The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-08-16
Big Estate May Again Get Into
the Courts.
Attorneys Are Withholding In
formation From the Public
Nothing Will Be Known About
Disposition of Property.
Bodies of the Dead Will Be
Laid in Family Tomb.

Attorney Charles ]. Heggerty an
nounces that he has found the last viii!
of Mrs Charles L. Fair in a safe de-
posit vault. He refused to make known
the contents of the document The will
was prepared by knight & Heggerty in
April, 1900. This is the will of which
Mrs. Fair told Mrs. Joseph Harvey and
by which it is presumed upon the evil
dence of her statements to Mrs. Harvey,
she left legacies to her mother, brothers
and sisters aggregating the total
amount of her individual fortune, var
iously estimated to be worth from $780,
900 to 100000.
No other will was found. In Knight
& Heggertys custody there has been the
will of Charles L. Fair, drawn about the
same time. April, 1900 This and the
will of Mrs. Fair, found in the Trust
company vault are the documents that
will be filed by the attorneys for the
Fair heirs whenever it becomes neces-
sary in their opposition to the petition
of the public administrator. If the pub
lie administrator does not interfere the
wills will not be filed until after the
funeral of Mr.. and Mrs. Fair in this
city.
The provisions of the wills of Mr.. and
Mrs. Charles Fair now in the possess
sion of Attorneys Knight and Heggerty
have not yet been made public and there
is much speculation as to their contents.
1t has not yet been ascertained whether
the Fairs acquire separate or commun-
ity property after the making of these
Wills. ln1S property Will legally De IN
cluded in the disposition authorized by
the wills and the legatees so named will
receive their share if the courts au-
thorize distribution in accordance with
the provisions of the wills.
The question of priority of death is
exciting much comment, but Attorney
Heggerty who with Herman Oelrichs is
conducting the necessary litigation pre-
lminary to the probation of the wills,
declares that if Mrs. Fair survived her
husband this circumstance can have no
effect upon the final disposition of the
property except to give her relatives
all that she bequeathed to them Il
her husband survived, his estate will be
distributed equally to his sisters, Mrs.
Oelrichs and Mrs. w. K Vanderbilt.
with whatever additional property Mrs.
Fair may have willed to her husband.
The law of California presumes that
| where husband and wife perish in the
same calamity, the husband, as the
stronger, survived his wife.
The bodies of Mr.. and Mrs. Fair will
be placed in the Fair mausoleum at
Laurel Hill, beside the body of the late
Senator James G. Fair.
MADE WRONG MOVEMENT.
Paris, Aug. 16-The chauffeur of the
automobile in which Mr.. and Mrs. Chas.
L. Fair were killed. whose name is
Brety, returned to Paris this morning.
In an interview with the CORRESPONDENT
of the Associated Press he threw some
further light on the cause of the acct
dent, saying:
when we left Trouville Mr.. Fair was
| suffering from bronchial catarrh. He
coughed frequently on the road and
during the fits of coughing his face was
slight dizziness. He had just been
coughing when noticed that the tire of
one of the hind wheels was Debated. L
realized the danger and jumping to my
| feet and leaning forward 1 shouted to
Fairs ear in English: Stop quick. Tire
no good. Mr.. Fair glanced back but he
did not reply. Apparently he tried to
| stop but in doing so he must have made
machine swerved across the road and
| went in a straight line for a tree. Mrs.
Fair, she saw the direction the auto
mobile vas taking. clasDed her hus-
bands shoulders with her arm and turn
| ed her face back towards me with a
| look which said plainly We are lost
The next moment came the crash and
1 was thrown into a field beside the
road and stunned. When | recovered,
which I did quickly, limped to the side
| of my master and mistress and with the
| help of the chateau gatekeeper's wife
| extricated the bodies from the wreck"
| Asked if either of them showed signs
| of life Pretty replied:
| Both seemed to be dead, but 1 was in
such a dazed condition from shock and
so affected by the ghastly spectacle pre-
! sented by the wounds on the heads of
| both victims that I did not notice
| whether either moved not. The gate
keepers wife said afterwards that Mr..
| Fair moved his foot and that his wife
moved her hand as they lay on the
ground but 7 did not see the move
! ments The woman did not say whether
| the man or his wife stirred last"
The bodies are due to arrive in Paris
at 3:55 this afternoon. They will be de-
posted in the vault of the Church of the
| Madeline until they are shipped to the
| United States.
TOO MUCH SCORCHING.
| New York, Aug. 16.-The cause of the
! automobile accident in which Mr.. and
Mrs Charles Fair were killed and also
| of other motor accidents is topic OF
| discussion among the members of the
Automobile club of Paris. says the
| Tribune correspondent. The unanimous
| opinion is that the members of the
recognized clubs and owners of automo-
biles should be impressed with the ter
rib1e risk they run in indulging in out
bursts of high speed, even on the long
broad and perfect roads of Normandy
| There is the deepest sympathy felt fol
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fair, and it is ad-
mitted that almost every autocar on the
favorite road between Nantes an6
Evereux, which is as smooth as a bill
lard table, let's out at full speed It /:
also noted that in the last fortnight a.
| Trouville and Dieppe and Aix-les-Bain.
there has been great deal too mucl
| auto-scorching, usually by new an(
| young owners of motor cars. One O.
the Offenders in this respect is Too
| Sloan. the American, who is reported a.
| going at maximum speed through th'
| Norman villages near Trouvil1e, Pom
| Leveque and Cabourg-
The road from Evereux to Pacy-Sur
| Eure is beautifully macadamized and il
in perfect condition The spot wher,
| the accident occurred, exactly in from
| of the gates of the Chateau de Nal, Il
on a moderate descending grade Fou
miles to the west of Pacy the road Il
slightly winding to make the descen
/ ~