The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-01-26
A GENIUS FOR FLAWS
Lawyer Davies Claims q Million Dollars
or So Worth Of Real Estate.
Taking Advantage ef an Alleged Defect
im Title to Property In Helena and
E:lsew here Town
site All Right.
special tn the standard.

special tn the standard.
HELENA, Jan. 25.-The chief topic In
| real estate and legal ~circles to-day IL u
movement made by II. &. Davies. a real
estate man and attorney in this city. II
his position can be sustained by law he
can hold title tn more than ~ million dol
lars worth of real estate i'm Helena, Great
Falls and Anaconda. though he says hc
He has been buyi.Ig up land located 10y
additional soldier homestead scrip. when
such land has been located 10y am attorney
intact. To support his title he shows SUI
preme court decisions from
Kansas and California, in which il ia
held that the power of attorney i'm such
cases il invalid, thus making transfers in
such cases illegal. There are more than
go titles of this kind in Montana which
Davies claims he has the power to set
aside.
Acase in point is the involved title to the
Boyce addition i'm this city. Mayor James
X. Royce and William Wallace entered
ago. Each nc@ur Il ad .in sola Ss.ss
homestead scrip. Accompanying this
uuder IA special law was he power OF at
land was described and sold by w. u.
Abhott through an attorney in fact.
Davies learning of the recent court dccis-
ion. quietly slipped out OF town u short
time ago. and purchased for a nominal
sum the land which had previously been
resiividcd. sold and resold. In n like
manner lie procured deeds for the Ceu-
trail addition and adjoining property, land
near Great Falls and portion of the bust
ness part of Anaconda. The situation
was discovered by Judge Sterling. who
wrote tn the Office of the clerk and re-
corslcr after n few days for on abstract
the title to piece of property in the Boyce
addition. To his surprise he found the
same property decided by w. u. Abbott To
II. e.. Davies on anuary >. An interview
between Davies and Sterling followed.
The result was that Sterling paid S2uU To
have the matter dropped, it is said, be-
cause he was convinced upon examine
ton of the law that Davies would win a
law suit over the matter, NJ il was taken
into court. Davies will go To other parties
III "a similar situation and demand money
as in Sterling's case. Among the lead
ing property owners whose titles are thus
effected are :. L. Hauser, Il. HI. Klein
capitalists of Helena. The title of one
million dollars worth of property i'm this
city alone is at issue. he matter was
discussed in various ways to-day. Davies
is denounced as n robber and "a shark.
Some of the real estate men claim that
his claims Will amount to- absolutely notl-
ing. while others fear that they have AT
least the color of legality. There is n IKE
difference of opinion among the lawyer.
Colonel SandersAsays there is nothing ina
il. No decisions were given 10y the court
on the question until lss9. though the mat
ter has been in dispute for several years
in the general land Office.
In 1876 Commissioner Williamson held
that the power of attorney in these cases
was valid. Secretary Schurz latter on re-
versed this decision and still later. Teller
reversed ScLuTz and finally Lamar re-
verscd Teller.