The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-09-22

|
former was up in Alaska. In this letter.
comprehensive and affectionate though IT
was, there 10 no mention of this child.
After the recess Delmas read some more
let rs In support of this contention. In
| not one of these letters did Henry Martin
make the slightest reference TO this child
OF MS brother John. "Surely, IL this fair
! haired beautiful child we have seen here
III court had been in Henry Martins
opinion the offspring of his brothers old
age. would he not at least nave shown
some interest in its welfare?"
| There were no mure letters 10 be produced.
| 1hese were all the letters written from
! denTy TO John In the possession OF the
| contestants, but il was reasonable TO sup
pose that there were good many more.
| The frequency of these letters showed the
! terms oil affection on which the 0r0tneTS
stood toward one another at all times, and
| In no letter that had yet come TO light had
! the younger brother even barely alluded
to his elder brothers wife or child.
In Tact, 1t was only TOO plain that John
! Martin himself never recognized this child
! as his. This counsel hoped To prove TO the
satisfaction of the jury.
There was a time when Mrs John Mar
| tlr, lett widow, appealed for sympathy,
| hen this hig-hearled man, Henry Mar
! tin. would have stretched forth the hand
! OF protection 10 this destitute oTphaH child
II he had believed in its origin. There was
time when letters had passed from this
woman to Henry, appealing 10 him Tor ala
| and protection. 1t was the time when she
was in dire trouble, accused OF the murder
of her husband. Those appeals might have
| melted the heart o any one.
But 10 all these letters, TO ali these ap-
| peals he turned deaf ear. The fact was
that Henry Martin wOnld have nothing to
| do with THIS woman. lie looked upon ner
as the murderess of his brother; upon this
| child as the spurious procurement OF
he said nothing, he signlfied: Go in peace;
Will have nothing Co do with you"
But in his heart he saw this woman's
! hands dyed with his brothers b!oOn; he
recognized her as the destroyer OF his
| brothers. peace of mi ind, il not OF his life
| and he spurned her, not harsblV or with re-
| proach, but sd d: Go your way. l who
| KNOW what you are and who you are; |
| who know how you treated my brother,
and how you emhitteTed the last years of
his life / will not stand in your way; but
| Will neither recognize you nor the child
| you claim as yours"
And we are asked to believe that TO
this child Henry Martin bequeathed one
! third of fortune he believed he was
about to inherit from his wife. Did he
make such will after he had told E. b.
Pond these significant words: L have
fixed things 50 that this child will not get
81 If my money"
DelmaS reminded the jury that friend
| had warned Henry Martin that if anything
happsned to him this. child would inherit
as al heir. Henry replied: That has
been attended TO, and neither she nor the
child will inherit 81 Of my money
The utter impossibiliiy of the story of
the morning of February "a, 1898, was
again touched upon. Mr.. Delmas re-
minded the jury OF the evidence of DR..
HrrLsten. and of Nurses Ann Early and
Lizzie Haggard. But there was yet an
81 r,rvb IL 81,
dose Of strong medicine Henry Martin had
taken the night before and which must
have of necessity kept him a prisoner at
that time.
Counsel suggested that the very sealing
OF the env lOpes continuing the Will and
letters was suspicious. Why sh-ul1 he
seal these papers? He expected to find
Mrs. John at home. of course, at that
early hour in the morning. According To
Grove johnson he was accustomed TO steal
away from his jailers to enjoy in contra
vention OF his marriage vows the secret
embraces of his mi stress. Why, then,
should he seal these papers? Why take
such care over these documents which the
glad fingers Of his mistress we're 20 open
then and there?
And why shouli he deliver this viii to
Mrs. John Martin? Why, when she was
TO benefit nothing by it? Why, when her
son alone was Interested of her family?
Were there not others VINO had equal
cl lims?
when in the first blush of their honey-
moon he made a first VIII in favor of his
wife be did not place il IN her hands In
no such frail custody did he leave it. but
behind the strong bolts and bars OF the
Safe Deposit Company's vaults"
And this point was touched upon by
counsel. II was not customary for men to
make known the contents OF their wills.
Men concealed such facts from their very
a
sometimes, especially fer the reason that
all wills brought disappointment and dis
satisfaction TO some, and for that reason a
testator would usually wal. until the grave
closed over him before making known the
exact disposition of his property.
"Do you believe that Henry Martin.
thinking of his sister-ig-law as he did,
would place such a will In her hands, a
will which she would have the power to
publish at once TO the whole world? Do
you think that from the Acknowledgement
OF an almost incestuOue intimacy lie would
plare in her hands weapons to be used
against him TO the destruction of his peace
OF mind and that of lis wife?
"Do you believe that he placed il in this
woman's power to go TO May Martin md
say, You always Ignored me, Mrs. Martin.
Yen would not receive my picture nor my
chlld's picture. Now look on this picture.
This is Henry Martin. the man who is sup
p"oNO ~ l'fO JOu sCb lo has bOUb LIlS
thing and he has placed my child as an
equal heir with YOU
"Bh, no, gentlemen, Henry Martin
never put il in this wnman's power so to
| torture him, so to torture the woman he
loved and for whom he sacrificed his own
life. be did not do this thing" Then,
referring to the communication sent by
Judge Williams to William Martin after
the finding and filing of the second will,
DPlmas said:
What did William Martin say? He
said My brother made no such will; this
l. some OF that womau's work. This was
said spontaneously, without suggestion.
George h. Williams had never mentioned
the woman'S name in his letters. or all
the forgers aud criminals in this world,
why should the needle of old William Mar
in's mind point 10 this woman, his own
sister-in-lsw? Why. unless he mad some
reasOn?"
| Delmas then quoted from letter writ
ten by Henry Martin TO his sister Kate, in
Maine, just after Johns death. In this
he made use of the expression. "She has
no friends here, and none where she is well
known" Who was she? Who was that
| woman? Who but this woman right here
! in court. In this letter Henry also adj
vised his sister not TO reply to any OF Mrs
Johns letters, adding, significantly, III
you do she will give you trouble"
Then. revprting to my dear Belle" let
ter of February "a, 1893. accompanying
the second will, Delmas said: "Mr. Johnson
would have you believe that this il a
forgery was clumsy one. No forger