The morning call., 1894-09-21

free and enlightened country, whines for a
verdict Shame. l sayi / shall do no
such thing, gentlemen.
81 shall stand up here like man.
shall treat you like men, not like old
gFannes. | shall not set myself up here
to gain the plaudits of set of claquers
that could be hired for any tDeater in this
city for One-half the amount that was
probably paid"
In these words did Mr.. Delmas at empt
to Offset the tannts and stings that he bore
with such foTtltude, buried by the I'M
erring rand of the lawyer from Sacramento.
Then Mr.. Delmas passed on to the subject
at Issue.
Mr.. Delmas claimed that in a practice
OF thirty yeare ne never met with so ex-
traordinary a case as the present. He had
seen many cases OF all kinds, but the case
at the bar unveiled phases of human de-
pravity which, thank God, were few and
yet far between in this civilized crmmu-
nifty.
lie reminded the jury of famous case
In which he was retained nearly ten years
ago. 1t was the case of a prominent citi-
Zen accused of an Infamous charge. The
charge looked so black against the de-
iendant that ne was forced to absent him
self for six months before the trial to
escape the vengeance of an outraged COM
munity. When, at last, he was aried, by
the merest accident in the world it was
!
tim of the designs of a vindictive woman,
who had employed girl Of tender years
for her purpose.
Il thought then, gentlemen, that human
depravlty had reached lis lowest depths.
L thought hen that the yi!est use to which
an innocent child could be put had been
discovered, and | continued to think so
until the developments of this case made
themselves manifest to my mind"
Mr. Deimas agreed with Grove Johnson
that the Issue itself was an extremely sim
pie one. So il %as. The question was
merely whether or not this disputed will
was written by Henry Martin. Then,
seizing the Civil Code, Mr.. Delmas in
/ strueted the jury while on the subject of
| Photographic villa.
He claimed that it was the duty of Mrs.
/ John MartIn TO establish beyond a dOub [
| the authenticity of this second Will.
There was no presumption that the paper
! was genuine, by any means. Apy kind
of paper could be FLED with the court.
and 1t would be absurd to suppose that
1t must at once be accepted as genuine.
Another point he sought to establish
was that ii was for the contestants to prove
this will. Mr.. johnson was wrong when
/ he claimed that the obligation lay ON the
other side. If the jury entertained any
doubt whatever on the question of whether
or not Henry Martin wrote this document.
then they must decide that the will had
cordingly. This was decided III "A similar
case. in which his Honor, Judged Cuffey, in
strncted the jury fully TO that effect
The prop0unding of spurious wills for
probate is by no means new industry, !"
said Delmas. st is very old, and strange
though 1t may seem, quite common"
Then the counsel read at some length from
recently published work or this subiect.
in which the mysterious turning MP OF
wills by persons of apparent respecta hi :
lty" was frequently alluded TO- Mr. Del
mas then resd the istance of the Lewis
will case, New jersey sensation. which
con. erned the two-lnillIon dollar estate of
an old mulatte, left unco nationally 10 the
United st ties Government, and fought
for by spurious widow. This was ap-
Darently rong case. but in the end JUS
tlce triumphed, and six onspirators tound
their way to the ate prison.
1t was noticed that Mr.. Delmas enjoyed
a little stab now and then at his adverse
ries. For instance. he quoted from the
book case wherein a boarding mouse
keeper figured prominently, and where one
woman became so deprayed that no re-
spectacle counsel would act for her."
I'VE would think that our learned adver-
sary had studied these paragraphs when
he made his address To YOU" With these
and other like pleasantries did MIR. Delmas
beguile tue weary hour until luncheon
time.
After lunch Attorney Phillips formally
objected TO the prejudicing of the jury's
minds by such reaaing, but as Linforth
said that johnson and he had agreed to
let Delmas go ahead uninterrupted, the
objections were sat upon promptly.
Delmas proceeded then to tell the story