The morning call., 1893-09-27
BANCROFT STORY
The Historian Takes the
Witness Chair.
HIS TROUBLESOME NEPHEWs.
How w. B. Bancroft Received Noth-
ing but Favors at His HANDS,
Only to Prove Ungratefui.


resumed yesterday before Judge Slack,
when fresh arguments were heard upon
the defendants proposed amended answer
to the com plant.
When Attorney Galpin first introduced
the document in question ii was vigorously
opposed on the ground that by not admit
ting the use Of the words complained of in
the exact order stated in the complaint the
explanation OF the reasons which induced
the defendant to utter any such words
could not be considered in mitlgat tlon OF
damages. Judge Slack took this view, Dut
deferred passing upon the amended an
swer until yesterday.
Taking advantage of the judicial hint,
Attorney Galpin yesterday appeared with
another amended answer, in which the de-
fendant, Ii. H. Bancroft, admitted, WORD
for word, the allegations he was alleged 10
have made against his nephew, w. b.
Bancroft. merely stating. with view to
mitigation OF damages. what his reasons
were for placing an unfavorable lnterpre-
taton upon his nephew's conduct.
Counsel for the plaintiff opposed this
new document as vigorously as the otner
one, the chief cause of complaint being
that II. d. Bancroft had inserted words by
! way of explanation that did not belong to
the complaint. He has said, speaking OF
nephew BancrOfts pledging The shares
~,
not to pledge them until the shares in
! question became of par value. Meanwhile
i he held them in trust for himself and his
| family"
| Judge Slack, in ruling upon the proposed
| amended answer, said that it seemed evil
! dent TO him that the Bancroft Company
| had some interest in what w. b. Bancroft
did with the 1850 shares of stock that were
| gwen TO him. There was no objection, he
| thought, to the plea on that score. The
! plea was not one In Justi alton OF the
| words used, but II might fairly be taken as
a plea in mitigation OF damages. On due
| con OnSideratlOn he would be allowed the
proposed amended answer to be filed, pro-
! vided that it were duly verified. This was
arranged. and the document declared ad-
| mitted.
The cross-eXaminaLion of T. A. c. Dor
land was resumed. The witness admitted
! having offered to compromise the action for
$1,000, acting on Instructions from Il. II.
Bancroft.
T. G. Peterson, booxkeeper for the Ban
croft Company. testified thatthe statement
of account offered in evidence by Dorland
compared exactly with the account con-
tanned in the company'S books. 1t was also
true that Captain Cox had issued orders
preventing W. B. Bancroft from drawing
on his special account. The witness
was present at the directors meeting when
w. B. Bancroft received his 1850 shares of
stock. He seemed very grateful for the
gift, and promised to hold the shares in
trust, and not to dispose of them.
Did W. 3. Bancroft, on leaving the
company, say anything about his account
being wr0nsY"
NO, sir. lie made no complaint what
ever as To there being any erroneous entries
in the books"
toned regarding an item of $1,000 which
appeared in the account as charged back
30 W. i. Bancroft, causing his account to
appear on the debit side. DOrlaDd eX-
Dained this by saying that Fl. II. Bancroft
had raid large sum In excess of the value
Of w. b. Bancrofts printing works. fl.
Ii. Bancroft had accepted his nephew's
statement of the value of the property. bat
it was erroneous. This item of $1,000,
therefore, was bv way of part restitution.
when W. B. Bancroft left the company
was anything ever said regarding this
SCOOP" asked Galpln.
mo, sir; nothing whatever"
The deposition OF Mrs. Kate K. Rich
ards, daughter of II. II. Bancroft, which
had been taken IN court on the preceding
day, was then read to the jury. Mrs.
Richards testified TO being one of the d.
rectors of the Bancroft Company and to
owning one-Q quarter of the stock ever since
the fire in 1856
"Was w. b. Bancroft's account ever
OveTdrawn with your knowledge and con-
sent ?"
mo. Inever knew he was overdrawn
until ne left the company"
Mrs. Richards depoSed TO having been
present at a directors meeting in 1889
| when W. &. Bancr fl was formally pre-
sented with 1850 shares of stock in the
| company. Young Bancroft promised not
to use or dispose of the stock in any way,
but to hold them In trust.
In croSS-eXaminatiOn the witness al
though admitting that she was dependent
on her father for all she had received said
that she had not consulted with him on the
subject of her testimony.
In the afternoon H. II. Bancroft, the
defendant, was examined. He spoke of
the amalgamating of his nephew's print
ing business with the Bancroft Company
in 1886, and of the arrangement that was
made for w. B. Bancroft to undertake the
management of the business of the COM
panv. The witness complained that he
paid too much for his nepheW'S printing
office. IL was IN damaged condition and
the plant was not of much use. The wit
ness tried afterward 10 sell the printing
office for one-haf of what he had paid for
ii, but no one would buy il. Besides, there
were bills due the printing concern which
w. b. Bancroft agreed might be taken out
in trade. He afterward traded out some
of the bills himself, rendering no account
of them either to the witness or to the COM
pany.
Mr.. Bancroft told how his nephew had
been presented with 1850 shares of stock
at meeting of the directors of the ON
pany held in 1889. W. s. Bancroft on
that occasion made quite a speech, "in
which there was considerable buncom be-"
promising above all things not 10 dispose
of the stock. Some time after that the
witness had TO get w. B. Baucrofts stock
out of pawn.
Then the defendants examination turned
upon the interview with the reporter Fl,
IL. Bancroft explained that his nephew had
sued him for restoration Of the 1850 shares
of stock, and the reporter called at his
house on the evening of October Z, 1891, to
ask for his version of the story. He had
at first declined to talk, but on the re Orter
assuring him that he would have to pub
lish story the next day he had told him
the truth of the matter.
The witness told the reporter a pathetic
story OF his troubles with his nephews.
His own brother had been unfortunate in
business, and the sons had applied to him
(the witness) for assistance. He had done
what he could for them ALL but they had
turned out badly. w. B. Bancroft himself
had been unfortunate in business in San
Diego, but the witness had taken him by
the hand. The other nephews had in the
meantime drought all sorts of blar kmail-