The San Francisco call., 1897-01-20
The Heirs of the Millionaire
Spring Their Promised
Sensation.
A STATIONERY CLERK TELLS
HIS STORY.
Legal Blanks Printed by H. S. Croker
& c.. as Evidence in the
Famous Suit,

A defective i'm preston of the letter 20
in the certificate of Acknowledgements on the
famous pencil deeds and some twenty-five
microscopic evidences of a battered or
faulty impression IN the printing of the
documents is the handspring in the trap
by which the Fair children would convict
ex-Notary James ]. Cooney OF perjury.
A batch of 5000 of these invisible defects
passed through the presses of Il. S.
Crocker & Co. year ago. Captain Lees
and the bonanza represe detec-
tives say these same evidences of Door
printing are visible in the forms Cooney
used to certify 10 the making of the Craven
deeds by James G. Fair.
The millions of the dead man began the
work of springing this trap yesterday.
By way of beginning they put w. E..
Stanford, clerk OF the legal blank depart
ment on the stand 10 recall that he at
tended to the printing of 10000 copies OF
the notarial certificates on January s.,
1896. To-day the foreman and stereotyper
will be called to testify that in one-half of
the lot, in the haste attending the work, a
defective matrIx was used. The pro-
eramme then calls for a desperate effort
to convince the public that under the
microscope there are similar defects In the
blanks Cooney used.
Stanford was confident he had given an
order for the printing of what is known
in stationery as form 132. He brought a
record along in the way OF a ledger to
prove his statements at the request of
Captain Lees Unuer cross-e1amination
he got rather mixed in his answers. He
was glad and so seemed the lawyers for
the estate when he was relieved from two
hours on the broller under the curiosity of
Cooney's attorneys.
The case marked the opening of what is
practically the struggle. between Mrs.
Craven and the Fair estate, and of course
it was a drawing card.
The day began eventually. The pressure
for admittance to the courtroom was
reminiscent of the Durrant case The
opposing forces were lined up in front OF
Justice of the Peace Cook, for sometime es
in the history of Fair matters a Judge has
performed the anomaly of an immed ia e
transformation from one sort cf official
dignity to another. So it was as magis-
trate that Carroll Cook heard the opening
of the evidence. If ne finds Coonev guilty
OF perjury, why the case will then be heard
before Judge Cook.
The throng that filed the courtroom
WAS motley and morbidly curious. 1t
wriggled its neck thousand times in an
ticipation of somethins IN the way of q
climax. Only once was its hopes realized
That was when Stephen Roberts pulled
from his pockets the famous pencil deeds
Then there was wrenching OF necks that
made work for the bailiffs. The public
wanted to see the deeds. They are valua-
bic papers, and Roberts, since they have
been on repeated exhibition by attorneys,
photographers and newspaper reporters,
did not feel like letting them 20 on a pro-
miscuOus tour among the spectators.
Even when he gave the N TO Barnes for
inspection at the advice of ATTORNEY
Reddy, he kept his eyes sharply on the
big throng in the rear. In this con-
test for the bonanza millions mutual dis
trust and suspicion have grown among the
contending interests. The trust will of
the dead millionaire was stolen from the
Recorders Office almost as soon as it was
MED. The Craven people are naturally