| Show The Searlea Will Case I SALEM Mass Oct 23At the opening of the Searles will case this morning Lincoln Lin-coln recalled Scarles Witness testified that at Mrs Hopkins request be called on Mr Stillman to look up securities in October Octo-ber 16S7 Witness testified as to the visit of Stillman to Metheun before the last will was made Mrs Searles stated she wished to leave all her property to witness and would provide for Timothy in her lifetime In case anything happened to her she was willing to leave matters in witness hands she knew witness would be more generous to Timothy than she would Witness testified testi-fied during Mrs Searles last sickness he visited New York and while in conversation con-versation with Stillman referred to her condition and said if her condition was critical it would be well to transfer tho Southern Pacific and Improvement bonds and stocks to the copartnership so in case of Mrs Searles death it should not lose its voting power Stillman said he would attend to it Witness denied most I emphatically ho ever at any time attempted by himself or through others to in anyway any-way influence his wife in the disposal of her property He never noticed anything to show she was in any other than strong mental condition Burley on crossexamination asked witness wit-ness if ho intended to say he never had a private conversation in regard to the disposal dis-posal of her property Witness replied None Searles stated that in June 1SS7 he had property of his own amounting to 200000 The crossexamination brought out nothing noth-ing new Witness knew of no memoranda additional to the will being left at least he bad not discovered any This concluded Searles testimony he having been on the stand for five days and over under the most searching examination into all his affairs Burley then called for the check books showing the checks to Stillman or Hubbard This request the court wasnot disposed to grant Counsel for the will then tendered the original copy of the letters which had been read for comparison and the contestants contest-ants rested their case for Timothy Hop kins Judge Harmon asked if anyone else wished to be heard In opposition to the instruments and there was no response Lincoln then called General Hubbard of New York who testified he had known Searles for some timo prior to 1SS2 but had personally done no business for him He first met Mrs Searles in the spring of 1SSS but had heard something of matters in conversation with Stillman General Hubbard gave in a general way Mrs Searles property as consisting of some sixty different kinds of stocks and bonds The property is such that anyone who attempts I at-tempts to attend to either one of the prop crIbs it reqnires all of his time Witness had a large and prosperous praotIce and when Stillman came to him and said Searles wanted him to take the management manage-ment of the property if he would go in with him he told him it was a serious matter as it would in short a time at least involve the abandonment abandon-ment of the practice of the law Finally he consented to take it up with him A co partnership was suggested by Stillman who had found as attorneys they had mot with rebuffs in getting tho information necessary to coo with the questions before them but as principals as well as attorneys they could insist on their rights to it Witness Wit-ness knew that o per cent of tho income of property would be much less than his professional income and finally after much discussion the copartnership as drawn was made as a most just and rea conable arrangement At the afternoon session General Hub bard testified the management the estate had taken nearly all his time for the last year and a half and fully as much of Still mans time He saw Mrs Searles about Juno 5 lbS8 and sho wanted some ono to manage her business who was near at hand In the latter part of May 1S90 witness went to Mrs Searles and remarked sho appeared to be drawing but little while Searles was drawing quite liberally She asked if that was not right Witness said yes if she wished it so Sho said Seurlos par all her bills and she wanted him to She did not want to keep a bank account or have anything to do with matters of business Were any changes mado In the record of the title of the copartnership just before Mrs Soarlos deathl was asked witness Yes In the Southern Pacific and Pacific Pa-cific Improvemen company both had been transferred to the partnership but had remained re-mained on record as in the name of Mrs Searles They were tnen transferred on the books of the companys Witness had no personal knowledge of the wills and had never attempted In any manner to Influence In-fluence Mrs Searles in regard to making her will Mrs Searles always impressed him as a woman of alert mind and spoke as a woman of quite decided opinions when she spoke on matters of business Witness Wit-ness never advised keeping matters secret from Timothy Hopkins |
