Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1904-04-16

dictment was based upon two alleged
offenses though they are said to be on
! ly two CT several. 1t is charged that
! he issued two money orders of 500 each
and entered upon the books of the
| WickenbuTg office 81 in each case,
| thereby making his profits, taking into
consideration the three cent fee in
each case. $9S.S7. This is the kind OF
a transaction that would not likely be
Immediately discovered though in the
nature of things il must inevitably be
discovered sometime. The operator
could not expect to remain Icng in the
same community.
Most of the evidence submitted was
documentary. The witnesses them
selves disclosed little beyond the fact
that nobody seemed to know very
much at any time about the affais CT
the Wickenburg postofice. George e.
Sanders was the nominal postmaster
but he was absent all the time. Pratt
was the assistant but most of the work
was done by a young man by the name
Of w. 9. Ames who knew of the fiaan-
cial condition of the office only by
hearsay. There was, he understood, a
shortage all the time. He did not re
member how great it was or how j.
came about This witness was of va
lue only in testifying to the signature
and hand writing OF Pratt and even
that testimony the defense wanted ex-
Guided or the ground that Ames was
not a hand writing expert, though one
Of the most famous hand writing ex-
pert in the United States is a man by
the name of Ames.
Two money orders of S1C0 each, which
had been paid at San Francisco to the
order OF F. D. Gray were offered. one
o. them was issued Oh Feb. u of last
year and the other on Feb. %. Ii was
shown by the records OF the Wicken-
burg Office that they had been issued
on the application of Gray and that
the application called in each case for
500. But other records Of the office
showed that on each Of those dates
money orders on san Francisco We're
issued and that in each case the
amount was 81. There was no refer
ence whatever &c any $lCO. Ames was
shown several remittance letters which
had been sent TO the PostOfiCe at Pres
colt when Prescott was til depository
for Wickenburg. These letters Wee
identified by Postmaster Smith Of
Prescott as having been received from
Wtckenburg. They purported TO show
the daily financial condition of the
Wickenburg Office but they did not cor
respond with the figures shown in the
Office. Those letters were signed 10y
Pratt for Postmaster Saunders ard
also bore the signature of Ames as
witness Of the accuracy OF the state
ments contained therein. Ames adj
mitted that one Of the signatures was
genuine but he said that was the only
one.
Another witness was the present
postmaster at Wickenburg. J. Bachti-
ger. He said he had the Office about
q year. He received il from Pratt.
There was no money received at tire
time though he understood that some
body owed it some. Mr. Bachtiger
said that he did not understand the
books and accounts that Pratt turned
over to him and though he had since
been trying to familiarize himself with
them they were still more or less Greek
to him.
Just before the hour of adjournment
the government rested. The defense
will not consume a Ereat deal oC time
in the puttig in of testimony so that
the case will go to the jury today.