The herald., 1897-10-02

Lined up beside the defendant were
his counsel. G. w. Pendleton has beer
Birds counsel from the first; with him
Was Attorney p. A. Meserve, and Gen.
eral Pierce acted as a kind Of advisory
counsel. Deputy District Attorney Nc
Comas prosecuted the case and Judge
Campbell, representing Mr.. Griffith, as.
sisted.
The exceptional case in which wit
ness testified to Birds dallying in his
or hours was when Miss Carmen Mon
tez related what took place when in his
company they drove out to- the Canary
cottage, notorious road house. The
details of the nights escapade, Of this
girls visit to Mr.. Griffith to intercede foi
his defaulting clerk. and of the manner
In which the night was ended, must have
been torture for the wife, who showed
her loyalty by placing herself by her
husbands side.
HOW DISCOVERY CAME
The specific charge being examin I'd
into was the forging of the signature OF
Mr.. Grifilth to a check for 5000 on Aug
ust 10Th, and passing 1t at the First Ma
tional bank.
G. J. Griffith was the first witness put
forward by the prosecution, and stated
that he was farmer. an owner of sew
eral tracts Of land and a resident in Los
Angeles for fifteen years. He explained
that he had known the defendant for
about three years. Bird had been as.
sisting witness, with other experts,
when Mr.. Griffith was secretary Of the
Citizens league. After that defendant
passed into the employ of witness.
The forged check for 5000 on the First
National bank, under date of August
10th. was submitted toy Mr.. Griffith and
he denied that he had either signed 1t
or written in the body Of the check, nor
had he authorized anyone to do so for
him. On the date of the check the de-
fendant was in the employ of witness,
and the signature upon the back of the
check was the usual signature of the
defendant. The witness stated that he
recognized the check not only by It's
general appearance but by two secret
marks he had placed upon it after being
returned to him by the bank. 1t was the
day after the sensational disclosures
that the bank returned the paper.
Mr.. Griffith then related at length the
visit to his Office of Detective Bradish,
after having made Inquiries regarding
q $50 note at the First Nationel bank.
Bird rang witness up, telling him he had
been detained on certain bushes Mr..
Griffith had sent him to perform but
would be down very soon. He was told
to hurry up, Mr.. Griffith telling him in
nooently that MI. Bradish was at the Of
nee and wanted to know about a $50 note
he was tracing down, and also about
the $500 he had drawn from the First
National bank that morning. Thus wit
ness, not then suspecting anything
wrong. gave the tip to the defendant,
and from that day Mr.. Griffith saw him
no rere at the Office.
On cross-examlnation witness said
that defendant was acting as his clerk.
and he gave him five shares of stock and
made him secretary of the Briswalte1
Land company. Frequently defendant
made out checks for with ess' signature,
Including checks payable to himself.
Mr. Gri6ith stated that he repudiated
this especial check because he signed
no checks about the time OF the date
1t bore, but he conceded the signature
was an excellent imitation. Checks,
witness said. were always drawn from