Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-04-25

in whose favor the paper was uI@"h-
Mrs. Noll testified that the paper came
int6 her possession in December. lSoo'
seven months after it was supposed to
have been written, and ten months ar
ter the date of the will admitted to
probate. /.
The admittedly peculiar features OF
the case. such as the worn u aged
a-upearance of the later paper, the rad
ed ink. the date written at the bot
tom instead Of the top, the punctua-
tion mark in the date, when wilson
was not in the habit Of using punctu-
alton marks Of any kind, the blurred
-annaaranee of the date. as if written on
ale naper after the surface had been
scratched by some sharp instrument.
led the defense TO seek TO establish
that the paper Is Of no value in law
and does not abrogate the will OF Marcli
10. 1900. because written at a much
earlier period. The defense is evldeat-
" seeking TO convince the jury that
the date Of the paper offered by the
plaintiff il not genuine, while at the
same time admitting that the body OF
the document is genuine. II they sue
coed in establishing this supposition,
then the paper will be OF no value
whatever. and the provisions OF the
viii of March 10, 1900, will of neces-
sity be carried out.
When the counsel for plaintiff rest
ed their case yesterday venin an m
eideut of interest and Importance was
developed in the ruling out, by the
court. of the evidence given yesterday
bv Mr.. Il. H. Hav. Of Washington y.
n who had been summoned as an ex-
pert in handwriting by the plaintiff.
In ruling out the experts testimony
the court based its action on the
ground that, under the laws OF TINS
State, no collateral papers can be in
troduced by which u comparison OF
handwriting can be drawn, and as
the paper on which the expert based
| his opinion is already before the Ju-
rv. and as no had nothing further on
which to base his opinion, sueh opln-
ion would tend to usurp the fune'
tion of the Jury, which is supposed TO
! be competent to form its w conclu-
sion, and decide the point u2on which
the case really rests.
The defense called to the stand Mr..
.Ioseph G.. Kitchen. of Jones Spring,
who said he had known the late Mr..
Wilson for probably 30 years; that he
was familiar with mis- handwriting
because of certain business transac :
tions involving the writing OF the
decedent. He stated that he recog-
nized the writing in the body OF the
document as that of Mr.. Wilson, u
that in his opinion the date June o.
1900" was not written by the same
hand as the body of the paper.
The testimony of Mr. A. d. Darby,
cashier of the Bank of Martinsburg,
was in substance the same as that OF
fered by Mr.. Kitchen. Benjamin
Minghini did not believe the date
was written by the same hand as the
bady. because he thought he detected
a difference in the formation OF GER
tain letters. Adella Minghini offered
testimony c~orroborative of that of the
other witnesses.
Court was adjourned at 4. 30, and the
case was resumed at $50 Saturday
morning.
Thomas Stephens. James Carvev and
Ella Minghini were the witness exam
ined Saturday, their testimony failed
to develop anything new. The defense
then rested its case and arguments be-
fore the jury begun at 3 O'Clock. The
court allowed each side two hours,
a part of which time was used Satur-
day. The arguments was conclud-
ed Monday morning and the cast was
given to the jury about II O'Clock.
VERDICT FOR DEFENDANTS.
The case of Noll VS.. Wilson ct al.
which has been on trial in the Circuit
Court in tins CITY for several DAYS
past, was terminated Monday at , 80,
D.. m, when the jury returned to the
court room and announced that its ver-
dict was in favor of the defendant.
A number of people were present
when the session Of the Circuit cour
was resumed Monday, attracted
by the desire to hear the arguments
by the attorneys. The legal debate
was conducted with q great deal OF
spirit on both sides, considerable I'M
necessary heat being displayed. There
was a plethora of words, an inclina.
ton to be hyperGritical and free inter-
change of compliments by the young
men of both sides. Judge Faulkner was
the nersonification of dignified patience