Bridgeton pioneer., 1897-12-09
TOM JONES' WILL.
The Contestants Seemed to Have Utterly
Failed in Making a Successful Attack
Upon the Existing Instrumenf.

The Contestants Seemed to Have Utterly
Failed in Making Successful Attack
Upon the Existing Instrument.
It's all over but the shouting, is the way
the sporting editor would write up the
Jones will case, now in Court. When
Judge Hoagland Wednesday afternoon
demonstrated that he was running the
Courts end of the business, the testimony
was all in, and the counsel for the con-
testants were sparring for time to dig
into the minutes of the trial and find
something that would serve to base an
argument upon..@ The young men from
New York who were attacking the will,
were vehemently striving for three or
four days. Judge Carrow for the will,
declared he was ready now and had as
much at stake as anybody. Judge Hoag-
land simply grasped the situation and
banged the latter upon the bench he said
the argument would occur this morning.
That settled it.
1t takes a good deal of space to repor
this case, because it is interesting. The
subject is important. Upon the final de-
cision of the Courts rests the division of
an estate of quarter of million dollars,
every penny of which Tom Jones, of
Vineland, made out of the pearl button
business. If the horse editor was going
to review the case he would say the con-
testants were not one, two, three. That
means the children of Tom Jones' brother
had no place in Court.
No one who has followed the somewhat
remarkable case, will hesitate to say that
the will drawn twelve years ago will be
admitted to probate and Tom Jones'
widow will get the quarter of million.
Charles r. Carruth is the son of the
editor of the Vineland Independent who
nearly twenty years ago was killed
by Charles K. Landis. Frank r. Lough-
ran is the young lawyer who politically
was killed in this county by great ma
jority of voters who didn't want him
elected to the Assembly upon the Demo-
cratic-Popocratic platform. Both these
young men are located in New York, and
they are the lawyers who are fighting the
will. They were embarrassed many
times during yesterday. They had no
case, and Judge Hoagland plainly in
timated they were on ''fishing excur-
sion."
On the other side, the will was looked
after by ex-Judge Carrow and James
S. Ware. incidentally the executor.
lawyer Wheaton Berault, is something
of a strength to the will as presented for
probate, but Carrow is the figure in
Court that engages important attention.
Sharp, crisp, blunt, businessike, he
seemed to know that he had good case,
and was not at all backward in present
ing it. At no time did the ex-Judge fail
to respond to any proposition presented
by the contestants.
Judge Hoagland seemed to feel during
the progress of the days events, that the
Court was being trif1ed with by the con
testant's counsel, and he plainly inti-
mated that he would not permit any by
play. If there was anything that the con-
testants wanted to get before the Court,
he desired to hear it, and that promptly.
He would not stand for any guesses and
intimations. If the contestants hadn't
their case in court they would have to
suffer from the loss.
When the morning session closed,
William Jones, nephew of the deceased
testator, had just closed his direct testi-
mony for the contestants. Judge Carrow
caught him in the afternoon on the cross
examination, and it was rigid examin-
alton.
Judge Carrow took William Jones in
hand and subjected him to rigid cross
examination.
WASN'T your Uncle Thomas very gem
erous to your family"
''Yes, Sir.''
''Did you not solicit all the time from
your uncle"
mo, sir, we did not, but he gave us a
good deal and helped US. Mr. Carrow
asked witness if he knew his father had
been married before, and he said mo,
sir,'
A marriage certificate was read by Mr.
Carrow, in which it was shown that
James Jones was married in England to
Mary Ann Dingley on Dec, 25, 1861.
The witness took it and read it, and swore
he never heard tell of it. 1t was never
told him by his father, his mother or
any OF the children.
A young man, James A. Jones, was
called from the audience and stood before
the witness.
did you ever see this man before?"
'No,sir.n
''Do you know him."
mo, sir"
do you not know that he is son of
your father by his first wife?"
s mo, sir"
Mr.. Loughran objected to this line of
testimony on the ground. that hear-say
aYi(1anca cannot ha racaiuad