The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-12-04

| concluded.
| Mr. Hiukle then began the cross-examina--
| tion of White by handing him the little red
| ledger known as the tag" book and ask
| ing wlo made the first and last entries in it.
Kerr made the first entry on January 2,
| 1856, and the last entry on September %,
1885"
During That period who was cashier of
! THE CALI. Officer"
:" James p. Kerr. He left June Q. 1889,
and l then took his place, and was sup
/ posed to be custodian of the moneys
Between January ,, 1856, and Septem-
! Der p, 1855, what is the balance of your in
dehtedness to The CALL as shown by that
bonk?'
at is S6S2S 95."
do you mean to say that over and above
| your salary of 500 week you overdrew
! S6S2S % during that period?'
Yes, sir; so it appears here. That
book shows the account between myself
and THE CALL"
Does that book show all the money you
took from THE CALL from January ,. 1886,
to September %. 1882"
81 suppose it does. After Kerr left took
| what 1 wanted and made no entries OF what
l took. am not able to state whether |
overdrew my account, and If SO, how much.
Up TO September %, 1883, l left a tag when
took money and Kerr entered it from the
tag on the book"
'Do you know how much CALI. money
you used from September %, 1885, to Feb
GuaEy -, log0S
NO ACCOUNT KEPT.
81 never kept any account of it,"
why did you not keep an account, yon
being custodian Of the cash after Kerr left?"
at was because OF Overwork and careless
ness When Kerr was there l had the key
of the safe and would help myself, and
| when he was not in the Office leave tag.
! There were three keys for the safe when
Kerr was there. Mr.. Pickering had one l
had another and Kerr the third. After Kerr
left had the only key of tie safe and |
was the only one who had authority to ham
de the cash turned into the safe"
How often did you account FOR the cash
received?"
Never accounted for it."
How often did you account for the
profits, e'c?'
Never. The monthly statements contain
the expenditures, receipts losses, etc. This
statement was made out ri various times.
We held il open long enough to get money
enough to show there was no loss on the
months business. Whenever there WAS
necessity the statement was held open long
enough TO prevent the showing of loss"
Turn to July II, 1889, the date you took
exclusive charge, after Kerr left. and state
If the page was left open?'
81 think that account has been closed
since l left the Office. L don't recognize the
writing. 1t is not made up in the usual
form"
DO YOU know the profit or loss for that
month";"
Il do not"
Turn to August u. 1892"
Yes; this page was held OPEN
skip 10 January l., 1902
This was held open 10 cover q loss in
the business and to deceive the Simonton
heirs"
WHITES BOOKKEEPING.
WHO kept this day-book from June ..
1899, to February % 1902
g / did. This book shows the receipts as
transferred from tie counter-book and the
disbursements by the cashier"
In answer to other questions White said
that the arrangements for making up the
cash and transferring 1t to the safe were his
own, He often put the money into the safe
without counting 1t and was generally very
careless about II.
Did it ever dawn uponyou that you were
responsible for the cash that passed through
your hands?"
"Ciyjlly. yes"
Did you ever think you might be crimi-
naly Tesponsible?'
mo, sir. l thought was ciyilly respon.
sib.e, and that is why l gave up my prop
erty TO settle the matter. As | said, the
books will show that 1t was due to my care
lesSneS>.'
Did you count or add up the tags that
were turned over to you as CASH"
The tags were impaled on file and left
on my desk, because there was no room for
them in the safe. They were often lost
while the boys were skylarking in the office
at night?"
During the nine months you acted as
cashier dc You know how much was taken
from THE CALL"
mo, sir"
:. Did you bet on the hOrse-races
YES"
spend money in the p0Ol-rooms?"
Whose money was used?"
My own. took il just as I needed it.
as l had always done"
During this time have you ang idea how
much you took out of TIE CALL oilice?"
NO, sir. l did not always lose the money
l took. Sometimes | won i'll the pooI-r0Oms
and put money back in the safe, but | kept
no account OF 1t and cant say how much. l
could not tell how much lost in Mitchell's
Magic Lotion or how much | lost in the
Breeder and Sportsman. The figures preyi-
ously given are general and approximately
correct"
In answer to other questions White said
the money with which he purchased the
Inyo County land was not taken from TIE
CALL. lie borrowed it from his brother
and other parties. He said that that portion
Of his confession stating he lost $1,000 in
patent medicine speculation and paid $4,000
for the stock of the Pacific Loan Association
was not correct. White repeated his asser-
ton that he signed the statement dated Feb
| ruary % 1890, without reading it.
Don't you think it is rather remarkable
q =
ing yourself indebted in the sum of S47, 600
without reading itP'
"NU. | have already explained how that
| came about during the rush at noon, wi 81
the statement was written"
What is this entry of note for So, O09p"
Il have nothing to do with that. While
in the East | was instructed to buy paper
for THE CALL and Bulletin. | was com
| PEELED to borrow money from the banks and
that was the cause of the note. | did not
charge myself with the So, 000."
A recess was taken until o'clock in the
afternoon, when the cross-examination was
resumed.
How long was Kerr cashier of THE
CALL?"
White hesitated a moment aud then an
swered: u don't remem Der when he started
in as cashier. He left June 9, 1889. Up to
that time don't know what the shortage
was"
Did you ever sign statement for Kerr?"
Yes; it was that whatever shortage
there was l was responsible for it and not
he."
WAS there shortage at that time?"
81 did not know"
why did you say there was shortage,
then?"
II knew l had overdrawn $4,000 on my
salary. | referred to the period between
January 2, 1886. and September %, 1888.
Kerr said there would be trouble ana | re-
leased him without making an examiDa-
ton"
IF you had known OF the exact shortage
would you have given him the statement"
Yes; think | would. However, L did
give him the statement very ndiscreetly."
Then MI. Hinkle resumed reading
Whites confession of February %, 1890,
and asked him more questions about it,
why did you put down a loss of $1,000
in patent medicines 9"
That amount represents rough guess
L had simply kept rough estimate, and
could only state in a general way
This $1,000 you state yon lost In patent
medicines was your speculative idea ?"
Il could not tell how much it was"
How close was the item of 5000 invested
in Inyo?"
That was pretty close"
"How close, in your judgment, was the
item of loss in betting of SIO0OO2n