Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-01-04

James called clerk from the office of the
late owners of the r. ". :. Kangaroo, who
produced the roll of the ship, on which the
names of the two sailors, Johnnie Butt
and Bill Jones, duly appeared.
This closed the plaintiffs case, and the
Attorney-General at once proceeded to call
his witnesses. reserying his remarks till
the conclusion of the evidence. He had
only two witnesses, Mr.. Todd. the lawyer
who drew and attested the will of Nov. 10,
and his clerk, who also attested it, and
their examination did not take long. In
cr0ss-examination, however, both these
witnesses admitted that the testator was
in great state of passion when he exc
cuted the will, and gave details of the live
Iv scene that then occurred.
Then the AttOrney-General rose to ad-
dress the Court for the defendants. He
said there were two questions before the
Court, reserving, for the present, the ques-
tion as to the admissibility of the evidence
of Augusta SInithers; and those were
first, did the tattoo marks upon the lady's
back constitute will at all; and, second
ly, suppOsing that they did, was it proved
10 the satisfaction of the Court that these
undated marks were duly executed by a
sane md unintiuenced man, in the pres
ence of the Wi nesseS, as req uired by the
statute. He maintained, in the first place,
that these marks were no will within the
meaning OF the statute; but, feeling that
he was not on very sound ground CT this
point, quickly passed on to the other as
poets of the case. With much force and
ability ne dwelt upon the strangeness of
the whole story, and how it rested solely
upon the evidence Of one witness, Angus
ia Smithers. 1t was only if the Court ac-
cepted her evidence as it stood that it
could come to the conclusion that the will
was executed at all, or, indeed, that the
two attesting witnesses were on the island
at all. Considering the relations which
existed between this witness and the plain
tiff. was the Court prepared to accept her
evidence in this unreserVed way Was it
prepared to decide that this will, in favor
Of a man with whom the teStatOr had vio-
Iently quarrelei, and had disinherted in
consequence of that quarrel, was not, II
indeed it was executed at all, extorted by
this lady from weak and dying, and
possibly deranged, man? And with this
question the learned gentleman sat down.
He was followed briefly by the Solicitor
General and Mr.. Fiddlestick; but though
they talked fiuently enough, addressing
themselves to various minor points, they
had nothing fresh of interest to adduce,
and, finishing at half-past three, James
rose to reply on the whole case on behalf
of the plaintiff.
There was moments pause while he
was arranging his notes, and then, just
as he was about to begin, the Judge said,
quietly, "Thank you, Mr.. Short, | do not
think that l need trouble you" and James
sat down with a gasp, for he knew that
the cause was won.
Then his Lordship began, and, after
giving a mastery summary of the whole
case, concluded as follows: 'Such are the
details Of the most remarkable probate
cause that | ever remember to have had
brought to my notice, either during my
career at the bar or on the bench 1t will
be obvious as the learned Attorney-Gen-
eral has said, that the whole case really
lies between two points. Is the document
on the back Of Augusta Smithers a suf-
hclent will to carry the property, and, II
so, IS the unsupported story of the lady as
to the execution of the document to be be
Iieved? Now, what does the law under
stand by the term VIII? Surely it un-
derStands some writing that expresses the
wish or will of a person as to the DISPOSE
ton Of his property after his deCeaSe. This
writing must be executed with certain
formalitieS; but if it is so executed by a
person not labOring under any mental or
other disability it is ndefeasible, except by
the subsequent execution of a fresh tesla
mentary document, or by its destruction
or attempted destruction, amino TeUOCGn-
I'll, or by marriage. Subject to these form
alitieS required by the law, the form of the
dOcument-proyided that its meaning is
clear-is immaterial. Now, do the tattoo
marks on the back of this lady constitute
such document, and do they convey the
true last will or wish of the testator? This
is the first point that / have to decide, and
| decide it in the affirmative. 1t is true
that ii is not usual for testamentary dOCu-
ments to be tattooed upon the skin of a
human being; but, because it is not usual,
it does not follow that Il tattoOcd dOcu-
ment is not a valid one. The ninth sec
ton of the Statute of Vic, cap 26, speCi-
ties that no will shall be valid unless it
shall be in writing; but cannot this tattoo
ing be considered as writing within the
meaning of the act? am clearly of opin-
ion that it can, if only on the ground that
the material used was ink-a natural ink,
it is true, that of the cuttle-fish, but still
ink; for | may remark that the natural
product of the cuttle-iish was mt one time
large Y used i'll this country for that very
purpose. Further, in reference to this
part of the case, it mus; he borne in mind
that the tcstator was no eccentric being,
who from Whim or peryersity chose this
extraordinary method of signifyinG his
wishes as to the disposal of his property.
lie was man placed in about as terrible
position as it is possible to conceive He
was, if we are to believe the story of Miss
Smithers, most sincerely anxious to revoke
a disposition Of his property which he
now, standing face to face with the great
est issue of this life, recognized to be I'M
just, and which was certainly contrary to
the promptings of nature as experienced
by most men. And yet in this terrible
strait in which he found himself, and not
withstandinG the earnest desire which
grew more intense as his vital forces ebbed,
he could find absolutely no means of carry
ing out his wish. At length, however,
this plan of tattUOing his viii upon the
living flesh of Il younger and stronger per
son is presented to him, and he eagerly
avails himself of it; and the tattcNing is
duly carried out in his presence and at his
desire. and as duly signed and witnessed.
Can it be seriously argued that docu-
ment so executed does not fulfill the bare
requirements of the law? | think that it
cannot, and am of opinion that such
document is as much valid will as
though it had been cngroSSed upon the
skin of a sheep, and duly signed and wit
messed in the Temple.
Go be continued.l