The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-05-25


ing assistant cashier Of the Fire
i mans Fund Insurance Company,
is reported by the finance COM
mittee to be $500. The story of the
embezzlement and flight published ex
clusively in The Call yesterday caused
commotion among bankers and insur-
ance agents. Men who knew Spauld-
ing and were familiar with his habits
of daily life expressed the greatest
surprise over the story of his crooked
ness. He was regarded as an exemp-
larry young man who never went to
the races or sought the companionship
of the gay and dissolute. He seemed
devotedly attached to his family, and
when his daily work in the office was
finished went directly to his home in
Oakland.
One of the leading officers Of the COM
pany made this remark yesterday:
Il was astonished when / read in The
Call to-day that Ed Spaulding had
gone wrong. If l had been called upon
to select from the fifty or sixty young
men in the office the one least likely
to go wrong, l believe l would have Sc
lected Spaulding."
There was d meeting of the directors
of the Fireman's Fund yestei day after
noon in the office of d. j. Staples,
President of the institution. Figures
OF the expert accountants were re-
viewed The fact was disclosed that
SpauIding's career of crookedness be-
gan about one year ago. After the d.
iectois' meeting dissolved, fresioent
Staples, treasurer +. w. Lougee and
-,
received the newspaper REPRESENTA-
.4,~e. Inese eel4LieAlen ANNOUNCED
mat the exact sum or money enbez-
zIed was SioUU. The crooked work COW
cred d period of one year. Slnan sums
We're not touched. The stealing was
accomplished oy faislncatlon OF
check accounts. The smallest amount
taken at any one time was $5UU Mr..
Lougee, treasurer of the institution,
by the absconding assistant cashier
was not in excess of $500. He said
that all the transactions had been care
fully checked and that the sum named
was the exact figure of the embezzle-
ment
In speaking of the affair yesterday,
the otncerS OF the institution Spohe
the money loss as trivial in comparison
with the legitimate losses which the
company sustained in its vast opera
lions of insurance. While President
Staples and his associates deemed the
loss small, yet they resolved in the In
teresp OF public justice, 10 take prompt
measures to ascertain the whereabouts
of the defaulter, and bring him to an
accounting for his wrong doing. De
tectives have, therefore, been en-
gagged to trace Spaulding movements
IL ON the time he left the office for his
vacation. Much sympathy was ex-
pressed for the parents and wife OF the
fugitive.
1t lranspires that Assistant Cashier
Spaulding told his wife and his father
on the eve of his vacation that he was
going on the road for the Firemans
Fund and intended TO visit Portland.
The first incident to arouse suspicion
of crookedness was a message from
young Spaulding's wife to Vice Presi-
dent Faymonville asking when her
husband would return. The fact was
then, or subsequently, disclosed
that Spaulding had told his wife that
he was going to Portland in the inter
est of the company.
The real cashier of the Firemans
Fund is Thomas NJ. Gardiner. Insur-
ance men were dazed when they heard
that there had been an embezzlement
of $500 in a department under the su-
pervision of Mr.. Gardiner. The fact
was taken into account that Spauldng
had handled the funds under Charles
S. Woods, the old-t time cashier, and
was familiar with the business of the
department. Still it could not be un-
derstood how he managed to deceive
the accomplished accountant, Tom Gar
diner.
Insurance men were also surprised
to learn that the experts in the office
of the Fireman's Fund had checked
- -s,, =
defalcation was discovered, and We're
able to show that only $500 had been
stolen by Spaulding.
One insurance man remarked:
THE Fireman's Fund is represented
in the United States by nearly two
thousand agencies The company trans
acts business of two million dollars
annually. l cannot understand how all
these agency accounts have been
checked up since last Monday"
There are various coniectures re-
garding the whereabouts of the an
sconding Spaulding. He left his watch
and iewelry at home when he went
away, but it is surmised that he lert
these valuable articles to create the
suspicion that he intended to commit
suicide.
Some of the officers of the company
fancy that he got aboard one of the
TRANSPORTS ard sailed for Manila 9th
ers believe that he went to South
America. The notion that he enlisted
in the army Under an assumed name
firds some adherents.
The op'-'o- is almost universal
that Spanlding did not spend his money
in gambling. drinking or at the race
course or in the company of dissolute
people, hence there Is an impression
that he must have plunged little in
stock speculations.