The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1905-06-28
graphs show briefly and clearly the ma
ture of his denial.

graphs SHOW Drlefly ana clearly the ma
ture of his denial
by which the funds of the Laurens
Cotton Mills were loaned to the Watts
Mills, stating that an open account of
the same was kept, to the full knowl-
edge of the din ectors, and without any
opposition on their part. That all of
these debts have been paid with inter
est as the records win show. An ac-
count was regularly kept on the books
and appeared on the balance sheets of
the company. Concerning the charge
that his personal account had been
overdrawn, Mr.. Lucas declared that on
one occasion he borrowed the S2m of
$40, 600 from the mill, with the knowl-
edge and approval of Seth M. Milliken,
and in q great measure, at his sugges-
ton. Furthermore he shows that full
payment has been made, with interest,
both by the Watts and by VIM. e. Lu-
cas-.
"ln the affidavit made by Seth M.
Milliken it was stated that the firm of
Deering Milliken Il Co., was the sell
ing agent for l6 cotton mills in the
South. Mr.. Lucas in his affidavit de-
clares that out of the 16 mills so repre-
sented by the selling agents, there are
not more than four whose stock can be
This deponent further alleges, that
in reference to the allegations of the
said Seth Nj. Milliken, that in refer
ence. to the comparatively small net
earnings made by the Laurens Cotton
Mills for the year ending April 1, 1905,
being due to the negligence or mis-
management of this deponent; that
this rests solely in the imagination of
the sale. Seth M. Millilen. That the
fluctuations in the price of cotton
during the said year have been more
violent than in the memory of man,
varying as far as $50 per cent, entirely
demoralizing the trade and preventing
any reasonable calculations from being
made in the cotton mill business. That
it is a notorious fact that all mills
manufacturing print cloth numbers,
such as those made by the Laurens
Cotton Mills have suffered severely. =
That many of them have made only
nominal profits and others have made
no profits at all, but show loss as the
result of the years operations. That
in addition thereto there has been
dnring the past year and is now an un-
procedented scarcity of labor which re-
suited in the stoppage of large por-
tion of the machinery of these mills,
thereby curtailing their production and
increasing the cost thereof. And depo
nent further says that even with these
adverse circumstances the Laurens
Cotton Mills would have shown very
much better result had the firm of
Dcering, Milliken & Co., their selling
agents, followed the instructions given
the deponent as the president of the
mills in reference to the sale Of goods
That deponent insisted and urged that
the said goods be sold Immediately up
tl,nt, g. Il L.
that the said firm of Deering, Milliken
& Co., neglecting their duty and refus-
ing to follow out the instructions of
this deponcnt and treasurer and mana
ager of the said mills, allowed the
goods to accumulate in the hands of
the mills, causing additional loss and
interest charges to carry the same, and
finally the said goods were sold by the
said Deering, Milliken & Co., at very
material loss over the price which could
have been obtained when instructions
to sell were given to them and price
below the cost of production, thereby
entailing upon the said Laurens Cotton
Mills, not only loss of profit but the
expense incurred in the manufacture of
these goods. -
Mr.. Lucas alleges that no complaint
was ever made or thought of by Seth
M Milliken against his management of
the Laurens Cotton Mills until the
selling right was transferred from
Deering, Milliken & Co. to Stevens &
Co.
This paragraph appears: 'Deponent
further says, in answer to the allega-
ton in the said affidavit contained
that the firm of Deering, Milliken e
Co. never charged one mill more than
another, that in the earlier years of
tba ictn ,f th< i
Mills, said firm of Decring, Milliken &
Co. forced the said Laurens Cotton
Mills to pay them, not only four per
cent, but also an additional brokerage
charge of one-half of one per cent for
selling their product, which made their
commissions amount to four and one
half per cent.
"Mr. Lucas explained in detail the
transaction by which he purchased
certain stock, ten shares in fact at
$4,000 per share. This was immedi-