The Washington times., 1905-06-08
WILLIAM w. KARR
WAVES A HEARING

came to him more than a year ago and
made an arrangement by which these
figures were submitted to him direct.
Il am in full charge Of all the ac-
counts of the institution" said karr at
that time, ''and 1t viii expedite matters
very much to have the statements come
to me-"
Before that time" said Clerk
Crounse, lit was frequently more thai
a month before we received acknowl-
edgments from the Smithsonian, and 1t
matters to have the statements Of
Treasury balances go to the man who
had charge Of checking of the account
Of the Institution with our account.
Before the new order of things the
statements from the Treasury were. by
order Of Assistant United States Treas
urer Meiine, addressed to THE Sn1itf-
fspx fenlan Institution instead Of to seere-
were addressed the statements were
submitted to Disbursing Officer Karr,
ana 1t was consequently a simple mat
ter for him to prevent knowledge of the
condition of the Institution's finances
fcial
Never Went to Langley.
Questioned on this point this morn.og &
Secretary Langley said, mo, the state
ments of our balance In the Treasury
never came before me in any way"
Further than this. however he refused
to discuss the affair in any way until
the investigation, now well under way,
is completed.
In the office of the Cashier of the
Treasury this morning 1t was said that
Secretary Langley usually carried such
a large balance In the Treasury that
the clerks always passed his checks
without question, and 1t was not until
Tuesday. when it was discovered that
the Smithsonian account had been over
drawn to the extent of $500, that the
x1y, ,fCh 1,Tf fn6 ~
harr confession and downfall.
Plan of Defalcation..
Concerning the plan of defaIcation
adopted by Karr no one this morning
could offer q full explanation, except
that he secureed the moneys while max
ing deposits to the account of the
Smithsonian Institution In the Treasury.
Much of the income OF the institution
is from sale of documents and scientific
publications, the average per year from
this source being estimated at So Zoo.
Most Of this amount comes In form of
bank checks. These as well as cash
are received at the Treasury, though
the checks are never credited to an
account until paid.
The checks. of course. contain the in
dorsement Of Secretary Langley. and
with these negotiable papers at his COM
mand. karr's access to the actual cash
was easy. His custom "a was explained,
was to cash the checks at one Of the city
national banka, and then, as he explain
ed in his confession. he would deposit
only a portion OF the money.
Returning TO the institution karr could
enter up the stsii deposit as though
honestly made. and only the Treasury
statements would show that the actual
cash was missing. That the discrepancy
was not sooner discovered Is accounted
for by the fact that Karrs accounts
were audited by the auditor Of the State.
War and Navy Departments.
Searching for a reason for the defai-
cations Secretary Langley, Assistant
Secretary DR.. Richard Rathburn and
other officials of the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition were strangely puzzled Karr
maintained handsome home for his
family at 1913 Baltimore street north
west. but there was no lavish entertain
ment, and as far as the mans life at
his home was concerned 1t did not seem
to demand an expenditure Of more than
1880 per year, which amount he drew
as salary
From restaurateurs about teh center
Cf the city comes Il different tale More
than one barkeeper said that he knew
Karr well, and 1t was often marked
that the man seemed to have particu-
lar fondness for treating everybody in
the house" and flashing a great roll of
bills of high denomination when making
payment.