The San Francisco call., 1910-09-11

was F. B. Whitney vice president of the Lake sub
marine company. He admitted he had done the work
Nef's machine. The experts had secured samples
OF typewritng known be his, and he had felt that
the net by the wonderful analysis OF evidence
surely drawing around him.
THE WILL MYSTERY
But let US follow the new detective into another
line of his work. Surely worthy of Mr. Holmes
the way in which he completely upset the defense in
the Hewitt will case
The fact that Frederick c. Hewitt who died in
Owego, MY, in 1908, had left almost his entire
tate, which was valued at more than $6OOOOO0 to
public institutions published far and wide But
the public heard little nothing of the curious evi
dence by which the will was broken.
After Mr.. Hewitt's sister had brought suit for
share in the estate the defense called in two highly
trained experts in handwriting and inks, They de-
clared that there nothing wrong with the docu-
ment and not suspicion of forgery anywhere. The
signature Hewitt's undoubtedly.
But the other side secured the services of mystery
solver of far more experience than theirs. trained
specialist in at least half dozen lines of detective
work and perhaps the ablest in his field in the
country.
Oh yesl' cried this master of mysteries ~It is his
signature. But ghere and when did he sign it?"
There 20 lawyers in to uphold the will
when the case came to trial They were eocksure
They had not seen the ptfall that lay before them
and they laughed when the plaintiffs expert gave his
testimony
Gentlemen" said the surrogate, who realized the
vital Importance of the discovery the witness had
made this is joke"
Now it appears that Hewitt had taken his will
which dated March Fl. 1908 to the First national
bank in Owego, where it witnessed before the
mayor of the city and the president of the bank The
mayor and the bank president had testified that Hew-
lit had signed the will in their presence and that they
had affixed their signatures as witnesses
u II
used the same pen and the same bottle of ink"
Said the mayor: II used another pen from the di-
rectors' room, but the ink There was no other
ink in the room"
1t seemed like conclusive evidence that Mr. Hewitt
had signed the will there and then. But the expert
for the plaintiff not convinced The mayor and
the banker swore that Mr.. Hewitt signed the will in
their presence; the expert conended that they were
mistaken. He had been investigating that document
in variety of ways He had devoted himself TO
studying the ink especially, and he had discovered
that the body of the will and Hewtts signature were
written with different kind of ink than that used in
the bank by the two witnesses. He had discovered
too, with his fine microscopic examination that the
witnesses signatures had been written with steel pens
while the testator had evidently used gold pen
The mayor and the banker had testified that Hewitt
had brought his will to them rolled upfand without a
fold in it. But laying it down on the directors
table he had folded the bottom of the page for
their signatures.
The expert for the plaintiff produced Photographic
enlargements, taken through transmitted light of
Hewitts signature and it clear that at the bot
tom of some OF the letters the ink had spread in the
in the paper AS fate would have it, he had
signed directly the fold that his pen some
times into it. The fact that the ink had spread
in the fold conclusive evidence that the signature
must have been affixed after the crease had been
made. in spite OF evidence to the contrary OF the
mayor and the banker, both of whom were under the
honest impression that Hewitt had affixed his sigma
ture before passing the paper to them. How treach-
ones memory is!
This evidence fell like .bombsheH in the camp of
the opposing counsel Within month the case was
settled of court by the payment to Mr. Hewitts
sister of million and a half dollars.
Such problems as these are of the present and OF
practical everyday life But the imagination reaches
beyond the life around in studying the delvings
OF the new investigator, who has been evolved from
the old fashioned detective The long buried past has
fascination for such expert The mysteries con-
nected with ancient manuscripts and relics the hunt
for lost ancestors the study of heredty are attracting
him and more. There are highly trained geneal
ogists who charge $500 month for tracing ones
lineage, besides the expenses OF a European search
These and the investigator of mysteries are be-
ginning to work hand in hand
TRACING AN ANCESTOR
A year ago Wall street banker hired one Of these
geneaogists to trace his ancestry.
What I'd like to know, said the banker, SIS where
some of my traits of character come from Nv
parents uneducated people living on a farm /
can't get back behind my grandfather. Neither pa
rents nor grandparents had any Of my traits I'd like
to know, for example, where l got my love OF music
and my ability to play the piano by without ever
having had lessons"
The genealogist traced him back generation after
generation. finding only simple, uneducated people,
with of the natural ability possessed by the
banker. Back in England 200 years ago he struck
snag- Unless he could prove the authenticity of an
old manuscript his search would end there He weuS
TO of the detectives, who made the study OF
inks paper and old manuscripts part Of his work and