The age-herald., 1901-11-08
CONFESSES ID BEING SHORT
 ABOUT $57,OOO Charles ), Thompson, Finance Keeper of Knights of Mac-
 cabees, a DefauIter HAS HANDLED $15,OOO,OOO Until Ills Dedication No Thought Ex- isted Against Ills Integrity and
 Betrayal of His Post
 ls heeniF Felt.
HAS HANDLED $15,OOO,OOO.

Port Huron, Mich, November By his own written confession. Charles D.. Thompson, supreme finance keeper of the bees, and a prominent vessel and tug man of this city, lis defaulter in the sum of s57,OO0. MT. Thompson, however. was heavily bonded in the National Sure ty Company of New York and the Fidel- ity and Deposit Company of Baltimore. from loss. Thompson made no effort to escape after his dedication was discov- cred He Is now at his home awaiting the action of the bonding companies.
 His embezzlement is confessed in the following letter to Supreme Commander D. P. Markey:
 confesses sEmbezzlement.
 To P. P. Markey. Supreme Commander
 Knights of the Maccabees:
 It is with feeling of distress and shame that tender herewith my resig- nation as supreme finance keeper of the order of which you are the head. And this step is taken with a bitter realiza- tion that I am no longer worthy the companionship and association of my fellow officers. I have held the position since the order was founded; have during most of the time eeen officially associated with the present supreme officers and never until now did l in any way be- tray my trust.
 I was engaged in a legitimate business venture. In which had made large in- vestment and found myself in position when further money was necessary to save myself from bankruptcy and ruin. There was apparently no chance for loss. I then betrayed my trust and used the funds of the order at the time, but be- lieving there was no question of my abil- ity to replace them within short time. The amount I used was s57000. I have no hope of being able to repay this amount. I know the order is protected from loss by the surety bond of nearly twice the amount in a perfectly respon- sible company, but this does not lessen by mental suffering nor relieve me from the disgrace of having betrayed the con HQ6HCe TepO56u III iue. NOtHlnk Lldl HI dy occur can increase the tortures with which I have suffered and am still suf- fering. I can only await such action as might be taken and abide the conse- quences. No punishment can be greater and suffering so intense as that result ing from the loss and respect of the es- teem or the membership of the order and the suffering necessarily caused to my family
 The First Intimation.
 (Signed) CHAS. B. THOMPSON.
 The first intimation of the shortage came last Tuesday afternoon when Su- preme Commander Markey and Supreme Record Keeper George J. Sigle were checking over the finance keepers books. An error was discovered and they called on Thompson for an explanation. He said that he would take the books and papers home with him that night and look it up. Wednesday morning he came to Supreme Commander Markey's office and confessed that his accounts were short $57.0O0. He then signed a written confession of the embezzlement. An ex- animation of the books followed and the shortage was disclosed. Supreme Com mander Markey this afternoon gave out the following statement in regard to 1t:
 Charles B. Thompson has been su- preme finance keeper of the supreme tent since it was organized in September. 1885. and has handled and disbursed more than $1b 900. 900 during that time and un- til this dedication no thought has ever been entertained against his integrity and this betrayal of his post will be keenly felt by the membership. The su- preme tent keeps on deposit large amounts of money in leading banks in several commercial centers on which warrants are drawn for the payment of death claims. but all collections are made through the Commercial Bank of Port Huron, and 1t is part of the duties of the supreme finance keeper to transfer from time to time from the Commercial