The San Francisco call., 1897-01-19
WHETTING THE WEAPONS IN
THE BATTLE OF MILLIONS
Notary Cooney and the Fair People to Begin to Fight
It Out in the Criminal Courts
To-day.

an answer brought by Mrs. Craven to
eject the heirs from her property. In that
answer, to show with what ease
such affidavits can be made, Charles
Fair swore that his father died on a
day other than the real day of his death.
About this time what is known as the San
Rafael story was brought to light, and the
prominent connection with it OF Captain
Lees, the co-laborer of Detective Seymour.
''Then the children had positive proof,
so they said, that they would prove that
their father was not in the City on the
day the pencil will was made. 1t was
an item of Senator Fairs health. They
knew all these things by the millionaire s
valet, and yet it was on the programme
that this same valet was, a year previous,
of the opinion that his master was sick at
the Lick House on this same day.
"And so 1t goes. Resort was again had
to the old general charges offraud. People
wanted to know what Captain Lees was
doing in matters of a private litigation.
Well, along comes the present criminal
charge against Cooney to discredit him.
Now Cooney said six months ago just
what he said the other day and for
saying which he is now charged
with perjury. q If he committed per-
1ury in December he committed it
in July last? Where were the police then ?
If they were moving In this matter be-
cause crime had been committed they
were criminally slow. Six months ago
all the testimony was in and it was public
enough to give any one who had the least
fear a chance to escape.
"The truth of it is that they have
adopted these means to brighten Cooney
into making a false confession. One of
the attorneys for the Fair children has re-
marked that 'Cooney was a weak sister,
and they thought to make him show the
white feather.
LET US look at the positions of the two
camps. On the one side is Mrs. Craven,
who is vouched for as a respectable, hard
working schoolteacher, living on
her salary, the intimate friend of
Senator Fair, and so vouched in
court by the attorneys OF two
of his children. She stands alone and is
admittedly poor and is represented by
Delmas & Shortrldge, benson & De
Haven and W. w. Foote. These are
honorable men and would not advocate
her cause if they did not believe
in the geuineness OF those deeds.
One OF them is an ex-Judge of
Superior Court whose record is above re-
proach. One of them is an ex-Judge of
the Supreme Court and has been men
toned as possible member of the next
Cabinet. Another is an ex-regent OF the
State University.
"In the other camp stand the three
children with their concentrated millions
at their back. These same chill
dren in matters of wills have stood
on every side and on most sides
at least twice. What they have
stated in court one day they have denied
the next, now crying forgery and fraud
against man of whom one of their own
attorneys said, 'Cooney never did a dis
honest thing in his life, He has attended
to my business, and 1 know him we'll
One of them has so careiessly sworn to an
affidavit that its fals!ty is absurd.
The truth of the matter IS the Fair
children are using tie influence at their
back to blacken the character of witnesses
against them in the minds of the people
and jury. Some people are prone to
look no deeper than the surface, you
Know