Los Angeles herald., 1907-06-21
WITNESS ADMITS
SPOOK|SM FAKE
DECLARES He WANTED TO
LEARN TRICKS
Turned spirituaIist to Find Out How
Influence Was Exerted Over +.
erandfather--Is Fighting
for Property

II know that Donovan stoie eAS "'A,
exclaimed Frank Haddock yesterday IN
the trial of his suit to revoke the probate
of the will of his .grandfather,s wife IN
an effort TO have the estate redlvided-
Judge Conrey ordered that the State-
ment be stricken from the court record
as not being in response to the queStion'
1t was near the close OF the dlrect eX-
animation of the witness and counsel was
irving to discover what had become OF
the will in which Charles G. Haddock had
children, as he had repeatedly told tne
Earlier in the day he told of his grand
fathers ''insatiate desire 1or splriuuat- I,slI-
istic communication, and described scenes
that tended to throw doubt on MS grahu
fathers sanity. -. .a
Once when the witness and MS secoho
wife were living at Florence, Ariz, the
cid man entered the room where ms
arandsons wife was preparing break1ast,
and exclaimed, Frank, Becky, come see
Madame Rene, slept with me all night,
she is bringing message from motner.
Wjfe's Ghost Advised Him
"crandpa was constantly receiving mes
sa res from his first wife and II was
through her advice that he inVesteu SoV'VVV
in the mines near Florence.
of them, with the understanding tnat l
was to have one-third interest IN tnen,
the other two-thirds being neld Dy my
grandfather anu MI. Ooho'o'-'
Tns v,rness WAS not allowed to tell
what happened when he visited Donovan,
at the latters apartments; tne S aesoInsys 1nsiis
mony had no bearing on the conoltloh ol
the old mans mind. -.
When asked If he had ever talked 70 ms
grandfather about the messages ne re,
ceiyed from his wife, the witness Iepneo
that there had been no other sublect men,
toned for weeks at time, and the olo
man believed that her spirit was Always
The witness was sure that Donovan's $
influence over his grandfather was not
only causing the old ma man 70 iose hs mn nsdiym
was conspiring to get possession OIL MS
money. L. 1Jad
dock senior became enraged at what ne
considered his grandson's interference,
and told him if he did not wish to incur
his lasting displeasure to let MIN Jake
care OF mis- own business
Gets Slate Messages
Shortly after the quarrel the grand
father relented and prevailed upon the
witness to engage in the study OF occult
science under the tutelage of Donovan.
II did so, with the object OF learning
enough to be aan able 70 9addock shoW y@eeterday @ %
land l soon learned to hold communlca-
ton by means of slate writing, with un-
seen forces.
darkly, as If with a greasy pencil, and
later there was one written In letters Oh
gold.
by Donovan to mean tnat they should en-
sage in the mining business: Grandpa
was delighted, and it was then thSt
was sent to Arizona to take charge Oh the
mines l was there about three months
and grandpa and Donovan came to visit
"Ail the mines 1 ever saw were noth
ing more than holes in the ground, ans
the mining force consisted of one Mexi
can named Juan, who watched the place
to see that the claims were not jumped
About Christmas of 1899 l returned tc
Los Angeles, and later went to San Diego
where l opened an office and gave read
ings."
pected course, and Haddock was asked II
he had ever seen his grandmother's grave
in Graceland cemetery, near Chicago. .
did you ever see the inscription on
the tombstone?"
The witness answered that he had, and
read from a memorandum book that
Frank E. Haddock had died November q
1875, aged 23 years and 8 months. Thsi
was the father of the witness.
There were several other inscriptions
but none of Mrs. Haddock.
What was intended to be shown by tins tins
a few unimportant questions relating to
the inscriptions, the witness was turned
over to the defense for cross examination
Tells of Psychic Career
For the next quarter of an hour Had
dock described his career as psychic.
He admitted that he had been in the
business for four months, and had at ons
time considered himself a particularly
good medium. Part of the time his
grandfather had paid his expenses, ano
later the profits of the business were sc
great that he oId not need assistance.
He denied in tones that could not bt
mistaken that he had introduced Dono
van to his grandfather, and insisted thai
the first time he met the spiritualist wa:
at the hotel in Chicago, when he went tt
visit Mr.. Haddock.
Following the example of the PLAINTIFF
attorney, counsel for the defense continu
ally changed the nature of their ques
tions, and then suddenly would revert t
a subject that had peen dropped few
minutes before.
The witness was equal to the task, anC
frequently deliberated for a whole min
ute before answering. After a dozeI
queries had been put in rapid fire orde
in relation to his accepting fees for pri
vate readings as well as at public func
tions, the witness was asked If he re
membered how many tombstones ther
were in his grandmother's lot at tn
cemetery,
mo, 1 do not believe that I remember,
the witness replied. There were thre