Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-06-23

SO that the judge knew the major would
never be called uooa. to serve a. q trustee
Mr.. Lee argued that the relations between
Judge Holt and his rel6tions, as set forth
by the witnesses for the caveators. were
not such as to make 1t likely he would ever
have left them a cent. The other side, he
said. had laid great stress upon the fact
that Mr.. Devlfn was nervous and insure as
to his actions on the day the will came to
light. Yet the circumstances In connection
with the funeral of Judge Holt showed that
the relations, Mr.. Wash. Holt and Col.
Sterett, were anything but cool and col
lected.
Mr.. Lee then went into the matter of
the will and the condition In which It was
when 1t WAS received sat the registers Of
fce. All the evidence. he said, went to
show that the will was written on one
single piece OF paper, ana that the line Of
severance between the upper and lower
portions was not complete on the day the
will first turned up. Mr.. Lee then read ex-
tracts from the testimony Of Senator Sher-
man, Mr.. Tee umseh Sherman and Col.
Fred. d. Grant as to the signatures Of the
three witnesses to the contested will.
All had testified that there was no doubt
in then minds as to the genuineness OF the
signatures Mrs. Sherman's son had testi-
fed that she always wrote her name In full
when she subscribed II to formal or legal
documents. The fact that on the will
which is being contested her name was
written Ellen B. E. Sherman. instead Of
Ellen Ewing Sherman. az she usually
signed her name to personal or informal
letter was. to Mr.. Lees mind. strong proof
Of the validity of the handwriting. Various
unprejudiced witnesses, outside of the ex-
perts, had testified that the whole docu-
ment was a genuine paper. That the pune
tuation in the will Is uncertain and does
not come up to the rules he regarded as
strong evidence that the paper was In the
handwriting Of Judge Holt. for II man
had been initiating his handwriting he
g., y to
ter He would not have left out commas
where they belonged, nor would he have
put them after each part OF Josephine Holt
Throckmortons name. The very careless
ness OF the document was proof OF its gen.
uinenesS.
BurninR Papers.
Mr.. Lee then went on to point out that
1t was Judge Hollis practice never to burn
or otherwise destroy any paper that might
ever possess any value or interest. Yet
Mr.. Wash. Holt and others had testified
that Immediately after the death Of the
Judge all sorts of papers were given to the
flames. He would always wonder why 1t
was that the papers which Mr.. Wash. Holt
ordered burned were destroyed out of sight
Of the man who had given the order. All
this he said was quite enough to raise a
doubt in any ordinary mind.
Again, with reference to the fact that
Luxe levin naQ proposed 10 tne neirS- AT
law that the Holt mansion should be rent
ed for the benefit of the estate, Mr.. Lee
said that 1t but exemplifled the old story of
the wise Solomon and the way ne decided
who was the real mother Of the disputed
child. The most natural place to look for
Will after the judges death was about
the house. and yet the only persons who
had chance to search the house were his
relations. each of whom was naturally hos
tile to the provisions Of such will as the
one Of 1873.
Mr.. Lee then devoted some attention to
the character Of the man, Charles Stroll
ers. who was left in charge of the house
after the judges death without being COM
PEELED to pay rent or even the taxes on the
property.
Continuing. Mr. Lee characterized 1t as
very remarkable that the other side sh ould
have laid such stress upon the exact SIM
ilarity between the writing in the will and
In the letters OF Judge Holt. while their
witnesses hs again and again pointed out
the differences that existed between them.
Some Of the witnesses bad testified that In
TIER opinion the will was not in the hand
writing of Judge Holt because the Iissimi-
larity was altogether too great while
others had based the same opinion on the
TACT that there was too great similarity in
the writing.
Mr.. Lee then called attention to the re-
semblance between the writing in the will
and that in other papers which were ad-
mittedly written by Judge Holt as going to
prove that there was not the slightest
ground for the charge Of forgery. Follow
ing this he took up the matter of the rela-
lions existing between Judge Holt and those
of his own blood at the time of the making
OF the will incidentally touching upon the
feelings that existed among his relatives
toward each other
The testator and the members Of his
| family who lived in Kentucky were alien
ated as result Of the feelings growing out
Of the late war; and this breach was never
completely healed so that it was but nat
ural that Col. Sterett should say that I'm
1873 Judge Holt probably did not know
whether he was alive or dead.
On the other hand, said Mr.. Lee the re-
lations between Judge Holt and Miss
Hynes on the one hand and the Throck-
mortons were complete and perfect as
shown by letters and oral testimony In this
case.
Mr.. Lees address to the jury was not
completed when The Stars report closed.