Omaha daily bee., 1896-01-14
RECEIVER STEINKE'S STORY
Testifes as to the Condition Of Atlantic's
Bursted Bank.
VALUE OF Mr.. D~lCKtRsoN'S PROPERTY
Partial Estimate of the Banks Lin
biIities Gone over I'm Detnil-Ef-
forts Made to Keep the Con-
Germ in Operation.

Germ in Operation.
Theodore Steinke, receiver of the Cass
County bank, was on the witness stand most
of the day in the trial Of the Dickerson
case yesterday. His testimony was partly
Of the nature of an expert and there was
a lively contest ON all the time, the attor-
neys for the defense objecting TO much
of his evidence on the ground that the books
Of the bank would show the state Of the
concern better than the evidence Of the
witness. Hon. Smith Mcpherson of Red Oak,
counsel for the defense, appeared for the
first time In the trial yesterday and took
an active part in the examination Of the
witnesses.
Mr.. Steinkc identified a large bundle of
notes as the property of the bank on De-
cember 81, 1893, when he was appointed
receiver for the institution. He said that he
had used due diligence and every effort
to collect the notes and other assets of the
bank that had come into his hands. He
had been able to collect the following
amounts from the various sources:
99n an NOTES 9'G ISi -
| on profit and loss account. ........ 1,64l 2S
On J. c. Yetzer securities. ......... 766 90
On interest account. 400 81
Iotal .SlO,92S OIL
Other notes, the witness testified, had
been placed In the hands of Phelps & Tenn
pie Of Atlantic for collection. Mr.. Steinke
testified that he had been in the mercantile
business at Atlantic for nineteen years and
knew of the financial standing Of most of
the business men of the city when he was
made receiver Of the bank. The state sought
to show by the witness the financial stand
ing Of the men who owed the bank at the
| Tina nf thn fat1urn This uaq rnlpH mt
by the court. Witness testified that the
outstanding certificates of deposit, when he
was made receiver of the bank, aggregated
S3i7 ,S4S.34. An effort to show the other
indebtedness of the bank, aside from the
certificates Of deposit, was ruled out by the
court. Some time was spent in an unsuc-
cessful effort to fix the value of some real
estate in Ogden which had been turned in
with the assets of the bank. The witness
had a list Of the real estate that came into
his hands as receiver and gave his estimate
Of the value of the property. In this list
was TAO acres Of Cass county land which
had been conveyed to the bank by ]. G.
Yetzer.
Mr.. Ste;nke testified that prior to the fail
ure of the bank he had purchased several
drafts from the bank, which were returned
unpaid before the bank passed into the hands
of a receiver. The state offered eighty-ive
notices OF protest of the banks paper cover
ing the period from August 22 to the time the
oshN ~ INV tAC iaiiu " Il Ills
list Of protests was filed by the state and
marked exhibit 1885," The exhibit list VIII
run to nearly 500, as all of the books and
documents of the bank have been or will
be offered in evidence. After some argument
the evidence was stricken out, the court
holding that the notices were made by
parties who had not been supoenaed as wit
nesses In this case, and could not be used as
evidence by fact of their having been found
in the possession of the bank when the re-
l nnt " troc r1nnnI In hanao
Smith Mcpherson took charge Of Mr..
Steinke on cross-examination and started in
to show that the witness, as receiver for the
bank, had placed too low an estimate on the
property of Isaac Dickerson which had come
into his hands. On direct examination Mr..
steinke had refreshed his memory from time
to time by reference to a memorandum book.
MIR. McPherson's first question developed the
fact that Mr.. Steinke had used another book
at the trial of the case against Isaac Dicker-
son at Glenwood and Mr.. Mcpherson wanted
the book. The witness parted with it re-
luctantly, and the next question asked was
Z he had helped write the speech of Attorney
Boorman at Glenwood, which was found in
the book. Mr.. Steinke stated that he had
made a new book for this trial, and had
made some changes in 1t from the book used
by him for reference in the trial at Glen
wood.
Mr.. Steinke stated that he put a valuation
of $4,000 on the Dickerson building. Mr.. Nc
L SIS uTtW lTUHl I'LL u ueSCTlptlOn OF the
build ng as a two-story brick, 40x70, with a
vault. one block from the postoffice and a
block from the court house, with a rental re-
turn of SIS a month, and that much less de-
sirable property, more removed from the bus
mess center, had sold for more than sc, 500.
The witness stated that Isaac Dickerson
had taken no part in turning over the ac-
counts of the bank to the receiver. Mr.. Nc
Pherson elected the Information that Mr..
steinke had two lawyers. an expert account
ant and two clerks employed in winding up
the affairs Of the bank, and that a rival
banker In Atlantic was also engaged in help
ing close up the banks business.
w. B. Temple, who was assistant to the
cashier Of the Cass County bank and is a
neph>y of Isaac Dickerson, was the next
witness. He explained his duties. The Of
ficials Of the bank during his time there,
from June, 1892. to December, 1898, were
j. G. Yetzer, president, and A.. w. Decker
son, cashier. He could not state positively
who the other officials of the bank were. He
testified that a number of drafts, bought
by the patrons of the bank, had been re-
turned unpaid, and gave the names of sew
eral firms and individuals who had lost by
such transactions.
Mr.. Temple testified that from fifty to
sixty OF the drafts drawn by the Cass County
bank had been returned unpaid. At the
solicitation OF the cashier, A. w. Dickerson.
he had gone out a number Of times and bor-
rowed currency for the days business. Dur
ing inc months Just prior TO the failure OF
the bank he had gone among the business
men of the city and had solicited Their de-
posits, but had never met with much sue
cess. During the month Of December the
bank had not made any drafts on other banks
for the purpose Of securing funds to pay
customers drafts. On December ~ the bank
opened its doors with $500 in cash on hand,
and had about 500 at the close of the day
That was the last day that the bank was
open for business. He remembered one in
stance In which a patron Of the bank pre-
sented a check for 800 which the bank
could not pay. That was about a month
before the failure Of the bank. Mr.. Temple
had at different times raised money at
other banks by presenting the collaterals of
the Cass County bank. This kind of dealing
took place during the month of August, 1893.
Three of the deals were made with the At
lantic National bank. and the other with the
Commercial National bank. On the last day
OF the banks bus ness the witness took GER
lA