Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1884-02-06
Henry ID. Billings Testimony Regard
ing Mr.. Prentiss and the Prentiss
Lumber Go.

Henry ID. Billings Testimony Regard
ing Mr.. Prentiss and the Prentiss
Lumber Co.
Mr.. EDIToR.-In your issue of
Dec. 26th you say that l swore to a
certain statement Of the Prentiss
Lumber Co. This is not true. Five
lines below you say it again, with the
additional information (?) that l took
the oath before notary public. |
suppose you intended to state the mat
ter just as it was; yet if you bad
looked at the Report which you print
ed less than two inches above, you
would have seen your error. This
shows how easy it is to make mistakes.
If the Prentiss Lumber Co. made
some, be charitable.
l certified to the correctness of that
report. No sane man supposes that l
counted every saw log buried in the
snow between Grand Marais and AL
pena, or that 1 knew exactly how
many onions remained uneaten in the
many camps the Prentiss Lumber Co.
was running January 1st, 1888. The
certifcation means that l, as a bust
ness man, made very careful ex-
animation of the affairs of the COM
pany at that time, and gave it as my
best judgment that the company had
net assets of $123,866.S1, assuming
your figures to be correctly copied,
which l do not doubt. Any state
ment of that nature, given by me for
publication with my name attached
to it, you may assume to be substan-
TALLY correct until the contrary is
proved.
1 agree with Mr.. Prentiss that the
columns of a newspaper are not the
proper avenues of communication be.
tween his company and its creditors
Mr.. Prentiss states in your issue Of
January 9th, that the books, "show
ing every transaction Of the company
showing the shipment of every foo,
of lumber and just what became o.
the proceeds, have been thrown oper
to such creditors as called" from Oct
Goth to that time. At this distance
it is difficult to see what anybody else
has to do with the matter, or why the
ARGUS discusses in public thing;
about which it confessedly knows very
little.
There is, however, one fact Of gen
eral interest which ought to be I'M
derstood, and which every Alpena
paper ought to publish with pride
Mr.. Prentiss might have saved from
the wreck $4,000, which was his in
dividual property, wholly outside o.
the Company. Among other pieces
of property the barge Rhoda Ste,cart
and the tug James Reid stood in the
name of Geo. Prentiss. They never
belonged to the Company, never could
have been held for its debts, NIGH
to-day belong to Geo. Prentiss abso
lutely. Yet this man, from a mic,
sense of honor, because he had man
aged the affairs of the Company ant
therefore would not let any one lose q
dollar through its misfortunes till hi
had lost his all, deliberately took
$4,000, all he had, and let it gc
towards paying claims for which he
was no more responsible legally, Mr.
Editor, than you are 1 put it tc
the conscience Of every business man
in Alpena, would you have done a,
much, under the circumstances
L kept the books of Mr.. Prentiss for
two years, and he probably engaged in
no financial transaction Of Importance
from March Goth, 1881, to Oct. Goth
1883, of which the details did not
pass through my hands. I knew
where all the money came from and
where it went. was one of three
men whom he consulted in making
the mortgage Of Sept. 7th, 1883, and
probably enjoyed his confidence fully
at that time. Speaking from person
al knowledge, not from heresay or
street gossip, ] give it as my deliberate
opinion, that if God ever made an
honest man, George Prentiss is one.
Mr.. Editor, in an age when minis
tiers of the gospel, deacons, bank
presidents and trusted men of all