The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-10-29
BITTER LAWSUIT OVER A CLEV-
ERLY SUBSTITUTED
PAPER.
SEVERAL SURPRISES SPRUNG.
A FINAL VICTORY Is GAINED IN
COURT BY THE WIDOW
BLAKE

"Swindling" is the expression used by
Justices of the Peace Groezinger and Car
roll yesterday in summing up the way
| Sadie NJ. Nichols had treated Mrs. Eliza
! beth S. Blake in a mortgage transaction.
| OF course Miss Nichols was greatly wrought
up over the matter. So was her lawyer,
| A. S. Newburgh. He threatened all sorts
of restraining orders and appeals on her
behalf. But the court never paid any at
| tention to his voluble protests.
| The case has been a very bitter one.
That is the reason Justice of the Peace
| Groezinger called in Justice of the Peace
Carroll to sit with him on the bench.
| The Nichols woman lives at 214 Ellis
street, and all the trouble arose out of the
way she mortgaged her household furni-
| ture to Mrs. Blake for $3.50. Mrs. Blake is
| over 60 years of age. She had known the
| woman she charges with robbing her for a
| long time, and hence trusted her In way.
| The latter took an active interest In the
drawing up of the mortgage.
When the original copy was ready for
signing she told Mrs Blake that it was
necessary to sign the paper in duplicate.
| The second paper she cleverly adjusted be-
| meath the first paper so that its contents
| could not be seen. The places for the sigma
| ture on the two papers were thus brought
close together, so there was no occasion to
| lift the upper paper. Mrs. Blake, without
question, accepted the woman's statement
| that the under paper was copy OF the
| mortgage The papers were accordingly
| signed and the money turned over.
When the note became due the maker
| took particular pains not to pay it. Then
| the trouble began.
| Mrs. Blake, however, was bound to have
| her money and set her lawyer to capture it
oft ar "a a
| began suit and tried to foreclose on the fur
| niture. But the woman got wind of the
approach of the Sheriff's deputies and
| struggled it out of the house at 9 O'CLOCK of
| the night before they descended on the
place.
Then Mrs. Blake asked the court to APP
point receiver to capture the furniture
and hold it till the dispute for its possess
sion was settled. Receiver Berliner cap
tured the furniture all right, only to meet
with another surprise in the bitterly fought
case.
Miss Nichols produced a release of the
| mortgage, sealed, signed and delivered by
Mrs. Blake.
The widow stoutly denied that she had
ever signed any such paper.
you did, :" insisted Miss Nichols.
| The signature was undoubtedly that of
| Mrs. Blake, but that lady was stouter than
ever in her assertion that she had never
|
| Gradually proof came out that the paper
| which had been represented to be dupli-
cate mortgage was nothing less than a re-
| lease of the mortgage that covered it at the
| time.
! Miss Nichols stuck fast to the assertion
that she came honestly and fairly by the
release, bit all the evidence in the case
| was against her.
| In summing up the evidence the court
said that she could not be believed in the
| testimony she had offered in the case. The
court stated that there was only one con-
struction to be placed on her actions in
| the matter, and that was that she had de-
| liberatsly tried to swindle Mrs. Blake.
| Judgment was accordingly entered for
the widow, and the chances now are that
she will either get the money or the value
| of the furniture sold at Sheriff's sale.
| The Nichols woman has been in trouble
with the courts before. There is a charge
of grand larceny now pending against her
in the criminal department of the Superior
Court. In this case $50 is in dispute. 1t
once belonged to a gentleman who left his
card at the defendants house, but had no
intention of leaving his $50, SO ne says.