Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-06-09
He Resumes the Stand in the Big
Will Case.
NEVER HEARD OF LUKE DBVLIN
His Uncle Frequently Spoke of
His Will.
o T II Z r WIT n Z S ES

tiAoN IDS dlitd DceIl lSikeH III lnt t1Olt VIII
| case may be had when ii is stated that the
| stenographic report of the trial up to .he
| close of yesterday fills 1,S75 typewriter
pages. To reprint IL in full would require
| about 320 columns of The Star. Copies of
| the report of each days proceedings are
| furnished to the lawyers during the even
| ing of the same day
| 1t was supposed that Mr. Washington d.
| Holt would be put upon the stand yester-
DAY to continue the recital of the Holt fam
| lily history. On the contrary, Mr.. Carvalho,
| the famous New York expert, was called as
a Witness and the result was that the pro-
| ceedings of the day were Of a rather sensa-
tional nature.
| Mr.. Holt was on the stand Friday after
noon when court adjourned, and when court
! opened this morning his direct examination
! was continued. He was questioned by Mr..
/ Wilson.
| papers that were burne, or taken away
| from the house after Judge Hot's death.
| He said that while some of them were in
| teresting to the family for personal rea-
| sons, none of them were Of any value or
! contained any reference to "A will. He
| touched upon a number OF incidents that
! showed the judges feelings toward his
| ialniIy, and said that at one time The Judge
! seriously contemplated removing from this
! city and making his home with the witness
! family at the old homestead in kentucky.
|
| unple leasantness between him and his uncle
| growing out Of his service in the confel-
crate army. Once the judge said that his
| life had been z deser. without an oasis un-
I'll he became so intimate with the witness
| and his family.
Spoke of His VIII.
Mr.. Holt said that on one occasion Judge
! Holt spoke Of his gift Of $1,000 TO Miss
! Lizzie Hynes. saying that Miss Hynes was
| Village woman of simple tastes, and that
this amount ought to he ample for her needs
| as long as she might live.
Cant you tell us the date of that con-
| versation?' asked Mr.. Wilson.
| NO, Judge Wilson. / can't. It's just as
| if you and were to go off on a buggy ride
| 10 California and back. Wed discuss every
| subject under the sun. Afterward II would
| be impossible for US TO say at what particu-
| lar milestone we had spoken Of any par
! ticuiar matter"
Continuing. the witness said that Judge
| Holt once told his wife that in his VIII there
| were any number of bequests that might
| seem tr.fiing to an outsider, but that he
| had set his heart upon them, and asked her
| TO assist her husband in carrying them out.
! What do you know of the Throckmorton
| family" asked the lawyer.
Il never heard nay uncle speak Of the
Throckmortons in any way, aud ] had no
| iQea there were any such people in exist
eECe"
! And Mr.. Luke Devlin?"
| 4 never heard of him until after my
! III Cle'S DEATH"
The witness told of the time when he and
| Col Sterett We're sitting in the lobby of the
Riggs House and Mr. neVIin came up and
! Introduced himself. Mr. Devlin suggested
! that they ought TO make some attempt TO
| rent the Holt house, but witness and the
| colonel refused to have any business rela-
items with him, being unable TO see what
business 1t was Cf DeYlin's.
| The lawyers for the caveators offered 10
| prove by this witness that Judge Holt was
| at loggerheads with Miss HyHes' relatives in
! 1873, and that IL was hardly likely he would
| leave her $So,@0 or $l"o0o0. knowing that
the money would eventually 20 TO her rela-
! uves. Judge Bradley, however. sustained
! an objection to this line OF evidence as be-
| ing too remote to have any bearing upon
this case.
| Speaking of the alleged will. Mr.. Holt
| sa!j that the first time he ever saw il was
| in the Office of the register of wills He
! never had the slightest idea there was
| such a paper in existence until he heard
| of Its mysterious appearance last summer.
When asked what he thought of its gem
| uiEeRess, ne said:
Il can only repeat what | said the first
| time ever said it: This viii is not only
| forgery. but it's d botch. They're the
! identical words that expert used yester-
| dcy when he was on the stand, but 1 claim
patent on them, for l used them a year
| before he did"
Referring to the contents of the paper,
| Uncle never used a superluous word
| in his writing, and there are some words
| in the alleged viii that / cannot conceive
of his using. He speaks of Lake DeVlin's
character of the highest standard.
| There is need of that word standard,
| and l am sure he would never have made
| use of it. Again. he says that Josephine
| is to inherit her share at the age of twenty
! one using figures and not spelling out the
| words. Now. l remember very well when
| he sent back a deed to have ii CorreC ted
| because, in giving the metes and bounds,
! figures used. H insisted that in a
| legal paper numbers ought 10 be spelled
! out in full"
Mr. Wilson then READ to the jury a letter
| from Judge Holt to the Witness IN which
! the writer expressed tn great - Interest
/ in ali his nephew business, and family 9f-
! fairs, and showed genuine fonin,ss foe
| Inn. Mr.. Wilson also read extracts from
| letters from Judge Holt, in which he sent
| love 10 all the family. The witness CN-
| plained who composed the family. showing
| that reference was always made to himself
and his wife.
Mr.. schradcr TestiHes.
The examination of this witness was in
| terrupted for few minutes while Mr.. Fred.
| Schrader was called to the stand.
| Mr SchradCr is a reporter on the Post
| and testified that last summer he vas as
| signed 10 the viii case. On The day after
the VIII turned Up he had intervicw with
| Mr.. Deylin, in which the latter said that
| he had always had an idea that there was
| Will in existence. and that he had writ
| ten to the Throckmortons on the subject
| The witness was not absolutely certain, but
| it was his best recollection that Mr.. Devlin
said he had written 10 NJ jor Throclm 0rton.
| Mr.. Schrdder said that when he first ex-
amined the WILL either one or two days
after il appeared at the registers Office, the
| separation between the upper and lower
| portions of the paper was complete.
| On crass-eXarination the witness was
| made to tell how he went about his exam
| ination of the alleged will. When re first
! saw il the paper was not folded. He was
| shown the viii while on the stand this
| morning, and expressed the opinion that
| its condition ard general appearance were
| practically the same when It was first
! received. During the conversation with AIR,
| Devlin the latter said that while he had
always suspected there was g will, he d,d
| rot know he Was named executor
| Signatures of Nitucssss
On redirect Mr. Schrader testified that
! Mr.. Devlin Said to him during that in
| tervicw that he had an idea where the
! will had been all the time, hut refused 10
| say what ii was. Mr.. Devln said that he
| and the Throckmortons were on very in
innate terms. and that wheneve, the major