The San Francisco call., 1899-04-15
"RED BOOK" MAY
BECOME EVIDENCE.
Ouay's Counsel Fights
to Shut 1t Out.
BUT IT'S A BANK RECORD
EXPERT TESTIMONY GIVEN
WITHOUT USING NAMES.
Entries Made by Cashier Hopkins,
Who Committed Suicide, Expected
to Show the Guilt of the
Ex-senator.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

~ HA-N OeN4A"
PHILADELPHIA, April 14.-Persist-
ent, keen and brilliant argument be-
tween District Attorney Rothermel on
the one side and Messrs. Watson, Shap-
ley and Shields on the other upon the
admission of testimony which may go
a long way to establish the alleged
guilt of ex-United States Senator Quay
was the feature of to-days trial, and
it eliminated in a decided victory for
the prosecution.
The red book found in Cashier Hop
kins' desk after his suicide, and upon
the admission Of which the common
wealth so largely rests its case, was
the shaft the District Attorney aimed
at the defense. To pave the way for
the final effort to introduce the book
itself he succeeded, after frequent
clashes with opposing counsel, some
times bitter and personal, in presenting
expert testimony to prove that the
book was necessarily book OF the
bank, as accounts in the books admitted
under the courts ruling would be MADE
Ineligible by the red book.
Before starting his examination
Rothermel read to the court state
ment of what he intended to prove.
The expert, he said, had made thor
ough examination OF all the DOCKS III
the case. He found that previous TO
April 80, 1891, the Peoples Bank paid
interest on the 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 ap-
peared on the scene, new system was
i oil cd "a
another book-now known as the red
book-to the books heretofore Kept Dy
the bank.
Meyer Goldsmith, an expert account
ant, was the witness upon Whom the
commonwealth depended to accomplish
its contention. During the whole course
of the experts examination objection
after objection was made by the de-
fense and as frequently overruled by
Judge Biddle, While the District Alter
ney in logical sequence drew from the
witness his conclusions as to the book,
based upon a comparison OF what was
written on its pages with what ap-
peared in the other books. Two ac-
counts out of upward of 1000 in the
regular books We're incomplete and in
accurate unless explained by entries IN
the red book. One was an item OF Slol9
entered in the individual ledger to the
credit of the person who received It, Ihe
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 cal
culations in the red book. Here he
found the amount entered and the IN
dications that it had been paid by the
cashiers check on November 4, 1891.
Another item Of $5325 25 he found in the
red book dated October 80, 1894. He
II
the red book which explained transac-
tions in the regular book, but the two
instances specified were the only ones
in which he had reached accurate con-
clusions as 10 their nature and pur-
pose.
Goldsmith said that when he first
opened the red book he did not consider
it a book of the bank but when he
compared the calculations entered on
it's pages 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 1891 calculations
such as appeared in the red book were
regularly entered in the ledger. but
since then the red book had been sub
stituted and fulfilled and fixed the
same results,
During the cross-eXamination of this
witness, which was conducted by Mr.
Shields, he testified as to a page which
was missing. The defense repeatedly
endeavored to get from him the state
ment that there might have been fig
ures and words on that page, which
would clearly explain the entries on the
other pages, and that the book as it
now stands is unreliable. This was
ruled out, following an objection by the
District Attorney. This would seem to
indicate that when the final effort to
present the book in evidence comes to-
morrow, the defense will make another
determined opposition to it on that
ground, even if the court should decide
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 were allowed to
reach the jury. The prosecution all
along, however, has alleged that this
book will show that Cashier Hopkins
computed it on State funds and de-
posted the money to Senator Quay's
credit.