Morning journal and courier., 1894-06-14
CAUSED A SENSATION.
Attorney WeIlman Read the Letter of Confession of Erastus wiman wrIt- ten to R. c. Dun, in Which the For mer ConfeRaed HIa Criune


 Attorney WeIlman Read the Letter ol
 Confession of Erastus wiman VI rIt-
 ten to R. c. Dun, in Which She For
 mer Confessed His Crime.
 NEW YORK, June 13.-In the wiman
 trial to day MT. Wellman caused e sensa-
 ton by offering ss evidence letter writ
 ten by Wiman to R. G. Dun & Co.,, which
 contained the SO ocslled confer sion to which
 Mir Wellmsn had alluded in his opening
 address. General Tracy objected to the
 admission of this letter on the ground that
 the letter was written by MT. Wimsn on
 the advice of counsel and with the distinct understanding that it would not be used in ! either a civil or criminal action. He of fered to prove this fact by the testimony of the defendant or of his counsel, MT. Nc Farlsnd. The court said he would allow General Tracy to prove his fact, and Mr. Mcfarland was sent for.
 Mr. Wimsn then took the stand and said that he had known Mr. Mcfarland for twenty years and that after his trouble with R. G. Dun & Go. MT. Mcfarland sent for him and advised him to write the let ter in question There was no cross exam instion on this point and Mir. Wimsn wss excused.
 William Wallace Mcfarland was then called. He said that he had not advised Ar. Wiman in any particular about the let ter, although he had advised him to write some sort of explanation.
 MT. Wellmsn then offered the letter. General Tracy objected, but Justic.kIngra- ham decided that the document wss ad- missable.
 MT. Wellmsn then read 1t aloud. It was as follows:
 3l4 BROADWAY, Feb. 20, 1893.
 Ny Dear Mr. Dun-I have had occasion to write you in terms of great humiliation, but never before under such circumstances as now, in which have 8 confession to make to you. It is that improperly and frsudulently I have signed the name of E w. Bullinger on the back of two checks of your firm made to his order. I will not urge that this was done without any evil intent, or that he would have signed them himself had asked him, or that had any intention of defraudiDg you or him.
 Simply and frankly, must say that I committed this set without authority and most imprudently, and can ask no excuss or psilstion, except such as in your sbun dant charity and goodness of heart you may in mercy extend to me.
 For the sake of my dear wife and chill dren and for the sake of the long service rendered to you, pray God your heart may still be softened toward me and that I may | not be made to suffer the penalty of my of- | fense. Respectfully,
 ERAsrUs WIMAn.
 MT. Wellman then rested the case for the | people.
 General Tracy then made the ususl mo- | lions to strike out certain portions of the | evidence, including that relating to the | Sl35, ,000 check. These motions were al | denied. General Tracy then moved to have | that Wiman was a member of the firm of | R. G. Dun & Co.,, and that he had right | to sign ss he did, according to the decision | of Justice Barrett In the case of Phillips | against the Commercial bank, and that the | use of the name Bullinger was merely that of fictitious drswee. The argument was long and exhaustive.
 General Tracy concluded his argument | at 2:10 o'clock. He laid great stress upon the agreement which had bsen made be- tween Dun, Douglass, Wiman and King. Justice Ingraham denied both motions made by General Tracy, and gave his reasons at length.
 MT. Boardman then addressed the jury.
 At the conclusion of Mir Boardmsn's sd- dress, Erastus Wimsn was called to the stand, and the direct examination was be- gun by General Tracy. MT. Wiman, in re- ply to General Tracy's questions, said that when he came to New York in 1865 to | take charge of the general business of the Dun agency in this country, the business was being run at 8 loss, but when he was put out of 1t s year ago the annual profits exceeded $500, ,000. MT. Wimsn said that he had always conducted most of the business of R G. Dun & Co.,; that he had signed at least 75 per cent of All the cheeks that went out of the estsb- and that in every way be was held responsible for the conduct of the business. General Tracy got him to state &r. Dun was interested with him in nearly all the outside enterprises with which he was identified. The witness specified @ number of these enterprises. He said Mir. Dun knew that MT. Wimsn was in the | habit of overdrawiDg his account.
 General Tracy produced a letter written In July, 1899, to MT. Wimsn by MT. Dan, la which the latter upbraids the former with overdrawing his scconnt so much aud refers to previous conversations on the same subject. He concludes bS saying that Mir. Winan must content himself with drawing no more than $3 900 a month. The letter was written before the check for S135, ,000 had been drawn by Ar. Wi man. The witness ssid that MT. Duu knew that the witness owned over $500. 900 worth of real estate and that he was holding 1t | ready to reimburse Mir Dun should the ne. cessity arise.
 The trend of the witness testimony went to show that the relations between | Messrs. Dun and Wiman were very close, and that Mr. Wimsn had practically made | the business of R. c. Dun 6 Go. what 1t | Is.
 Adjourned until tomorrow morning. Justice Iugrahsm said he would expect the | case to 80 to the jury tomorrow night.