The San Francisco call., 1897-05-18

hosts, such as MIR. Knight has been since
! the development of premonitions of con-
| test over the estate, should have so little
TO say in case of this magnitude. There
| have been pronounced rumOr3 to the G
| feet that all was not harmony in the ranks
| OF the plaintiffs army OF attorneys, and
I after Yesterdays little set-to there can
scarcely be any doubt OF the truth of
! these.
Mr.. knight took his seat in the court
room on the very opening of the morning
session, and he looked like business all
over. He did not have to wait long for
the business, for about the first thing that
happened was the prese n tation by Attor-
neys McEnerney and Pierson, who repre-
sent the executors, of an application for
an allowance OF additional fees.
| Mr.. Knight, who appears in the case
for the heirs as interyenors. was on his
ieet In minute with an objection. 1t
developed from what he said that Messrs.
M McEnerney and Pierson have already re-
celyed $79 625 for services rendered the
special administrators in entering The So
called trust" will for probate; $40, O0o
i more out OF the fund left by Senator FAIR
for the purpose OF p-obatlng his Will, and
now want another big slice for services to
the executors latter the probate of the
WILL Mr. Knights complaint was that
the thing was being overdone and that
his clients, the heirs, were the ultimate
sufferers.
Judge Slack declined to pass upon the
matter offhand. 1t was something, he
sad that would be considered when he
was fixing the compensation OF attorneys
later IN the game.
This over. the dreary work of intro
duoing more negatives and enlarged re-
productions OF handwriting, all for the
swelling OF the sideshow and correspond
ing suffering OF the clerks and bailffs,
was resumed. There was an objection
and debate when the plaintiffs sought
10 introduce negatives of the letter writ
ten by Senator FAIR to Mrs. Nettie Craven,
in which he refers to the 'psncir' will
and the deeds he is SAID to have given her.
The court finally ruled that it was admis-
sible.
David N. Carvalho, the New York hand
writing expert, was calledto the witness
| stand at the opening OF the afternoon
session. George A. knight conducted the
direct examination. Carvaiho testified
that he held the position of official expert
on disputed handwriting, INKS and pholo-
graphs for the Grand Jury Of New York
| County, and held the same position in
Brooklyn. He had been a Dhotogra pher
for thirty wears, bul OF late years had de-
voted aim elf chiefly 10 the reproduction
of handwriting rather than to portrait
work. Carvalho said also that he knew all
about standard inks. Ink, he explained,
was tanno gallate suspended in water by
means of gum.
How did you happen to come out here
from New York;" asked Mr.. Knight.
II came here 20 testify in the case of
Angus VS.. Craven" he replied. II was
sent for by the executors OF the Fair es-
ta,e and expect to be paid by them"
Mr.. Knight now wanted to know if the
witness had examined all OF the checks,
letters, wills, deeds. negatives and en-
larged reproductions OF documents that
had been introduced as evidence in the
case and received an affirmative reply.
Attorney Foote, who was scheduled TO
conduct the cross-examinationf for the de-
iense asked permission 10 ask the witness
a few questions in orde: to test his COM
petency In answer to him Carvalho ad-
mitted that he never had had the pleasure
of personal acquaintance with Senator
Fair in his lifetime. Neither had he ever
seen the millionaire write. He confessed
that this would handicap him somewhat
| in testifying, inasmuch as he would have
| 10 surmise now, whereas he would other
| wise have been certain.
| Mr. knight took the witness again and
| began showing him the cheeks and let
| tiers admitted to be in the handwriting of
| Senator Fair. Caryalho said he had made
q careful study of all of them for the
purpose OF making com parsons with the
| disputed handwriting.
Carvalho proceeded to tell the jury how
| he made his comparisons, but Lis remarks
developed into veritable argument TO.
the plaintiffs and he had to be stopped by
the court. After considerable difficulty
with him on this account, he finally testi-
| fed that as the result Of his investigation
| he had reached the conclusion that the
| '.pencil" will was a tracing-a forgery.
| He had found words in the Will so similar
| to repetitions Of those words that he was
sure that one had been copied from the
| other. The will in his salaried opinion
was written slowly and iaboriously,
whereas Senator Fairs admittedly genu-
inc writings showed that he handled a
pen or pencil with rapidity.
| Carvaiho was explaining his theories in
detail when courl adjourned.