The Tupelo journal., 1910-07-22

kota Dan" to members of he Rous-
seau family, and there was, OF course
a battle" of handwriting experts,
each contradicting the other. And
Dakota Dan" brought witnesses to
show that the letters were forgeries'
and that the addresses had been writ
ten on the envelopes after the post
office cancellation marks had been
stamped thereon.
To these letters were added an ap-
~plication form for membership In the
Woodmen of the World. This con-
tanned the family history of Rousseau
and said that he had three brothers
and two sisters living and that an
other brother had been killed In a
railroad accident. All of which was
apparently true. Dakota Dams" ex-
perts asserted that the answer had not
ben written by him, but had been
filed in by others at a later period,
his handwriting having been initiated.
Thereupon the Russell lawyers showed
that the paper had remained In the
archives of the Woodmen of the
World until the court ordered Its pro
duction.
The trial dragged on for several
months and as it was nearing the n
a second Daniel Blake Russell, who
was to be called Fresno Dan," came
out from his fruit ranch in Fresno,
Cal. Out there he was known as
Henry Johnson, but in Melrose, the
home of the Russells, he was recog-
nized as the missing Dan" by the re-
sponsible citizens. He seemed to be
we'll informed as to the details OF Dan
ieIs early life in Melrose, but Dakota
Dan" declared that his rival had been
brought on to cheat him out OF MS
rights. Judge Lawton, before whom
the tedious case was tried, finally de-
cided In favor of Fresno Dan" ana
that night the Judge was burned IN
effigy by an angry crowd of Dakota
Dams" supporters. If h case Is car
ried to a higher court little may be
left of the estate, for the litigation has
already cost a huge sum.
In the many efforts of Albert T. Pat
rick to free himself from a life SEN
tence for the murder of William
Marsh Rice, an aged recluse, people
have almost forgotten that Patrick
was first charged with forgery In con-
nection with the old mans will. Pat
rick, a lawyer, had learned of Marsh's
wealth and his weak state of mind
through a suit in a Texas court, and
he gained the confidence of Charles
F. Jones, valet to the %recluse. Jones
becoming the lawyers tool.
Rice, in fact, never knew Patrick,
although the latter posed as the mil
lionaire's attorney, always working
through Jones, who confessed that he
killed his master at the lawyers In
stigation. Motive for the murder was
held to be desire on the part of Pat
rick to obtain control of Rice's for
tune by means of a forged will, and
the murder was accomplished by
Jones at Patrick's command, chloro-
form being the death medium. Jones
was allowed to go free, while Patrick
was sentenced to death. This was
in 1902. Governor Higgins committed
the sentence to life Imprisonment, and
since that time Patrick has made %
unsuccessful attempts to regain his
freedom.
Photographic records Of testimony
in a will case were taken In Boston
for use at another trial, If permitted
by the court. This unusual procedure
was the result of the illness of one
of the principal witnesses, who was
obliged to undergo a surgical opera
ton Immediately after giving evt-
dence. Should 1t be necessary to in
troduce these records, the attitude OF
the court toward them will be of In
terest to the legal profession gener-
ally, for it might serve to create a
precedent.
N~uncupative or oral wills, the right
to make which lies only with sailors
at sea or soldiers in the field, r
somewhat rare, but n was admitted
to probate In Kings county last De-
cember by Surrogate Ketchham. This
will was made by George O'Connor,
chief engineer of the steamship Dor
othy, while the vessel was in mid
ocean. All that he said was: Every
thing that l have belongs to my daugh-
ter, Lizzie" and the will was proved
with the aid of two witnesses, the cap
tain and first officer Of the Dorothy.
- D. H---.x