The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-05-06

vault of the bank or any other part o.
the bank. or any money for signing
any papers. S,. VOW s.,.rr sa,d 1udga
Powers.
my salary was first $1,000 per year.
1t was reduced TO $500 in October OF
'95, and reduced to $4,000 in January or
'95. After that time 1 drew my salary
right along up to date Previous 10
that time l had not drawn all of IL II
had accumulated in the bank, and up
to January, '95, it amounted 10 s9.OJO.
The bank had not been doing much
business and l made d relinquishment
of my claim. \ resolution was passed
by the directors at that time to recoS-
nize the obligation they We're under 70
me. They felt moral obligation. and
it was understood that they would pay
me when business improved.
The resolution was offered as eVl-
dence by Judge Dickson. but the court
ruled it out, ON objection of the United
States attorney.
Mr.. Whittemore's cross examination
of the defendant did not shake his tes
timony. In only one point, that OF the
time during which he held the Hedges
note, did he give testimony at variance
with his direct examination
Geyser-Marion Stock.
the outgrowth of sales of Geyser-Mar-
ion stock" said he, in answer to ques
tions of the United States attorney.
After considerable talk, 1 induced
Hedges to let me offer for sale 5000
shares of the Geyser-M Marion stock
which was on his note as collateral
Sheets, the broker, to whom l had
given the stock for sale, or asked to
find customers. sent word to me that
he had sold 500 shares. | went over 10
his office and there found Hedges.
Mr.. Stout went on to relate. as he
had the day before, how Hedges. hini-
self, had bought these 500 shares for
Trimmer, foreman of the Geyser-Mar-
ion mine, and how Hed:es objected 10
the sale. believing that the stock would
advance TO $1.50 per share
"As Hedges said he was going away
and wanted TO buy more if Il went
down to 10 cents per share, he gave
me this note for $3.50 the day it is
dated, July IL, so that 1 might get 5000
shares for him if it went down.
How long did you keep the note?"
asked Attorney WhittemOre.
Possibly till the next day. 1t may
have been on my desk all night"
Didn't you say yesterday that you
sent it TO the boOkkeepers at Once?"
was asked.
Il don't know" was the reply. 1T
may have been on my desk all night -
Then Attorney Whittemore produced
the tickets of the bank, to show that
the note was not handed in till July
u, the next day.
rs this note in the same condition as
on the day on which you handed it in?'
was asked.
L guess so. I heard here yesterday
that it had been scratched. 1 don't
know anything about it."
Did you know the items that made
up your account as it showed in the
report of july 14?''
Il did not know all of them. My ac-
count varied sometimes. | may not
have had knowledge within Loco of
how my account stood"
why didn't you turn over the stock
of Carter to the bank as soon as you
received it?''
''Oh, we'll. we'd have to sell it within
SIX months, according to law, and as
there was little demand for the stock
we didn't want the bother"
why did you give Hedges 81. 200 in
stead of $3.50 TO pay the note?" was
asked.
I think that I had $S,2oO in my box. "
the witness replied. 'Of this, $1,000
was in one bill. and 1 didn't want to
break it,
why didn't you pay the money
yourself, instead of giving it to Hedges
to pay? Was it not to get Hedges on
record ?'
"Oh. no; there was no particular rea-
son. l thought that the best way"
Mr.. WhittemOre went into the ac-
counts in connection with Sleater & Co.,
L. NJ. Bailey & Co., and the Tempest
Gold Mining company. to have the de-
fendant show that these various trans
actions had been used to cover up over
drafts beyond the limit of $4,000.
Case Argued.
At the conclusion of some unimport-
ant testimony by Director G. S. Pey-
ton of the Utah National bank. the de-
fense rested, and Assistant United
States Attorney Cherrington made the
opening address 10 the jury for the
government.
He went over the accounts and re-
ports, making a very close and sue
cinct statement of the government s
position, and he was listened to very
attentively by the jury.
As the attorneys on either side had
agreed that but one and one-half hours
was to be consumed by each, Judge
a very short address, leaving to Judge
Powers time enough to go into the case
at length. But he became so interested
that he spoke for half of the time al
lOtted to the defense. He spoke of the
testimony TO prove Stoutt's good char
acter.
If you find that the Hedges note is
not false and fictitious. that is the end
of the case" said he. IF you find that
I,,e- 4.
nectiOn with the Bailey, the Sleater or
the Tempest accounts; that he had
fraudulently excluded some of these
from his report to the comptroller. you
cannot find him guilty under the rul-
ings the court has made"
He characterized Jones as a ''whited
saint" and said that if Stout had
forged the note and then tampered
with it, he should be in an insane asy-
lum, rather than on trial. so foolish
would such a proceeding have been.
Powers Sarcastic.
Judge Powers, who followed, was
cutting, sarcastic and eloquent
Il shall not say that Hedges delib-
erately perjured himself" said he. He
is aged and his memory is destroyed.
He does not know from one day to an
other what he does, with any degree
of certainty"
He spoke of Stoutt's former good
character and the strong testimony
concerning his good reputation. He
tried to show how foolish the forgery
would have been by a man whose
hair has been silvered with the touch
of time" Speaking of Jones, he said
THE man who will prove untrue to
friendship viii make erasures in a
note" He derided Expert Hay as the
man who came from Washington with
his face beaming like the sun. as it
rises over the Wasatch range When