Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1883-07-17
Folks MISSING IEOGER.
A Convenient Key that Hung on q
Convssiszt Wall,
Sl,pshed Way Of keeping I'm
porGaat Recsrds>

/ furnish naay and tre1aeas sensations,
The eos eossr,ee6 yesterday was
AMONG The most notable Of them ail,
The stsrsSoS discover vas made By
Mr.. N. E. Hoase, the chief clerk in
the csSSs otths State Treasurer, yes
teriay norains. between IL aud "
o'closk, that the bank ledger which
bad been kept hy Captain James e,
Fleming trOm sone tine IN lS11, until
January 1. lSSS. vas missing.
In an ineerview with an American
reporter yesterday, Mr.. House SAYS he
remembers distinctly seeing the ledger
on the table in his efhce about II
o'clock the day before, aud though be
does not remember seeing 1t since
then, believes 6rmly that it was in the
Office when he left at 7:45 o'clock
Thursday night,
This is the ledger which contains
the celebrated entries claimed By the
State to have been falsely made by
CsptSin James {. Fleming. aggreSat,
ine hundreds Of thousands Of dollars,
among which was the entry Of $4,000
which the State claims Captain Elem.
Ing falsely made for the purpose Of de-
ceiving the Legislative Investigating
Committee, appointed to investigate
the condition OF the treasury in April,
1881. By this entry II appears that
there was so, 100 to Mr.. Folks credit,
as Treasurer, which was really not
there. This entry, it is charged, was
Afterwards cOrrectea,as appears on the
ledger, for the purpose OF strsinghen>
ing the books.
is it true. Mr.. House." added the
reporter, that the bank ledger kept
by Captain Fleming during Mr.. Folks
occupancy of the Office OF State Treas
urer was stolen from your Office last
night!'
yes" replied the chief clerk, lit
certainly must have been stolen last
night"
Being asked to state the circum-
stances attending the disappearance of
this most important book, MIR. House
said:
Il got that book out of the rack
under my desk where | keep other
books Of the kind. three days ago. for
the purpose of making some examine
tons, aud. as | have had to refer to it
everyday since, left it out on the
table. | remember referring to it be-
tween 10 aud IL o'clock yesterday
morning, because | had occasion then
to examine the account of the
Mechanics National Bank Of
Knoxville | first looked for the book
between II aud II clock this morn
ing, and did not find it upon the table
as had expected, aud searched in
every place where | thought it was
likely to be. | felt right away
the importance Of this book as
evidence for the State in
the trial now pending between
it aud the late State Treasurer, and
Immediately informed Colonel Thomas
of my suspicious. Colonel Thomas
thereupon held a consultation with
the Governor. am satisfied the book
was in the place | had seen it yester-
day when left the Office with General
Csntrell last night, which was about
8 o'clock. | remember distinctly con-
versing with him on the south porch
of the capitol, after hsvinn locked up
the Office, and wanting a drink OF
water went into the Superintendent's
Office where the various keys are kept
hanging on hooks, and took the key OF
the Treasurer's Office down. went into
the room, drank the water and then
came out, locked the door and hung
the key back on the hook in the Su
perintendent's Office where it usually
huug and where | had taken it from.
then Joined General Cantrell and
vent down tsvn with him. lam CON
winged the ledger was taken from the
TreasIrer'E Office between the time
last locked the door last night aud the
time it was unlocked this morning.
"How and by whom was this book
kept" asked the reporter.
ut was kept by Captain Fleming
| Marsh Z. Folks chief clerk. from
March 10, 1873, until January 4, 1893
which is the day he made the last ref.
, erenoe upon it, 1t is Of the most i'm
portanoe in this trial, as you will SCI
when | explain to you that it wa
/, kept in four columns, the 6rst beinl
the debtor column, the second thu
creditor column, the third the 'debi
balance column, and the fourth til,
credit balance column By this sys
TEN the chiet clerk Of the Treasurer
Office, or auy other book keeper 70
the matter Of that, was able 10 ascer
G tain the exact amount on deposit il
9 the banks to the credit of the Treas
1rer in few seconds, from the fac
: that when a certificate Of deposit wa
G sent 10 it was charged TO the bank
e and'Rs a check was drawn the ban
q was credited with the sane, and tn
balance was shown 10 the debit bal
!, ance calupn."
a The importance Of the missing led
d ger as evidence 10 the Polk case wi
: te best understood by the followip
extract FROM Captain Fleming's tel
Is timony before TIC legislative commit
It tee appointed to investigate the cor
je dition Of the Treasures once lei
ar January:
" came into Office March Is, 1s7t
u Colonel Pelk was elected in 1877, an
rs was in Office little over year befol
i. came; when 1 FIRST sane into Ii
ID ohcs Nr. Polk told me that there VI
II a shortage Of between ten and tgent
thousand dollaTa, but said that
could make it good, that be had co
latersls 70 represent it; ny habit vi
10 balance the books every mont
: and about every three months ! Woul
i make q statement, shGgjng how mue
y Mr.. Polk was short the amount
n shortage increased from that time o.