Having the utmost faith in the enduring strength of a constitution which had never been sapped or weakened by the use of tobacco or liquor, nor by indulgence in any form of dissipation except that of incessant toil, he confidently counted upon a long life of service on the bench, and he felt assured that his devotion to the public interests would, in time, be rewarded by promotion from the trial to the Appellate Court.

At the bar his brethren never had cause to complain of any unfairness on his part; nor did his clients have reason to fear any neglect; if fault he had, it was that of overloading his case. On the bench he was most considerate of the wishes and the convenience of the counsel. John E. Humphries was a man without malice. His disposition was kindly in the highest degree. As a loyal and devoted husband, as a patriotic citizen, as an honorable practitioner at the bar for forty years, and as a learned and impartial judge on the bench, he lived a life of usefulness without a stain, and his brethren mourn his passing away. To his bereaved companion in life they respectfully tender the assurance of their unfeigned sympathy.

W. A. RENEAU.

At Wenatchee on June 6, 1914, before our last annual session, but without information of it, W. A. Reneau died. He was born in January, 1850, in the state of Mississippi, whence he removed to Texas and thence to Kansas. He was married in the city of Washington to Miss Avarilla Wessel about twenty-three years ago; four children being born to this union, namely, Lock, now aged 22; Lelah. now 19; Raymond, now 17, and Emily, now 10 years old. The committee is indebted to our good friend, Sam B. Hill, of the Waterville bar, for this interesting sketch of Mr. Reneau:

Mr. Reneau was located in Ellensburg for the practice of law before he came to Waterville, and I am quite sure that he came from Ft. Dodge, Kansas, where he was engaged in the law, to Ellensburg, and that from the latter place he came to Waterville.

I have heard Mr. Reneau talk a number of times of his early life in Mississippi and of his experiences on cattle ranches in Texas; but I can give no detailed information, except that he was of French lineage; that his family was quite well-to-do financially before the Civil War, and perhaps afterwards also; that his family was of the aristocratic type of the "Old South"; that he was reared in affluence, well educated by private tutors, and was admitted to the bar in the state of Mississippi. He rode to hounds, enjoyed a horse race and found pleasant diversion in a game of poker now and then. In his early manhood, responding, I presume, to the call of the West, he came to Western Texas and rode the range as a "cowboy" over parts of Western Texas, Western Oklahoma and Southern Kansas. Later, he went to Ft. Dodge, Kansas, when that town was typically frontier

in aspect and character, and practiced law there for a few years. I think he came from Kansas direct to Ellensburg, Washington, but he may have stopped for a while in Colorado.

Normally, Mr. Reneau was of strong physique. He possessed a commanding figure and fairly radiated the air of being to the "manor born," a gentleman and a scholar. He was often termed the Nestor of the bar of this part of the state. He had a broad, comprehensive and logical mind, a firm hold of legal principles, which, combined with an almost phenomenal aptitude for remembering facts, and a fluency of forceful speech, won for him recognition as a safe and strong advocate before the courts. Mr. Reneau was fearlessly frank and open and had a keen sense of honor. There was never any doubt as to his attitude on matters of public concern.

LENOS J. RICKARD.

In Tacoma on June 25, 1915, Lenos J. Rickard, a Seattle attorney, died of a general breakdown. He was born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, in 1872. He came to Seattle in 1889, and was employed by Chester Cleary; he afterwards entered the law office of Ira Bronson as a law student and stenographer. He remained with Mr. Bronson, as chief clerk, until the Klondike rush in 1897, when he cast his fortune with so many other Seattle people in the gold rush to Dawson. His health was permanently broken by his Yukon experience; and, after attempting, without much success, to regain it in California, he returned to Seattle in 1899 and took care of the office work in Mr. Jay C. Allen's law office from that time until his death. His unfailing courtesy and kindly disposition caused him to be liked by all with whom he came in contact. He was a favorite in social circles and a leader among the younger society folk. A promising career was cut short by ill health and premature death.

GEORGE W. HOLCOMB.

An Associated Press dispatch from Washington, New York, under date of July 16, 1915, stated that George W. Holcomb, formerly of this state, had been instantly killed on the previous day in an automobile accident. He was sixty-five years of age and a native of San Diego, California. The town of Holcomb, in Pacific County, Washington, is named for him. In later years he devoted his energies to the financing of tracts of land in Washington and in Florida. At the time of his death he was residing in the city of New York.

THOMAS R. MATTISON.

In Tacoma on August 7, 1915, Thomas R. Mattison, formerly police judge in that city and a resident thereof for twenty-six years, passed

away. He was born in Stark County, Ohio, on October 6, 1845. He was a blacksmith's apprentice at Oskaloosa, Iowa, when the Civil War broke out and, when he became eighteen years of age, he left his home and enlisted in the Fourth Iowa Cavalry. He was with Company E when that body searched for President Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy. After his return from the war, he worked his way through high school and then through the Iowa State University. He married a classmate, Ursula M. Rogers, and while he was a student in the University Law School, his first son was born. In 1889 he came to Tacoma, when he engaged in the abstract business and afterwards in the general practice of law. He was Police Judge there from 1898 to 1901. He served as commander of Custer Post, G. A. R., more than twenty years ago. Besides his widow, Judge Mattison is survived by three sons, Raymond R. Mattison, assistant cashier of the National Bank of Tacoma; H. H. Mattison, a master plumber; M. M. Mattison, a prominent writer on the Seattle Times; and by two daughters, Mrs. Ethel Dunseeth and Miss Bertha Mattison, the last named being the private secretary to United States District Judge Edward E. Cushman. Judge Mattison was highly esteemed and very popular in Tacoma.