Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1891-04-04

|
Esq, the late head Of the well knoy-n
Birmingham publishing firm Of Meeeon
ADDISON & Roscoe Under a will. bearing
uaIe the 9Th day of MAY. 1880 the plain,
TN was left sole heir to the GREAT wealth
OF his uhcle-that is, with the execution
OF some logacies Under a second will
no" relied on by the defendants. and
uated The 10Th November, 1885. the plain
I eln was entirely disinherited, and the
present defendants, together with some
eiH OF eight legatees, were constituted the
Sole oeheuclares. On or about the 22d
december. 1850, however, the testator
! eAecutea a third testimentary document.
uhder which the plaintiff takes the entire
property, and this is the document now
propounded- This testameptarv dozen.
ment' or, rather. will-for | submit that
y IS IN every sense properly executed
wills tattooed upon the shoulders
sensation in court lis taftooed upon
tne shoulders of a young lady, Miss Au-
eusla Smthers, who will presently be
called before your lordship; and to pre-
vent any misunderstanding may as well
at once state that since this event this
~ uaS become engaged to be married
70 tne plaintiff Renewed sensation.
Such, my lord, are the main outlines
VI tne case that have to present for the
! consideration of the court. which 7 +hinl,
!ouE l0rdshlp will understand is of so re-
T markable and unprecedented nature that
must crave your lordships INDULGENCE
/ II proceed to open it at some Ienpth he
ginning t he history at its commencement.
by this time James Short had completely
recovered his nerve, and was, indeed, al
, most obiIvious of the fact that there was
! anybody present in the court, except the
J learned Judge himself Going back to the
beginning, he detailed the early history of
/ the relationship between Eustace Meeson
anu MS uncle, the publisher, with which
UAlS record has nothing to do. Thence he
/ passed TO the history of Augustus rela-
ZION with the firm of Meeson & Co, which,
] as nearly everybody in the court, not ex-
/ ceptmg the Judge had read Terminals
VOW was very interesting to it's audi
! tors Then he went on to the scene be-
! tween Augusta and the publisher, and de.
! tailed how EUstace had interfered. which
I interference had led to a violent quarrel,
i resulting in the young mans disinherit-
ance. Passing on, he detailed how the
! puDllsher and the publishee had taken
! passage IN the same vessel, and the tragic
! occurrences which followed down to Au-
+ gusta hnal rescue and arrival in England,
and hnally ended his spirited opening by
appealing to the court not to allow it's
lnlnd TO be influenced by the fact that
since these events the two chief actors
had become engaged to be married, which
struck him. he said. as a very fitting eli
max to so romantic story.
At last he ceased, and amid a little buzz
| of applause, for the speech had really
/ been very fine one sat down AS he
/ dld so he glanced at the clock He had
been On his legs for nearly two hours, and
yet 1t seemed to him but very little
while. In another moment he was up
again, and had called his first witness
| Eustace Meeson
! Eustaces evidence was of a rather
formal order, and was necessarily limited
to an account of the relations between his
/ uncle and himself, and between himself
and Augusta. Such as it was, however,
he gave it very well, and with a complete
openness that appeared to produce IA
| vorabe impression on the court.
Then tiddlestick, Q. c., rose to cross
| examine, devoting his efforts to trying to
make Eustace admit that his behavior had
been of nature to amply justify his
uncle's behavior But there was not very
much to be made out of it. Eustace
detailed all that had passed freely enough
and it simply amounted to the fact that
| there had been angry words between the
! two as regards the treatment that Au-
| gusta had met with at the hands of the
firm. In short, Fiddlestck could not do
/ anything with him, and, after ten minutes
| of it, sat down without having advanced
his case to any appreciate extent Then
several of the other counsel asked a ques
! ton or two apiece, after which Eustace
was told to stand down, and Lady Holm
| hurst was called Lady HOlmhursts evil
! dence was very short, merely amounting
| to the fact that she had seen Augustus
| shoulders on board the Kangaroo, and
! that there was not then a sign Of tattoo
marks upon them, and when she saw
| them again in London they were tattooed.
! No attempt was made to cross examine
! her, and on the termination of her evil
dence the court adjourned for lunch
| When it reassembled James Short called
Augusta, and a murmur of expectation
arose from the densely crowded audience
as-feeling very sick at heart, but looking
more beautiful than ever-sL6 stepped
toward the box.
As she did so the attorney general rose.
Il must object, my lord, " he said, ION
behalf Of the defendants, to this witness
| being allowed to enter the box"
/ UPON NudI SIOuuCISf MI AIiOIueyt
said his ordship.
Upon the ground that her mouth is,
ipso facto, closed If we are to believe
the plaintiffs story, this young lady is
herself the viii Of Jonathan Meeson. and
! being so, is certainly. | submit, not com
peteut to give evidence There is no
! precedent for a document giving evidence,
and presume that the witness must be
| Looked uDCn as a document.
But NJ" Attorney" said the judge,
ga document is evidence, and evidence of
the best sort.
Undoubtedly, my lord; and we have
! no objection to the document being eX-
hibited for the court to draw its own con-
| clusion from, but we deny that it is en-
titled to speak in its own explanation. A
document is thing which speaks by it's
written characters 1t cannot take to it,
self a tongue and speak by word of mouth
also. and, in support of this, | may call
| vour lordship's attention to the general
principles of law governing the interpre
tation of written documents.
Il am quite aware of those principles,
Mr.. Attorney and cannot see that they
touch this question.
CAS- your lordship pleases. Then L Will
fall back upon my main contention, that
Miss Smithers is, for the purpose OF this
case, document and nothing but doeu-
ment, and has no more right to open her
mouth in support of the plaintiffs case
than would any paper will, if it could be
miraculously endowed with speech.
well, said the judge, 1t certainly
strikes me as novel point. What have
YOU to say to it. Mr.. Short?"
All eyes were now turned upon James
for it was felt that if the point was de-
cided against him the case was lost.
1.-The point to which | wish you to al
dress yourself, Mr.. Short, went on the