Ellen Colton vs. Leland Stanford

[Imprint: E. S. Belden ]

In the Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of Sonoma

Ellen M Colton plaintiff vs Leland Stanford et al defendants

being each duly and severally sworn depose and say, and each for himself and not one for the other deposes and says:

I am one of the Counsel for the defendants in the above entitled action. The plaintiff has been engaged ever since the 13th of November 1883, during

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such days as this Honorable court has been in session in introducing her testimony in this case.

Said testimony consists of [blank] printed pages. This testimony involves the history of the Central Pacific Railroad Company, the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, the Western Development Company, the Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron Company, the Los Angeles and San Diego Railroad Company, and various other corporations connected with the Central Pacific Railroad Company, and the Western Development Company ever since the organization of said corporations respectively.

To meet this vast mass of testimony it is incumbent upon the defendants to go through all the various books

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of said several corporations, and also the private books and papers of the late David D. Colton. That the private books and papers of the late David D Colton have never been in the possession of these defendants or of any of them, and that the opportunities of defendants for examining last mentioned books and papers have been insufficient up to this time to enable them to get the facts for the purpose of establishing the correctness of the charges contained in Exhibit D annexed to the amended complaint in this case, and for the purpose of preparing evidence to sustain the charges set forth in paragraph 5 of the answer, which alleges that the said David D. Colton received

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and converted to his own use various sums of money belonging to the various corporations in which he, said Colton, and these defendants were mutually interested, and also belonging to the de-fendants.

That, in the course of these investigations of the affairs of said David D. Colton it has become necessary to ex-amine his bank account with the First National Gold Bank, and also with the London and San Francisco Bank, limited, and also the Hibernia Savings and Loan Society, and the Savings & Loan Society. That these bank accounts have only been recently ob-tained by the defendants and in fact all of them are not yet obtained.

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and the opportunity of the the defendants to obtain that has been very much impeded by the notice given by the Coun-sel of the plaintiff to these various banks not to furnish any in-formation to these de-fendants, so that all the information that these defendants have been able to obtain in refer-ence to these various bank accounts has been by examining some of the officer's and clerks of said respective banks.

That to meet the case made by the evi-dence of plaintiff, it is my opinion that a reasonable time must be afforded to the de-fendants, now that the plaintiff has closed her case, and in our judgment such reasonable

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