, 1888-11-29
CELEBRATED GAINES CASE.
Litigation Over 1t without q Parallel In
this Country.

a Washlpgton special says: IDe
supreme court of the United States will
probably render 6nal decision In q few
days In a case that, in its sensational fea.
been contested and its protracted litiga.
tion through over hfty years, stands with
out parallel In the judicial annals of this
country. and throws into the shade many
of the celebrated cases In the
English chancery courts. This is the
suit of Myra Clark Gaines against the city
of New Orleans since 1884. Nearly every
prominent lawyer in the country has taken
part In the case on one side or the other.
The various suits have been fought saw
agely and relentlessly. Vituperation and
slander have been poured upon all connect.
ed with the case. Mrs. Gaines has been
has been called in question, and her moth
er has been declared q biganlist and an
impure woman.
The case has been tried time and again
in the state courts of Louisiana, aud it is
said this Is the one hundredth time it mas
been in the supreme court of the United
States. 1t has been regarded as settled
conclusively at various times In the last
thirty years, but each time the inge-
nuity OF the able counsel employed
have found some means of postponing
the final settlement. 1t is now declared
that the closing act OF the drama has
come, and Mr.. Beckwith, the attorney for
the City of New Orleans, says that the re-
and that, if defeated, there is nothing for
the city to do but to make some arrange
ments for the damages awarded by the
court.
The contests between Mrs. Gaines and
her lawyers have formed not the least
conspicuous feature Of the case. The
most eminent attorneys have been EN-.
ployed, and nearly all of them have with
drawn from the case at different times.
Caleb Cushing Reverdy johnson, Judge
John A. Campbell and Jere Black are
some of those who have represented Mrs.
Gaines, while Daniel Webster and
the other side. Deserted by
one counsel after another Mrs.
Gaines struggled on, hopeful, buoyant,
confident of victory, until she was laid In
her grave. Long years If litigation washed
away her money, and at times she was too
poor to pay the court costs; but still she
persevered in her determination to clear
the stain from her mothers name. and to
secure what she regarded as her right
Many residents of Washington remem.
Der her as little thin old woman, whose
cheerfulness, vivacity and energy remained
to the last. For years she was familiar
figure on the street as she went smartly y
along, with her son and son-in.law at her
side. She died in January, 1885. Her
son and son-in.law have also since passed
away, and nobody now remains but Hattie
l.. Whitney, her daughter.in-law, whose
husband was killed by James Fl. Christ
mas. Mrs. Gaines son.in-law, in a family
quarrel few years ago. Mrs. Whitney
IL living very quietly in Washington.
Mrs. Gaines began her first suit in 1884
TO recover the property now in litigation,
which had oeen left by her father and
bought by the city of New Orleans. 1t ia
unnecessary to recount the various phases
Of the long fight. The war interrupted
the proceedings for several years. After
the war the litigation was pushed az
6ercely as ever in the courts. and In 1881
Mrs. Gaines, then Is years old, was given
a judgment against the city Of New Or
leans for $l.925 ,667.83 by the United
States circuit court.
-Four years later she died While the cast
was on appeal to the United States su
preme. court. The amount awarded repre-
sents rents, interests and principal accru
ing for the sum for which the city oriRi
nally sold the property. It 10 on an ap
peal from this decision awarding interest,
and rents'that an opinion is expected from
the United States supreme court to-mor
row. The case was argued In October
year ago, and judgment can hardly b'
longer delayed. Interest is running OF
the money awarded by the court, 80 tha
should the Judgment be against the city
as is generally expected, 1t will have u
pay nearly $3,0OO,OO0.
New Orleans 10 impoverished and prac
tically bankrupt, and 1t is q hard question
for her to settle just how the obligation
will be met. The courts mandate canno
be resisted, and 1t Is thought that tn
lew interest bearing bonds to those VIII
represent the estate OF Mrs. Gaines.