The evening world., 1893-11-29
HIS MIND WRECKED.
Mental Collapse of a Once Bright
Long Island Lawyer,
HIS DOCTORS SAY TIE TROUBLE RE.
SUITED FROM 4 FALL.
A VERY SAD ROMANCE IN THE CASE.

NV fhhfAD NOV. -. Horace II. B1nl1-
min. once one Of the most highly respected
members OF the suffolk County bar. is now
sail t. lie an almost complete mental wreck.
He has been confined to hi, house ;or several
weeks, suffering from symptonso hraiu fever.
His doctor, say the trouble "a NJ from an acct.
dent, ON Aug. : last he fell through a trap
door nj Taft's store, IN this village, receiving
severn injuries ahntt the head.
Intimate friends insist that MI. B%cnjamiu's
mental distress nntcdntc, this TALL and has its
origin in business troubles, helped out by a sad
and disappointing romance, in (which he was
made the victim Of one who is now believed to
have been a hcnrtlcSs adventures.
MIR Benjamin troubles began when he dc.
parted from the beaten path Of attorneys and
counscllors to taste of y ccial lines of work in
the by WAYS Of the profession, equally ms honor.
able. perhaps, but more up'n To temptations.
The old law firm OF Payne ~ Benjamin was do.
Ing II good, conservative business. Neither of
the partners was n brilliant lawyer, bit both
were rnted as Al by the plain pcol IL to whom
Rivcrhead was the metropolis. Nj. BENJAMIN
was ambitious. lie looked beyond the simple
hroa Icloth Of an easy young country lawyer.
He branchcd out. lie challenged success, hut
failure more nearly describes the result. lie
opened II branch Office in Grucntort.
Here, 1t IL alleged, chance gave him rs a
client n handsome, Visionary woman. Thi-
woman had a pateut, bound, in her own mod.
est estimate Of the worth of her contrivnncc. TO
make fortunes for all who Interested them.
selves i'll it. Benjamin Wa dazzled, as much
by the wornan rs by her scheme. He invested
money aud time. He delved into patent law,
and finally, to facilitate the work he had taken
up, he hung out his single rs a patent lawyer
in the Equitable Building in New York.
Benjamin advanced money to push the
patent. His client smilingly assured him she
had thousands of acres of coal lands in the
midst Of rich coal bearing country in the
Northwest. He believed her. He still be-
lieycS her, although his claim now amounts to
$50, OOO. With All assurance which Is Sudden.
ing 10 his friends, the unfortunate mnu says he
will receive the whole amount some day-some
day, when the patent is u recognized so or the
coal lands nre sold.
Then came the warrant of arrest, secured by
Lawyer I. !. Ritch on an aftidnvit accusing
Lawyer Benjamin of completely in the issuing
OF a forged mortgage. by which u widow was
10 b. swindled out OF -. 300.
The warrant was never served. The case
was compromised for u tire. but, 1t seems, has
never been satisfactorily settled, and it Is ru-
morsd that 1t is tn b. prosecuted once more.
Mrs. Ann 2. Tuthill, of Rocky Point, placed
the money In question IN Mr.. Benjamiu's
hands to be invested in bond and mortgage.
Receiving no interest and not n scrap of paper
as evidence of her investment, Mrs. Tuthill re-
tanned Lawyer Ritch to investigate. 1t was
then a mortgage on property in this village,
owned at the time the mortgage Iurported to
have been made by David c. Wells. n rich
farmer, was handed to Ritch. Wells died
shortly after the date of the mortgage, leaving
a widow and a grown son Herbert II. Wells,
now living at Jamespnrt.
This document is in Benjamin's handwrit-
ing. II had not been recorded. Its existence
seem; not To have been, guessed by. people
fi i,ch! to o% nro,Sst his WIN aIiap thG bard pr the oo c a
filed through her lawyer, Timothy NJ. Griffin.
