The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-03-24

that Senator Burton. when he deposite'
the check and received credit for tn,
amount. had sold 1t to the bank, and tina
It had passed out of his possession, am
that. therefore. the payment had beer
| made in Washington.
| Bert Nortoni Assistant United State:
District Attorney who. handled the poin
| National Bank had acted as Senator Bur
| tons agent in collecting the check. which
collection was made in st. Louis. The
| agency was shown, he averred, by the fac
| that the bank had recourse to Senator
| Burton, who had indorsed the check. In
case the Commonwealth Trust Company
| should refuse to pay the check.
Judge Adams ruled that the case was
| within the Jurisdiction of his court, and
| IL there was any question OF the adm!ssi'
bility of the check, 1t was question fol
| the jury -
The first testimony offered yesterday
| was for the purpose OF showing the course
| of the charges against the Rialto Grain
and Securities Company, the apparent OBJ
| ject being to show the need the company
had for assistance in the Post-Office De-
| partment.
| Mrs. Bella Evans of Albany. N. Y; Ar
| thur NJ. Allen of Staten Island. N. Y:
| and Miss Sarah A Warner of Pittsfleld,
Mass testified to the character of the
| and Securities Company, and to filing with
| the Post-Office Department Information
| against the company.
F. r. Fravel clerk in the Agricultural
Department, testified that on November
3. 1902. he sent letter to the Post-Office
Department. calling attention to the meth
Ods of the Rialto Grain and Securities
Company. B. w. Turner, chief clerk in
letters from Fravel and Benjamin G. Was
zen had been received and referred to
Chief Post Office Inspector Cochran.
George VI. Smith, clerk in the office of
the Post-Office Inspector, testified that the
letters mad been received by his depart
ment and referred to the Inspector at St
Louis.
Post-Office Inspector George A. Dice
testified to the receipt of the letters by
the st. Louis office, and of reporting to his
superiors on the cases.
Chief Post-Ofice Inspector w. E. Coch-
ran tod of the handling of the case of
the Rialto Grain and Securities Company.
After the noon recess E. H. Kaster. who
was connected with the company which
placed the Rialto Grain and Securities
Companys advertising, told of a trip to
Chicago, which was made by Senator Bur-
ton, Thomas B. Harlan, attorney for the
Rialto Grain and Securities Company, and
the witness, during which the employment
of Senator Burton by the company was
tentatively discussed
District Attorney Dyer then read a let
ter from Harlan. which was written i'm
mediately after his return from Chicago.
1t was dated November Is. 1902 and ad-
dressed to Senator j. r. Burton. Senate
paragraph Is:
Mr. Kaster and myself arrived safely
and on time this a. m. / found myself
confronted with number of enRa ge-
ments, which, together with Major Den
Mss condition. prevented me wiring you
at as early an hour as expected How
ever, hope that you received my message
to the effect that this company accepts
your terms to act as counsel at a salary
of $500 per month. said service to begin
Immediately; that is. on this date, Noven-
ber IS. 1902
''I have been unable to get any definite
information of the present proceedings be-
fore the Grand Jury. You will recall that
the present proceedings grew out of the
business conducted under the name Of the
Brooks Brokerage and Commission Com
pany."
Here follows a long account of the busi-
Dess done by the Brooks Company. The
letter concludes:
''The above facts, which constitute a
mere outline of the present situate will,
I believe, be sufficient to show Major Den
Mss present danger, ss well as his tnno-
cence of any wrong doing in the matter.
If you can find 1t convenient to inquire
at the Post-office Department whether
there are any complaints, you viii be do
ing us a great service Your truly,
THOMAS B. HARLAN"
The letter from Senator Burton, dated
November %. in reply to this was then
read. After the reading OF the Burton let
ter the check was offered and the discus
sion OF, the merits of the evidence fol-
lowed.
In the course of this discussion, Judge
krula dwelt on the gravity Of the charge