Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1910-01-22
FAMOUS RUSSELL CASE.
Is Now Nearing Its Close In the Mid
dlesex Probate Court In East
Cambridge.
(Herald Specially


Boston, Mass, Jan. 22.-The most
notable identity case ever tried before
an American judge, case rivaling in
interest and resembling in many re-
spects the famous Tichborne case in
England generation ago, is now near
ing the close of its trial in the Middle
sex probate court in East Cambridge.
For nearly four months the public
hereabouts has followed with intense
interest the daily court proceedings
which are expected to prove whether
the North Dakota ranchman calling
himself Daniel Blake Russell is really
the son of Daniel Russell of Melrose,
as he claims to be, or is a shrewd and
daring impostor For weeks the trial
has formed staple topic of discus
sion throughout New England. And,
with the end of the trial in sight, it
may be said that public opinion in re-
gard to the validity of the claim seems
to be as much divided as at the be-
ginning of the famous case.
The trial has been enlivened with
romantic features, surprises and sensa-
lions which would find difficulty of
belief if appearing in a work of fic-
ton. At first sight it would appear
to be an easy matter for man to
prove his identity in a community
where he has passed his boyhood until
his eighteenth or nineteenth year and
where many friends and relatives who
had known him Intimately as youth
were still living. And, on the other
hand, it would seem preposterous for
a man to believe that he could sue
cessfully impersonate another person
in community where that person had
bered by friends and relatives. And
yet, friends, relatives and the general
public who have followed the testi-
mony day by day seem unable to
agree on the solution of the question.
The testimony of the man who is
trying to establish his identity as the
long lost son of the late Daniel Rus
sell, and thereby secure from the
other son half interest in the million
dollar estate left by the elder Russell,
is stranger than many a tale of ro-
nance and adventure. In his fight
for recognition the claimant has told
on the stand, in simple way and
with remarkable memory, of the
events which took place in the home
which he says he left in Melrose
twenty-four years ago. For time he
lived the life of a tramp, getting from
one part of the country to another as
best he might. He has worked with
circuses and as deckhand, shod
horses in blacksmith shops, and spent
winters in lumber camps and mills in
the Northwest. Finally he landed in
North Dakota There he was success
full in speculations in hay and in cattle
lands, and became manager of
ranches and prosperous land owner.
To support his claim as Daniel
Blake Russell there have been pro-
duced in court upwards of fifty wiz
nesses to identify the claimant as the
son of Daniel Russell. Of these, some
have known him for forty years. They
knew him intimately in many cases,
and were acquainted with the pecu-
liarities and characteristics of his
youth With the presentation of these
witnesses, Senator Leslie A. Simpson
of North Dakota, who is conducting
the case for the plaintiff, rested his
direct case.
To oppose this claim, the respond
ents have stated that the claimant is
an imposter-not Daniel Blake Rus
sell, but James Delbert Ruseau, who
was born of poor parents in Bombay,
N Y. in 1865, three years after the
birth of the rightful heir. They have
produced a man and woman in court
to testify that they are the brother
and sister, respectively, of the claim