The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1885-02-26
~ STATEMENT

~ STATEMENT
Sho,cing 'chy Geo. W. Penn Purchased
the 1Vorthi"gto', Record, and ,chv the
Record. Under his Management, ,oas
not Continued as a Democratic Pa
per-"
The above is the heading OF . three
column article which appeared in last
weeks Record, written by Mr.. Penn
In it, Mr.. Penn assumes to
tell why he came to Worthington, why
lie has not succeeded in publishing n
De nocratic paper, and who are to
blame for his m,sfortunes. A portion
Of this statement is true and a portion
is not true. The parts which are true,
are only half statements, giving only
one side, or one-sided reasons for MIR.
Pehn's failure.
We propose to give the correct yer.
sion of the matter and Of Mr.. P.'s afore-
said, alleged failure.
Mr.. p. publishes extracts from let.
ters written to him by r. II. Miller
and the editor of the ADVANCE, the
object being to show that ''them Mil.
lers" deceived him.
Let us quote some Of Mr.. P's letters
to Sheriff Miller which will show that
everything was done upon Mr.. Penn's
order and after he had been fully in.
formed of the facts.
Before doing so let us say that this
whole matter was brought to the sur
face by the fact that D. Shell: sued Mr..
Penn on note for 1925, and that un-
der this suit the Record Office was at
tached and advertised for sale. The
SD a!e was not made. however. until Sat.
urd;y last, when Mr.. Shell bought it
in.
Mr.. Penn set up as defence that
this 1926 was raised for the purpose of
getting rid of u nondescript who was
in possession of the Record at the time;
that it was not purchase money, but a
bonus paid to the aforesaid monde
script to leave town.
On this claim the whole matter him
ges.
Now for Mr.. Penn's letters:
Under date of Feb. S, 1884. lie writes
to r. II. Miller:
If you think it best to secure the
Record office at once, would advise
you to do so. Mr.. Miller, of the AD.
VANCE, will know if lie takes u look at
the property what it is worth and can
inform you. cannot tell how much
will be able to pay down on my arrival
ut Wortllington, but will be able to
pay it ill within year. and will not
object to paying i good interest on any
sun. atlvnnced IN my behalf. I am per-
fectly willing to entruSt my interests
to the care of yourself and Mr.. Miller,
of the ADVANCE. If you can secure
the ownership Of the office ut once. it
might he we'll to let the editor of the
Record run his paper till the first of
April, if You think he would take prop
er care of the office with the prospects
before him. All that have to say in
the matter is to get the office as cheap
rs you can, without undue haggling,
and govern yourselves rs to other mat
ters according to your own judgment.
You say that perhaps the office can be
bought for $50. In this you may Of
course he mistaken. 1t is not likely
| that the hand press is wOrtl, more than
Sl5O, unless it is almost new, but If the
Universal job press is in good repair,
the office will be cheap at 81 600.
Feb q, 1884, Mr.. Penn writes to r..
II. Miller again:
If were sure that would sell my
interest here within tile next thirty
days, would have no hesitation in
telling you to offer for rue the sum of
81 $50 for the Record Office"
March 3, 1884, Mr.. T. again wrote to
Sheriff Miller:
If the owner OF the Record Office
will not give me the refusal Of it until
that time (April) you have my authori-
ty to offer him tor me $3.50 down and
$500 the first of May.
If further negotiations cannot be
safely delayed until the first of April,
perhaps you had better bring the pro-
priet0rs of the Record Office to- some
| terms at once. You have my highest
figures and ere hereby authorized to do
,choterer you think best to be donc."
March II, 1884, Mr.. p. again writes
to r. r.:
II cannot tell you how grateful 1
| feel for the kindness you have shown
towards me iE SO many ways. Sooner
or later, of course, hope to be able to
recompense you for your time and
trouble in my behalf"
Don't this tell the whole storyl
Don't it authorize r. r. Miller to 60
ahead and buy the Office for $l.15O!
Don't it authorize him to borrow some
money to close the matter up for which,
Penn says he is willing to pay \ good
interest? And acting upon this, who
would r. r. 20 to to borrow the mon
ey, if not to his friends? That is why
Shell, Grinager, and others appear in
this matter, simply because r. r. went
to some of his friends to borrow money
to accommodate friend.
1t should be known that this whole
business WAS done with Peter Thomp.
son, who owned the Record office. Tie
nondescript then in possession was not
dealt with at all by Mr.. Miller. Peter
Thompson offered him and paid him
several hundred dollars for the good
will of the office, and he took the mon
ey and lit out. Sheriff Miller asked
Mr.. Thompson whether it would no,
be best to leave the nondescrlpt in
charge till Penn arrived but Mr.
Thompson emphatically said no.
Mr.. Miller, therefore, took possession
for his friend Penn, and run the pape,
till Penn arrived.
| Mr.. Penn, in his statement, quotes
from a letter written TO him by the ed