The herald., 1895-07-13


SO. six houses W ere to he erected OF
the tract and given among. the puTchas
ors. The lots were distributed by means
Of a1ottery scheme. The names of th'
holders of EACH Of the lots were placed IL
. box ana the sSlips dra .wn. The hrst sl'
were awarded rhe shorlses while the bal
ance took their choice OF the lots in the
order in which they came from the ho x
Business seemed to be -hourishing but not
. for long.
Mr.. Hall visited Ellio,it to make collec-
tions on the agreemen t. l'ut his trips were
met wieh excuses. Eli Oft said the peo-
pie were not paying pro. mptly. and that
be had but little money. About $500 was
paid to Mr.. Hail, though, after he had
repeatedly called upon the assignee OF the
agreement.
Many of the purchasers c oncluded TO
pay up in full for their lots am d get DEEDS,
instead of dragging along hof months
with the installment plan. EA lott, they
claim, had represented to tn en- that his
company had clear title to th g land, but
when he met their demands f,'r deeds
with besitations their SUSPECT on.s were
naturally aroused, and it is believed that
trouble over securing these dee DIS from
MFR. Hail. as their agreement had PRO
vided for. was one of the i'm media Ve
causes for his disappearance. Aboul
twelve people paid, six OF whom have
deeds but the rest have not. 1t is right
in connection with these last transac-
tions that Elliott has laid himself open to
investigation by the grand jury. as su g.
gested by Mr.. Hall in an interview that
follows.
Mr.. Hall says that he finally tired OF
Elliott's excuses, as they had been rum
ming along until this year. and he finally
demanded statement from Elliott for
the purpose of learning whether be
should be given the extension of time as
prayed for. Elliott sent il to the offices
of Blcknell & Trask, Mr.. Halls attor-
neys. According to the latter gentleman
the account stated that Elliott had col
lected in the neighborhood of SOS, 900, and
that about $4,000 more was still due
him from lot holders. This statement
was delivered some time the latter part
of April, as he disappeared soon after it
was received.
With the disappearance of Elliott, to-
gether with his contract, came all of the
difficulty. The business was for the time
being in chaos. Every body was aroused
with the fear lest they should be closed
out and lose all that they put into the
lots. Mr.. Hall stated that Elliott was the
only person with whom he had to deal,
and that the holders of lots had no status
in The case. They were soon set at rest,
however, when it became known that Mr..
Hall was willing to consider any PROPOSE
tion flom them that was reasonable, this
Rmicable feeling having been helped in
no small degree by Mr.. N. Cook.
The situation is very peculiar one.
Assuming that Elliott's statement was
correct, there is still S14, 900 due fiom
property holdres. In addition, there are
twenty-five lots unsold. Take Elliott s
payment of $4,000 from SO, 500, the original
amount due Mr.. Hall, and balance of
$19, 800 remains. Add to this the interest
at per cent for nearly two years, and it
is increased to about SO, 900 now due Mr..
Hall. 1t is understood that one of the
propositions made to this gentleman was
for him to take back the twenty-five lots
remaining unsold at the valuation called
for in the contract, amounting to about
$3500, and collect the $l4, 900 from the
property holders, claimed by Elliott. This
subtracted from so, 000 the amount still
Que him, would leave a deficit of $500.
This last amoant would have to be sub
scribed by them in order that Mr.. Hall be
paid the requisite amount for his lard.
Mr.. Hall is disposed to act leniently
and help the lot buyers from their en-
tanglement. 1t is first necessary for them
L. 81
assigned by him before they can proceed.
If he cannot be found the next ISOLATION
will be for Mr.. Hall to foreclose and then
let them redeem.
A number of meetings have been held
by the de.uded investors, and they have
about come to an understanding. Ali
are naturally desirous of retaining their
property, and those who are in arrears
are but waiting the opportunity to bay
up and get title from Hall.
Several of those interested were inter-
viewed yesterday by Herald representa-
tive. All approached said Elliott had
represented that he had clear title to
the property. When asked why they did
not first look up the records, they ac-
knowledged that bad mistake had been
added that Elliott was such a nice old
man that they believed him to be all
right.
There are over 125 investors and nearly
all are residents of Los Angeles. Among
some of the well-known ones are Victor
Ponet W. II. Sutch. S. S. Wallace, John
Caminetti. w. j. Hutchinson and w. c.
Mecklejohn. The committee appointed
to represent those Interested has spent
some weeks gathering data, and all the in
formation pertaining to the situation
possible to get.
Mr.. W. II. Cook has the list of the
names, but declined to give them up for
publication.
Mr.. Halls Statement
Mr.. Charles Victor Hall. who holds the
key to the situation, was interviewed
yesterday. He said:
elm regard to this affair you may say
that those people have lost their money.
They have no standing in the case W hat.
ever. Mr.. Elliott is the only party whom
I recognize. You are aware that when
contract is vitiated by noncompliance
with the terms it is rendered null and
void. This agreement with Mr.. Elliott
is in Just such condition. He failed
to 1--we up to his agreement. The land is
therefore mine.
"I am disposed to act leniently with