The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-05-22
The NIrra Gaines Case.

More than half century ago the Gaines
with occasional intermissions, has been
ever since almost constantly before the
public. AS was recently published in
THE SENTINEL, the supreme court OF the
United States probably finally decided the
case. 1t has involved New Orleans prop
erty valued before the war at S55,OOO,OOO.
The story is e long and romantic one, and
as briefly rehearsed in recent issue OF
the New York Herald runs as follows:
In the latter part of the last century DANIEL
CLARK emigrated from Ireland to this country
and settled in New Orleans. He was man of
pride, ambition, intelligence and enterprise.
He became prominent in public and CONNER
cial affairs. He died in 1913 at the age Of forty
eight extensively bachelor. BY a will, dated
in 1911. all his property was left to his mother.
At that date MYRA DAVIS was girl of six,
living with her supposed parents in Philsdel-
phia- The intimate friends OF the family OF
Col. DAVIS looked upon her as an adopted
daughter. The girl believed that she was
lawful child until she was about twenty-five.
She then learned that DANIEL CLARK was her
father. WhereupOn set set out to prove her
parentage and assert her legal rights of inherit
ance. In these efforts she joined by her
husband, w. W. WHITNEY, TO whom she was
married in 1882.
1t appeared that during his life CLARK had
been on terms of intimacy with ZULINIE DEs
ORANGES, a young French woman. noted for
her beauty. She was known as the wife OF
JEROME DIS ORANGES. But he had left her
and returned to France. ZULDIE DIES
ORANGES proved 10 be the mother OF MYRA
DAVIS. and DANIEL CLARK proved TO be her
father.
It was then aseertained that CLARK had
made a will, Just before his death, in 1913, by
which he recognized hYRA as his daughter and
left her all his property. But of this will there
was 10 trace. That il had beer made was,
however proved by living witnesses. This
fact having been established. with the fact adj
mitted in the viii that CLARK was the father of
MYRA, the question remained whether she was
a legitimate child. This was proved by show
ing a secret marriage between CLARK and "
LINE before the birth of MYRA, and by further
showing that the previous marriage Of ZULIME
10 DEs ORANGES was not valid, for the reason
that DEs ORANGES had at the time another
wife living.
These points were affirmed by the supreme
court of Louisiana in 1856. The claimant who
had in the meantime lost her first husband and
married Gen. GAINES, had thus succeeded IN as
serting her rights The property had how
ever, been disposed of by the executors of the
will of 1871 as directed by that will 1t is the
various phases of the proceedings 10 recover il
that have since occupied the courts. Mrs.
four years ago at the age OF eighty. The con-
troveTsy has since been waged by her heirs.
DAVID B. Hill evidently does not want
TO be president OF the United States. His
veto of the Sexton ballot reform bill re-
Gently puts him as completely out OF the
list Of presidential possibilities as Ben
BUTLER or JEFF DAVIS is. and he mus
have known that it would. The next
president will be a statesman, and Gov.
HmL's veto Of the Sexton bill shows that
he is not a statesman at all, but only a
very cheap politician. The next presi-
dent will be reformer, and Gov. Hills
opposition to the Australian system shows
that he is anything but a seformer.
The Sexton bill is almost identical
with the Andrew bill, which VAS passed