The Alaska daily empire., 1914-12-30

NANAAHilttt.t4 aNNtNNNs TIE titN gay AtilIIa
 Woekoy had osslgned hia rignig to banbers end lawyers, and they quar reled amongst themselves as to Co tho amount due to oach, phis Involved moro litigation.
 some of the suits wore carried to
 he supreme cour, of tho United States and tho lawyers sued their clientu and levied on the pilo of gravel m cages where tho court would allow lt. Final 1 iy, however tho matter YRS partially straighteged ont aud the pile of gravel by direction of tho court was allowed Co be washed up and lho gold ex- traoted
 TO the amazemont of everybody it wns then discovered that while al. the| fighting had been going on some per sons unknown had tunnclod Into the pile. closed the hole behind them and worked out much of the gravel in the center All that was left WAS Q crust of frozen pay gravel Q few feet thick. There was gravel in the conter but the gold had been extracted.
 chambers Gets Nothing.
 Chambers. however had 2 strong claim to a pert ot the yield from the crust but thia was attached by hisI attorneys for thoir fees, and he gotI practically nothing for his Interest In the mine.
 The case involving the amount of interest in the chin hold by Whittren and Chambers was enc of lhe most sensational ever tried at Nome Was key who In order to hold his lease backed Whittren, had a lot of money and he spent it mstintedly in theI cause. He and his associates retain ed practically every lawyer in Nome leaving none for Chambers. The lat tor managed to retain the services Of c. D. Murane, who afterwards be- came federal judge in tho same dissi ,rict Of Alaska.
 Tho question involved between Chambers and Whi,ren was the amount of interest in the claim mem toned in a deed which. iJ YVES al lcged had beon subjected to chemical treatment and the figures altered. Whithen@ claimed that Chambers ori. enally held one-Quarter interest and that he had altered the deed to make 1t read "one-half"
 Chambers asserted that Whitiren had come to his office in Seattle. where he was then practicing medicine, and explained that he. Wh.ttren had made a mistake and had sold half interest to another man. when he already had sold a threeQuarter interest to Cham bers; that in order to keep Whituen out of trouble. he, Chambers, had ob- talned some chemicals and plotted out the "three-Quarters" and substitute "one-half" Whituen. however. stout ly insisted that the original deed had transferred only "one-Quarter" in- terest
 Muraue Springs Surprise.
 Lawyers interested in the case in behalf of Whittren and his associates rldiculed tho idea that my man. just cs matter of courtesy and to help an acquaintance would willingly deed away a one-quarter interest .in a val uable claim Chambers assertion, un- der the circumstances. certainly did look ridiculous. There was nothing to lt The leader Of the big array Of legal talent retained by Whittren was about to move for a non-suit when Judge Aiurane asked to be allowed Co intro duce a photograph. Tho permission was granted by the court The law yers for the opposing side took one look at it, and then most of them hur- riedly left the courtroom
 Itwas an enlargemsnt of the original deed and the photograph. taken with a miscroscopic lers, showed clearly through the chen.cal stain that the original deed n Whittren's handwrit- ing said "three-cunters, where Whit. ren had declarAd the original to have been "one-quaiter."
 That ended hat part of the suit and then another vas filed against Cham. bers on the ground that Whittren's lo- cation Of the property was not valid because WhittrAn was a deputy United States mineral surveyor at the time he staked the property. This suit was inally determined by the United States supreme court.
 
 Notwithstanding the number of legal battles that Chambers fought for pos. session of this property and the num- Der of suits that were filed against lim, he had many friends In the North. Re is survived by wife and two living ct Everett.
 what happened subsequently, to the itigants and lawyers who engaged in .he many.eided battle?
 Hammer Meets Death.
 Let's see: Joe Hammer slipped on Inc ice and sustained concussion of Inc brain, from which he died
 Joseph K. Wood, an attorney. also net a tragic iate Wood was attor- ley for the conflicting title that had 1een called the Golden Bull claim In lis summing mp of the case he told he court that he had determined the Ines of the Roosevelt the Bon Voy- ! lge the Golden Bull claims but had | ailed to locate the Golden Cali until i le looked at John Rustgard, who was