The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1895-02-08
MIR. MOULDER AS A WITNESS.
Called by the Widow to Prove the
Sanity Of the Millionaire.
MEN OF MiYFIELD ALSO TESTIFY.
Only One Little Sensation Sprung During
a Days Progress in the Celebrated
Struggle for Gold.

SAN JOSE, Feb. As the Sheriff had not
succeeded in producing John I. Doyle by
10 O'Clock, Judge Lorigan announced this
morning that the proponents of the Barron
will should begin their case, while the con-
testants should have the privilege of call
ing upon Doyle when he appeared.
Andrew ]. Moulder, the Public School
Superintendent of San Francisco, was the
first witness called by the widows side, to
prove the sanity of Edward Barron. Mr..
Moulder related the history of his social
intercourse with Barron, when he and his
wife were their guests at Mayfeld Park,
and at the Baldwin Hotel, where the two
families played whist and enjoyed them
selves generally.
Mr.. Moulder during the period of his &C
quaintance with Barron believed him to
be a hard-headed man, but he limped and
halted in 1892.
When the venerable witness fell into the
hands OF Mr.. Delmas he had bad half
hour in cross-examination, and showed
that his meetings with Barron were too
brief and casual to give him clear idea of
Barron's sanity or otherwise. He also
brought forth the fact that S. G.. Murphy,
the widows friend and Mrs. Barron agent,
had gathered him for witness.
During these proceedings the Sheriff
entered with John T. Doyle, who was on
crutches, and who took the stand when
Mr.. Moulder stepped down. When Mr..
Delmas proceeded to argue the point
whether or not the witness should tell of
Mrs. Eva Barron's intentions regarding
George Barron as related to the witness,
the jury retired. The counsels argument
claimed that the contestants had shown
Mrs. Eva Barron's animosity toward
George and the intercepting of his letters;
that when George returned a reformed
character, she was inclined to do him JUS
tice, and that she offered to undo the
wrong until after the will was probated,
when she broke her promise and refused to
comply with her agreement. Attorney
CARRIER claimed that Mrs. Barron, even
were she so inclined, could not interfere
with the vested rights of the minor chill
dren, and his objection was sustained.
In the afternoon session Mr.. Doyle told
the story of his acquaintance with Mr..
Baroon, and the widows array of counsel
was REINFORCED by Attorney McKinstry.
The reading of one of Barron's wills, the
clause leaving the care of the younger
children to their Grandma O'Leary in Ire
land. which was not complimentary 10
their mother.
An aged mail-carrier, who owned to SO,
but who looked no older than Reuben
Lloyd, succeeded Mr.. Doyle, and was the
first of the great army of Mayfeld wit
nesses subpenaed by the widow. Nothing
important was extracted from the octo-
genarian, and the next Mayfeld man, Mr..
Crowley, a laborer, swore that Mr.. Barron
was healthy, strong man, and that he
and Mrs. Barron appeared to be most
affectionate couple.
When Doyle was on the stand, the first
will of Edward Barron that was drawn up
May %, 1886, was put in evidence. Eva
Rosa Barron was named as executrix with
out bonds. George Barron and William
Barron were each to receive 100000 in
coin. Archbishop P. W. Riordon was to
receive $25, 900 to be expended in charity,
5000 for the Protestant Orphan Asylum in
San Francisco, and the remainder of the
estate to go to the widow and her children.
The witness said that Mrs. Barron never
saw him in connection with this will.
Charles G. Myrick, the aged mail-carrier,
insisted he had last seen Barron in Sep
TENDER, 1894 and it was some time before
he was thoroughly convinced that he was
mistaken. Finally the witness admitted
that it must have been in September, 1898,
that he last saw Barron, as it was in No
yember of that year that he died.
~ saw him two or three months before
he died. said the witness. "We passed
the time of day."
Have you formed any opinion as to his
sanity?" asked Leib. ~ object, (" said Del
mas. sfThis witness is not qualified to give
any such opinion. To judge of the sanity
of person a witness must be an intimate
acquaintance. A person who is a mail
carrier at a train and merely meets a man
in the course of attending to his business.
passes the time of day with him and talks
about the weather and the crops, is not
competent person to judge of that mans
sanity or insanity"
81 shall sustain that objection" said
Judge Lorigan. 'This witness evidently
does not come within the rule of law defin-
ing an intimate acquaintance.
Several shopkeepers and drug clerk of
Mayfield, to whom Barron used to say
"good-morning," were put on the stand,
but as they had no intimate acquaintance
with him their testimony as to the condi-
ton of his mind was not accepted. Scarpa,
the aged butcher, will 60 on the stand in
the morning.
KILLED By A GANG.