The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-10-19
MG McCurdy Thinks He is
 Imposed Upon
BELIEVES HUGHES UNFAIR
Chairman Armstrong, However Says Witnesses Are Responsible for the Embarrassing Positions In
 Which They Are.

New York October 1S-The district at- torneys office was called upon today by the legislative insurance Investigating committee because of the testimony Of one witness. and the question of an arrest for perjury Is now being considered by Assistant District Attorney Rand. The witness In question is George J. Plunkitt. an 1s-year-old telephone operator In the employ of the stationery firm of l.. W. Lawrence x Co.,, from whom the Mutual Life Insurance company purchased a great deal of supplies of this nature.
 It was brought out in yesterdays tes- timony that among hte vouchers for money charged to legal expenses was ore for s90l, signed by George J. Plunkitt. His identity was not disclosed until today, when Plunkitt was called to the stand. He testified as to his employment, and when shown the voucher denied that he had ever signed it. He further denied that he had ever received that amount of money from the Mutual Life Insurance company. or that he had rendered tho company any service
 Plunkitt Signs His Name. MT. Hughes asked Plunkitt to write his name in ink on a piece of pape.. which he did. This and the voucher were then offered in evidence and the similar ity of the signatures was called to the attention of the committee.
 Shortly after this incident. the ser geant-a -at-arms was sent to conmunicsts with the district attorneys office, and soon Mir Rand appeared He ~ns escorted to a seat beside Chairman Armstrong, and for a time he critically exa alred the sig natures All that Mir. Rand would say was that he had been surnn4 Onnd by Chair l man Armstrong and when the chairrnau
 was questioned, he seid the. mattsriswa
 now out of the hands of the commiu.e, Q,
 and was up to the district attorneys 1 offiee'
 Another Passage at Arms.
 Another feature of the days hearing
 was the passage at arms between Chair | man Armstrong, Counsel Hughes and James M Beck, counsel for President K. c. McCurdy. MT. Beck accused MT. Hughes l of misleading the public by not follow ing out his lines of Interrogation to the end, and asserted that he dropped n subject before the witness was alloWnd 1 to explain. Chairman Armstrong then said | that the work of the committee must net
 be 9bstructed The committee, he said. | wanted all the fnIOrfndtlpu II Cohih 7es l that would be helpful. and the witness had placed himself in the position he l found himself by his continual evasi a 1 answers.
 l MT Armstrong said further that every
 witness will be treated with all possioie courtesy.
 MT Hughes then said if he had erred. 1t was by showing courtesies when circum- stances Justified an entirely different course adding that evasion would be held I'D 10 the contempt 1t has always re- eeiyed.
 There was a spontaneous outburst of applause when MT. Hughes had con- ciuded which was stopped only by threat to clear the room
 Carpenter Makes Good Witness. William NJ Carpenter, Il clerk in the supply department of the Mutual Life i Insurance company made an excellent witness for th< commonwealth by his frank manner, and apparent desire to give whatever information he could upon the matter before the committee MT. Carpenter was under the direction of A. c. Fields. the superintendent of this de- partment and was very close to MT. Fields In his Legislative supervision" at Albany.
 Mr Carpenter told of how a house has been maintained in Albany for several years at the expense of the Mutual Life. NIT. FleluS ottuDltu lA piiS uhiiHS Ailo legislative session. and on several occa- sions two members of the insurance com mittee of the legislature lived at the house with MT Fields. Mir. Carpenter leased the house and paid for the wants and supfSies with money furnished him by the Mutual Life. He did not knoU whether these members of the insurance committee ever shared in the expense; he never received any money from them. but he said they might have paid Mir. Fields. No account was kept of these expenditures. A house has been maintained for a period of about ten years In Albany under these conditions, but not always in the same street
 Later in the day when MT. McCurdy was recalled the president said he did not know that the Mutual Life's funds had been maintaining this house. a1- though he did know Mrs. Fileds had rent ed house to escape the risk of Illness in hotels.
 Can Not Find Elder Jordan. l An attempt was made by Mir Hughes today to get trace of Thomas D. Jordan, former comptroller of the Equitable Life Assurance society Frank R. Jordan was called under a subpoena and he said he saw his father last labor day. He did not know then that he was going away. and did not know where he was now. Under persistent questioning by MT.
 
 forwarded to his father. and that he did not know whether his father or his moth CT were living or dead.
 Edward w. Rogers. clerk for l.. w. Lawrence & Co. was called and was rep resented by John B. Stanchheld. Rogers is also the president of the Globe Printing company He was shown the Pluni<itt voucher and said he was of the opinion | that the signature the voucher and l that written by Plunkitt on the stand were identical.
 i Toward the close of the days session Mir McCurdy was being interrogated on tho trust companies with which the Mn ! tual Life Insurance company Is connected and the subsidiary companies of the Mu- tual Life and was still on the stand when 1 adjournment was taken.
 1 Mir. McCurdy Talks Low. | MT. McCurdy's replies to some of tha l (continued on Eighth Paoe.)