Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-11-30
THE RECORDS.
The Erasures and Interlineations
Made i'm Them.


The Erasures and Interlineations
Made i'm Them.
Yesterday HERALD reporter went to
the Recorders Office, where he was met
by Mr.. G. G. Grove, the writer of the
letter in this paper of yesterday morning
charging that great carelessness had
been practiced in making the official
record Of deeds, mortgages and other
documents. Several other searchers
were present. Mr.. Grove said to the re-.
porter:
''Take down any book of deeds or
mortgages you please for examination. !"
There was one book-a book OF deeds
projecting a little from the niche,
which the reporter took out and laid on
the table. The pages were thrown open
at haphazard, page coming out. Here
was in one deed an interlineation of half
a dozen words and also an erasure.
On page seven there was name, that
Of the grantor; 1t was followed by the
letters Sr. They were evidently made
after the erasure of some other writing or
mafHs.
On page ten the deed was signed, I.
L. Spencer. The ftss initial had been
written over an erssure.
On page fifteen the daed recited that
The land conveyed wass twenty acres, "the
number being spelled out. Between the
two words here quoted over csret (A)
mark were the numerals 20.
On this same page at the top was cop.
led the name of the notary 10 preceding
deed. 1t was Geo. J. Clark. The part
"Geo. j." had been made over an
erasure.
At page "a the grantor's name,
Geo. Herman, was written in such way
as to show plainly that the first name
and the first syllable Of tie surname had
been written over an erasure.
At page 81 the name L. G. Stanchfield
was written over an .erasure.
Book 800 of mortgages was taken up,
and at page 800 the name W. l. Hull WAS
30 written as to indicate that the second
initial had been written over an erasure.
Going back to the book Of deeds re-
ierred to before, at page 81, six lines had
been written over an erssure. They en-
bodied the description of the property
conveyed.
Referring them to the book of mort
cages at pago 305 the whole signature Of
the maker Of the note, Herman Olco-
vich, his attorney in fact" was written
over an erasure.
The searchers then brought book 1879 of
mortgages and at page "a ct seq. the
name Of the maker of the note, q. E..
Huber, was written over an erasure
ct all points where it was found.
The date, January 23d, was
also made over an erssure. In
the acknowledgment of the notary this
change of the name was found. This
mortgage is still outstanding, being for
$500, and given to the German Sav-
ings and Loan Association.
At another place in this book the
words. in brackets, thus: "[Notarial
Ssal]" were made over an erasure. Book
SOL Of deeds was opened, snd at page
242 q deed was discovered where the
words ran "between the Glendora Land
Co., dose." Here between the last two
words was caret mark, and above the
words "and j. F. Davis. This WAS the
name of the "party of the second part.
Mr.. Grove stated that the erasures
and interlineations of important parts of
the instrument would average right along
fifty to sixty to. the book. There are
few documents in which there are not
some corrections made, many of them
being trivial. These corrections on the
pages Of tho records began about 1885
and 1886, and come down to the present
time.
If certified copy Of document is
required, the Recorder certifies that it is
. full, true and correct copy of the
original, as he does on the books in all
cases.
The searchers set up the contention
that these erasures cast more or less
doubt on the records. 1t is acknowledged
by them that the presumption is great
that these corrections were made by the
copyist or by the comparers who go over
the work before the Recorder signs his
name to the record. But they claim that
there is 80 great an element of doubt
that no one can say which correction has
so been made and which one may be a
fraud. One of the searchers states that
the famous lawyer of San Francisco,
8. NJ. Wilson, always insists that where
such erssures or interlineations are dis
covered, the deeds shall be recorded
again. If this is the correct modus
operandi, all the records of this county.
or nearly ali of them, would have to be
recopied. The searchers suggested to the
reporter that he consult some good law
yer as to the importance Of the matter,
and this was done. The person con.
suited is very careful, conservative and
intelligent attorney. He laughed the
whole thing out of court. He stated that
the code of this State provides explicitly
that the records as they stand in the pub
lie Offices shall be assumed to be prinaa
.facie correct; that ii anyone calls them
in question, tbs burden of proof rests
on him to show that the record is not
true copy of the original. In the case
Of the mortgage above referred to where
the name was changed, the bank has the
original note with the date on it. That
is the paper on which any suit would have
to be brought. If there has been a
change made the bank could easily show
it and recover. If anyone has obtained
money on it other than the owner it
would be by fraud, and the redress
would have TO be sought from the one
who committed the fraud, not to the
detriment of the bank.
There are both sides of this contro-
versy. 1t is self-evident that the records
are of such prime Importance that great
care ought to be taken in copying them !;
and that due vigilance should be exer-
cised to prevent their being tampered
with.
The memorial referred to in other
issues of the HERALD was laid before the
Board OF Supervisors yesterday and laid
on the table.
Recorder Francis stated to the reporter