The Forrest City times., 1893-12-08
ARKANSAS STATE NEWS.
The Trial of H. c. AlIis.

The case of the government against H. q. Allis, ex-president of the defunct First national bank of Little Rock, was called for trial in the federal court iD Little Rock.
 Judge Walter H. Sanburn. of St. Paul, Minn.. a member of the federal court of appeals. pr e sided. Col T. B. Martin of council for defense, entered plea of not guilty for his client No trouble was experienced in selecting jury.
 THE CHARGE AGAINST ALLIs.
 District Attorney House opened the case of the government He recited at considerable length what evidence the government had to support the charges. The indictment con tains twenty nine counts, the first nine of which charge false reports to the comptroller. It is also cha rged that he made false entries in the books of the bank as to the amounts ot money he had on deposit in various national banks of the country. when. in fact, he had no transactions whatever with those institutions.
 THE OTHER SIDE.
 On the second day of the trial Col. T. B. Mar tin made the opening statement for the de- fense Among other things he said: The de- fendant. young man embarked in enterprises in the city of Little Rock from which older heads, if they had been successful. would have derived credit as possessing great financial skill But it was not his mismanage- ment. 1t was not his fault in any way that they failed About the time these things had got under full headway year of misfortune swept this country. and mum hers of national banks and private banking institutions failed. Horace Allis, young man born in Pulaski county thirty eight years ago, was reared up among his own people Because Of his business skill and his fidelity to duty in every trust and position, about 1890 there were men who. knowing him from boyhood. were willing to back him. The proof Col. Martin said. would show that MT. AlIis, in order tc save the GcPoSit0rs, warned them of the dangers, and advised them to call and get their deposits IL is true that some of the transactions looked shady; peo- pie were frightened. and the country was un- settled dur in~ great financial panic; but the proof wea, show that almost every man got his deposits. It is fact that when the re- sources of the First national were running at a low ebb the wires were clicking between here and St Louis for financial relief. During the financial trouble in the First national Mir. AlliS was not in the state. He was i'll Boston. exert ing every honest effort to save the hank from ruin. Now the government has made it appear that some of the transactions with foreign banking institutions were shady. These charges it will have to prove and the defense proposes to hold it down to the counts in the indictment.
 On the third day of the trial Bookkeeper r. '. Yost related how credits were placed on the banks books which he knew made him lia- ble to prosecution.
 On the fourth day MT. Yost was again placed on the witness stand. Frequently he woul d make very damaging statements against Mir. Allls while being questioned by the district attorney and moment later. when undergoing cross-examination, he would fatly contradict himself
 W. c. Denny, who cashier of the First national bank. was next called to the stand. He had been connected with the bank since 1881. He was under Col. Logan H. Roots and continued with MT Allis. He admitted that he and Allis were not on friendly terms. On cross examination he proved an utter failure and several times denied former statements.
 THE DEFENSE HAS AN INNING.
 The fifth day was field day for the defense, and was one of surprises for the prosecution. The first witness for the defense was $. B. Smith. assistant cashier of the bank Mir Smith said he heard Cashier Denny tell Bank Examiner Galbraith that he tDennyl made the change in the report to the comptroller and that he was alone responsible for it He also told the examiner that he changed the S1O0 COG liability Item to another the same side of the report, and that 1t did not change the re- suit at aii Both were liabilities In his di- rect testimony Denny said Mir Allis made the change.
 ALLIS ON THE STAND
 On the sixth day A G. Allis. the accused, was placed on the witness stand. He remained on stand the entire afternoon. and was in the midst of his cross examination when court The courtroom was pqcked with ladies and gentlemen while the defendant was on the stand. and the jury gave him the closest attention. Certain statements of Book keeper | Yost he characterized as pure fiction. Several former attaches of the bank were placed on the witness stand to contradict Ca shier Denny and Yost. Their testimony differed from the two prosecuting witnesses named.