The morning call., 1895-02-15
their Venture
NOT 4 SUCCESS.
AN INVESTMENT COMPANY UNSUC-
CESSFULLY DABBLES IN
REAL ESTATE.
CIVIL AND CRIMINAL SUITS.
THE PRESIDENT ARRESTED FOR Oh
TANNING MONEY BY FALSE
PRETENSES.

Mrs. Abbie J. Hunter, president of the
Womens Real Estate Investment Com
pany, was arrested yesterday afternoon on
California and Sansome streets on war
rant sworn out in Judge Joachimsen's
court charging her with obtaining money
by false pretenses.
The complaining witness is Mary O'Don-
nell a laundress in Middletown, Lake
County, but who is at present living at 1lOS
Twenty-fourth street. In her complaint
she alleges that she purchased from the
Women's Real Estate Investment Com
pany lot l. block 13, Sunnyside tract and
on Decem Der %, 1892, paid the defendant,
Mrs. Hunter. $75 in part payment of the
lot which was to cost $500. She paid alto
gether $525 on the lot and afterward ascer-
tained that the company had no title to the
land.
She called at the office of the company
and pleaded for the return of her money,
but all she got from Mrs. Hunter was a
promise TO attend to the matter. She con-
suited an attorney, who IN December last
threatened the company with exposure by
bringing suit for the recovery OF the
money, and Joseph Eastland, the capital
iSt, advanced $50 which was pad TO Miss
O'Donnell on the promise that she would
not commence proceedings for at least ten
days. Since then she has not received a
dollar.
When Mrs. Hunter was taken to the City
Prison yesterday afternoon she was accom-
panied by Attorney Murasky of Smith d
Murasky, who promptly procured her re-
lease on $1,000 bonds. She was on the verge
of hysteria, and when asked for state
ment she preferred that Mr.. Smith, her at
torney, should talk for her.
Attorney Smith was seen in his Office in
the Phelan building. "There have been
no false preteuseS on the part OF my client,
he said "The land was procured from Le-
land Stanford bv the Sunnyside Land Com
pany on a contract in which it was condi-
toned that no title would be given to the
land until payment of a certain amount OF
money.
The Sunnyside Land Company imme-
diately farmed out the land to smaller
holders, one of them being the Women's
Real Estate Investment Company, on sub
stantially the same contract as they had
with Leland Stanford. But under the con-
tract with the Sunnyside Company it was
expressly provided that whenever the sub
contractors, as they might be termed,
wished to have a deed issued to a purchaser
all there was to do was to geta deed TO that
individual lot.
I'm Miss 0'Donnelrs contract she was to
pay $780, | understand she had paid 1925
She sent for her deed about the time the
crash at Sunnyside came and was told that
it could not be given to her at once, but to
wait till matters were arranged. Then she
wanted her money back, but the company
preferred to give her the deed when they
were in position to do so.
"Why, Miss 0'DonnelPs contract reads
that the Women's Real Estate Invest
ment Company will, upon payment of the
full amount, cause to be conveyed a good
and sufficient title TO said lot All the
contracts will speak for themselves. and 1
lenses on Mrs. Hunters part"
against Helen NJ. Thompson, Augusta G.
Robertson, Abbie J. Hunter, Mrs. A. L.
Goldsmith and Nellie L. Churchill, the
directors of the company, for recovery of
the money paid by her.
Miss Thompson Is a teacher in the Girls
High School and Miss Robertson is vice
principal of the Pacific Heights School.
They were induced to become stockholders
in the company and became directors. The
management of the affairs of the company
was left to the president, Mrs. Hunter.
Miss Thompson and Miss Robertson take
the suit philosophically. They say their
friends might think they were foolish, but
would not believe they had done a wrong
or countenanced it. eve have, of course"
they said, ''had no hand in the active
management of the company, each having
her own duties to fully employ her time
We have intrusted all that to Mrs. Hunter,
the manager, in whom We have had, and
still have, every confidence"