The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1898-08-30
short In His Accounts.

SnOSG IN I1lB kAC0DuMN&e
By his own admission John G. Hipper
stiel. collector and treasurer of the tow
ship of Beverly, has been misusing tn
funds in his hands, and his bondsrhen wi
be called upon to make the amount good.
The first public intimation of the pres
ent state of affairs was given at the las
meeting of the Board of Freeholders, whel
inquiry was made respecting the sum
due the county from various townships
on account of taxes The statement wa
then made that there should not be an,
stone road arrearages charged to Beverl,
township as it was known that the maio
portion of the assessments on that accoun
had been collected by the township oft1c
ials. Why the money had not beer
turned over to the County Collector coulC
not be explained
With this as a pointer the finance com
mittee of the Board of Freeholders took
the matter in hand so far as the county
was concerned. They discovered that
Beverly township owed the county "a,
43S. 3d. A copy of Hippenstiel's annual
report to the township committee was Sc
cured and its figures compared with the
books of the County Collector 1t was
found that Hippenstiel showed that he
had paid into the county treasury the
sum of So, 500 while the books showed but
81, 800 received. An Investigation proved
that the books of the County Collector
were correct. The township collector
was notified and sent check for 81, 900.
In accordance with resolution of the
Board of Freeholders, the County Collector
notified all the delinquent townships that
they must make settlement at once In
response, Hippenstiel agreed to soon make
payment. Being questioned with refer
ence to his slowness, he explained that of
the amount due the county, nearly 81, 500
was for stone road assessments and he I'M
derstood the law to provide for full pay
ment only when full collection had been
made
But while the county was dealing lenient-
ly with him, others who had claims against
the township presented them, and when
it became noised about that the orders on
the Treasurer were not being honored, the
township committee began an investiga-
ton which resulted in showing that there
should be sufficient balance on hand to
meet all demands on the treasury.
Hippenstiel was then called upon to ex-
plain to the committee and he finally ad-
mitted that he was short His bondsmen
were notified and conference was held
on Tuesday evening. The collector told
his sureties that he was short the amount
he owes the county, but it is thought that
deeper probing in to the matter will show
that the figures will run up to higher
notch.
Mr.. Hippenstiel is a real estate agent
and there are fears that disclosures may
be made that will involve him in that di-
rection.
What has become of the money is not
known Mr.. Hippenstiel has not had any
bad habits and has lived very quiet life.
He has wife and has four young child
rem to whom he is devoted, and he had
the confidence Of the entire community.
The announcement that he had made a
failure was surprise to his neighbors and
friends
His bondsmen are: Thomas c. Steel,
Charles Knapp, John Kale, Thomas Low
ELL P T. Smith, Charles Brown, Harry
Fitzpatrick, Howard Russ, Address Ridg.
way and G. S. Ridgway, all residents OF
Beverly or Beverly township. Thus far
they have not as far as is known, made
any attempt to secure a warrant for his
arrest, but whether they do or not he will
doubtless be called to answer at court.
The bondsmen had meeting on Friday
evening, Hippenstiel promised to trans
fer all of his property to them. The
bondsmen consulted counsel on the state
of affairs and it is said he told them they
were entirely responsible for the losses
1t is not yet known what is the exact
amount of the shortage.