Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1903-12-31
T thought my husband very

II dislike to disappoint you, mad
am, but l may as well tell you that
there is no fortune"
But" began Mrs. Wright.
"And," continued the lawyer, 1--WE
will be very fortunate il we can
snatch from the estate enough to
secure a maintenance for yourself
and daughter"
why, Mr.. Everett, there-there
must be some mistake. 1t is true
that I was never my husbands con-
fidante in his business, but l have
known of several of his investments.
This place which we are now occupy
ing Is one of the most valuable in
this section of the state"
Every true; but it did not belong
to your husband"
'Not belong to my husband?"
at was sold many years ago to the
Shelby Real Estate & Investment
company"
"But-my husband owned several
plantations in Arkansas and Missis-
sippi."
"That is also true; but all those
were sold to the same company ut
the same time, with the exception Of
one plantation in Mississippi and one
in Arkansas, which your husband
purchased three years back. So far
as I can see, these two plantations
are all the assets in sight"
81 remember a good many years
ago my husband bought large tract
of land in Texas. and he invested in
some mining lands in Colorado"
every true; but all of that prop
erty was sold. II" former to the
same real estate company, and the
latter I judge from some imperfect
memoranda left by your husband was
sold to some mining company organ
lied under the laws of Colorado.
Everything that your husband then
owned was sold"
'But what could have become Of
the money!"
"That is the question asked my
self. The answer I got from the old
records in part. You are, of course,
aware of the fact that your husband
many years ago was tried on the
charge of killing Baxter, his foreman.
By referring to the records I discov-
cred that his property was trans
ferred just after that event and be-
fore his trial took place. The prop
erty was sold at an enormous sacri-
flee, only $4,000 being realized so far
as I can make out"
"What became of that?"
81 called upon Col. Franklin, who
was one of your husbands lawyers
at that trial, and asked if he could
give me any idea as to the disposition
that had been made of the cash. He
smiled rather significantly and said
he could. DO you know he said,
what it cost to clear John I.
Wright?' OF course not answered
1T cost a cold $4,000, and he had to
have the money ready. Of course
he went on, smiling, Il cannot say
anything about where 1t went, nor
need l account for the fact that GER
tain officers, by dealing very gingerly
with the law and the facts, made it
comparatively easy to bring in .
verdict of acquittal.' l need hardly
tell you, madam, what think OF
such an admission coming from q
member of my profession. Franklin's
explanation, in short, is that Mr..
Wright had to sell off his property
to raise ready money for the pur-
pose of buying an acquittal. But
there are some aspects to this case
which will render further investiga-
ton on my part necessary"
IF my husband did not own this
place and the plantations to which
he was constantly making visits,
why did he show so much activity in
improving and supervising them?"
"You have struck, madam, hard
question to answer. 1t may be he
was in the employ Of the company
that bought him ont; but what l
cannot account for is the fact that
he should have spent nearly all the
profits of his business in improving
and clearing up these plantations in
Arkansas and Mississippi. I intend
ascertaining if there is any law for
claiming the value of these improve
ments, and in this way ! shall prob
ably make the real estate company
show its hand. During my partial in
vestigation of your husbands papers
came across a memorandum upon
which you can perhaps throw some
light"
"What is it?"
This paper, as you will observe.
is a map or plot of a piece of land"
The lawyer here handed Mrs. Wright