The morning call., 1893-05-25


matter. Dan should be ashamed OF his con-
ducti / wish ! could make deed of my prop
erty, as have no faith In wills. but want il
done priya ely. that no one would know it but
you and myself. Could 1t be done? Hope you
VIII fence the p. l.. loti With the kind regards
from all ana hoping you are quite well again, ]
remain yours sincerely, A. L. MURPHY.
Miss Fanny was full of business. as may
be inferred from the following letter she
wrote before her mothers death to Met
calf:
Our allowance, notice, this month is 500
less than last. However, when the statements
arrive | sup ose we shall see the cause. In
your letter to my mother you say. or rather
mention, that the fire is thought IN be an in
cendiary one. bit you say no more. Now feel
quite certain that you have sifted it TO the bot.
tom and have discovered the cause, and L wish
you would tell us rs you have promised you
would always; let us know what you know
of the fire aud why 1t was done purposely; there
must have been a cause Please do not 20 on
the principle that it is no use troubling ladies
with these things Now, We are not persons
who go into Mysteries and being concerned
in this property l consider we ought 10 know.
l hear the woman Edueationai' something
has taken up quarters in our building. is ii
good? VIII 1t bring good tenants? My great
wish is that our building could have tenants
who simply remain there during business hours,
not sleeping. However. that is only my wish,
and L am only one. Have you invested In
water for me? Gas, see, sticks TO GOA.
A letter from Metcalf to Mrs. Murphy.
dated June Z. 1890. was introduced. The
extract as follows was considered pertinent:
Your letter of the oath inst. was duly re-
celved. l decidedly approve of the idea OF your
making a will ! have examined the document
sent by you, and having found two or three
Irregularities and no one named as executor
therein. have made out a draft which you can
copy in your own handwriting. 1t will be
necessary for you TO name an executor in your
Will. You can select any person whom you
desire to act in this capacity. If you wish me
to do so Will act in this capacity. but would
suggest that you also name one OF your
daughters. / will be pleased 10 meet Mr.. H lie,
and as soon as lie returns 10 San Francisco
viii arrange to call upon him at once. Dan in
formed me short time ago that he had re-
eyed letter from you inviting him TO make
you a visit and that lie thought of going. l see
HIM quite often, and am glad to find that he is
now taking an interest IN the Market-street
property. He makes his headquarters at the
building, and spends about an hour day at
the building. l have no doubI but that the re-
ports concerning him were greatly exaggerated.
He is young man, and like all young men
wants TO have good time.
a week previous to the execution of the
Will Metcalf wrote the following letter to
Mrs. MuTphy-on a separate sheet of
paper, for obvious reasons:
May 1880.
Dear Mrs. Murphy; l answer one question
In your letter upon a separate sheet, as you
may possibly want to read my letter TO your
daughters.
can make out a deed for your property in
California as requested by you. 1t Will be
necessary, however. in order to constitute a
valid conveyance that there should be deliv
cry OF the deed to the parties 10 whom the
property is intended to be conveyed, or that it
should be placed in escrow-i. e.. in the hands
OF some third party with instructions to deliver
the deed 10 the grantees at a certain time. or
course there are cases where deeds are not
placed on record until after the death of the
grantor, but in the event OF any contest being
made, if it should be proven that there was no
delivery of the deed in the lifetime of the
grantor, it would not take effect. 1 would rec
ommend, however, that you make a will. If
the VIII is properly drawn aud executed there
can be nc question as 10 its validity, nor can
any attack be made upon it successfully.
II you will let me know what your wishes are
in regard TO the disposition OF your property
can arrange matters for you al once and with
out any unnecessary d-lay. l would recon-
mend that you get your matters In shape at
once, as in the event OF your death without a
Will your son Dan, If he were living in Califor-
mia, would be the one 10 administer on yomr
estate. and failing him the Public Admnistra-
tor. II you are willing to let those 10 whom
your property is to go in the event of your
death know what your desires and wishes are,
can readily arrange the matter by deed;
otherwise not. Yours, very respectfully,
VICTOR II. METCALF.
In the afternoon the examination of Met
calf was continued. The first letter intro
duced by the contestants was Mrs. Muir
phys request to Metcalf asking him TO
make two drafts of her Will. A draft
which has been published already was
drawn up by the witness and sent to Mrs.
Murphy in London, England.
After Mrs. Murphy's death this docu-
ment, bearing marks of careful supervision
by the deceased, was found by Metcalf at
her late house on Charles street, London,
in tin box. He went there in search of
it. The original was found and recently
fled in the Alameda County court for pro-
bate.
MetcaIf was asked for cablegrams which
he had received about Mrs. Murphy's death
in London, and her will. One dispatch
from Miss Mary asked him for advice and
Instructed him regarding actio in testa-
mentary affairs.
How long were you in En gland before
you discovered that these young ladies
said they had been unable TO find will ?"
Several days." replied Metcalf.
WHO examined the paperS?"
''We all did it; was very large box and
we examined the papers together to expe-
dite matters"
''Did the contents appear to have been
disturbed?"
''Oh, they seemed TO be tolerably me-
thodcal in the way they were placed"
Did you bring those papers from Eng
land with you?"
"ODly the TWO Wills"
'Who first found this instrument with
the Endorsement on the back?
'Miss Fannie Murphy. She found it
after we had been searching in the box for
an hour and half"
How long after did you find this origi-
nal draft bearing corrections by Mrs.
Murpby?"
MY recollection is it was found first"
The documents were shown witness, who
was requested to ideutify which portion
he found in the tin box.
Read. if you please, the entire portion
that you found in the tin box" said At
fnruoy Whpelar