Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1899-04-15
ALMOST CERTAIN TO BE ADMITTED
AS EVIDENCE IN QUAY CASE.
ANOTHER BAD DAY FOR QUAY
PROSECUTOR ROTHERMEL SCORES A
DECIDED VICTORY.
Succeeds in Presenting Testimony
the Books of the Peoples
Bank - Expert Gold.
smiths Testimony.

!. PHILADELPHIA. April 14.-Persistent,
keen and brilliant argument between Dis
,trict Attorney Rothermel on the one side
and Messrs Watson. Shapley and Shields on
the other. upon the admission of testimony
which may 70 q long way toward estab-
Hshing the alleged guilt of ex-United States
Senator Quay. was the feature OF today's
trial of that distinguished defendant. and it
eliminated in a decided victory for the
prosecution. The red book found in Cashier
Hopkins desk after his suicide, and upon
the admission of which the commonwealth
so largely rests its case. was the shaft the
district attorney aimed at the defense. To
pave the way for the final effort to intro
duce the book itself. he succeeded. after
frequent clashes with opposing counsel,
sometimes bitter and personal. in presents
ing expert testimony to prove that the
book was necessarily a book OF the bank,
.as accounts in the books admitted under
the courts ruling would be made intelli-
gible by the red book.
Before starting his examination. Mr..
Rothermel read to the court statement
Of what he intended to prove. The expert,
-he said, had made q thorough examina-
ton Of all the books In the case. He found
that. previous to April 30. 1891. the Peoples
bank paid interest on tho state deposit to
the state treasurer. and that records Of
such payments were kept in a regular way
on the books of the bank. After April 80,
1891. when Mr.. Hopkins appeared on the
scene. new system was adopted. This en-
tailed the addition of another book-now
known as the red book-to the books there
tofore kept by the bank.
Meyer Goldsmith, an expert accountant,
was the witness upon which the common.
wealth depended to accomplish its conten.
ton. During the whole course Of the
experts examination, objection after OBJ
lection was made by the defense and as
frequently overruled by Judge Biddle, while
the district attorney. in logical sequence.
drew from his witness his conclusions as
to the book, based upon a comparison OF
what was written on its pages with what
appeared in the other books. Expert Gold
smith swore that two accounts out of up
ward of LOCO in the regular books were
incomplete and Inaccurate unless explained
by entries in the red book. One was an
Item for s1,519, entered in the individual
ledger to the credit Of the person who re.
ceived it. The witness was not permitted
to designate the persons by name. He found
this item on the stub Of the cashiers check
book, but what It represented he could not
say until he had examined the calculations
in the red book. Here he found the amount
entered and the indications that it had been
paid by the cashiers check on November
I, 1887. Another item of s5.35210 he found in
the regular book dated May p. 1894. and
October s0 1894. He stated there were other
entries in the, red book which explained
transactions ins the regular book. but the
instances specified were the only ones in
which he had reAehed accurate conclusions
as to their nature and purpose.
MI. Goldsmith said that when he first
opened the red book he did not consider
II bo9k OF the bank but when he COM
with transactions in the other books. he
was forced to consider 1t a book of the
bank. He explained this by saying that
prior TO 1881. calculations such as appeared
IN in me the ,edsas req BOOK h were regularly entered
had been substituted and fulfilled and
liked the same results
During the cross-examination of this wit
ness, which was conducted by Mr.. Shields,
The defense repeatedly endeavored TO gel
from him the statement that there might
nave been figures and words on that page
Whlch would clearly explain the entries on
now stands is unreliable. This was was ruled i d
out following an, objection by the district
that. when the final effort to present the
book IN evidence comes tomorrow, the de-
tense Will make another determined oppo-
sition to it on that ground. even If the
court should decided that. with relation to
the transactions testified to- it is a book
of the bank.
During all the examination touching on
the book. with the exception of the two
items mentioned, no intimation of the
amounts or names was allowed to reach
the Jury. The prosecution all along. how
ever ever mas alleged that this book Will show
on state funds and deposited the money to
Senator Quay's credit.