SARAH ALTHEA HILL."

* * * * *

"In the city and county of San Francisco, State of California,
on the 25th day of August, A.D. 1880, I, Senator William
Sharon, of the State of Nevada, aged sixty years, do here, in
the presence of Almighty God, take Sarah Althea Hill, of the
city and county of San Francisco, California, to be my lawful
and wedded wife, and do here acknowledge myself to be the
husband of Sarah Althea Hill.

WILLIAM SHARON,
Nevada.

AUGUST 25, 1880."

In his testimony Mr. Sharon contradicted every material statement
made by Sarah Althea Hill. He denied every circumstance connected
with the alleged drawing up of the marriage contract.

He testified that on the 7th day of November, 1881, he terminated his
relations with and dismissed her, and made a full settlement with her
by the payment of $3,000 in cash, and notes amounting to $4,500. For
these she gave him a receipt in full. He charged her with subsequently
stealing that receipt at one of two or three visits made by her after
her discharge.

It is unnecessary to review the voluminous testimony introduced by
the parties in support of their respective contentions. The alleged
contract was clearly proven to be a forgery. A number of witnesses
testified to conversations had with Miss Hill long after the date of
the pretended marriage contract, in which she made statements entirely
inconsistent with the existence of such a document. She employed
fortune-tellers to give her charms with which she could compel Mr.
Sharon to marry her, and this, too, when she pretended to have in
her possession the evidence that she was already his wife. Not an
appearance of probability attended the claim of this bold adventuress.
Every statement she made concerning the marriage contract, and every
step she took in her endeavor to enforce it, betrayed its false
origin.

The trial of the case in the state court continued from March 10th
until May 28th, when the summer recess intervened. It was resumed
July 15th, and occupied the court until September 17th, on which
day the argument of counsel was concluded and the case submitted.
No decision was rendered until more than three months afterwards,
namely, December 24th. Nearly two months were then allowed to pass
before the decree was entered, February 19, 1885. The case was tried
before Judge Sullivan without a jury, by consent of the parties