New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-03-11
WOMAN SIZES YERKES
ESTATE FOR S50,0O(
Testimony Declares Miss Fitz-
patrick Saved More than
Million Dollars.
MONEY PLEDGED. SHE SAYS
Witness for Defence Asserts
Secretary Was Discharged
After Strange Finding
of Missing Diamond.

Testimony taken by the executors of
the estate Of Mrs. Mary Adelaide
Ycrkes. who was the wife Of Charles II
YcrkCs. builder Of railways, in a suit
which Miss Mary A. Fitzpatrick, for
Nor secretary 10 Mrs Yerhcs. has
brought against tho executors was filed
i'm tn supreme Court yesterday. Miss
Fitzpatrick - suing the executors for
S50,000. which she says Mrs. ferkes
promised 20 give hor for her services.
One Of the witnesses was Frank
Nothhcldcr. who was the carctakcr Of
the Ycrkcs house. on Michigan avenue.
Chicago. who said he heard some OF
the conversations between Mrs. Ycrkes
and Miss Fitzpatrick. ON one occasion.
Nothheldcr testified. Mrs. Ycrkcs prom
iscd her secretary the $4,000. and
again she told her she would not give
her a cent" as she was mot worth it,"
Tho witness said that the promises
of Mrs. Yerkes were always made when
she was under the influence of liquor.
She also would sign papers without
reading them she declared AT one
time that Miss Fitzpatrick had saHed
her 81 .O00Ooo. when Mrs. Yerkes was
sober. said the witness, she would make
no promises. She gave presents, but
onlv OF small articles without much
value.
William r. Block. who lived two
doors from the Yerkes home in Chi
cago. and who was on friendly terms
with Mr.. ard Mrs. Yerkes. told OF a
fear that Mrs Yorkes had after the
death of Mr. Yerkes and after her
remarriace. that her second husband
would iniure her. and even expressed a
fear that he would poison her. lie
quoted Mrs. Yerlles as saying that she
would leave Miss Fitzpatrick some
money and later she said she was COM
pelled to discharge her secretary. She
said her confidence had been misplaced.
Block told of conversation he had
with Mrs. Yerkes in which she told
about giving Miss Fitzpatrick some
iewelry TO place in a safe deposit vault.
and which she placed there in her own
name instead of in the name of her
employer.
He also told of the loss OF an ex-
pensive diamond from a pendant owned
bv Mrs. Yerkes. \ search was made
Cor il in the Yerkes home. in which
Miss Fitzpatrick aided. The searchers,
with the exception of Miss Fitzpatrick,
gave up the search. Later she APP
reared with the diamond and said she
had found il in drawer of the sew
ing table. Mrs. Yerkes remarked that
il was a strange place for the gem.
Block said that after the discharge
Of the secretary Mrs. Yerkes said she
had given her all she owed her and
would give her no more. She said sh 2
believed she had lost 81 100000 through
the interference Of Miss Fitzpatrick
with the plan Of the executors of Mr..
Yerkes's estate. They had planned to
stop all the litigation that was brought
after the death of the railway man. and
Mrs. Yerkes said she would have been
glad of the mediation, but that Miss
Fitzpatrick interfered.
About month after the death of Nj.
Yerkes. in Deoemeber 1909, Mrs.
Yerkes married Wilson Miner, who up
TO that time was best known as a .rav-
eller and mining prospector. In the
last few years he has figured as the
author of several plays. Mrs. Mizner
obtained divorce from him after hey
had lived together "A short time.
Harvard or Oxford latest gold OF
shell eyeglasses, at Spercer's. Maiden La.
Adult