The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-07-02

in Getting Some Facts Before the
Jury Former Commissioners
Dearth and One of the Policy
holders Tell What They Know
About the Concern.
The second day in the trial of Andrew
P. Swanstrom on an Indictment charging
the larceny of $625.25 from the funds of
the Order of Minnehaha, of which he was
supreme secretary and treasurer, was
tedious and uneventful All the fore
noon and part of the afternoon were
spent by the state in trying to show that
DR.. Ginner, the states principal witness
kept record Of the money taken in
from members of the order on assess
ment calls and in introducing the rec
ords in evidence. Every move on the
part Of County Attorney Bigelow was
| met with storm Of objections by Attor-
neys w. H Mcdonald, John H Ives and
| T. ]. McDermott, representing the de-
PENDANT. Judge Lewis finally became
tired Of the incessant fire Of recrimina-
tons and several times brought the
attorneys up with a round turn.
AS on the preceding day the court room
was packed with interested spectators,
many of whom had been policy holders
! in the defunct Order Of Minnehaha Dur
! ing part Of the afternoon Judge Kelly
! appeared in the court room and occu-
! pied a seat on the bench with Judge
! Lewis, listening to the testimony. The
! appearance Of the defendant, who was
seated with his attorneys, indicated that
the strain Of the trial is having an ap-
preciable effect on him. He looked bag
gard and care worn.
When court opened in the morning DR..
Ginner, former supreme president of the
order, was recalled by the state and
! shown postal card that he identified
as one Of the assessment cards sent out
in 1897. Then County Attorney Bigelow
offered in evidence the policyholders'
| record, which was also identified
"All the entries were made by au-
! thorized persons said the witness.
The book was finally received in evil
dence after long argument, and Dr.
Ginner was temporarily withdrawn to be
succeeded by former Insurance Commits
sioner Elmer H. Dearth, who testified
that he had issued a license to the Or
der of Minnehana in 1897 and 1898. He
had kept the articles of incorporation on
file at his Office. Then state exhibit e.
was offered, showing the transfer of all
the assets and liabilities of the Mime
mana Mutual Life Insurance association
to the Order of Minnehaha Attorney
Mcdonald raised an objection, and after
another argument the offer was re-
jected.
Il visited the office of the Order Of
Minnehaha in 1885, said Mr.. Dearth. az
met Ginner there and also Secretary
Swanstrom. Afterwards Mr.. Ginner and
Mr.. Swanstrom came to nv office to-
gether. This was in the spring of 1S90
before the license was issued. and thew
explained to me the general standing Of
the order The license was issued about
March J. 1898, based on the statement
made by the officers in 1891 which l
passed upon and approved"
Cross-examined by Attorney Mcdonald
the witness testified that at the time the
articles Of Incorporation were filed in
MS ONCE there was no certificate of the
attorney general attached. as required
by law. When Swanstrom called at
the commissioners, office in February.
1898, he stated he had come at the in
stance Of Mr. Ginner and he Snfght have
added that he was not an officer NJ +be
order at the time He had said that
all the interest he had in the Issuance
OF license was to protect the older
members OF the order who were beyond
the insurance age and could not be re-
insured anywhere If dropped
AT the conclusion Of Commissioners
Dearth's testimony DR.. GInner was re-
called and County Attorney Bigelow Of
Iered certain pages of the record book to
show that the Minnehaha Mutual Tnsur.
ance association has emerged itself into
the Order Of Minnehaha. The states Of
Ter was nnally received against the OBJ
lection of the counsel for the defense
Then Mr.. Bigelow asked triumphantIv.
WAS any further business done bv the
association"
mo"
Were the members of the association
assessed and was the money collected
by the Order Of Minnehaha? ?"
Yes, sir"
From the assessment book the county
attorney read the names of Granville
Fales, Michael Moffatt G. F. Freeman,
w. r. Scofeld. Col. J. G. c. Lee. U. s.
A; w. F. Weber, r. B. Bassford, Dana
White, Dr. G. A Wheaton, w L. Fish,
j. l.. Cater, Charles Eaton and w NJ.
Croome. All these the witness testified
were members Of the association
Il was a member of the Minnehaha
Mutual Insurance association and was
president in 1896, - continued the witness
Andrew P. Swanstrom was secretary. I
canont state positively in whose 9land-
writing the records Of the association
are. To the best of my knowledge the
writing is that of Swanstrom. I believe
that the minutes as contained in the rec
ord book are true"
The minutes Of the association were Of
fered In evidence, and County Attorney
BigelOw read a section showing the merg-
ing of the association into the Order Of
Minnehaha.
THE books show the old members con-
tinuing the payment Of their assessments
on old policies said the witness.
On cross-eXaminatiOn DR.. Ginner testf-
fed that SwanstrOm had rendered his res
ignation on Nov. ,, 1897, and that on Nov.
% it was accepted. Anything done bv
SWanstrOm subsequent to the acceptance
OF the resignation was a acting secretary
It the request of the witness The cer+if
icates issued in 1898 were not under the
1881 charter. Certain red ink entries on
Register B, of the association. books the
witness explained, referred to issues IN
der the charter of 1898 All mail was re-
ceived in a pOstofice box, of which the
witness had the key. Swanstrom was In
Louisville during a part OF 1898, and wit
ness attended to everything personally.
The assessments were paid in money ord
ers, drafts, checks or cash at the Office
and the custom was to report all nav
ments to the witness on slips so that
they could be entered on the cash books.
There were no directors meetings during
1885, but several consultations were held
by the officers of the order
Attorney. Mcdonald called attention to
the fact that the record kept bv the
witness contained only two payments of
Call No. Is.
''Is that all the money you received
on that assessment, doctor?" asked Mr..
Ives.
4 ~,opT