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 $62525 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 BigeIow 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-
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 CT the afternoon Judge Kelly
appeared in the court room and occu-
pied 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 APP
preciable effect on him. He looked hag-
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 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 a long argument, and DR..
Ginner was temporarily withdrawn to be
succeeded by former Insurance Commits
s1oner Elmer H. Dearth, who testified
that he had issued a license to the Or
der of Minnehana in 1897 and 1898 He
mad Kept the articles of incorporation on
file at his office. Then state exhibit c.
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
81 visited the office of the Order of
Minnehaha in 1896" said Mr. Dearth. II
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 1898,
before the license was issued and thew
explained to me the general standing of
the order. The license was issued about
March l, 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
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 Vnight have
added that he was not an officer of +bo
order at the time. He had said thar
all the interest he had in the Issuance
OF license was to protect the older
members OF the order who were beyond
Inc 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
Tered certain pages of the record book IN
show that the Minnehaha Mutual Tns,1r-
ance association has emerged itself into
the Order of Minnehaha The states Of
Ter was finally received against the OBJ
lection Of the counsel for the defense
Then RiPQlnTV clr t-i,,
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. Scofeld, Col. J. G. c. Lee. L. s
A; w. f. Weber, r. B. Bassford, Dana
White, DR.. c. A. Wheaton w L, Fish
j. L. Cater. Charles Eaton and w NJ
CToome. All these the witness testified
were members Of the association.
was 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 1gland-
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 NJ
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 testi-
fed that Swanstrom had rendered his res
ignation an Nov. ,, 1897 and that on Nov !
y it was accepted. Anything done by
SWanstrCm subsequent to the acceptance
of the resignation was as acting secretary
al the request of the witness. The certif- |
fcates issued in 1898 were not under the
1871 charter. Certain red ink entries on !
Register b, of the associa ton books. the
witness explained, referred to issues I'M |
der the charter Of 1898 All mail was re-
ceived in pOstCffice 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 pay
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 m |
the fact that the record kept by the
witness contained only two payments of
Call No. Is.
rs that all the money you received
ON that assessment, doctor?" asked Mr..
Ives.