The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-05-25
BMBEzzLED OVER $4,000.
The Deceased Rutherford Collectors
Found Wrong.

nice scandal has lust been unearthed IN
a certain department in the municipal gov
eminent of the town of Rutherford. The
bondsmen of Tony W. Alyea, who died last
fall and who filed the office of Town Col
lector, of Taxes, have been requested to meet
the Mayor and Town Council and consqlu
as to the investigation OF the late MI.
Alveais accounts as that Is the way the IN
~vitation was put. 1t is not at present gen
orally known, but the fact is beyond ques-
tion. the the late collectors accounts are
thousands upon thousands short of being
accurately balauced. This discovery has
only been accidentally made, but it was only
a question Of time when the denclencles anu
defalcations would have been laid bare.
1t came about in this way. Notmany days
ago the Mayor and Common Council wished
to know precisely in what condition the m
| ances of the borough were, and TO tha5
end appointed a special committee 10 MAKE
an examination into every department.: ihlS
| committee for the Collectors department
investigation, appointed two temporary col
~lectors, one for the personal taxes, and the
other for the general taxes and assessments
The very first day the Collector on Assess
ments started in, he found a state OF things
alarming in the extreme. In one sVfee5 alone,
where the assessments only agSreSaled
81. SOC. $500 taxes due had been collected by
MI lfGl, IeCGlDICo OAAo AFO
line Of entry in his official casn
books. At once the Special Commit
tee was notified and a thorough
search made into the late collectors BOOKS
Both collectors began a house to house IN
s~pection, and 20 their amazernent FOUND re-
ceipted bills for taxes n assessments Que,
not a cent of which, although collected by
MI. Alyea. had found Its way mt ene Dor
ough's Golfers.
Thousands of dollars of taxes charged IN
the books of the collector against individuals
had been paid by them to the collector and
properly receipted bills had been given IN
return.
1aaen again certain amounts pald TO the
collector were largely in excess OF the proper
valuation. and on the other hand entries
were made in the collectors receipt book OF
axes received, but the amounts were falsl-
fed. In short, a scheme of fraud existed OF
the most clumsy kind, yet no one outside OF
the actual perpetrator seems to have owned
that Tom Alyea's books were wrong AS a
result of these revelations a special meeting
of the Mayor and Council took place when
the facts were made known. The Mayor,
with the consent of the counsel, notified Mr..
AIyea's bondsmen to come and assist at the
Investigation. The bondsmen are Charles
Palmer and Mr.. Haywood, both OF huther,
ford, who each went on Mr.. Alyeas bono
for $4,000 each.
III ". AZ %, "hCo0
has brought about this state of affairs, was
at the time Of his death a bachelor and
forty-two years of age. He lived with his
uncle, Garrett Alyea, formerly postmaster OF
the town, and who, by the way, prominently
figured In the Thousand Dollar Post Office
Bride case which set all Rutherford by the
ears some time ago.
Tue late collector, it is true, had a fine
| collection of jewelry, wore splendid dia-
monds, drove fast horses and spent his
money freely WITH the boys; but everybody
knew he was single and his ample salary
gave him means for amusements which
others had not. He was never considered
| an e-xtravagant man nor a high roller" he
was not long i'll and his death from typhoid
fever was much regretted. MI. Alyea was
q genial man, hailfelow-weI-met
and even his political foes could
find no flaw against him, SO they said
The bondsmen who will make up the q iount
of the bonds will meet the Mayor and Coun-
| Gil today. when some estimate of the amount
OF defalcations will be arrived. at. So far
back nave the populations been running that
the work of investigation is anything but
easy. One thing is certain-that the S20,000
bonds will by no means cover the steailngs.
A competent authority says that about $780,
600 has disapDaareQ