The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1911-11-24
PUTTY EVIDENCE
GIVEN IN COURT
Testimony Tends to Show Fraud
In Homestead Case, but
is Denied.
IAiall Special 70 The Advcrtlaer.)

(Nfail Special 10 The Advcrtiser.)
HIIO, November a0.-with the TO
opening Of the Henderson case, which
Is the. test ease in connection with tho
granting Of homestead patents in the
Kaiwiki Third Tract, in the local court
last Saturday, the putty testimony Of
osorio, who holds the lot opposite to
Hendersons, was placed in evidence and
caused much amusement.
osOrio was called as witness for
the government. He stated that he bad
been one of the Kaiwlld settlers, but
had lived on his lot only a few days n
week. lie didn't know Henderson, but
believed that the Henderson lot was
claimed by the plantation. He thought
that if the plantation got the Hender-
son lot from the government, he (Oso-
rio) might be able to get n patent to
his, when he could show that he had
resided or his lot, as much as Hender-
son had resided on the other.
With the purpose of securing proof
in regard to Henderson 3 non-residence
on his lot, he had, on a Sunday in o.
tober, 1908, plugged the Henderson key
hole with putty. After that he had
from time to time examined the key
hole and had always found the putty
there, until, after it had remained in
position three months, he had himself
scraped the putty out.
Unshaken on determination
On cross-examination Irwin tried to
get osorio to admit that Attorney Fer
ry had bid for the lot, which Hender-
son got, for Osorio Is son, but the wit
ness would make no such admission.
0sorio also testified that, when the lots
were originally offered at auction,
much of the bidding for settlers was
conducted by the manager of the plan
tation.
On the other side Henderson and
Fraser testified positively that Hender-
son had lived in the house in the months
during which the keyhole was supposed
to have been plugged up. To this was
added testimony by Fraser and Capel-
las, who had examined the lock and
we're positive that it could not have
been plugged as reported by Osorio
They added that Henderson often took
papers and letters to his house when
the mail happened to arrive just be-
fore he was starting for that place.
Otherwise he would read these at Ha-
kalau. They had found in the homestead
house letters and papers the dates of
which showed that they had arrived
during the keyhole period.
Plantation in Control.
In the Souza case, which followed
that of Henderson, the evidence was in
many instances of the same general
character. There was a dispute about
the trees, the settler claiming that a
certain species, of which he had 1875,
was a tree, while the deputy attorney
claimed it was shrub.
In both the Souza and the Hender-
son case an important factor was the
agreement between the settlers and the
plantation. 1t appears from the evil
dence that there was a documentary
agreement between them relative to
cultivation, etc, and providing for an
elaborate system of bookkeeping, but
that this agreement had been immedi-
ately abandoned, or, at least, merged
into a verbal agreement whereby the
plantation attended to the entire cult
walton of the crop, and paid the settler
a fat rate of So year per acre.
On the other hard, the government
admitted that Marston Campbell, the
land commissioner, had made out the
patents for the settlers, and that he had
even sent them to the Governor for
his signature, when the holdup came.
The cases have now been submitted,
and briefs will be fled later. Deputy
Attorney General Smith returned to
Honolulu today.