Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-04-09
EXTRAORDINARY.
Al EX-RailFoad Treasurer IN H8t Water
He haBipHiatss Bends WlthsHt Al.
thsriiy-Whst Is Said Of It,

When Robertson Topp was President
and J. NJ. TOmeny Secretary OF the Mem
phis and Ohio RailrOsd Company, it seems
that five hundred $1,000 bonds of the COM
pany were engraved, and of. these four
hundred and thirJy-twO were sold, two
having been given to the eugrsver. The
rest we're never used, though twenty
seven signed are missing. These facts
were stated so frequently in the
official reports of the company that
they were accurately remem bsred
by Mr.. Woodruff. When, therefore,
Mr.. J. Ai, TOmeny proposed day before
yesterday to sell eleven OF these identical
missing bonds, signed ss stated by Rob
ertsOn TOpp, TO Mr.. Woodruff, the Presi-
dent of the company, this gentleman
was not a little excited. He assured Mr.
IOmeuy there must be some mistake
sbOgt the matter, since the highest num-
Der OF thess bonds outstanding was 432,
while IOmenY held numbers 433 to 445,
inclusive. Mr.. TOmeny, it will be re-
mem bered, WBs Secretary and Treasurer
Of the company in 1901, and his bonds
men of those years are perfectly solvent.
They, however, hsYe forgotten that they
we're such bOndsmen, and it's ne business
Of ours to make them unhappy through
ont thls Sabbath day
PERHAPs THIS Is AN ExPLANATION.
The watchful, cunning bankers may
have l5en Elisled by curious facts ia this
case. IL seems that MIR. Woodruff at once
went with Mr., TOmeny to the bank vault
in which the books o. the railroad COM
pany are deposited. On one of its pages
appeared the following entry; 1852, cash
proceeds June lst Of Ii bonds, Nos. 453
10 443 inclusive at IS, $500
MIR. Woodruff had never before read or
heard Of this transaction. The cash book
of the Company was lost or mislaid by
Mr. rOm6ny year or two ago, and these
entries IN this ledger were the Oaly
sources of Information In reference to
those income bonds. Mr.. Woodruff scan
ned the entry above given very closely.
Transactions of eight or nine years ago,
when il was dated, ,prece aded it, and all on
the page were in the handwriting OF Mr..
IOmeny.
HOW THE DETECTION WAS MADE.
When Mr.. Woodruff was examining the
entry above copied, he thought it had an
air Of extraordinary freshness. The at
tentlOn of others and of several experts
was called to the fact and the entry was
pronounced q forgery. Then a strange
incident made the fact unguestiOnable
that there had been foul play with
the records Of the railroad company.
A LOOKING GLASS LIGHTS UP THR SAD
STORY.
It seems that piece Of blotting paper
OF the usual shape, having on it the name
Of some insurance company, and of the
date 1871, was lying beside this railroad
record book. When the blOtting paper
was held before q mirror and the inverted
letters we're thus examined through a
magnifying glass, it was demonstrably
true, that the entry, as asserted by Presi-
dent Woodruff, was pslpsbly bogus.
A SETTLEMENT ANTICIPATED.
Yesterday afternoon we heard that
terms of adjustment were agreed upon,
and It was supposed that the missing
bonds would be accounted for. We can
hardly believe the state Of facts above
given TO be wholly correct. There must
be some misrepresentation, and, because OF
the reputation borne by Mr.. TOmeny in
1860, '6l and '62, we may surely expect
some satisfactory explanation or denial of
the curious facts above recouuted. In any
event, the affair creates much excitement
among bankers and dealers in local seem
rites, among whom the alleged trausac-
tion begat an indnitude of discussion
throughout yesterday.