The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-08-02
BIG FRAUD UNEARTHED.
Cattle Shippers Victims of Swindle at
Stock Yards.

Kansas City. Aug. Five cattle
yards have been expelled from MEM
bership in the Kansas City Traders
exchange at a meeting of that organi-
cation. They were charged with "un-
business-like conduct in conspiring
with three former weighmasters of the
Stock Yards company for the purpose
of defrauding country live stock buy
ers and shippers, and live stock com
mission men at the stock yards. 1t
is said that the men when found out
were asked to surrender their mem
bership cards. Refusing to do this
their trial followed, resulting in their
expulsion.
The investigation has been carried
on quietly for more than month.
1t has been in charge of the following
members of the executive board of the
Traders exchange: E. S. Downs, pres
ident of the exchange and chairman
of the board; j. E. Cole, Lester Wolf,
J. P. Wilkin, Scion Settle, A. Deich-
mann, F. L. Orvis, Thomas P. Ham
ilton and NJ. c. Spence. None of the
officers or members of the board was
willing to discuss the action taken by
the board. Both President Downs and
Secretary Farrar refused to be inter-
viewed.
I'VE are not through yet" said Mr.
Farrar, chairman of the investigating
board. when we have finished our
work the exchange will doubtless di-
rect me TO make out a statement for
the press
Two weighmasters, who were impIi-
Gated in the scandal, are said to have
made a clean breast of the conspiracy.
In the gossip that has been going the
rounds of the exchange building for
several days the names of three weigh
masters who have recently been dis
charged were freely used. One of
them who has been employed for a
number of years by the stock yards
company and who was discharged last
fall, said that he had heard that his
name had been connected with the
scandal. He protested ignorance of any
such transactions and denied that he
had been discharged because of them.
He said the reason he quit was be-
cause of misunderstanding with the
yard company.
Two other weighmasters were dis
charged this spring. One of them is
said to be in Nebraska at present The
other. when seen admitted that he had
heard his name was used in the dis
cussion of the Irregularities. He pro-
fessed ignorance of any illegal tran
sactions.
That country shippers have been
cheated in the weights Of their cattle
when selling and charged with extra
weight when purchasing from certain
months ago by some of the commission
men. Suspicion was aroused from a
comparison OF nome weights and Kan
sas City weights. The shrinkage was
frequently more than double the aver
age loss when the weights were not
tempered with. When a shipper COM
planned of an unusually big shrinkage
an investigation was made, but no trace
of wrong doing was discovered. About
month ago a commission man pur-
chased a big string of stock cattle from
a Spectator After they were weighed
he was advised to have them weighed
upon on another scale. He followed the
advice which revealed an 80 pound gain
to the head in fewer than ten minutes.
This discovery revealed the secret of
the. mysterious ''shrinks" that had been
for months. A quiet investiga-
ton followed.
The alleged scheme to defraud coun-
try shippers was a clever one as well
as profitable to those engaged in it. 1t
was successful only through an under
standing between the alleged dishonest
dealers and the weighmasters, who pro-
badly shared in the profits. Whenever
a Spectator member of the combina-
ton purchased a load of cattle from a
commission man and they were driven
to the scales, the weighmaster was no
titled For example: If the cattle
weighed Is, 900 pounds the weighmaSter
placed 1900 on the official scale ticket, |
thus cheating the owner out of pay for
2 600 pounds When the cattle were sold
to anotherAHfan and weighed again, say
IL, 900 pounds, the weighmaster marked
the official scale ticket, probably 1900
pounds, thus making the purchaser pay |
for 1000 pounds he did not receive and |
making a net gain of 1900 pounds for
the conSpira tors.