The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-09-11

Its success, was willing TO assist MIN.
Later, in Minneapolis, the loan was
made"
Col. Hunter introduced the note in
evidence. It bore the date OF Aug. ).
1885, and was oforn $500 to run ninety
days with INTEREST," at per cent, and,
after Capt Bennett indersed it, the
paper was negotiated at the Swedish
American National Bank of Minneap
Oils. Witness said he gave the officer
his personal check for the amount,
less $500 for interest
Lieut.. Morford agreed with nie
when he received the money that ne
would pay off the note at $190 per
month, but he failed to do this. About
ten days before the paper fell due, [
wrote to him and told him to pay the
money at once.b He gave me no reply.
The day before the nete came due l
was notified by the bank that 1t would
have to be paida The following day /
called at the bank and Reimbursed the
note in the hope that Lieut.. Morford
would do something
"The next day I received a letter
from the lieutenant in which he apollo
giZed for not having seen me. He Sa1d
he had. been waiting for funds from
friends in Omaha, but the money had
not arrived. He said the money would
reach him soon and he asked me to re-
new the note-to send new note to
him and he would sign it, Then he
wound UP by saying that he hoped
| was pleased with the result of the
presidential election, thus mixing
little politics with the dose he was
giving me in connection with the loaE.
After receiving this letter l arranged
with the president of the Swedish
American bank to let the old note re-
main as originally, as the lieutenant
had promised to have it paid Off by
Feb. l. 1897. After that arrangement
the lieutenant again failed to keep his
promises. and I received no word from
him, although | repeatedly communl-
Gated to him with reference to the
matter until December 20, when he
said he had just returned from Omaha,
where he had tried to raise the money,
but failed. However, he promlsed
again to do something.
LAS the time for the note to mature
drew nearer, I wrote more letters to
me lieutenant. all of which he ignored.
The note was not paid and l turned 1t
over to collection agency. This came
to nothing, and finally l took the paper
up myself on July 3, 1897, for $5l4;
which included the interest Nheh had
accrued. 1 received no money Iiom
anybody to apply on the note, and I
took no steps to get the money after
wards, until August, when l wrote TO
the defendant that, if something was
not done, I would take the matter tc
the commanding officer at Fort Smell
ing. No attention was paid to this,
and finally I did lay the matter before
his superior officer
But While Capt. Bennett was trying
to get his money out of the lieutenant
it seems that the latter was endeavor-
ing to bring an uncle of his, j. B. Nor
ford, of ST. Thomas, Ont, to his res
cue, as at this point the judge advo-
cate introduced in evidence a letter
which witness had received from that
gentleman in regard to the matter.
In this letter Mr. Morford expressed
surprise that his nephew should have
gotten himself into such dire financial
straits, and said that one thing was
certain that if the lieutenant was
court martialed and dismissed from
the service his creditors would get
nothing. Mr. Morford offered to set
tie Capt. Benefits claim on basis
of So or SO month. Witness stated
that he refused to consider the prop
osition, replying that he would accept
nothing less than $25 month, be-
cause "such a man as Lieut. Morford
was a disgrace to the United States
army and deserved to be dismissed
from the service"
The last letter Capt. Bennett re-
ceived from the lieutenant was dated
Aug A. and in it he stated that he
had just. returned from Washington
and was under arrest. He hoped that
witness would make no complaint
against him until after his trial.
On cross examination Capt. Ben
nett's testimony developed no essen
tial facts, and Arthur L. Helliwel, a
Minneapolis attorney, was put on the
stand He testified that his firm had
received a note for s57 for collection
from an Omaha law firm. 1t had been
given by Lieut.. Morford at the United
States National Bank of Omaha, Neb.,
March n, 1893, before the lieutenant
entered the service of the army, for a
loan to that amount, and had never
been paid. Mr. Helliwell notified the
defendant of the Indebtedness and
asked him to settle it, but received no
reply to the communication. Then
the attorney had entered complaint to
Col Paige, commander at Fort Smell
ing. Witness had learned that the
lieutenant had gotten money enough
together to indulge in a bicycle, and
he informed Col. Paige that if the ac-
cused could afford to buy wheel he
ought to be able to pay his honest
debts.
Col. Hunter introduced lIS CofIc|
spondence which occurred on the mat
ter between Col. Paige and Eieut. Nor
ford The former had referred to the
complaint to the accused, in explana-
ton of which the lieutenant had rep
resented that the note had been given
to an old friend in Omaha. and that
he was positive he could arrange the
trouble satisfactorily. In subsequent
correspondence between the command
ing officer and his subordinate, Col
Paige dwelt with emphasis upon GER
tain statements made in writing by
the accused at different times which
he could not reconcile.
A letter from M T. Barlow. Presi-
dent of the United States National
Bank of Omaha, regarding the note,
was also read. In it Mr.. Barlow stated
that the debt had been contracted be-
fore the defendant entered the regular
army. He understood that the lieu
tenant was likely to be court martialed,
and. although the debt owing to his
bank was just one, he preferred to
take no hard in the action against the
young officer
Dec. y. 1895. Lieut. Morford drew
sight draft at the Omaha Savings bank
in favor of J. E. Markell & Son, hotel
keepers, for SIS, and received the
money for it. The draft was introduce
ed in evidence by the judge advocate.
not to become a matter of record, but
to assist the defendant in his case.
This draft was drawn on the Bank of
Minnesota. and was returned unhonor-
ed to Omaha. 1t was again Endorsed
and sent on April % to the post COM
mander, who called upon the lieu
tenant for an explanation, which was
made in writing The lieutenant in
sisted. according to the judge advo-
cate, that he attempted to honor the
draft when it reached him, but when
he went to the city for that purpose,
he had found that the Bank OF Min