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Show SHOWERED HIS GOLD Aged, Millionaire Was LaY- ish in His Gifts to Colored Woman NEW YORK. Jan. 19. Hannah Ellas, the octoroon, whom the aged John R. Piatt is suing to compel her to return $XS,00a, which he says she extorted from him during an .acquaintance of twenty years, yesterday told the story of her life before Justice O'Gorman In the Supreme court, where the suit is on trial It was an extraordinary talo of sudden elevation from the lowest and most vicious surroundings to a position of affluence, where money was literally rained upon her and , where she had everything that great wealth could provide.' She declared that she had nothing to conceal, and insisted in-sisted that every dollar that Piatt gave her had been rtven voluntarily. She believed, be-lieved, ah said, that she was under no obligations to return any part of the money mon-ey which she now posseses. How much money Piatt gave her she could not say, even approximately, as ah never kept any account of his gifts, which were made In large sums at frequent i intervals during their entire acquaintance. acquain-tance. Mr.- Piatt was very generous, even from the first, she said, but he become more so after the death of his wife in 1103. He told her at that time that he wanted to provide for her handsomely and explained that If he mentioned her in his will a contest might result. Mrs. Ellas apparently mode no attempt to cover the details of her early life. She admitted that she had served two terms in prison, one In Philadelphia for larceny and the other in this city for disorderly , conduct. It developed during the examination of witnesses today that Mrs. Ellas had distributed dis-tributed her easily acquired wealth with a free hand among thoaa who had been of assistance to her. Lawyer C. Nans said she paid him 120,000 In fee: Lawyer Washington Wash-ington Brauns received from her more i than 110.000 in fees. Other witnesses told ' of large sums paid for service of comparatively com-paratively trifling charscter. When the defense rested a lawyer representing rep-resenting the banks that were brought into in-to the case by sn order of court directing them not to dispose of moneys in their possession belonging to Mrs. Ellas, asked for a dismissal of the order, and. the Judge granted the request. |