Sunday Washington globe., 1902-01-12

complicated case is that transmitted by
the late Bridget A. Gleason to her heirs
Besides providing the interest Of a fund of
four thousand dollars for masses for her
soul and that of her husband, who pre-
ceded her to the great beyond, in which
she neither names the church nor the priest
to whom the money is to be paid Mrs
Gleason further mysti6ed and complicated
her estate by an ante mortem statement
This statement, repeatedly made when in
possession of all her faculties and to divers
and numerous people, was to the effect that
she had purchased a house on Quincy
street. Eckiugt-n, for her grand niece,
Elizabeth Dawson. Mrs. Gleason described
the house numbers Of times and gave the
name Of the gentleman from whom She
purchased the property.
The name, it is true, is not an uncommon
one, being plain Smith, but the curious
thing about it is TINT the very house 80 ac-
curately described by Mrs. Gleason stood
and still stands on Quincy street, but
whether its owner then or now is named
Smith the GLOBE is not informed
However, when Mrs. Gleason died, her
will was read in the presence of those inn
was therein made for little Elizabeth, and
in addition 5000 in cash. Two thousand
dollars was left to Elizabeth's little sister
Teresa, and several smaller amounts to
others Of Mrs Gleasons more distant rela-
tives. 1t now transpires that the will
offered for probate does not contain the
provision for Elizabeth Of a house and lot,
but simply three thousand dollars to pur-
chase a house" How this transportation
occurred is another one of the many mys-
teries in the late Mrs Gleasou's affairs
The father of little Elizabeth Dawson has
had made a systematic search Of the records
/ to discover if possible. any record of trans
/ fer of a house ia Quincy street to Mrs
[ Gleason, but has SO far failed He has
however, struck trail which indicates that
when the property was bought by Mrs
Gleason she had il placed in the name of a
third party as trustee for little Elizabeth
This party whoever he or she is has so far
kept quiet, and has not come forward
to explain or acknowledge the transaction
Mr.. Dawson is now seeking to discover
from whom the property was purchased,
and in this manner get at the mysterious
and reticent trustee, if such an individual
exists, and Mr.. Dawson has good reason to
think that he or she does.
The fact of the matter is, Mr. Dawson is
satisfied that the trustee has taken undue
advantage of Mrs. Bridget Gleason's ignor-
ance Of law, and is laying low, holding on to
the property until he or she is smoked out
In an effort to do this, a most remarkable
piece Of yellow journalism developed itself
in the new Times staff of Munsey hustlers.
A friend of Mr.. Dawson acting for that gen.
tleman had inserted in the Star the follow
ing advertisement:
"Will the gentleman who sold the house
and lot on Quincy street, lexington
northeast, to the late Bridget A. Gleason,
send his address to 6o9 New Jersey Avenue
northwest, where he will hear of something
to his interest. S. G. GROVES"
In response to this 'ad" a gentleman
called at the Groves residence and intro
duced himself as a Times reporter Mr.
Groves was in bed and refused to see him,
but naturally such a refusal phased not the
reporter. He proceeded to extract what in
formation he could from Mrs. Groves. and
that was so little that rather than be beat
the Times scribe fixed up a very compre-
hensive interview, or statement, purporting
to come from Mr. Groves. Mr.. Groves was
made TO deny that he inserted such an ad-
| vertisement, that he ever heard of Bridget
| A. Gleason, and that it must be some other
Groves aud some other Gleason; in fact, the
reporter described the gentleman (whom
he did not seel as being very much per
| picked"
/ If he wasn't then he surely was when he
| read the Times. However, this little piece
of enterprise by the Mnnsey organ still
further complicated matters and made it
still more difficult to run down aud trace
the trustee Of the house purchased by Mrs.
Gleason for little Elizabeth, and inasmuch as
the Times would give neither Mr.. Groves
nor Mr.. Dawson any satisfaction or expla-
nation when those gentlemen called TO
inquire as to the very extraordinary inter
view, the paper alleged Through its re-
porter it had with him, the conclusion was
naturally reached that the Times was in
spired by those who are trying to secrete the
transfer of the Smith property to the trustee
named by Mrs. Gleason for little Elizabeth
And there the matter rests for the present.