The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-18
VAIL ESTATE FIGHTS A WOMAN
WHO, AFTER VAILS DEATH. SEEKS
$1,000 A YEAR FOR n YEARS.

Abe HummeIS Client Must Tell whether
Alleged Agreement 10 Provide for Her
wa Oral or written n Made Directly
or Through AnSbOdy's Intervention.
A suit very similar in character to the
many brought by women against the estate
Of Charles Broadway Rouss, the blind mer-
chant, is pending in the Supreme Court
against the estate Of Theodore FrelingA
huysen Vail Of Sullivan, Vail & Co., the
woollen~ importing firm, who died on July 10,
1908.
The plaintiff calls herself Margaret Means
Carswell and her attorneys are Howe q
Hummel. She is suing for SSs,315 On al
alleged contract identical in many respects
with the alleged contracts put forward in
the suits against the Rouss estate. but
going further. Howe a Hummel were
counsel in more than one Of the suits against
the Rouss executors.
Congressman j. Van vechten Olcott and
James W. Rockwell are the executors Of
Mr.. Vail. Through their attorneys,
Dougherty, Olcott q Tenney. they have
put In an answer denying that their teetstor
ever made such a contract as is alleged
In Mrs. Csrswell's complaint.
Mrs. Carswell sets forth that in 1892 she
was acquainted with Theodore F. Vail and
that as the result Of certain relations be-
tween them he agreed to allow her $3.50 a
month for the rest OF her life. He also
agreed. she swears. to provide for her by
his will and assured her that he had so
provided for her. In the event, she says
he told her, that he should change or de-
stroy his will he would see to it that her
future would be properly provided for in
accordance with the terms OF the monthly
allowance.
The plaintiff goes on to assert that Mr.
Vail failed to live up to the terms of his
agreement, or to provide for her at his death,
and that therefore his estate is indebted
to her, or was two years ago, in the sum OF
s39, 315, being eleven years at 5000 a year.
In their answer the executors deny that
any such agreement existed, and add that
IL i had been made il would be void and
illegal, as having been made without con-
sideration, and that in any event the statute
OF limitations would bar a recovery.
As an additional defence the executors
say that Mr.. Wallis will was probated a week
after his death and that there was nothing
in it that would give Mrs. Carswell a claim
on the estate.
Several demands were made by the ex-
ecutors on Howe 4 Hummel for a bill of
particulars setting forth the details Of the
alleged agreement between the plaintiff and
Mr.. Vail, which resulted in the alleged CON-
tract. Two bills were furnished volun-
tarily by Howe Hummel, one telling moth
ing and the other stating that at the time
the agreement was made Mrs. Carswell had
been induced to submit to a criminal opera
ton, as the result of which her health be-
came impaired and she was unable to earn a
livelihood. II was because OF her feeble
condition Of health, the bill relates. that Mr.,
Vail agreed to provide for her.
j. Hampden Dougherty, representing
the executors, who maintain that il ia inn
possible that n man of Mr.. Wallis character
and manner of life could have made such a
contract and under such circumstances,
applied to Justice Leventritt for ar order
directing Howe & Hummel, as the plain
THIS attorneys, to furnish the executors
with a further bill Of particulars, giving
more details concerning the circumstances
surrounding the making of the agreement.
Justice Leventritt granted this order
yesterday and directed Mrs. Carswell to
tell specifically whether the agreement
was oral or written and whether it was
effected between her and Mr.. Vail directly
or whether a third party interviewed. If
there was another person who conducted
the alleged negotiations Mrs. Carswell
must tell who that person was.
The executors expect 10 push the suit
TO trial shortly and need this information
10 prepare themselves for the trial. The
suit was begun a few months after Mr..
Wallis death and has been dragging along
ever since.
Theodore Frelinghuysen Vail was we'll
known in the social and business world.
He resided at 43 East Seventy-eighth street
and wal the only surviving partner Of
Sullivan, Vail h Co. He was a member
of the Metropolitan, Manhattan, New
York Athletic, Liederkranz and New York
Yacht clubs and of the Metropolitan Museum
of Art. He was 80 years old when he died.