Estate of Anthony

This is an appeal from an order of the superior court of the county of Alameda, admitting to probate as the last will and testament of deceased two letters written entirely in the handwriting of the deceased a short period of time before his death and addressed to the respondent and another friend Lavin. These letters are quite long, and contain a large amount of immaterial matter relative to the writer’s dissatisfaction with social, religious, and industrial conditions generally, and informing his friends that' he has concluded to end it all in death, which he states to them will have resulted before the letters reach them.

These letters, insofar as they relate to anything material to this discussion, are as follows:

It is not disputed that everything contained in these two letters is in the handwriting of the deceased; and it may be inferred from the record that the power of attorney mentioned in the letters was received by Speed in the same envelope that conveyed to him the letter. The power of attorney, being designated “Power of Attorney Special,” was dated June 26, 1911, and signed by Jacob Anthony (whose identity with the J. A. Anthony who signed the two letters above set…