The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-03-31
BUNDLE OF NOTES, SAID TO
BE FORGED BY BROWN, ARE
PRODUCED DURING TRIAL
Contractor Incriminates His For
mer Employer During Exciting
Testimony in Federal Court.
SIGNS CHECKS. NO MONEY
Afford Didn't See Amounts
Drawn Out Against His I'M
aginary Bank Account.
ORDEAL AWAITING HIM
Cross-Examination VIII Begin by
Defendants Attorney To-Day
Bank Examiner TeStiheS..

Bank Examiner Testihes.
For the second time during the legal
investigation OF the EIkhart Bank wreck.
Melville Afford. contractor and farmer.
evoked sensation in the Federal Court
when he was placed on the stand yesterday
By the prosecution TO testify against his
former employer. j. Walter Brown. BY
reason OF some 200 checks, signed by Afford.
who had no account in the bank. and car
ried in the bank assets. Afford has fg-
ured prominently throughout the trial, and
has been perhaps the main witness OF the
prosecution. His testimony was a dra-
matte feature of the Brodrick hearing. and
promises TO be equally dramatic in the
trial of Walter Brown.
Afford was called to the witness stand
few minutes before o'clock last even
ing. the prosecution proceeding on counts
charging Brown with executing checks and
notes made out 10 the witness and con-
verting the banks money TO the National
Manufacturing Company and the Consoli-
dated Paper and Bag Company. Afford
was employed for year at the latter
plant, which was controlled by Brown. and
il is alleged that Brown induced him To
sign checks and notes on which large
sum was taken from the bank. Mr.. keal-
hand and had Afford look them over. lie
Identified the signatures as his own.
CONTRACTOR TELLS STORY.
How did you come to sign all those
checks?'' asked Mr.. Healing. vehemently.
Tell the jury all about it
"One day" began Afford readily. 'Mr.
Brown came to me as 1 at work and
said: Mel. want TO ask a favor of you.
We want TO keep the building account sepa-
rate from the other expense accounts and
for the purpose of Identification l want you
to sign some checks for me-. / thought
about IL for a while and then told him L
didn't see any harm in doing so, and he
went back TO his office. / got 10 thinking
about 1t. and left my work and went down
To the bank and asked Mr.. Brodrck IL IL
was all right. He said that IL was. and
when Mr. Brown brought me some checks
that evening | signed them
did you read the checks before you
! signed them?" questioned Attorney keal-
ing.
''I did not" was the answer.
Ibid you know what done with the
money drawn on the checksg''
mo. sir. -
tDid you get any of the money! =
ION the days you signed the checks we're
the men around the plant paid offg'
II believe they were.
Did you know that your checks were
| In the bank?"
Not until after the bank failed
Mr.. Afford, | will ask you If YOU signed
any notes for Mr.. Brown" said Healing.
| SIGNATURES WERE UNAUTHORIZED.
mot that 1 know Of
Here Healing exhibited a number OF notes
with Affords signature attached, beneath
which were i'm very small letters the initials
wv. B." Afford testified that it was not
his own signature.
Ibid you give anybody authority to use
| your signature?" questioned the govern
ment attorney The witness replied that
he never had. Healing then asked Afford
| to relate what conversation he had with
| Brown after the bank closed.
The second day after the bank failed.
said Afford. Il came into town purposely TO
/ see Mr.. Brown. / had told my wife about
| signing all those checks and we were wor-
/ red. | found Mr.. Brown at the National
Manufacturing Company and told him the
| bank failure was a bad thing and that was
worried about those checks. Mel, he said.
| I'm surprised at you. You will get dol
lar for dollar on those checks II IL comes
to that. lost a lot Of money in that bank.
| too, but I've got money left Then he
threw open his coat and showed me tho
ends OF some 6 cneexS said II eat those os ehecks
| out of the bank, but had hard time do
ing 1t. Don't you say anything about IT.
/ He said he would have turned the checks
over to me but he might need them In his
defense"
Afford testified that he talked with
/ Brown later about the notes He met the
latter coming from the office OF Judge Van
| Fleet, which is above the offices occupied
by the national bank Afford had lust
! learned that the bank carried some notes
against him and asked Brown about them.
MIR. Brown told me, said Afford. that
! he didn't think would be held responsible
| for those notes Just then Attorney Yer
non Van Fleet came up and they asked me
| TO go up into the attorneys office, but
wouldn't go.
MAY RECALL AFFORD
what did you say?" asked Healing.
.'I said hadn't signed single note
.Is that what you said?" queried the
prosecution.
NO. sir I said I hadn't signed damn
note" shouted Afford in a passion OF ex-
citement.
| With this climax the days session. which
! had been unusually monOtonous came to
an end. Afford will be placed on the stand
pected will give further important testi-
No less than twelve witnesses were in
troduced yesterday by the prosecution. but
/ their examinations were TO assemble in
/ direct evidence against j. Walter Brown
The testimony purported TO show in the
entries and deposits had been generally
mismanaged by Brodrick and Collins. Tho
government stated that IL would go on to
| show that Brown was party TO the tangle
| and aided in the transactions
! 1t is expected. after yesterdays marshall
| ing. of preparatory evidence, that the
I
| Brown will come to-day. Browns trial Is
! attracting even larger crowds than did the
Brodrick hearing.
EXAMINER FRAZER TEsTIFIEs.
Aside from United States Bank Examiner
Afford w ID. Frazer. of Warsaw, was tho
only other witness whose testimony tended
to enliven the court. Mr.. Frazer said that
when he examined the bank oct. %. l902
he demonstrated with Brodrick about the
| unproportionate loans which were made by
| the bank TO Browns concerns. He said he
| had Brown called 10 the bank and told him
| that his institutions owed the bank over
! Sso 600 which was entirely too much money
and at that pace they would break the
/ bank Brown replied. said Mr. Frazer.
/ that the Consolidated would be sold by
Ian. l and the money repaid.
Among other witnesses on the stand yes
! terday were w. H. Anderson. postmaster
| of Elkhart, John krau. Elliott Krull. G.. W.
! Frederick Edward Kerstetter Howard
| smith, Bessie VALLEY. John q. Martin. w.
r Burris. Dan G. Thomas and Jacob Ober-
| holtzer Their testimony was relative 10
! deposts made i'm the defunct bank and
i was largely a repetition OF evidence brought
out in the Brodrick trial.
| Kerstetter testified that when Brown first
| came TO Elkhart In 1892 ne borrowed $3.50
! from the Elkhart National Bank. with