The times., 1899-05-05
INGERsoLL IN COURT.
Sued for Alleged Damages to Stat
uette to Charles Dickens.

uette to Charles Dickens.
Nsw York, May 4.-Col. Robert G. In
gersoll was defendant in a suit yesterday
before Justice Martin, in the sixth district
court, Twenty third Street and Second Ave-
nue., the plaintiff being DR.. Elias NJ. l..
Bristol, who wanted to recover $133.5O.
The doctor said that the colonel. who
had leased his Madison Avenue residence,
damaged the furniture and bric-a-brac to
that amount. and declined to pay
Artists, tradesmen. experts, lawyers, and
principals were in court this morning
and a cracked bust of Charles Dickens was
placed beside a patchedup Japanese vase
on the table before the Justices bench.
Colonel Ingersoll occupied DIR. Bristois
furnished house at an annual rental OF
$500 until last fall. when the rent being
raised to $500 the colonel moved to
Gramercy Park. 1t was in the moving that
the bust of Dickens was knocked over and
cracked, and the tall vase had its top
shattered. Hence the litigation.
When Colonel Ingersoll was asked in
court If he would swear when called TO
give his testimony he smiled and said:
what's the use of troubling the Al
mighty about ouch little case as 'his
Or. Bristols bill of particulars specified
the Dickens n,atuette. SIS: the vase. $Zo,
ana broken furniture. s33.5O. When the
ease was called In the afternoon DE- Bristol
took the stand, and said the value OF the
statuettc was $50. He declared he had TO
nav ii To have a Westminster Ginning
eiork repaired because the colonel had not
stopped the t.ncplece when he LETT the
house a., e.a,,
Mr. Brown. Colonel ingersolfs attorney.
| questioned the doctor about MS su'.
| against Perry Belmont. who once rehteu
| the same house, for soiling the statuery'
| and in response to objections by Mr..
Ketchan., the plaintiffs attorney, SAID ne
wanted to show that the doctor was suing
| Colonel Ingersoll for the same thing that
| Mr.. Belmont had previously settled for
Charles s. Mills, an artist, thought that
| the Dickens statuette was worth sou, Dut
admitted that he knew nothing OF the
commercial side of art.
All the witnesses for the defendant al
! hrmed instead of swearing. Edmund f.
Bonaventure, a dealer in art works, testi-
fled that he wouldn't have bust like that
| of Dickens in his house. ''It is worth 81
| or So In Europe" he declared, land by the
| time it has paid duty here it is worth
about sl2. The material is composition
| into which chalk enters"
| Concerning the vase, he said that 1t
might be worth S5.
Miss Maud R. Ingersoll testified she ex-
pected to have the bust and vase replaced.
but could find nothing exactly like the
Dickens statuette. Busts of the same
style, she said. she found cost $40 to sl2.
Miss Sue sharkey, Colonel Ingersolls s
housekeeper testified that she took charge
OF the statuary, and when she looked them
over she found that some former care
taker. in washing them, had left pieces OF
soap behind the ears.
Colonel Ingersoll then affirmed that he
had been ready to pay reasonable price
for the broken articles. Il sent $50 in
gold to DR.. Bristol's attorneys" he said;
| ''sl5 for the statuette and IS for the vase.
The broken furniture bill was an after
thought on the Doctors part l was told
of 1t weeks later. At first there wns no
claim except for the vase and statute"
Justice Martin reserved his decision.