Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-31
CREIGHTON THEATER SOLD
Property Knocked Down at Public Auction
Under Foreclosure.
PURCHASER REPRESENTS STOCKHOLDERS
Interesting Legal TanRIe Occurs ms
the Result of Hid ORercd by
Another bidder for
the Property.


master commissioner, declared the property
Of the Creighton Theater Building company
sold to Edward w. Nash, trustee. for the
consideration of Si1I5OO. 1t was a fore
closure sale to satisfy two mortgages, one
for 500 900 and the other for $4,000. executed
by the Creighton Theater Building company
in March 1895, TO the Penn Mutual Life
Insurance company. The purchaser repre-
sents certain stockholders of the theater
building company.
| These facts tell the story OF the trans
action. but they do not give an idea OF all
that is akin TO the SALE the circumstances
OF which make 1t a most singular proceeding
| and lay the foundation for what will un-
doubtedly be one of the most spirited and
interesting lawsuits that has been seen here
abouts in long while.
A. l.. Reed and e. p. Kirkendall maintain
that they have purchased the property In
| question, and will stubbornly contest the
confirmation of the sale made at o'clock
| last night, which gave 1t to Edward w.
Nash, trustee. They insist that they bought
the property just before IL o'clock yesterday
morning for the sum of $4,000, and in sup
| port of their statement have documentary
evidence which apparently puts them in the
| right and Master Commissioner Meikle in
| the wrong.
The sale had been duly advertised for 10
o'clock yesterday morning by the master
| commissioner. 1t was thought by those
who were supposed to know all about the
matter that but one bidder would appear,
and that he would buy the property in for
! the stockholders or rather selected part
| Of them. Master Commissioner Meikle at
| tachei but little Importance to the proceed
ing, and spent the day in Lincoln on po-
ltical errand. He empowered Isaac Watson
TO receive the one bid that was expected
| and to declare the purchase by the antici-
! pated bidder
WHEN ONE BID CAME IN.
Legally it is 10 o'clock until it is II, and
! il is the custom throughout this and other
commonwealth to hold open sale for one
hour before declaring property sold 1t
lacked just three minutes of IL o'clock
when A. l.. Reed accompanied by his at
torney, w. d. Beckett, appeared before the
substitute master commissioner ana put IN
q bid of $l17, 900, $500 more than two-thrds
of the appraisement. Frank Murphy and j.
T. Brown were present representing certain
stockholders of the theater building com
pany but they appeared too much surprised
at the appearance of an unexpected Dld
to make any move. They made no Dld but
left hurriedly.
Watson accepted the bid of $4,000 and
that alone. The bidders attorney then pre-
sented two certified checks, one the per-
sonal check of A. L. Reed for $4,000 and
the other that of +. p. Kirkendail for the
same amount. Watson examined the checks,
concluded they were good and duly accepted
them to bind the sale, no other bid having
been offered The bidders asked if the de-
post of $4,000 was considered suficient,
If not they would be pleased to present
checks covering the entire amount OF S11I-
O00 Watson replied that to request the
latter amount as a deposit would be unrea-
sonable and that $4,000 would be ample
| and sufficient. He then wrote out receipt
for the amount accepted and handed 1t to
the bidders attorney. Mr.. Reed supposed
that he and Mr.. Krkendall had purchased
The property in question, having complied
with all the necessary legal stipuiations
and being the only bidders at the hour an
nounced for the sale.
There was q hurried meeting of the stock
holders who had planned to buy the prop
erty. Watson decided not to close the sale
until Master Commissioner Meillle arrived
from Lincoln. AT 20 o'clock p. m. Edward
w. Nash representing certain stockholders,
appeared and put in bid of $500. The
offer was not accompanied by any deposit.
None was requested of him. Watson re-
mained on duty on the court house steps
throughout the afternoon and evening, wait
inS for other bidders and hoping that Melile
would hurry back from Lincoln. Late in
the afternoon the sale was adjourned until
| o'clock.
DhlNHo oOl oo-hE Noiihlpi-iID'
The evening session was attended by a
number of notables. Messrs. Kirkendall and
| Reed were not there, but they were repre-
sentod by their attorney and a confidential
agent They kept tab on the proceedings from
a no distant point. William Paxton, Frank
Murphy, Edward Nash and their attorney,
NJ a. Hall were there. While all were
waiting for the arrival of the master com
missioner from Lincoln the attorneys enter
| tanned the little gathering with an exchange
CT opinions. Attorney Beckett for MeEsrs.
| Reed and Kirltendall vigorously protested
that the sale had already been made, and
Attorney Hall was equally emphatic in his
statement that there had been no sale.
Master Commissioner Meikle arrived from
| Lincoln about $50, and after some whispered
consultations announced that he would re-
| Ceiye further bids until 8 o'clGck. He &C.
knowledged the receipt of $4,000 from
Messrs Reed and Kirkendall as deposit on
their bid Of $l17 900 Edward w. Nash, this
time as Edward w. Nash trustee" bid
| $117 500. Attorney Beckett again protested
against the recognition of any bids at such
| an unusual hour and at a time after a sale
had already been made, but the master COM
| missioner ignored his protestations. At .
o'clock the master commissioner walked out
| on the front steps and announced that the
property had been sold to Edward w. Nash,
| trustee, for $l17 500. After declaring the
sale he received Q, check from the purchaser
| for SGT 900 to bind the sale, Attorney Beckett
at once gave notice that legal steps would
be taken to prevent the confirmation OF the
sale as declared by the master commissioner.
The deposit OF 100000 made by Messrs.
Reed and Krkendal appears to be a stun
| bling block in the proceedings. Yesterday
/ afternoon Attorney Beckett went to. Watson
ard said that he had heard other bids were
to be received If that were Messrs.
Reed and Krkendall wanted their bid re-
turned likewise the 100000 deposit money.
Watson positively refused to give either up.
Last evening when Master Commissioner
| Mekle announced the sale to Edward W.
Nash. trustee he handed the 500 900 deposit
money back to Attorney Beckett. The latter
declined to receive the money, saying that
he had given it to bind the sale and had been
given a receipt for It, He preferred that
the court should look at this receipt and
then say who were the real purchasers.
PURCHASERS ARE POSITIVE.
The purchasers represented by Nash de-
clare there is not the slightest doubt about
the confirmation of the sale which gave il
to them. Messrs Reed and Kirkendall are
decidedly of the opinion that they bought
the property at 1857 o'clock yesterday morn
ing Mr. Reed, In speaking to a Bee re-
porter of the sale, said: i've been In the
real estate business for ever ten years, but
this Is the first instance of public sale OF
property at o'clock at night that / have
ever seen or heard Of We shall take what
ever legal steps may be necessary to pre-
vent the confirmation OF the sale. We
shall fight the matter to the end. we