The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1897-08-14
A FIGHT FOR A FORTUNE
fSan Francisco Bulletin.

were in it. 1t involves the property of the
dead millionaire James G. Fair, one Of
the bonanza kings and former Senator
of the United States.
Fair was pretty nearly everything that
was disagreeabIe. In his young days he
had been u miner of muscle, swinging q
pick, drinking raw whisky when he could
pay for it and living from hand to mouth.
The wife OF his youth, who had waited
upon him at table when he was lustY and
not all debased, was not good enough for
HIM when the millions had rolled into his
outstretched paws. She had borne him
children, had nursed him in sickness and
had been his careful, loving helpmeet, but
she was not good enough. He had never
made even pretense OF being faithful to
her, and it was no trouble to arrange for
divorce. He furnished the statutory
ground, of course, and she was given
$4,OOO,O0O. This money and the other
$4,000, 900 came from the COmstock lode,
most of it. After that modern Ell Dorado
played out Fair bought real estate. He
never made bad bargain. He brought to
this pursuit his undeniably sound brain
and hardness of Scrooge.
Mrs. Fair after the divorce agreed to
take care of the girls. One of them DOW
is Mrs. Herman Oelrichs of New York,
and the other is Miss Virginia Fair, better
known as Birdie, said to be engaged to
Count Sierstorpff, a Silesian. There were
two sons, Jimmy, bright boy with an
unquenchable thirst and Charley, whose
thirst was second only to Jimmys.
Mrs Fair died in 1891. Her 81, 00O,0o
had then increased to $6,OOO,OOO. She
gave $2,O0O,000 to each of the girls and
$500, coo to each of her boys. II either OF
them died, the money was to go to the
other. She also left bequest of $50, 200
to be spent in masses for the repose ut
her soul. Mrs. Herman Oelrichs trugally
refused to pay it, and the archbishop OF
San Francisco would not lower the digni-
ty of the church by suing for it. Charley
married q woman he could not Introduce
to his sisters, and there was fearful ex-
plosion. 1t must be understood that by
this time the progeny of Sienus Fair aud
the mining camp waitress had become
aristOcrats of the aristocrats. The liquid
in their veins, by one of those processes
peculiar to America, had changed Its tint
to deepest azure. The new wife made
man out of her worthless husband. He
went to housekeeping and is to-day a
prosperous and reputable citizen.
That was the state of affairs when the
old man died. His will was wonderful
creation. Instead of dividing his estate,
which would have given Charley's wife
and children fair share, he left 1t all 10
trust. The interest only was to be paid
to the children. This trust was to con-
tinue until the death of Charles Lewis
Fair, when il was all to revert to Mrs.
Herman Oerichs and Miss Virginia Fair
or their children. The wife and children
of Charles Lewis Fair were thus entirely
cut out.
Fairs children inherited his nearness,
and when the will was opened they glared
at each other in speechless indignation.
The notion that three executors were to be
permitted to pull down princely sum
annually for handling the great property
for which their own fingers itchcd gave
them spasms of righteous indignation
Big lawyers were hired and began at.
tempts to break the will. At first there
were all SORTS Of efforts to compromise.
The children wanted the executors to let
go, but the executors, with years OF enor-
nous fees ahead of them, laid their hands
upon their bosoms and said proudly that
they could not be false to the trust the
dead millionaire had reposed in them.
Suddenly the Fair will d disappeared
from the safe in the County clerks Office.
Stilwell was the last man known to have
examined it, but he bitterly protested his
innocence of evil doing and filled the
papers until they stopped over with &C
counts of his desperate efforts to recover
the document.
A lull in the proceedings ensued, or,
rather, while preparations for the trial of
the Wills validity continued, the news
papers dropped the matter for awhile.
Charley Fair explained this on the ground
that they "had got tired of their monkey
business, 'em!" Then the missing
will mysteriously reappeared. 1t was
found one day lying in the chair of tn e
county clerk, where it had been LETT dur
ing his absence at luncheon.
Meanwhile in the capital Of the state,
which is Sacramento, had been living q
woman with massive brain and an eagle
eye. Her name is Mrs. Nettie r. Craven.
She was we'll known ID the politics of
San Francisco, and her business in Sacra-
mento was to induce the legislature to
establish fund for the penslonlng of
school teachers.
The news spread around that Mrs.
Craven had in her possession a will of
later date than the other, written in lead
pencil, which the Senator had dashed off
in her presence. There were other wit
nesses to this will, which was eminentIy
satisfactory to the heirs. 1t gave them
the $4,000, 900 and incidentally left $685.
900 or $50 900 to the cause of the teachers )
pensions.
OF course it looked shady. There were
those who said that on the day the pencil
will purported to have been written old
Fair was too far gone to write anything
The will was too pat, the incredulous
public said, and suited the heirs too we'll.
Nor was it likely, they thought, that the
old bonanza man had so suddenly forgiven
his son that dreadful marriage.
However, the Fair heirs had retained
the governor of the state among their
lawyers, and the governor of the state
practically vouched for the responsibility
of the new will. Anyhow it was nobody's
business except that of the executors, and
they, with the new will in existence,
seemed more open to resistance than they
had been before. The pencil will nre-
vailed. Lawyer Delmas made some of
the greatest speeches on the subject in
court, and the pencil will stood. 1t
looked as if the case were near settlement
md hot IL. =