Los Angeles herald., 1907-02-12
TOY BUREAU
CAUSE OF A
LEGAL WAR
Former Owner Re-
gains Possession
Sold by Mistake, Wealthy Pasadena
Woman Spends Money Freely
to obtain a Childhood
Gift
Special to The Herald.

special to Inc Herald,
PHILADELPHIA, Feb IA verdict
for the plaintiff in replevin suit tried
before Judge Ralston disclosed a re-
markable course of events growing out
of q woman's attachment for a little
toy bureau given her when a child by
her mother. Not only did the struggle
for the little bit of furniture cost much
valuable time of lawyers, but special
law was drafted and passed by the leg
islature to insure the recovery of the
priced heirloom. AS soon as the verdict
was rendered news of the victory was
flashed across the continent to Pasade-
ma, Cal, where Mrs. Emma 3. Guillou
was impatiently awaiting the result.
Mrs. Guillou is a daughter of the late
Judge +. Carroll Brewster and in 1868,
when she was a mere slip of girl, she
was given a child's handsomely carved
bureau by her mother. 1t was the most
highly priced of all her possessions.
Twenty years later Miss Brewster mar
ried Alfred Guillou, son of Rene Guillou,
a noted lawyer of the old school, and
the young couple shortly afterward
went west and settled in California. In
the meantime the little bureau with
many of her other childish treasures
was left in her fathers Germantown
home.
Sold by Mistake for $1.25
Judge Brewster's death occurred in
1898. and when his household effects, in
cluding rare works of art, collection
of paintings and bric-a-brac, were scold
at auction his daughters bureau ap-
ueared in the inventory by mistake.
Among the purchasers at the sale was
Mary B. Campbell. wife of Charles S.
Campbell, to whom the bureau was
knocked down" for S1.25. Mrs Camp
bell had young children of her own, who
soon found at attachment for the dain-
ty set of drawers as strong as Mrs.
Guillou's own affection.
The mistake that had been made in
the sale of the bureau was not discov-
cred until some time later when Mrs
Guillou, who had come east to attend
her fathers funeral, visited her old
home and started to search for her
mothers present The executors of the
estate of the late judge then remem-
bered that the bureau had been sold
along with the other furniture from the
house.
After considerable trouble Francis B.
Brewster, a brother of Mrs. Guillou,
traced the bureau to Mrs. Campbell To
her he explained the mistake that had
been made in the sale of the little bu
reau, which he said belonged to Mrs.
Guillou, his sister, who desired to re-
gain it's possession because of the senti-
mental attachment she had for it.
Efforts to Compromise
Mrs. Campbell declared that she was
not unwilling to part with the article,
but saying that she wanted a duplicate,
as her own childrep were very fond of
the little bureau as plaything. Eff
forts We're then made by Mr.. Brewster
to find another to take it's place, but the
substitutions he offered were not salts
factory to Mrs Campbell. He even sent
a cabinet maker to estimate on the
cost of constructing one like it, but
the lowest estimate given for its repro
duction was $50. The brother then Of
fered Mrs. Campbell and her husband
a check for twice the amount they had
paid for the heirloom and was willing
to reimburse them for any expense
they had been put to in having the min
iature piece of furniture repaired. All
his negotiations for it's recovery, how
ever, failed and he was compelled to
resort to legal means to have the cher
ished present of his mother restored to
his sister
l. Hableton Mirkil was retained as
counsel and after brief examination
of the law applicable to the case he and
Mr.. Brewster, who is also an attorney
discovered that in the event of their
winning a jurys verdict it would be
possible for Mrs. Campbell to retain the
bureau by paying the value of the dis
puted article as fixed by the jury. This
would not suit them and they at once
drafted a measure which was passed by
the legislature modifying the replevin
laws so that a party suing for possess
sion of disputed property could recover
the property itself. 1t was under this
new law that the case was tried.
News Wired to California
When it was discovered that the little
bureau was in Mrs. Campbells home
Mr.. Brewster issued his writ of re-
plevin and the sheriff seized the bone
of contention between the two families,
and since that time it has been in the
possession of the city's officer.
The jury was but a short time in de
Gliding the case in Mrs. Guillou's favor.
Attorney Mirkil hastened from the
court room to a telegraph office to wire
the good news to the distant litigant in
California, whose testimony I'm the form
OF a deposition had been read to the
jury. The little bureau will soon follow
the message.