The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1902-09-04

Rush's letter was untrue. and he re-
piled that he did not care to give his
reasons or information over the phone,
but ii I would come over to Grenada
within the next few days he would
get Mr.. j. NJ Fletcher, of Koscius-
ko, another member OF the executive
committee, to be there and we would
go up to Senatobia to see Mr.. Rush
and we would find out that it was
ust as he (Thomas) said.
went to Grenada, and Mr..
Thomas and / went that afternoon to
Senatobia. Mr.. Fletcher had gone
ahead Of us on train to Memphis,
and left word that he would come
back to Senatobia that afternoon.
Arrived at Senatobia Mr.. Thomas and
| went Immediately to Mr. Rush $
bank, and found there Mr.. Patton,
the cashier, and in the back room Of
the bank building Mrs. Nettia G. Orr.
Mr.. Rush was out Of town.
'Mrs. Orr kept the books for the
Mississippi Fire Association and did
stenography work. Size was reared in
Grenada, and she and Mr.. Thomas
had been friends and schoolmates,
ard Mr.. Thomas had secured the
position with Mr. Rush for her. She
is q very sweet and accomplished
lady. Mr.. Thomas ard Mrs. Orr be-
gan to go over the treas urer's books,
and | went into the bank and asked
Mr.. Patton to let mo know how the
Mississippi Fire Association stood on
the books. He said the Mississippi
Fire Association had between $4S, 600
and $40. 600 there. l asked him how
long the funds had been in Mr.. Rush's
bank and whether he had invested
any Of our funds in bonds, and he
said that Mr.. Rush had not bought
any bonds. asked him when Mr..
Rush had paid in the assessment on
his stock, and he said that he (Rush)
had never paid it. After locking
over his books and Rush's account,
Mr.. Thomas came in the front part
Of the bank and motioned me to him.
went with him over by window
Mr. Thomas face was flushed, and
he looked very much excited when he
said:
1 could tell you something that
would make you jump out of the top
Of the house,
STENOGRAPHER TOLD SECRET
II said, Well, tell me, and let me
jump ''He replied, i can't tell
you l then said, THAT is funny !;
you and are digging up this matter,
and we are doing it together, and
what one fnos out the other ought to
know
He replied, I want to tell you, but
Mrs. Orr told me something, and
asked me not to tell anyone, but l
will so in and ask her permission to
tell you
'He returned in few minutes and
said that Mrs. Orr was willing for
him to tell provided I would keep the
matter secret | made the promise
and Mr.. Thomas said: 1T is this;
old John Armstead, President of the
Mercantile Bank of Memphis, and
Phil Rush and Capt Raiford have
stolen 500, 900 out of the vault Of the
State Treasury, and carried it to
Memphis and loaned 1t out upon an
agreement to divide the interest be-
tween them.
81 aksed him how Mrs. Orr knew
it ana he replied that she had told
him Rush dictated the contract to
her and she took it down in shorthand
and wrote it out on the typewriter,
ana, besides, she had seen the cor
respondence between Rush, Armlstead
and Raiford. l then told him that
Mr., Patton, the cashier, had said
that Rush had not invested in the
bonds as directed to do by the com.
mittee, and that we had nearly $50, 600
in Rush's little bank. Mr.. Thomas
then went back and bad Mrs. Orr to
foot up the amount that the Treas
ury's books showed we ought to have
in the bank and 1t was about Sol. 000
"Mr. Thomas and I got on Sne
train going south and came home.
We discussed the matter and agreed
that Mrs. Orr ought to report this
steal to the Governor; that there
was no moral obligation resting on
her to refuse to reveal to the proper
authorities knowledge Of the COM
mission of felony
FAILED TO BUY BONDS.
"In few days the directors Of the
Fire ASSOCIATION had special meet
ing and we called on Mr.. Rush for
the bonds he had written the mem :
bers he had bought, and he admitted
that he had not bought the bonds.
The board told him that it would re-