The Iola register., 1901-06-07
FREAKS OF WILL MAKERS.
u Case In which Authenticity Was
CuriousIy Proved.


u Case In which Authenticity Was
CuriousIy Proved.
1t Is probable that whole volume.
and very interesting one at that,
might be composed of the freaks of
legal evidence in viii cases. Yhe evil
dence is often purely documentary;
hence the paradoxes which arise from
time to time in its Interpretation. If
ever such a volume comes to be pub
llshed, it will surely be incomplete If
the following case, told by John Corwin
of the firm of Harris, Corwin & Gun
nison, is left out:
"The testatrix," said Mr.. Corwin.
died in Brooklyn some years ago, and
it devolved upon me. as her lawyer to
find and probate her will. In trunk 1
found an envelope containing a num-
ber of very small pieces of paper, on
both sides Of which was writing. In
side the flap Of that envelope was writ
ten, This will is all here in the hand
writing and with the signature of the
testatrix.
"You must remember that these
deed The paradox Is thls-that the
extreme smallness of the scraps was
the evidence that this torn paper was
the last will and testament Of the de.
ceased. The law recognizes tearing as
one method by which n testator may
revoke will, and the intention to re-
yoke Is presumed in testator who so
fap Ittt
can be proved by another act done at
the same time then the tearing of the
VIII does not revoke it, Now, in this
case the words This will is all here
clearly showed that the testatrix meant
those scraps Of paper to be regarded
as her will. 1t remained to prove that
she so meant at the time when she tore
the paper. II she had torn the paper
Mt one moment, intending by that act
to revoke the will, and had subsequent
ly written those words without wit
nesses or other legal formallty, mean
ing to revive the force of the revoked
Will, then the latter act was legally in
valid and the will could not be pro-
bated. Surrogate Abbott took this
view.
My contention was that the writing
on the flap Of the envelope was in tech
nical language part of the same res
gesta as the tearing OF the will. l ar
gued that II the testatrix had torn
that paper Mt one time and put 1t in
that envelope at another some Of the
pieces, small as they were. must sure
ly have become lost I'm the interval.
The extreme mlnuteness of the pieces,
coupled with the fact that not one
piece was missing, was my evidence
that the tearing and the putting into
that envelope were one res gesta.
81 had quite clearly demonstrated the
presence of every piece by taking a
sheet of glass covered with white OF
egg and carefully reconstructlng the
whole sheet of paper upon it, leaving
each piece with the same side to the
glass as its fellows. In this way was
able TO present the will in legible
shape. Its physical completeness es-
tablished my point to the surrogate's
satisfaction. for the presumption that
the placing of the pieces in the envel-
ope and the writing on the flap were
one res gesta was in my favor And so
| succeeded in probating that will"
To the lay mind the mystery of the
tearing of the will remains no less in
teresting than the curious legal evil
dence of its validity. People who
make wills hotoriously indulge in
strange fancies at times, and it may
be that this woman resorted to the cx-
pedicnt of tearing up her will precisely
because that was one of the last things
which any one who wished to preserve
a will would be likely TO do with it,
and consequently no one who wished
to steal the will would be likely TO look
for it in an envelope containing only
minute scraps of paper Exchange.