The widow Of David c. Wells declared her sig
nature on the document to he a forgery. and
intimated that the signature of her husband
was alsC forged, u she alleged that at the time
the mortgage purported to have been signed
Well was too sick to sign anything.
The mortgages did not 60 before q notary to
acknowledge their signatures. The suhScrib-
ing witness was the son, Herbert II. Wcll>.
The document declares that he went before
Benjamin X, Payne, Mr.. Bcnjamiu's partner,
mud certified he had seen his father AMI mother
n I'll the mortgage. Young Wells acknowledges
his signature ms genuine, but adds that he has
no recollection OF the mortgage.
This affair caused Benjamin much trouble.
He felt kccnly the situation, and claimed he
had been put in "A false light. He said he had
drawn the mortgage in good faith. and had
given 1t to Herbert H.. Wells Tor execution
that later IL was returned to him witt the sig.
natures, he believed, Of Mr., and MR. David
'. NtlLs, uuu nuu uecl regularly uCkuOWI-
edged by young Wells.
Be !amin caused the arrest of young Wells on
a charge OF perjury in having certified that he
had seen the mortgage rcfcrred tn executed.
! This case has dragged along and has been
allowed 10 be almost forgotten. No return APP
Lears To have been made to the County Clerk.
The reason of this delay is likely TO De "A matter
for investigation later on.
During all this time, when his business al.
fairs were becoming more and mole tangled
and snarled, Benjamin was IN the power ol Il
| ipsipninu woman In n,'aI ILL.,. a r,utt tDtll.
cnced by powerful drugs. He was To all i'll
tents and purposes under hypnotic influence.
The people who knew Benjamin intimately.
who had seen him cool, beaded, caution, and
conservative, find 1t difficult to explain his con-
duet on any other hypothesis.
This woman was comely and young. She
would not impress u casual observer A. a woman
lacking in worldly experience. benjamin be.
came completely Infatuated. While everything
else seemed in n whirl this woman was II com.
fort, She knew his secrets. She sympalhiI"d
with his business trials. In short, she won the
man and moulded him to her will.
She lived In elegance. benjamin bought her
a diamond ring, with which he one hight
sealed his engagement 10 marry her. He be-
lieved he was happy. His iuiatuation became
blind confidence. He hal his life insured for
az, q and made his nfiauccd wife the bcuc.
ticiary. His will was drawn, making this
woman his sole ~lcsatec, at least 50 far as the
law would allow him TO disinherit his two
grown daughters.
He believed tin woman the soul Of honor.
His whole heart Went ont 10 her in his bust.
ness anioysuces. In his mine he never har-
bored IA thought toward her which wuuld not
have been II compliment To nny honest woman,
lie yielded TO her whim>. Her prcjudlccS, cN-
pressed ever SO mildly, were his law. once,
when, as his afianced wife, he sought to ks,
the woman he loved, she drew away from him
coquetishly and reminded him She was edit
Gated IN n convent, and was taught II would
be wrong TO kiss anyone without the consent Oi
the Mother superior, Benjamin wrote for the
consent and inclO,cd $40 rs an Offering 10 the
institution,
In the midst Of al! these love dreams came u
crash. Benjamin lays he discovered the
Woman was false 10 him. The revelation
would have crushed him completely then, bu,
kind friends went Ia his rescue and convinced
him he had been dupcd rs had other men, and
that the woman should not bo given the salts,
faction OF realizing how near her schemes had
been 10 success,
Bcniamtn claims the irst suspicion of some.
thing wrung came when. after walking asguSS
Brooklyn bridge with his athuncrd, they met u
friend OF the young woman. They went TO u
place for public Investment. They all frank
Benjamin saws his drink Was drugged. He
knew nothing of what trauSplrcd b,tWCcn that
time and the next morning. Whcl, AZ awoAe
he found he had Teen sleeping Gn the SOFA IN
. IL. H.,.V. 49, $500 .- ~.