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 a 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 a 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-
lions 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 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 a postal card that he identified
as one of the assessment cards sent out
in 1897. Then County Attorney Bigelow
offered in evidence the policyhoIders'
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Ginner was temporarily Withdrawn to be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 Minnehaha in 1897 and 1898 He
had Kept the articles of incorpora ton on
file at his office. Then state exhibit "E''
was offered, showing the transfer of all
the assets and liabilities of the Mime
haha Mutual Life Insurance association
to the Order Of Minnehaha Attorney
Mcdonald raised objection and after
another argument the offer was re-
jected.
II visited the office Of the Order of
Minnehaha in 1885, said Mr. Dearth. al
met Ginner there and also Secretary
Swanstrom. Afterwards Mr. Ginner and
Mr.. Swanstrom came to my office to-
gether This was in the spring of 1885,
before the license was issued, and they
explained to me the general standing Of
the order The license was issued about
March /, 1898, based on the statement
made by the officers in 1897, which
passed upon and approved"
Cross-examined by Attorney Mcdonald.
the witness testified that at the time the
articles of incorporation were filed IN
his office there was no certificate Of tho
attorney general attached as REQUIRED
py 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 might have
added that he was not an officer of rho
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 Commissioner
Dearth's testimony DR. Ginner was re-
called and County Attorney RigeIow of-
Iered certain pages of the record book to
snow that the Minnehaha Mutual Tnsrr
ance association has emerged itself into
the Order of Minnehaha. The states Of
fer was finally received against the Oh
lection of the counsel for the defense
Qicra1n
was any further business done by the
association?
No
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. Scofield, Col. J. C. 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.
CToome. All these the witness testified
were members Of the association
Il was a member of the Minnehaha
Mutual Insurance association and was
president in 1885, continued the witness.
Andrew P. Swanstrom was secretary. I
canont state positively in whose 4land-
writing the records of the association
!
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 discrimination Dr. Ginner testf-
fed that SwanstrOm had rendered his res
| ignation on Nov ,, 1897, and that on Nov.
y it was accepted Anything done by
! SWanstrom subsequent to the acceptance
of the resignation was as acting secretary
at the request of the witness The certif-
| icates issued in 1898 were not under the
1897 charter Certain red ink entries on
Register B, of the associa ton books. the
witness explained referred to issues IN
der the charter of 1898 All mail was re-
ceived in a DOStCffice box of which the
witness had the key. Swanstrom was In
Louisville during 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
1898, but several consultations were held
by the officers of the order
Attorney Mcdonald called attention to
the fact that the record kept by the
witness contained only two payments of
Call No. Is.
! on that assessment, doctor?" asked Mr.
/ ives