Arizona republican., 1913-02-23
RUSSELL CASE
 NEARS ITS END
'Dakota Dan'' and Fresno Dan" Figure ill Litiga- tion in Massachusetts Which Has Extended Over Period of Years

BOSTON. Feb. 2O-After four
 years of the strangest litigation the
 Russell case, famous in forensic his tory as the longest trial ever record
 ed, is approaching its end and it is
 believed that it will reach it's con clusion within another week. The
 history of the case may be said to date from the year 1907, when Daniel
 Russell, a wealthy resident of Mel
 rose, Mass, died. He had two sons. William C. and Daniel Blake Russell In 1885, however, Daniel Blake Rus | sell mysteriously disappeared. Daniel Russell had requested in his will that, if Daniel Blake Russell should return within twenty years of the testator's death, William C. Russell should shar equally with him in the estate
 In 1909 Dakota Dan" appeared as claimant, saying he was the long ! lost Daniel Blake Russell. The trial of his claim took 123 court days be- fore Judge Lawton in the MiddIeseX county probate court During the trial d great many persons in Mel rose testified that Dakota Dan'' was ' Daniel Blake Russell; others could not so remember
 William c. Russell, who opposed the claims of Dakota Dan and re- fused to acknowledge him as his brother, brought forward MT. and
 Mrs James Rousseau and some of their children from northern New
 York who said that the claimant 1
 their son and brother, respectively. The court decided that Dakota Dan" was not Daniel Blake Russell. There upon the claimant appealed to the supreme court against the decision given by the lower court in 1910. Shortly after that Fresno Dan" made his appearance in Melroe and was recognized by William C. Russell as his Iong-lost brother. The appear
 ance of this rival claimant greatly complicated matters and the fact that he was endorsed and accepted as the true claimant by William c Russell, who was most Vitally in teTested in the outcome of the litiga- tion. made matters a great deal more difficult for Dakota Dan.">
 The second trial began before Gil
 bert A. A. Pevey of Cambridge, ap- pointed master by the state supreme
 court. on July 16, 1912, and has con-
 tinued without material interruption ever since. The master has held sessions on more than 150 court days and considerably more than three
 hundred witnesses have been heard While the former trial was a record i breaker in length it is eclipsed by the present hearing. The sheets of typewriter testimony at the former trial, piled sheet on sheet, made a pile more than six feet high. The present hearing has far exceeded that record. Under Massachusetts procedure, it is stated, there can be no appeal from the decision soon to be expected, there being no higher tribunal in this commonwealth. There
 may be arguments, however, on the exceptions as to the rulings of the
 master, which may materially add to the length of the trial.
 The case has aroused a great deal of interest and public opinion, from
 the very beginning of the trial has 1 been divided into two factions, one 1 believing in the justice of Dakota
 Dams" claims and sympathizing with 1 him, the other believing Fresno Dan" | to be the true claimant entitled to l share in the Russell estate.
 The testimony in both the first
 and the second trial was often highly dramatic and sensational and at every sitting of the court the court
 room was crowded with interested 1 spectators One of the most dra-
 matic bits of testimony in the sec 1 ond trial or hearing was the reap 1 pearance of Edward w. Frentz, who 1 testified in the former hearing that | Dakota Dan" was not the Daniel 1 Blake Russell, the missing son of the | late Daniel Russell At the second | hearing Frentz was again called upon | the witness stand and confronted with both claimants. After a careful 1 inspection of the two men the wit ness declared that Fresno Dan" was | the Daniel Blake Russell with whom | he had played as a boy.
 Many old residents of Melrose were called upon the witness stand
 and while some were positive that | Dakota Dan" was the right claim 1 ant others cOntradicted this testi-