Evening star., 1896-06-24


will was genuine Then. again. the ap-
pearance of the paper. itself was highly in
consistent with any other theory than that
the VIII is genuine document: it would be
absurd to think that any man who was
seeking to foist the paper by illegal means
would ever have marked or burned the will
In such a manner.
Il cannot tell YOU" said Mr.. Darlington,
chow that will was sent to the registers
office. / wish l could. But l have my own
theory. es i presume each of you has yours.
As to its burning. ! can only say that If
the paper had been folded twice and thrust
into fire. in a coal scuttle a CRATE and
then removed. it would show just about
such marks as this paper now does.
Continuing. Mr.. Darlington said that
the genuneness of the signatures of the
three attesting witnesses had been proved
beyond a question. The theory that the
Taper was in two pieces when it reached
The registers office had been completely eX-
pi"dee- The will contains characteristics
OF Judge Hoits manner and style. of which
no one but himself could ever have
known
Further. the question of the character of
the persons involved was strong proof that
TO felony or crime had been committed.
Luke Devlins career. he said was beyond
all question that he could have stopped 10
the methods of a common forger. But to
find the will n forgery the jury would have
To go beyond Luke pevlin and claim that
man like Nal. ThrockmOrton. after his;
long and honorable record in the army
would participate in such a crime. Further,
they would have to smirch the fair name of
MrS- Throcknsorton. silver-haired lady
whose character was above reproach, and
charge that her beautiful daughter Wou]d
share in crime that sends people to the
pententi9ry
Having devoted a great deal of time to
the question of the validity of the will Mr.
Darlington touched briefly upon the matter
of revocation. claiming that there was ab-
solutely no testimony to show that Judge
Holt ever changed his mind as to the dis
nESlttDn Dar
then explained to the jury the methods by
Nhlch will may he revoked. He argued
tfat ther" was nothing to prove that tn.
VIII was ever burned in Judge Holt's house,
during his lifetime. or that the iudge had
ever done thing that constituted a legal
r"vocation- If Judge Holt ever made
later Will the fact that ii was not found
VS. legal presumption that he destroyed
II himself
" was few minutes after II O'Clock
when Mr. Darlington finished. and Mr.
w orthington at once arose to speak.
Mr. WorthinEton Commences.
In commencing his address Mr. Worth
ineton said that if there was ever a case
where the duty OF the lawyers as we'll as
their inclination. called them to review all
the evidence that had been brought out
this that case
There We're Int four questions for tha
jury to decide: DID Judge Holt write The
VIII Did he re-olle it? Was there
1rauG Was there undue inauenca? To
the last two questions their answer would
OF course be in the negative. If il was
no 10 the hrst or yes to the second the re-
SUIT would be the same. FOR the Probate
C1"rt would admit the will
But his learned brother on the other
SD" was unsOund when ne ciairne1 that il
the Jury decided that Judge Holt did rot
Mr.te the will 1t would mean that Luke
bsNhn did 1t would mean nothing Of The
sort it would mean simply thar Ju1r.
Holt did not and nothing more II was
"rNfnbeht upon another branch of the
cctrt to discover the forge- Nor would
tieir decision smirrh the character Of anv
me- mher OF the Throckmorton family
VT Ncrihington riiiculed the theory of
me eaveatees that Charles Strothers was
me one who sent the viii. If sStrotiiers had
found the will and had carried 1T around in
Ms pocket FOR a year there was no reason
WY ne should ever have sent il to the reg
lSi@r. when the only advantage that would
ever accrue to him was the chance to come
II 10 court and periure himself He would
Rave taken it to Wash. Holt or to Col Ster-
EFT and made what ne coui! out of il or ne
would have taken it TO tn" Throckmortons
OF Miss HyneS and tried to dicker with
from. There was absolutely no motive for
Str9thers. and 10 allege that he sent the
VIII was as foolish to say that Wash
Holt and Col. Sterett sent it and then en-
gagged lawyers to prove that they didn't
Suspicious Document.
From first to last. Mr. Worthngton said.
the alleged will was a suspicious document
and not worthy of the slightest trust
Whoever sent the Will committed an act of
which he was utterly ashamed and was
unwilling to have any one know that he
sent IT. 1t was the act of a man who had
made fictitious will and had chosen that
method of sending it as the safest one to
prevent the possibility of his detection
livery circumstance in connection with this
ease Went 70 stamp the paper fraud
ami a forgery
For one thing the burning of the paper
could neve- have been done simply by
dropping IL into a fire. for an examine
'lon OF the burns proved this beyond
Question Some OF the burns looked as
though they had been made while the
paper was folded. for they appear at the
same places in the three folds while otner
and larger burns do not appear but onca
further, 1t was remarkable that not
throughout the whole, paper In Other
words the burns Were made simply and
solely for the purpose of concealiDg i'm
projections in the simulated writing 1t
TOOK no expert to see that the ink with
" hfch the will was written was not the
same that the judge used in the letter
Whicn bears the same date as the will
nor In any other letters of about that
time In other words. the Judge sent
out and got d special bottle of ink with
Whlch to write the Will and never used
1t again.
Mr.. Worthington then spoke Of the fac.
mat fourth of the paper on which the
VIII was written was missing that the
cage OF the paper was burned auay tcat
the seal was not attached. though IL is re-
1erred 10 In the paper. and last but es-
Ieclaily. that the will, when Ii was re-
ceiNed. was tightly pasted onto a thick
Paper. so that il was impossible to tell
Nhetner or not there was anything written
On the back of It,
The dear friends of Judge Holt he con-
lsAuei. VINO We're so anxious to oe. hold of
MS property. had tried to prove him to be
ire VerleSt ignoramuS ana they would boya
10 do II too before they could ever get any
tne TO believe that Judge Holt wrote any
such paper as the will which they were
Trying to prove genuine. The will was the
WORK or an ignoTamus. 1t convicted the
writer IN the very first line. T. J. Holt"
Any lawyer of the most mediocre sort
EEoWs that the name of the devisor should
he written out In full. one of the benefi-
cirries IL referred to Lizzie" so that IL
MISS Hynes should ever have occasion to
transfer any of the property, she would
have 10 secure afiidavits to show that +
It"lt was Joseph Holt and she herself would
have to make affidavit that Lizzie Hynes
was Elizabeth Hynes.
why said Mr.. Worthington "ir n man
came 20 me and asked me to write a will
Tor him and / wrote him such q paper as
this and charged him s. for 1T he might
n vc me arrested for getting money under
false pretenses.''
Nr. Worthingtop then spoke OF tho curj