The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-01-31
MRS, GARDENER WASN0T
DEFRAUDEO SAYS COURT
u,neE HOLDS PRICE FAIR-No
COLLISION BY DAY AND
ALLEN.

one- sixteenth interest III the IdnOu
uorcules silver-lead mine in the Coeu
FAlene district in Idaho, and Mrs
Gardener, not having been deceive,
nor misinformed by the Days nor thei
CONSERVATIVES must rest content witt
The s350,00O she received for the sal
81 her interest. This was the deci
s,on rendered on Friday by Judge F
Dietrich of the federal district cour
for Idaho in the famous suit for reels
sion of sale brought by Mrs. Gardener
who inherited from her late husband
the one-sixteenth interest in the Her.
cules which at one time belonged to
Harry orchard.
Y Said She Was Imposed Upon.
Mrs Gardener sued the Hercules
Mining company and it's officers, at
tempting to show that she had accept
ed a much lower figure than her stock
really was worth, through alleged mis-
representations of the officers who,
she said, preyed upon her ignorance of
business affairs in general and partic-
ularly in the Hercules mining condi-
TONS
Considerable weight was thrown up
ON the contention that Eugene r. Day
was party to the transaction with
the plaintiff while he was acting as
administrator for the Gardener estate,
and that mo executor or administrator
may, directly or indirectly, purchase
any property of the estate he repre-
sents nor must he be interested in any
SALE" But this point was wiped from
the case by the showing of the pro-
bate court, that upon October 4, 1916,
a final decree of distribution was made
of the entire residue of the estate re-
lieving the administrator of his duties
prior to the time of the transaction in
the mining stock purchases.
Not Unsophisticated Woman.
Aside from this issue, charges of
fraud and misrepresentation were the
issues in the suit but, according to
the findings in the case, the evidence
proved that the plaintiff was not an
unsophisticated woman, as she tried
to lead the court to believe, but had
been in a position at all times to keep
in close touch with affairs and opera
tt ms of the mine that would give her
thorough understanding of the VAL
uations of her stocks from the current
conditions of the property.
Even while on a stay in Spain, it
was shown that she was a constant
subscriber to Spokane and Wallace pa
pers that carried departments giving
the standing of mines and mining
stocks in the district at all times; and
that she also received statements and
information from the proper officers of
the mining company at certain periods
and whenever she made inquiry.
while her speech is marked by a
strong foreign accent says the court
"she is not without facility both in
using and understanding our Ian
guage. She has not lived clustered
life, nor does she give the impression
of being by nature abnormally trust
full or confiding. She is fairly well ed
ucated, to say the least, and has the
poise and self-reliance which come
from travel and the rigorous expert
ences of pioneer life. In short,
would think that in any ordinary bus
mess transaction she could not easily
be deceived or overreached."
Knew What Went On.
The plaintiff attempted in her testi-
mony in the case to show that she was
not informed in the affairs of the mine
and the company, but corroborated
testimony from disinterested parties
tended to show that she was aware of
certain improvements and work which
she claimed were not reported to her.
Particularly was this shown in the
building Of smelter in connection
with the mining operations, which
she claimed was all done without her
knowledge but this was contradicted
by the defendants, and 1t was conclu-
sively shown that she must have had
such information from the lack of div
idends at the time of the building or
the smelter, as the surplus funds were
put into the building Of the new en-
terprise. Another point in this mat
ter was the publicity these new enter
prises received, which the court said
certainly would have reached the
plaintiff through her correspondence,
her friends or through the press as
the building of the smelter was shown
to have received wide publicity at the
time 1t was constructed, and proved
the object of considerable comment
and speculation in mining circles.
Shows Acquaintance With Business
AS to her testimony in these mat
tiers, the court said. with much
alacrity, thought, and with unneces-
sary frequency, the plaintiff. in testl-
tying, sought to give the impression
that she knew nothing about business
customs in general or about her hus'
bands business or the Hercules mine
in particular 1t Is difficult tt
avoid the belief that she was measur'
ably familiar with these monthly
statements, and was able to interpre
them in their main features.
Plainly she is not without SOM
Il -. IL ia, h1tG