The San Francisco call., 1904-07-14
OUTLINES THE DEFENSE
OF AGED GRAIN BROKER
Attorney Ach Claims That His Client Knew Little of the
Business of the Firm and Accuses the Missing Bernard
Etnger of Being Party Responsible for Crooked Work

That Jacob Eppinger, during the last
year the firm of Eppinger & Co. was
in business, was in poor health and
knew little or nothing of the affairs
and financial standing of the firm; that
the note for the money borrowed from
the international Banking Company
through Colonel Beck it's manager, was
signed not by the defendant but by Ber-
nard Ettlinger; that the business of
I the firm was so vast that it would be
ridiculous to suppose its head would
stoop to steal such a comparatively
trifling sum as the $4,000 on which the
Indictment is based; that if any crime
"ere committed the criminal certainly
must have been one Bernard Ettlinger
present address unknown-these will
constitute the defense in the Eppinger
case, according to the opening state
ment of Attorney Henry Ach. The
days proceedings were the most inter
ssting since the opening of the trial
and the two witnesses put on the stand
by the defense seemed hopelessly lost
when put under cross-examination, one
of them openly admitting that he had
testified to string of figures without
any knowledge as to their correctness.
He merely read them from a book kept
by another man.
SUDDEN REGENERATION.
Jacob Eppinger appeared in the
courtroom early, accompanied by his
wife and two sons. His face showed
no signs of the ravages of the terrible
malady from which he was supposedly
suffering from the past two daYS, and
his eye was brighter and step firmer
than at any time during the trial
Heretofore he has left the courtroom
leaning heavily on the arms of his two
sons, but yesterday he required the as
sistance of Morris only and apparently
could easily have dispensed with that
The greater portion of the morning
session was taken up in&hearing mo-
tions to strike out, the majority of
which were denied. At the rate AttOr-
ney Ach was proceeding, had all his
motions been granted, little would have
remained III the record. He wished all
the testimony of James Deming strick-
en- out relative to the private book, and
that of w. W. Topping as to the con-
tents of the storage book and grain
ledger, particularly the portions relat-
ing to the mysterious and phenomenal
increase of grain in the warehouse
designated as moisture" AS a finale
the court was asked to have stricken
from the record the testimony of all
witnesses who testified to business rela-
tions with Eppinger & Co. prior &C
April IA, 1903, unless it was shown that
Jacob Eppinger was present at the time
the deals were made.
on motion of Attorney Campbell e
testimony of James S. Manle.- relative
to the bankruptcy proceedings in the
United States Court and ell evidence
regarding the shipment of lots of wheat
which went out before the warehouse
receipts were hypothecated was strick-
en- from the record The three unan-
swered questions asked of Topping as
to the deliberate falsincation of books
and receipts were withdrawn.
WHEAT NOT THERE.
Hugh McFaul, formerly a weigher at
the warehouse, was recalled TO the
stand and questioned regarding lots of
wheat and their shipment. He testi-
fed that in the )nths of March and
April, 1903, there were no F. lots of
wheat in the warehouse. He never
knew of any other wheat being shipped
for Al white wheat, but had seen sub
stituted some rejected and good wheat
from lots other than that called for
This closed the case for the people and
an adjournment was taken until 2
o'clock, when Attorney Ach made his
opening statement
Ach first referred to the mass of tes-
timony which had been brought before
the jury, much of which he claimed did
not bear directly on the case, but was
introduced merely to confuse the ju-
rors. He continued:
You have been led into mystic maze and
1t is my duty to extricate you from that maze
and aid you in determining whether or not
Jacob Eppinger is guilty of the charges made
against him in this Indictment The only
question for you to consider is whether or
not he is guilty of the specific charge OF OBJ
national Banking Corporation by false pre-
lenses Much evidence has been introduced
to show completely in parallel ofenses, but
they not at Issue.
will not go into the of testimony
which contains matter foreign to this case
II you believe he was not in the bank man
aged by Colonel Beck on the 10th day of
promissory note the 14th of April it will
be your duty to acquit him.
We can and will put witnesses on the stand
to show that the firm did a business in round
numbers of S1S,O0O. OO0 a year.
We will show that the firm from October l.
1902 to April. IA. 1903, paid off $500. 900
its Indebtedness and during the succeeding
six months 100000.
We will show that in April of 1908 the
time the money was borrowed. assets ex-
ceeded it's liabilities to the extent of $1,4OO,
coo. and had property in Soano County worth
over $500 600 Further than this the screen
ings or as counsel for the prosecution termed
them. chicken feed" taken possession of by
the receiver in June sold for $1O2 600 net
DEFENDANTS HEALTH
We will summon experts to testify as to
the physical condition of the defendant, who
started out a butcher boy in this city in
1855 and by his own energy worked up a busi-
ness aggregating millions Two years ago
DR. Herzstein who is in Europe ordered
this aged man. this arch couspirator Is he has