The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1910-04-05

ton contest on record in this state o,
in any state.
A Crowded Court Room.
1t would be of statistical interest II
a record had been kept OF the people
who have attended the trial. A score
or more of close sympathlzers of each
principal mainly Melrose citizens
have been at nearly all the sessions
They have had prominent seats and
nanking them there ho9 been crowd
recruited from everywhere about Ros-
ton. Throughout the trial. men and
women have come in about equal
numbers.
The Proposition in Brief.
While this popular interest Is keen.
| 1t is apparent that very large sec
tlon Of newspaper readers have not
followed the case closely enough to
realize its full Importance, and, hence.
to these summary will be welcome. !.
Daniel Russell, a respected citizan
or Melrose, died on Jan. 23, 1907, leav-
Ing an estate valued at about $500 600
Ohder MS will the younger son, Daniel
Blake, who left home twenty five years
ago. is to share equally with the older
brother, William c., il he shall return
within twenty years of the testator's
death In the spring of 1909 a young
man appeared in Boston from Dickin-
son, N. D., and asked William G. Rus
sell to recognize him as his brother
After three meetings with the claim
ant William decided that Daniel" was
not his brother. Except for one or
TWO visits to his western home. "Dan-
iel' has been in the east ever since
trying to prove his claim. Last .Tune
the claimant representing himself 70
be the younger son of Daniel Russell
hled in the Middlesex probate court.
petition, praying that the executors Of
the will, William c. Russell and Ferdi-
nand B. Almy, williams cousin. give
bonds with sureties: and another nett
tion asking that an accounting of the
property be made. The courts ruling
on the petitions necessarily awaits the
determination of the present issue as
to whether the claimant is In reality
Daniel Blake Russell.
Trial Seven Months Long.
The trial was begun Sept. 20 last
year before Judge George r. Iawton
In the Middlesex county probate court
at East Cambridge. Although the
court has not sat continually since
then, the hearings have occupied near |
ly l2O days and have extended over
seven calendar months Judge Law
ton has characterized the case as the /
most protracted of it's kind in history /
and has declared that If he had NOT /
been the presiding justice he would not
have believed so much would evolve
from the effort to establish a mans
identity. 1t is hard to determine inst
where this evolution will end.
The Claimants Difficult Task.
The present claimants task has been
dlft1cuit one. Even assuming that he
IS Russeli, 1t is not easy for a man in
mlddle life to run back in his mind
over the preceding quarter century and
TO remember incidents, faces and
names wherever he has been in that
period And 1t is even more difficult
to find persons who are able to con-
arm with accuracy the mans recoHec-
tons. But when this test Is applied to
the lives OF two men, in an effort so to
correlate the memories of their experi-
snces that the men viii be found to he
brothers, although one denies the re-
ationship and the other asserts IL the
seriousness of the claimants endeavor
becomes very clear. OF course. if he
IS fraud, his attempt Is so extraordi-
narily great and perilous as TO be al
most incredible.
In an effort to establish his identity
he claimant interviewed mainly people
N Melrose and host of them have
come forward to testify that he is the
nan ne says he Is. In addition. other
who could tell of Incidents in
he claimants life from the time he
eft home until the present day occu-
oied the stand for many days. Or
'osed to this testimony Is that of ad-
lerents of William c. Russell. incIud-
ng relatives, Melrose citizens and for. ,
ner servants at the Russell home. who
llege that the claimant Is an irnposter. i
Next It was set UP by the RusseIIs !
hat the claimant far from being
DANIEL Blake Russell, is in reality one I
ames D. Ruseau a man of French | /
canadian birth from northern New i
FORK, and members of the Ruseau !
amiiy We're brought here to testify to i
nat effect one of whom has since de- {
.oesd that she was mistaken. j
The claimant replied to these RUS [
aus by bringing other witnesses from /
hat upstate neighborhood who fiatly i
enied that he was Ruseau. More {
YER, many letters, purporting to have /
cen written by their relative James Z
nd received by various members OF !
he Ruseau family. have been put In i
these documents have been il
laced alongside standards written by ii
aa claimant and certain experts have b