The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-04-08
RICE WILL CONTEST BEGUN
Fight for the MilIi0naire's Estate
Commences in New York.

The Two Instruments offered for
Proh.tc-zE Unusually Interesting
Case Because Of tE,,. Esa-dcr Pre-
/ ceed3lgS against Attorney Patrick
! NEW YORK. April S--Wh2t prom
/ ises to be one Of the most famous wiz
/ contests ever conducted in the metroDo-
! Is was begun this morning before Sur
rcgatc Fitzgerald.
There was a lively tilt between coun-
sci before Surrogate Fitzgerald when
the contest was called The upshot Of
the argument before the surrogate was
that the case was set down for trial
next Monday with the understanding
that it would be postponed further i
the criminal proceedings before Justice
Jerome were not finished It is beI.eV-
ed that The case will hardly come 10
/ trial before next fail.
The contest is over the two
wills purportIng to have been eX-
ecuted by William Marsh Rice, which
were offered for probate last fall In
the contest an estate estimated 1t from
/ IS. 100000 to double that amount is in
/ volved and dozen firms Of lawyers.
representing a variety Of interests, are
engaged in the litigation
The case is Of particular interest be
cause Of collateral criminal proceedings
that involve alleged forgery. murder.
and q deep-Iaid plot reaching through
q year for the contamination of plans
to secure the aged Texas millionaire's
estate.
An tr,o i-e-,,o.- 81 Tho o,;v,fraI ,,ro.eaI
ines against Attorney Albert T Pat
rick. who is accused Of being ar accom-
plice in the murder OF Mr.. Rice en-. in
the forgery of a viii, are to be threshed
out in the civil courts. The charge of
forgery, on which a criminal prosecu-
ton has already been based. VIII be the
hinge on which the civil case will turn
The case begun IL the Surrogate's
Court today is the matter Of the con-
test over the Rice VIII, which purpcTts
to have been executed IN Texas on Sep
TENDER IS, 1856, and under which the
bulk Of the estate was left 10 the Rec
Institute. of Houston, Tex. an inst;tu-
ton which has existed only on paper
as yet The contestants against the
probatirg Of this will are William II.
Rice. II, John D Barture, and Capt
James a. Baker. This instrument has
beer. called VIII No J, - the 1896 viii,
Mr.. Rice's first VIII. and the Baker Will
The second viii, which has been filed
for probate, purports to have been eX-
ecuted on June 80, 1900 Albert T Pat
rick. who is under examination in crimi-
nal proceedings on the charges of muir
! dering MI Rice and forging the VIII,
| * made residuary legatee by this in
strument and viii receive nine-tenths
of the estate should it be prohated. The
witnesses 10 this VIII are involved in
the forgery charges against Patrick.
This IS the So called Patrick VIII, which
reduces the requests TO the Rice 1nsti-
tue TO SZ50.000, but under which Mr.
Ric3's heirs-at-Iaw would fare better
than under the ether.
The examination of Patrick on a
charge Of numbering Rice. on Septem-
TENDER % last. at SOC Madison Avenue,
VIII probably be concluded this week
and with It viii end the examination Of
David T. Short and Morris Meyers,
with whom Patrick is a co-defendant,
on a charge Of forging the so-called
] !
will be continued tomorrow and the evi-
dence in the forgery proceedings viii be
largely portions Of that taken in The
more important case.
Tomorrow Charles +. Jones, who was
vaIet-secretary to Mr.. Rice. will be sub
jected to continuance of the cross
questioning, which has not so far shak-
en- his testimony. Then Assistant Dis
trict Attorney Osborne Will produce
whatever he has In the way Of corr0b-
grafton Of the Wallets story and wit
nesses to produce at this time, and Jus
tee Jerome VIII thereafter have to de-
eide whether or not there IS evidence
( to warrant him in holding Patrick,
Short, and Meyers for the grand jury.
It IS not expected that IL defence
viii call witnesses. but if it does. the
examination viii be prolonged Capt.
James A Baker, who y, IS Mr.. Rice's
attorney in general and particularly in
Texas affairs. who is the chief propo-
nent Of the 1856 viii of Mr. Rice. and
who, it is understood. has been very ac-
tive in working up the case against
Patrick. was subpoenaeu - the defence
| last Thursday
Nj. Osborne explains the liberty Civ
E en- to Valet Jones by saying that the
| witness is taken carriage riding and on
| walks BY a detective, for the sake of
e. diverting his mind Mr. Osborne is
e fearful that the Wallets mind viii break
down, or that he viii commit suicide
| as he has already made several alleged
attempts, which have been futile. As
for the tr::, on which Jones was taken
j | through the TendeTloin on Saturday
, | night, the explanation which Mr.. Os-
| borne allows to be inferred is that
: | Jones was looking for witnesses who
were needed TO corrOborate his story.
THE PLAGUE At CAPE TOWN.
| Deaths From the Bubonic Disease