The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-09-23
BODYBUILDING
ASSOCIATION FAILS
Managers Missing, but There's
Money on Deposit for
the Stockholders.

The affairs of the firm of c. A. Jones
& Co, which has been conducting a
home building cooperative business
in st. Paul and Minneapolis during the
past six weeks, may have to be settled
in the courts.
The Northwestern Trust company
which as been acting as trustee for the
company, has handed in its resignation
to c. A. Jones, manager of the cooper
atiVe association and as the trust COM
pany has $1,100 in its possession be-
longing to the contract holders, 1t IS
probable that the courts will be asked
to distribute the money to the certifi-
cate holders or order the transfer of the
funds to another trustee.
c. A. Jones came to st. Paul from
Chicago last June and entered into ne
gotiations with the Equitable Life In
surance company looking towards the
establishment of a home cooperative
company, with the insurance feature
included. The Northwestern Trust
company agreed to act as trustee of
funds paid in by contract holders. The
plan proposed by Jones was regarded
as entirely feasible by the trust COM
pany and the insurance company, and
business was started six weeks ago.
About sixty applications for loans had
been received.
Nothing Wrong With the Plan.
Briefly outlined, the plan, which is
similar to that used by a number of
cooperative companies in the country,
provides for the allotment of loans to
contract holders in the numerical order
of their applications. Each applicant
was then required to pay a certain
sum each month to mature the stock
and cover the premium of an insurance
policy which is issued to each contract
holder to provide for maturing of the
sufficient to make a loan to the first
contract holder has been accumulated
the money is paid, and the contract
holder then continues paying till his
loan is liquidated. He then has a home
and life insurance policy The North
2 western Trust company last week de-
c1ded to terminate its connection with
the association, and gave formal notice
to Jones.
Jones' Office Is Vacated.
The furniture was removed yester-
day from his office, Room 705 in the
Pioneer Press building and two young
lady stenographers in the branch office
in the Guaranty Loan building in Min
neapolis are looking for their en-
ployer.
The funds in possession of the trust
company, it is understood, cover all the
payments that have been made by
stockholders except the So membership
fee which was Jones commission on
sale of stock. The only way in which
Jones could have got more than this
from stockholders is by selling low
numbered shares which would give the
holder his loan sooner than he would be
able to get it if he took his proper
number in rotation, and there is no
evidence that this was done. By pur-
chasing a contract instead of receiving
it through an application in the reg
ular course of rotation pursued by the
cooperative companies, a prospective
contract holder may receive a place
near the head of the list and thereby
receive his loan ahead Of those who
have taken stock in the regular num-
bered order. Contract holders, in order
to get precedence on the list, are often
willing to pay bonus to the agent of
the company. The bonus money, not
being provided for in the contracts,
Is not required to be paid into the
treasury, and in case of defalcation
on the part of the agent of co-opera-
tive company, this money, it is said,
could not be recovered by civil process
Jones, 1t is supposed, has left the
city. He lived for a time at the Met
ropolitan hotel and later at the Mer-
chants, but left the latter about two
weeks ago.
The trust and insurance companies
had no further connection with the
project than to act as depository for
the funds and to provide the insurance
TO shareholders.