The morning times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1897, 1896-06-09
Chemicals TELL THE TALE
Expert CarvaIho Says the Holt
Will Is Not Ten Years Old.
DECLARES IT Is A FORGERY
He Reached His ConclusiOns-Char-
acteristics of Writing, Quality and
Kind of Ink and Other Peculiarities
Discussed.

small yellow spot, scarcely as large
as an Old fashioned threecent piece, was
the pivot about which the Holt will trial
swung yesterday, and which caused Car
valho, the handwriting expert, to declare
that The alleged viii is a forgery, pure
anu simple.
The spot was over the word of be-
tween the words Luke Deviin' and
city down about the middle of the
disputed paper, alleged to be the will.
1t required just $50 seconds to put it
there, and then the expert applied blot
ter, removed the moisture of the acid
that wrought the change, and held the
paper before the jury.
The two letters iii the doctorcd word
had changed their color from good
black To reddish brown. This caused
the expert to say the viii is not over
ten years old, while IL is dated twenty
three years ago.
Yesterdays session was by all odds the
most interesting OF the trial, and af-
forded really the first of tie many sensa-
tional developments that both sides have
so prufuSely promised. Curious enough,
the crowd of spectators was the smallest
that has marked the attendance of any
day up to the present time.
Immediately upon the opening OF court
Mr.. Worthington made an Intellectual
attempt TO get some more papers written
by Judge Holt i'll evidence ana tEcn asked
leave TO suspend the examination of Wash
ington ID. Holt, who was first called to
the stand last Friday. No objection was
made, and the first and only witness Of
the day was called.
EXPERT ON THE STAND.
II NJ, orb
city, a handwriting expert whom the at
torneys for the heirs at-law have had
examining the alleged will for some time.
AS matter OF Introduction and at the
request of Mr.. Warrington, Prof. Car
valho gave a brief sketch Of his life and
his works. He seid that he is i'll his
forty eighth year His profession was
that of examining disputed documents,
writing and ink. For twenty-une years
he had made the study a speciality, and
i'll that time had been called upon to
testify in over 6 so cases. For the past
sixteen years he has served as expert
witness before the grand jury OF his own
city.
All the time the expert was telling this
he was nwrapp!ng brass ma gniIying glass
that lie had placed on the table before him
and was UnpaCking numEcr Of delicate
instruments of measurement and severed
small walls from a leather satchel. A large
blackboard was brought into the room and
this was carried, at his suggestion, and
placed behind the witness chair.
For the next two hours the jury was
treated to Il lecture on loops. curves, angles
base lines. Cramped hands. free hands, back
and fore hands. dots of is and crosses OF
is, comaS periods and final letters, com
PARSONS, symmetry, regularity. intent and
purpose, position and attendant circum-
stances, and a thousand and one things that
would he calculated to inStii DESPAIR into
the bosom of anyone but ii iuryman.
OF course the witness was interrupted by
frequent questions of counsel and again he
would he given a breathing spell while
the lawyers SPARED over sCme objection,
but these occasions We're rare, and his
testimony as a rule flowed with as much
regularity as a quiet meadow brook.
WROTE AN ERRATIC HAND.
There was Il confusion of movements in
all of Judge Holt's writings, testified Prof.
Carvaiho His hand was very Giraffe. He
reached this conclusion from the large mum
Der of letters thatha been given him from
which to make comparisons. These letters
had been written by Judge Holt to his
brother, his nephew, his nephew's wife and
his great nieCes and nobody has yet come
forward aud denied that they Were genuine.
He admitted that it looked like there were
two STYLES of writing in the mysterious
document. The person who wrote it was
accustomed to the forearm movement, but
hecramped his hand Observation-Disclosures ma-
ton of some of the letters and words.
The paper must have been written at more
than one sitting. too. For Instance, the
words Miss Throckmorton' and possibly
Miss Hynes' had been tntcrpoated, it
seemed. Then there was a great number
OF loop letters in the will. Judge Holt did
not use these letters in his other writings
so far as the witness had been able to learn.
Continuing in this manner Prof. Carvalho
pointed out little features wherein Judge
Hollis characteristic cS Were lacking or
where they had beeneXa ggerated. He took
the blackboard and Went into the minutest
details to impress the jurors with the facts
as he saw them.
DECLARED IT A FORGERY.
Concluding his interesting remarks the
expert said: If the papers that have been
given me for comparison are genuine, then,
in my judgment, Judge Holt wrote neither
the will nor the signature attached to it.
1t Is forgery pure and simple 1t is SO
| simple thatit is nothing but botch.''
When Mr.. Worthington asked him con.
| corning the signatures Of the witnesses to
the paper Prof Carvalho said that his
examination had only extended to the
| signature of Mrs. Ellen B. f. Sherman and
| he had come to, the conclusion that the