The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-03-26
FALLEN BY THE WAYSIDE
The Silver Statue of Ada Rehan
Now RepOses
In the Basement of Barnum's
Store While
There Are More Lawsuits Over it
Than the Original Ever Got Into
Over Broken Contracts.

While attorneys are quibbling over
their rights to present clients claims
against the property, the Ada Rehan
statue, said to be of solid silver with
a base of gold. weighing over a ton, and
valued at thousands Of dollars, lies box
ed up in the basement of Barnum'S
store. 1t has lain there since the at
tachment suit was brought against the
general manager of the Montana Silver
Statue company by two of the stock
holders last December, and it will prob
ably continue to lie there until the case
is decided by Judge HaZen in the dis
trict court.
Yesterday afternoon Judge Hazen lis
tened to arguments on the question of
striking out the intervening petitions
filed by the law firm of Waggener, Hor-
ton & Orr and Cash Henderson, mer-
chant of Wichita, in which both are
made defendants to the suit now pend
ing in the district court. decision on
this question will be rendered Monday,
and case will come up for trial at the
April term of court.
The history connected with the at
tachment of the famous silver statue,
seen and admired by thousands in the
Montana exhibit at the Worlds fair, is
interesting The suit was brought for
the sole purpose of getting rid of the
general manager of the corporation, APP
pointed in the charter when the cor
pOra ton was organized, and who it was
claimed was misappropriating the funds
arising from the exhibition of the stat
ue and mourning liabilities against the
property.
Worlds fair, the corporation known as
the Montana Silver Statue company was
organized for the purpose of exhibiting
the statue, for which it is said Ada
Rehan posed as the model, and which
was to particularly represent the min
eral wealth of the state of Montana
OF this corporation, Frank D. Higbee
was appointed general manager, and at
the close of the Worlds fair, Mr.. Hig-
bee made arrangements to place the
statue on exhibition in all of the prin-
cipal cities of the United States.
After touring the east with his silver
charge for two years, Mr.. Higbee start
ed west and last December contracted
with the firm of Crosby Bros. to place
| in this city for a period of two weeks,
commencing December TIN. The statue
! arrived in this city on time and was
| placed in the store, and during the two
weeks it remained there was seen by
| thousands of Topeka people. The exhi-
| bition of the statue cost Crosby Bros.
| $500, but it proved to be a paying ad-
| Vertisement.
On the morning of the day that the
| statue was to have been shipped to
| Wichita to be placed on exhibition in
| the dry goods store of Cash Hender-
son it was attached by Sheriff Kepley
| on a writ issued from the district
court. in which the suit of the two
| stockholders, Walter NJ. Bickford and
| Amstead K. Mitchell, had been fled
| but a short time before. The statue
was boxed and ready for shipment
| when the attachment papers We're
| served, and on the appointment of Sam
| uel Barnum as receiver of the property
| on the same day it was removed to the
| basement of the Barnum store.
| In their petition Bickford and Mitch
| ell claimed that Higbee, the general
| manager appointed in the charter OF
| the corporation, was not handling the
| property to good advantage or in g
| satisfactory manner, that he was in
! curing liabilities against it and thai
| instead of turning over the funds to the
| company he Eas aDpropriating them tc