Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1891-04-05

influence is always acquired befor'
that time and after it is acquired
it is the impelling power that sends
the testator into a law office K
have a will executed. Who woulC
think Of Mrs. Stevenson going into
an office in the presence Of witness
es and exercising any influence
over him in the presence OF the
subscribing witnesses to the will:
Two years before her marriage
with G. C. Stevenson she was then
Mrs. Frame: her husband was
time keeper in a Gold Hill mine.
G. G. Stevenson was a married
man, his wife living at Grand Rap
ids, in Michigan, with her young
est son. G.. G. Stevenson, mark,
your Honor, from the evidence,
went to school with his wife; they
were reared together in Michigan;
and their companionship ripened
into love, that love into marriage
and that marriage resulted in the
birth Of three boys, two Of whom
are the contestants. Her husband
agreed with her that when he
wound up his affairs that he would
follow her and live with her on
the farm and pass away the re-
mainder OF their days In each
others society. For all that ap-
pears In this testimony the life Of
these two people might be COM
pared to a summer sea. I ask
must there not have been some
subjugating power that l. duced
him to break that compact; that
made him change his mind? What
was that power? Is it not certain
that the power emanated from the
author of this anonymous letter? Did
not she have him completely in the
meshes of net of her own Contriv-
ing from which death only delivered
him? Your Honor. the testimony
shows that z. G. Stevenson brought
a suit against his wife without cause,
alleging desertion and attempted to
procure it without any notice to her,
must there not have been some over
whelming power that a man of his
Calibre could not resist, to induce him
to do an act like thats Didn't she
know that she had absolute control
over him? Did she not know that
the anonymous letter would spur Mrs.
Stevenson to procure a separation and
that as soon as she found a few dol
lars to pay her way she would come
to Virginia to see if the contents of
that letter were true.
THE PROGRAM CARRIED OUT.
1t is possible if knowing all that,
and this letter shows that she did, and
every part of the programme was car
ried out in its minutest detail; is it
not evidence of the exercise of an un-
holy and undue influence over this
MANI Therefore for that reason we
say it is admissible. And l cannot
for the life of me define any reason
why it is not except for the reason
assigned by Mr.. Coffin that the in
fiuenCe must have been eXerted at the
very moment of time the Will was
executed. IF ever there was a docu-
ment on earth which shows the con-
trolling influence of q married woman
over a married man, not her husband
it was this infamous letter, Did she
not foresee that it would lead to her
ultimate possession of the man? Sup
pose her own cohesion on the stand
be true that in the city of San Fran
cisco G.. 4. Stevenson came to her
with a letter and asked her to make
a copy of it, that which is the one in
controversy, and she did so without
q protest or remOnstranCe; without any
blaze of Indignation kindled in her
eye; without any flush of resentment
on her cheek, She complied with that
request. Does it not show he was
completely in her power? But your
Honor does not believe her story;
Your Honor believes it to be an origi-
nal letter. Don't you believe, sitting
here as a chancellor that she would
have testified that the letter was not
in her handwriting had it not been
for the fact that other letters over her
own signature were ready for com
parison, and were so easily detected
that a school boy could tell that the
letter was in her handwriting.
OBJECT OF THE LETTER.
When she testified to writing the
copy she did not know of the
existence of that envelope. When
1 asked her if she knew she had
written the direction on the en-
velope she had to admit that she
did. 1t is deducible that the OBJ
ject Of the letter was to bring
about a divorce between @. C