The San Francisco call., 1897-06-24

bond of secrecy by an intimate associate that
Mr.. Figel, head bookkeeper of Messrs. Hoff-
man, Rothchild & Co., was gambling 10 a very
arge extent on horseraces, ana that he in
dulged in this paStime to such extent as TO
necessitate the continual use of an associate
or hireiipg to negotiate his wagers Tor him.
Ny informant told me that it was his system
10 every morning take O list OF the horses he
desired to back, and to give his betting man a
list and the money necessary 10 negotiate the
wagers al the raeetraek. Inasmuch as /
learned that his bets at times ran into the
thousands per day felt it Incumbent upon
myself, inasmuch as / am a brother-in-iaw
OF Mr.. Rothchild, the junior member OF the
hrm, TO lhiorm the heads OF the estao-
lishment with respect to this informa-
uon, and / promptly advised Mr.. Isaac
holman with reference to the facts
which nave related above. To nv surprise
ne met Inc information calmly, stating that
he was cognIzant of the entire matter for
months past, and that whereas it was possib e
LOT thls pookkeeper to make these wsgers out
o. ms own money, still It was dangerous to
nave bookkeeper who followed such tactics
Al the time, however, he advised me that he
ala not disturb himself with reference to pos
siole nnanclal loss, for If upon IN nvestigation
shortage in Mr.. FigePs accounts were proven
ne ieIt confident Jnat the same could be
recovered from Mr.. Figel's father, the latter
pe4hg very wealthy man. At the same time
ne iold me that in the very near future he in
tended to have his books exported and satisfy
himself IL the internal movements of his
once, from the cashiers end, were being con-
Quoted as they should be. Mr.. Isaac Hoffman
evidently impaired the above Information TO
Mr.. RothcEild, as the latter made mention of
tne TACT lew days later 10 me, in mlscel-
laneouS conversation, during which he re-
marked that he felt dissatisfied with respect to
Hgeps behavior, particularly so on account of
tlgePs continual absence from the store In
business hours. Before Mr.. Rothchild de-
parted for the East, he expressed uneasiness at
leaving Figel in charge of the office, and told
me ne would confer with Mr. Hoffman as TO
the adviSabllity Of removing him, and expert
ing afterwRrd, but the above plans, however,
must have been dropped, for Mr.. Rothchild
departed for his Eastern trip with Mr. Flgcl In
charge OF the Office, and without having
entered any course of exporting.
Subseq ue1tly Mr.. Hoffman and myself in
terchanged views on business frequently on
various occasions in the as I two mouths. He
had often made reference 10 his proposed eX-
porting OF his books, saying ''he fearfully
worried at Mr.. Figel" by reason OF his knowl-
edge OF FigePs gambling prOpensities. had
a conversation with Mr.. Hoffman at P. NJ. on
Tuesday, June l. He was in buoyant spirits,
expressing great satisfaction over the years
business, inasmuch rs he had just com pleted
sJock-taking and incidentally stated 10 me
that his house sold more merchandise and
made more money than in any former years
business That was the last conversation l
had with Isaac Hoffman, now deceased.
ALBERT L. MEYERsTEIN.
Witness further testified that Hoffman
never, to his knowledge, carried a re-
yolver From what he knew of him he
handle a revolver.
Edward S. Rothchild was recalled and
testified that he left San Francisco March
8; that Hoffman had the right to draw
upon the firm Tor whatever he wanted.
Il never knew anything about FigePs
playing the races until my brother-ln-law
advised me. l then spoke to tigel about
il, and he said that he had done that for
friend of his; that he did lot play the
races himself"
Before leaving for New York, witness
stated, he asked Figel to send him state
ments of the business status and trans
actions of the firm but he did not do so.
He wrote 10 him time and again to have
him do so, but no attention was paid to
his request. Finally he wrote 10 Mr..
Hoffman TO require FigeI to send state
ment, and after that he received one state
ment but that was all. The statement
agreed with the books, Dut not with the
actual transactions as since developed.
when we b ad deposits to make either
Mr.. Hoffman or myself would sign the
checks and Mr.. Figel would carry them to
the bank and place them to our credit.
This was always his business" said the
witness. HE had no right to sign
checks"
Did you know that Figel was in the
habit of keeping out certain checks for his
own ben ftp"
81 certainly did not"
did you ever know MIR. Hoffman to
carry hrearms?"
Never N his life. know that he had
a horror of them"
Was he left right handed?
He was right-handed.
Witness said that Hoffman advised HIM
by letter that he inrende ed to go 10 Sacra-
mento about Nav IS. A juror asked if he
was aware that Hoffman was paving Figel
$50 a month out of his private funds.
II was not and / do not believe it. If
Mr.. Hoffman had advised me that FigeI
was worth 5000 month to us 1 would not
have objected to an increase il his sal
ary."
The Coroner asked the jury if they de-
niture which the Chief had in has charge
at the City Hall, but theV declined and
an adjournment was taken until this
morning at 8 o'clock.