Los Angeles herald., 1891-04-11
THE MAN WHO LAUGHS.
REV. ELLIS APPARENTLY NOT woR'
RfED BY HIS TRIAL.
The Evidence Given on wednesday-Eliis
Not Authorized to Expend Money
Which is Gone.

The ecclesiastical court engaged in
the trial of Rev. John w. Ellis had a
very dull time of it yesterday, says
Thursday's San Francisco Examiner.
But once was the session enlivened a
little.
The accused divine sat quietly in his
place until motion was made that the
judicatory suspend the trial until q
week from next Monday. as many Of the
reverend gentlemen in attendance de-
sired to give little of their time to
church work. Then the defendant rose
and made rather impassioned speech
in opposition to further delay.
''I protest." he said, "against any
postponement. Let us not delay. Be
just and fair at least. stand accused
before the world. My honor and my
reputation are at stake. / am suspend
ed, as it were. am innocent, and ex-
pect to prove it. My demands are rea.
sonable. By the angels in heaven, / call
for an investigation to the end. These
accusations should not remain pending.
If you are serious, / beg of you to pro-
ceed."
DIR. Chapman, who made the motion
to stay the investigation for while,
was astounded at the storm he had
aroused and hastily withdrew his propo-
sition.
When the court reassembled in the
afternoon John Mccullough, the clerk
of the trustees of the Central Pres
byterian church, was the first witness
called. He testified that the loan of
$1,000 was contracted by the church from
the Hibernia bank for the purpose OF
making repairs. 1t was not presumed
or expressed that Dr. Ellis should have
the right to use any OF the money for his
personal expenses.
"Was DIR. Ellis authorized to receive
the money from the bank and disburse
it?'
s'No," replied the witness. ga gen.
eral feeling prevailed among the trustees
that he should expend the money, but
he was not authorized to do so."
DIR. Ellis stroked his mustache quietly,
as he rose, calm and dark as usual, to
begin the cross-examination. He kept
at Mr.. Mccullough for at least twenty
minutes, digging away in search of some
bit of evidence that would benefit his
cause. He forced the witness to testify
that the loan was contracted for the pur-
pose OF paying the pastors salary, inter-
est charges due, and other things in
addition to church repairs.
DR.. Ellis seized eagerly on astatement
by Mr.. Mccullough that he had des-
trOyed his rough minutes some time
after transcribing them into the regular
minute book, where they were approved
by the trustees. He emphasized this by
having the witness go over the destruc-
tion of the book in detail. Mr.. McCul-
Tough said that he had burnt it simply
because there was no further use for it.
"If thought this was coming up I
would have saved it" he added.
when DIR. Fills presented his state
ment," Mr.. Mccullough continued, 'as
to how the loan had been disbursed, he
said that it was final account with the
exception of few trifing claims that
he had been unable to recall, because
the thief who had entered the church
had stolen his papers. He never inti-
mated that the bills which were returned
as paid had not been settled"
James Johnson. trustee of the Cen
trail Presbyterian church, testified that
none of the money received from the
bank was to be used by DR.. Ellis for his
private expenses. 1t was to meet the
bills for repairs and interest due. The
repairs were expected to cost from $500
to $4,000, and nothing was said as to
what should be done with the remain
der of the $1,000.
The cross-examination by the defend.
ant failed to elicit anything new.
At one point DR.. Elliss asked ques-
tion that caused the witness to return
laughing reply. The accused minister
promptly joined in the mirth, laughing
louder than all the others. The ordeal
through which he is passing has, to all
appearances, not worried him in the
least.
The trial goes on TODAY.