The morning call., 1893-07-27
Ball was the chosen rarty, to whom letter:

Ball was the CHOSEN carty, TO whom letters
OF administration were granted.
Now comes Frederick Chester. and seeks
TO show that his father made will, which
was In existence at the time of his death.
but which was willfully destroyed or lost.
That will he seeks to have admitted. By
its terms the petitioner claims that one
half of the estate was left to him absO-
lutely and the other half to him In trust
for his stepmother. widow of the decedent,
while in the absence of a will the property
goes to the surviving heirs. the widow, the
peiitioninE son and a daughter named
Grace.
Attorney S. C. benson appeared on be-
half of the petitioner. while H. l. Kowalsky
represented the respondents. Admins
traitor Ball sat beside Kowalsky during the
proceedings.
benson opened tho proceedings by In
forming the court of what he expected to
prove. and asked leave TO introduce in EVIL
dence the affidavit of A. E Bolton, the
attorney who drew up the alleged will, and
who is out of the State. This deposition
set forth that Bolton remembered drawing
Choster's will two months before his
death. and that the will was signed In the
Office Chester had desk. j. F. Turner
and A. +. Straut were the witnesses.
1t was further deposed that in conversa-
ton Chester frequently referred to his dis
position OF his property, namely. one-half
TO the son in trust for the widow. from
which he was to pay her S125 month.
with liberty to encrOach upon the capital
so as to make up the allowance should the
estate not yield sufficient Administrator
Ball was present on these occasions.
Kowalsky objected to the whole deposit
ton. but Judge Levy said that his objec-
ti0n should have been made at the time of
taking the deposition, and overruled the
objection. Thereupon Kowalsky stated to
the court that he had further objection
to the deposition on the ground that no
notice of it was ever served on him. To
:his benson read the affidavit of service by
his clerk, but Kowalsky denied having
ever received it. On that owing Judge
Levy gran ted Kowalsky leave to file counter
affidavits denying service Of the notice,
and the motion would stand over until
these affidavits were filed.
Resuming.- Attorney benson called
Frederick B. Chester, the petitioner.
Chester testified that he was the soa of
the deceased. that his sister Grace was out
CT the State, and that his stepmother,
widow of deceased. had married again
and resided in the State. but not in San
Francisco. The witness remembered his
fathers will perfectly. and had had many
conversations with his father on the SUBJ
ject. He always understood that he was
to have oue.half of the property, and to
manage the other half for his stepm Their.
He was to lay her an allowance of $l25 a
month. He had never been able TO find
that will, though he was sure his father
had not destroyed it.
Mary ID. Murphy testified to having en-
crossed the will, which was roughly
drafted by Bolton. She did not remember
the contents.
c. A. Mala said that he had talked with
Chester about the will, which left all the
property to the son.
w. G. Roberts testified that Chester kept
his " i'll In tin box in his office. and had
told him so. He had said: IF anything
happens to me. you will always find my
will here" Ball was in tho Office at the
time. Chester had told him that he wished
to fix his money SO that 1t would be in
good hands, and he thought that his son
would he clear headed enough to protect
the estate from being devoured by greedy
relatives. On crOss-examinatiOp, the wit
ness admitted that lie did not know the
contents Of the will, and never saw it in
his life.
Then came J. F. Turner, one of the wit
nesses to the alleged will. He testified to
its existence and to having seen it the very
day on which Chester died. II appears
that a week before Chester's death Turner
met Straut. tho other witness. on the
street, and Straut told him that Chester
wished to see him. He went TO the Office
and then Chester told him that no wished
him TO deliver to Straut certain stock in
the IdIswild mine which he had pooled
with him. Chester then handed the wit
ness the key Of the tin box and said he
wanted Bolton to come down from Santa
Rosa on the following Saturday night, ana
that the witness and Bolton were to take
the will out Of the box and take it to Ches-
ter's house, where it was proposed to
make some alterations In the disposition