The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-09-01
The End Of a
Lawsuit
A Lawyer Paved the
Way; q Woman Did
the Rest

the Rest +
BY F. A. Mitchell +
-ss-iiis-ssii-ii-ii-is-as-s-ssi@4@4As4-s
y friend Jernegan came into my
ONCE one morning and said to me:
Tom, my affairs have been IN the
IDS Of Turner & Swift ever since my
died. and they have got them into
Rightful snarl. They now tell me
g I'm likely to lose everything. I've
cluded to take the management of
III estate out Of their hands and put
= yours"
his seemed to me like a doctor call.
= In to save a patient that had been
m up by another doctor. but Jim
negan and I had long been chums.
j I couldn't refuse him. A tin box
of papers arrived at my Office, the
being marked in gilt letters "Es-
E1o Of James r. Jernegan," Jim's ia
and proceeded to an investiga
ne deceased had made a fortune by
H md speculation in which he had had
= PARTNER named Hausman. The two
- quarreled, each claiming the lions
re OF the property. This had start.
(1a lawsuit which had been inherited
Jth the property by the heirs. The
s(11ue of the land had increased, but the
coats Of the suit had increased proper
sttonately. Hausman before his death
nj transferred his interest to a man
med Starkweather, and Starkweath-
~ had died, leaving 1t to his only
lid, daughter.
u found my client absolutely ignorant
- the condition Of his interests in the
n perty. Don't talk to me about it."
said. II know nothing Of law.
ITS what hire you for" So was
Roed to work out the puzzle unaid.
found that there were just two
erests in the property-Jim's and
rkweather's daughters. The law
had been playing these two inter.
OF the one against the other to
Re business for themselves. would
re brought about a settlement, but
a. rascals had got the matter so tan
a that this was impossible. There
but one way to effect such q result,
that was by a union Of the two op-
Ing interests. Since one of the par
was a man and the other a woman
might be effected by marriage.
ut saw no hope in such solution.
~ woman might be old; she might be
ely; she might be a vtrago. And
n though she were young and at
ctive knew that Jim would never
Try. When twenty-five or twenty
! be years old he had been Tilted by
he loved, and this had made him a
frmed woman hater He was now
rty. frequented clubs and had no
ne. think that he would have
ID home, but could not have one
ehout a wife, and he had no con-
ence in any woman.
1owever, / determined to have a
at the person who was fighting
j for the estate and ask her If she
Qld accede to something of no real
ortance as an excuse to call upon
! found woman Of about twen-
eeven. handsome and apparently
erwise attractive, except that her
position did not seem especially
liable. But whether this was natu-
= to her or had been engendered by
- fight for affiuence in lieu Of pow
" or some other cause / was igno-
nt Beyond this defect, which / was
epiged to admit was serious, there was
- reason why she should not make a
1Dband happy.
determined to breach my plan to
~ Beginning with statement of
her lawyer had played OF her in
ests against those Of her opponent.
uttered into a detailed explanation
ehe tangle into which the two inter-
had been brought and finally end
: by saying:
There Is but one way In which the
perty can be saved. The two inter-
r should be united In one person"
How can that beT' she asked In
Dderment.
~ marriage"
Then all I have to say is that the
>erty will be SUNK"
made no rejoinder, but, gathering up
ne papers l had brought with me.
my leave. Any attempt to bring
such persons together would be
lently futile. The lady was as
eh in the hands Of her lawyers as
had been In the hands Of his. She |
~ nothing about the condition Of
t1rs until made my statement to
She did not even know who was
Fl opponent. Until I informed her
II had no idea how she had been
by her lawyers or that she was
danger Of poverty, for they had
& her supplied with an income
IN from the principal.
was not surprised. then, when In q |
i weeks I received q call from her
ny Office
Would legal marriage" she asked.
Nlfh this man who is endeavoring to