The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-04-13
RED BOOK
BARREDOUT
QUAY'S TRIAL.
Decision Of Court in the Mattcra
Partial Advantage to
Senator Quay.
CHARACTER OF THE VOLUME
In Contention =. Its Admission
Would Have Made Very In.
tercsting Reading.

E PHILADELPHIA, April Ex-senator
Quay gained partial advantage in
court to-day by the apparent refusal
OF Judge Biddle, for the present at least,
to admit as evidence against him the
famous "red book" which has figured
so prominently in the trial, and which
is alleged to contain the key to the case
OF the commonwealth. This book was
found In the desk OF Cashier Hopkins,
OF the Peoples Bank, after the lnstitu-
tion had closed Its doors. and that indi-
vidual had taken his own life. 1t Is
an ordinary day book, about twelve
Inches long and eight inches wide, with
about 200 pages. Twelve pages are de-
voted to what the prosecution charges
Is Hopkins record OF his transactions
in money deposited by the state treas
urer for the advantage of Senator
Quay. 1t contains entries extending
over several years, and figures are writ
ten on 1t which apparently show the
calculation Of interest on certain sums
OF money approXimating the state de-
posit, less certain deductions for the
pN'iSiih Va SCiiiOl S(uuy. i 1lGSe llPuTtS
the prosecution alleges, were posted"
from the red book to the regular ledger
Of the bank, containing Senator Quay's
account. In passing upon the question
OF the admissibility of. the red book,
Judge Biddle says:
Judge Biddle's Decision.
1t does not strike me that knowl-
edge of the book has been ! brought
home to Senator Quay. 1t was not
found among the books of the bank ut
all. 1t was found In drawer, not In
the orderly shape In which books OF a
public institution are kept. but crowd
ed In with a sort OF rubbish. and an In
vestgatlon OF that book revealed the
figures. am not satisfied, therefore,
that this book has been made competent
evidence against Senator Quay"
This decision was part of an oral opin.
ion by the judge, in which Is established
the point that the regular books OF the
bank were admissible as testimony,
District Attorney Rothermel quickly
saw the disadvantage the latter part OF
the opinion placed him in, and he
sprang to his feet to assure the court
that he had not argued for the adnlis-
sion of the red book, had not formally
offered 1t in evidence and might not
find 1t necessary to make such an
offer.
Judge Biddle replied that he had un-
derstood the argument OF yesterday
and this morning to be on the adnlis-
sion Of all the books and papers, but
in viewof Mr.. Rothermel's statement he
would withhold his decision on this book
until 1t Is regularly offered and the
question argued. Counsel for Mr.. Quay.
seeing their advantage, insisted that
they had included the red book In their
argument against the admission Of the
book. but the Judge dismissed the mat
ter for the present.
Prosecutions Contention.
The commonwealth contends that al
though the red book was kept by Cash
Ter Hopkins In separate compartment.
away from the eyes of the other en-
ployes, 1t was necessarily part Of the
bookkeeping system Of the bank, and
1t will have to be admitted to corrobor-
ate and explain entries in Senator
Quay's account. in the ledger.
The lawyers for the defense were evi-
IDENTIFY disappointed at their failure to
secure the exclusion OF all of the books
OF the bank, and thus practically de-
stroy the case Of the prosecution. II
has been understood that Lawyer Wat
sons presence in the case was for the
purpose Of making the fight against the
books. All OF the evidence practically
against Senator Quay is documentary,
In the shape of letters and book entries h
and the attitude OF his counsel has
clearly indicated n. purpose to fight to
the bitter end against the Introduction
Of such evidence. Their failure in this
respect was not complete. however, as
they have apparently secured the ex-
clusion of the vital evidence contained
in the little red memorandum book,
known for purposes of Identification as
the red book, which gains It's title from
the fact that the computations OF inter-
est In 1t were made in red Ink by Hop
kins. They were unsuccessful In the
effort to keep out the letters and tele-
grams written by Senator Quay to Hop-
kins, directing him to make certain
transactions In stocks. These were all
made public at the time of Senator
Quay's preliminary hearing, in Octo-
Der last.
The letters are in Senator Quay,s
handwriting, with one or two eScen-
tions.
All of this afternoon the lawyers arr
gued at cross purposes on the manner
of the introduction OF the bank books. 4
The district attorney wanted to avoid
the physical Inconvenience OF bringing
Into the court room several wagon
loads Of ledgers and account books, z
asking that they be identified in lump
and separate books brought into court
rs needed. The defense would not con-
sent to this. and the matter was still
under discussion when court adjourned
until tomorrow.
Failed to Elect, y