The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-23
FOR FORGERY AND LARCENY.
q. w. DRUMMOND INDICTED by THE
SUPERIOR COURT GRAND JURY.


preparation of the Funds of the
Edison Electric Illuminating Com
pany. of Which the Accused WAS
BooISkeeper aud Collector, and
Forgery of the Name of w. j.
o'Brien-Three Indictments for
Larceny After Trust and One for
Forgery-TotaI DefaIcatfOn Is S426.
But only Half of That Is Covered
by the Indictments.
George w Drummond, who during the
Spanish-American War. held q captains
commission in the First Georgia Regiment,
and prior to that time was an officer of
the Republican Blues, in the STATE ser
vice was yesterday indicted by the grand
jury of the Superior Court for forgery
and larceny after trust
The indictments charge the apprc pria-
ton of funds committed to his chara by
the Edison Electric Illuminating Company
with which corporation Drummond iied
the dual position of booldseeper and col
lector The defendant has confessed TO
Mr. George J. Baldwin, president of the
company, That he is short in his accounts
to the amount of $l2G. but the misappno-
priation of only about half of that sum -
charged in the indictments found against
him by the grand jury.
That the accused was short in his ac-
counts of collections for the company and
that the funds entrusted to him by the
company for payment to its creditors
were somewhat lacking has been rumored
for some days. The reticence maintained
by those who knew it, and the standing
that the man against whom these vague
charges were brought has hitherto enjoy
ed, have combined to dscredit their cor
rectness and to unfit them for publica-
ton. The finding of the indictment has
made the matter public.
Last Friday. Mr.. A. L. Drum, manager
of the company, swore out three warrants
in Justice G. Noble Jones court against
Drummond, one charging forgery and two
larceny after trust The warrants were
placed in the hands of officer Constantine,
by whom Drummond was arrested He
gave bond for $500, with Capt W. D.
Dixon as his surety. Then followed the
session of the grand jury, the considera-
ton of the warrants, the examination by
the grand jurors of The Witnesses familiar
with the facts and the finding Of the in
dicfments Additional warrants for the
arrest OF the defendant were not issued,
and it is not likely thai they viii be. The
bond already given is deemed ample by
the Solicitor General under the cIrcum
stances, and Drummond win be permitted
to enjoy his liberty until he is brought 20
trial
Two of the indictments, covering the APP
preparation of 1924 o., charge the commits
sion of the offenses on the same day, Jan.
Is. of the present year. The two others go
back three months and alege larceny after
trust and forgery to have been committed
Oct l5
The indictments last mentioned spring
from the same transaction. In the first of
the two Drummond is charged with APP
propriating TO his own use S2925, entrusted
to MIN by the Edison Electric Illuminating
Company, for the purpose of paying II
over 10 ". J. O'Brien. In the second OF
this pair Of indictments the charge is thar
he forged the name of W. J. OBrien. or
was concerned in the forgery to the re-
ceipt shown 10 the company for the al
legged payment of this sum Of money.
The indictments in which the offense
charged is OF such recent date allese re-
spectively the appropriation of $500 and
S34 % to the wrongful use of the defend
ant The larger sum was to have been
paid by the defendant to the Merchants
National Bank, while the smaller, the in
dictment says, was to have been safely
kept and then turned into the treasury
of the company.
Solicitor General Osborne said that while
the actual defalcation amounts to approx
mately twice as much as that charged in
the indictments, il had not been deemed
proper under the circumstances, to ask
the grand jury to find any larger number
of indictments The punishment provided
for one convicted under the laws of the
state of the offenses named, both of which
are felonies, is considered ample, and the
full and free confession made by Drum
mond to his employers has urged leni-
ency, or at least moderation. 1t may be
that if the accused Pleads guilty to one
of the Indictments the others pending
against him viii be mol pressed.
Mr. George J. Baldwin president of the
Edison Electric Illuminating Company,
said that Drummond had been employed
as booklIeeper and collector for about nine
months and that his work had always
been satisfactory. Until he had confess ed
his shortcomings he had given the COM
pany no cause TO suspect that his work
was not all right: consequently 1t was an
unpleasant knowledge, both to Mr.. BALDWIN
and Mr. Drum. when Friday morning
DrummOnd confessed to them that he was
behind in his accounts and saw no way
of making mp the deficit. He gave the
amount of his shortage as 1926 and a care
full checking up of the books showed his
statement to be correct
Drummond explained his conduct by
saying that several months ago he had
lost a sum Of money entrusted to his care,
and that he had made 1t good out of the
funds of the company, using part of the
money he collected and a part of that
with which he should have paid the local
bills. He had used this money with the
confident cNr ectation of making il good
before its loss was discovered. but find
ing himself unable to DO so, had decided
to make clean breast of the matter.