Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1919-03-14
BAUXITE Mine
SUIT CHARGES
CALLED ABSURD
BY DEFENSE
W. W. Dykes, Attorney for Hatton,
Denies Fraud and Tells
Hatton'S Side

Ridiculous and absurd" were the
terms applied today by W w. Dykes,
attorney for Richard D. Hatton, of
st. Louis, in discussing, in reply to
questions, the allegations made against
Mr.. Hatton in a suit filed yesterday in
Superior court by Hixon & Pace for
Mrs. c. p Davis, of Americus; Mrs.
Leon Griffin, of Leslie, and others, for
restoration of title to 200 acres of land
near Andersonville, now being operat-
ed for bauxite ore mining by the Re-
public Mining and Manufacturing COM
pany.
Mr.. Dykes made a complete denial
of the charges set up. He declared
there was absolutely no fraud in the
manner in which Mr. Hatton acquired
title to the property, and that the facts
were altogether different from those
alleged He smiled at the estimate of
$1,G90,000 as the value of the land and
100000 as the mesne profits of the
company operating the mines, share
of which is asked.
"The highest estimate of the engi-
neers," he said, lis that there are not
more than $4,000 tons of bauxite ore
on this tract; if there is more they do
not know where it is. This is worth
in the ground 81 per ton, giving the
tract a gross value for mining pur-
poses of $4,000. The deposits are so
small that the mining company would
not handle them alone, but only took
over the lease from Mr. Hatton when
other deposits nearby were made
available
According to Mr.. Dykes, instead of
Mr.. Hatton acquiring title to the
fourth interest in the 200 acres
through fraud in having Mrs Davis
and Mrs. Griffin sign a deed which
they were told was a rectifcation of
the deed to the smaller interest in
herited from their father, Mr. Hatton
obtained it from another source, as
these women did not own it and never
had owned it. He stated that he had
in his possession an affidavit given by
A. n. Thigpen, of Abbeville, a great
uncle of Mrs Davis and Mrs. Griffin
and brother of their great grand-fa-
ther, the original owner of the tract,
showing that a number of years ago
the north half of this 200 acre tract,
which includes the portion now in dis
pute, was traded to the old A, P. & L.
railroad, now the Seaboard Air Line,
for stock. Later the tract passed to G.
Sydney Shepherd, of New York,
Seaboard official, from whom it was ac-
quired by Mr.. Hatton. According to
Mr.. Dykes, Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Griffin
never hads sowned a share in this part
of the tract, it having been transfer
red to the railroad before their time.
Further answering the charge OF
fraud, Mr.. Dykes declared that there
actually had been an error in the deed
given by Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Griffin
to P. L. Holt for the small interest in
herited by them from their father in
the south half of the tract; that the
deed as given by them specified the
north half, which Mr.. Hatton, who
purchased it from Mr. Holt, thought
was what he was buying; that a
search of the records revealed the err
ror, and that new deed, properly de-
scribing the land owned by them, was
made and signed.
J. A. Hixon, of the firm of Hixon &
Pace, who brought the suit to recover
title to the land, was the first guard
ian of Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Griffin
when they were minor children, and is
son-in-law of H. d. Watts, who fol-
lowed him as their guardian until their
| majority.