The sun., 1909-06-29
SHE WANTS HER $4,000 BACK
MISS M'CUSKER SUES
HER COUSIN, MRS. RYAN.
Mrs. Ryan Says $4,000 Was an Absolute
Gift and Charges Cab Hire for Col
iectins It--Puts ss, 900 Of 1t Into .
House ana Gave Her Daughter $1,000.

House and Gave Her Daughter $1,000.
Mary v. MoCusker.. who had been
school teacher for thirty years and had
saved money and had inherited real
estate. was witness before Supreme
Court Justice Bowling yesterday in the
trial Of her suit against her second cousin.
Mrs. Mary V. I. Ryan. for an accounting.
The two women are about 65 years old.
Miss McCusker seemed to be dased by
tie proceedings and 1t vas difficult tn
get her testimony. She alleges that Mrs.
Ryan is withholding sls.ss7 realized on a
certificate Of deposit in the United States
Trust Company, $1,000 in pension money
from the Board Of Education. ss4 in pen
sion money from the Teachers United
Benevolent Fund and s. .2se obtained from
A. j. Buckingham. formerly Miss Nc
Cusker's real estate broker. Mrs. Ryan
puts in a counter action for board. lodg-
ing and expenses,
Miss MoCusker said that she hadn't
seen Mrs. Ryan for twenty years until
1905 and Mrs. Ryan called on her In house
she owned at 40 West Forty-seventh
street. Mrs. Ryan came frequently after
that and on her urgency Miss MoCusker
moved up to Mrs. Ryan's home at 2ss
East 2s5th street. Mrs. Ryan, the plaintiff
said, began at once to talk her into taking
out Of the banks tho money she had saved
and had realized from two houses left her
by her father.
She first drew her money out Of the
Garfield National Bank and put it in tin
box. Then Mrs. Ryan saw a certificate
OF deposit for $4,000 in the United States
Trust Company and induced her to 60
downtown and get that cashed. accom-
panying her when abe went. On Janu-
ary 20. 1905. Mrs. Ryan induced her to
sign a power Of attorney giving Mrs.
Ryan authority to collect her pension
money OF $50 month. for that purpose
alone, and Mrs. Ryan used the power to
indorse checks sent to the plaintiff and
cashed them for herself. After q month
Mrs. Ryan virtually kept her a prisoner.
and not only permitted her to SEQ no one.
but opened all letters and wouldn't mail
any for her.
Miss McCusker said that she was Ill
on April 20. 1908, and that she was sent
away to a sanitarium at Harrison. re-
turning to Mrs. Ryans when she got well
in the fall. She was sent to st. Joseph's g
Sanitarium in July. 1907. and stayed there
until May, 1905 While there she began
to suspect and when she came out sh6
w.t. to the aossl Martha Washington to
live. She revoked the power Of attorney
while she was at st. Joseph's.
On cross-examination counsel for Mrs.
Ryan asked Miss McCusker IL she wasn't
supplied with board while at Mrs. Ryan,
and she jumped up out Of the witness
chair and said:
They cooked my meals but they were
very poor meals
Asked IL Mrs. Ryan's eldest daughter.
Charlotte. hadn't been quite help to
her. Miss McCusker said:
"Lottie called me jacksss once, and
don't look like one. do II"
She said that Mrs. Ryan swore at her
because she wouldn't sign a lease Of her
property at $50 West Sixteenth street
and struck her because she wouldn't buy
certain real estate that Mrs. Ryan wanted
her to get.
Among the exhibits in the cas- were
thirty-two checks. all indorsed with Miss
McCusker's name. Mrs. Ryan said she
had signed all but ten Of them.
did you indorse this woman's namef'
asked Justice Bowling.
Certainly did, replied Mrs. Ryan.
The signatures OF the ten which Mrs.
Ryan disavowed looked like the rest,
and Justice Bowling said:
do you mean to swear that the plain
tiff signed thesei"
Mrs. Ryan said that she herself didn't
sign them any way. and Justice Bowling
told Miss McCusker's lawyer that he
needn't waste any more time trying to
prove the signatures OF the checks.
Mrs. Ryan testified that she had made
two trips to get the certificate OF deposit
for Sl2 900 cashed, and when she failed
she took Miss McCusker along the third
time and got the amount OF the oertih-
SIs.ss7. This. Mrs. Ryan said. Miss
MoCusker gave her as an absolute gift.
Justice Dowling asked Mrs. Ryan what
she had done with this money and she
said she had spent - 900 for house ct
sl4s Decatur street. The Bronx. and had
given her daughter. Charlotte. 1000
for aid rendered to Miss McCusker. She
had deposited 81 800 in a bank in Hobo
ken, which is out OF the jurisdiction Of
the court. 1t was originally in the Kniok-
erbocker Trust Company. she said, but
she took 1t to Hoboken because she could
get more interest She told Justice
Bowling that she had the money In a
tin box when Miss McCusker first de-
manded an accounting and didn't take
It to Hoboken until the next year.
-You expected Miss MoCusker was
going to die In February. 1905. didn't
your asked Justice Bowling.
mo- said Mrs. Ryan.
she was q very sick woman. wasn't
she3'
.The MoCuskers live long, said the
witness.
In a oounterclaim that Mrs. Ryan put
In there was Q charge for cab hire the
time she took Miss MoCusker to Wall
street to get the absolute gift In cash
and charge for the time OF her son. who
went along. She told counsel for Miss
McCusker yesterday that he could take
this item out Of her bill II he liked.
The case will continue to-day.
PRESIDENT REYES IN LONDON.