think of his manner?"
81 call IL eccentric"
"What is thatY
1T is acting in different manner from other
men"
'Didnt you shy to me that you considered him
crazy I don't want to trip you up. but please
answer that
mo didn't. You asked me If didnt consider
him of unsound mind, and wac very careful in my
answer. said thought him eccentric. consider
him entirely able to take of himself and per-
fecty competent to manage his business affairs.
During the proceedings MIR. Wells sat his
COUNSEL and laughed Enthusiastically at the various
verbal encounters III which the legal gentry figured.
Every reference TO his cousins seemed To strike his
bump of huinor particularly hard, and when the
Court intmated to Cousin George that his objcc-
tons took up much time than the witnesses ne
turned the Bench and nodded with vigorous afir-
nation. In confirmation of the counsel's assertion
that seemed to much about Mr.. Wells
per the old man permitted to leave the Court