The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-18

G. J. Devlin.
Crawford County Coal company.
Kansas City Coal and Coke CONF
pany.
Mt. Carmel Coal company.
Mt. Carmel Mercantile company
Marceline Coal company.
Marceline Mercantile company.
Devlin Coal company.
Devlin-AIiIIer Coal company.
Thursday .'there shall be light on
Its proceedings are expected to
open up a legion of channels from
which the long-famished public will
gain information.
Principal on tomorrow's calendar IS
the report of Cyrus Leland, j. e.
Hurley and Walter Reeves. the receiv-
ers appointed by the federal courts for
c. J. Devlin's property, after his at
tOrneys had filed in his behalf volun-
tary petition in bankruptcy. tQr
months these three men, aided by ex-
pert accountants, have been delNing
into the vast mass of details and have
tried to extricate therefrom SEM
blance of orderly and correct informa-
ton.
clifford listed. the head attorney
in the matter, said this morning: We
can give out no advance information.
We viii be ready by tomorrow morn
ing"
The second matter of most inipor-
lance, though contingent upon the re-
ceivers' report, is the filing of the
First National banks claims against
! the Devlin property; From THIS m
formation can be cleaned something
as to the demands OF the bank, ana
the particular sources from which II
hopes to obtain money for tlIe deposi-
tors. This part Of me
| will be most directly interesting to
Topeka people.
| Then will commence the long
tedious process of receiving claims
| against @. J. Devlin and eight of his
1 minor companies. This work may
/ consume weeks and perhaps months.
4 1t in reality is the most searching
method of finding out just what Mr.
/ Devlin's liabilities and assets are. 1t IS
| the real meat Of the campaign
/ To keep the big estate intact right
after Mr.. Devlin failed. his attorneys
/ filed a petition in voluntary BANK
ruptcy. After a cursory investigation
they found that such a proceeding was
wanting in jurisdiction, and changed
/ tactics by fling involuntary bank
ruptcy proceedings against G. j. Dew
! lin and eight of his minor companies.
AS soon as adjudication is gained in
| an involuntary bankruptcy proceed
/ ing, the court sets a time for the
| creditors to file their claims. This it
part of the programme for tomorrow.
All but one. the Southwestern Fuel
! cOmpany'S case, which came up today
are on Thursdays calendar.
/ It is Of course out of the question
/ to even think of the completion of
/ them all tomorrow-and it is more
II likely that not one of them viii have
all outstanding claims fled against it,
adm trustee for it elected. IL takes a
long while TO get in all the claims. no
matter how assiduously Referee
Loomis may keep after the creditors
There is one thing. however" said
Mr.. LOOMS today, that I shall insist
upon. and that is that as each case is
called up. at least some of the claims
Tr1 r p 1T q
that much done. They must be START
ed"
Today's adjourned creditors meet
ings in the cases Of ". E. Thomas of
Fuel company Of Topeka failed in
everything which the laymen who were
present looked for. It was the hope
of the visitors" that all the claims
would be filed and that trustee would
be elected, so that possible line might
be obtained on who the trustee for the
whole matter might be. But one claim
was filed.
Mr.. Thomas Is Sick.
W. E. Thomas is sick in bed at his
home and was unable to be present
for examination. He was the owner
of the Southwestern Fuel company
also, and therefore his absence caused
the same condition in that meeting.
The result Was-adjournment The
same thing is expected to happen in
most of the other cases several times
over before they are finally cleared
UP.
When this condition confronted the
creditors today, Receiver J. T. Brad
ley of the First National bank, arose
and presented a resolution moving
? that an adjournment be taken until
November q, and that accountants be
employed to look into matters and
; make q report for Mr.. Thomas. This
proposition met up with ready assent
especially from Eugene Hagan, Mr..
, Thomas attorney. But then came a
: wrangIe. Some of the attorneys want
ed the investigation to include the
Kansas City Coal and Coke company
] in which Mr.. Thomas is interested, as
well as the Southwestern Fuel COM
pany. This was agreed upon after 3
lengthy discussion. The some one
wanted Haskins and Sells to do the
/ work. This was talked over fol. q Ions
while and brought out a long bunch o.
various and sundry opinions, an6
wound up with a motion for a COM
mittee Of three Of the largest creditors
to select the accountant
Then Eugene Hagan took the hool
and extracted order from chaos. s'Thers
has been too much talk, and too mann
have been chipping in The result i
that you have almost killed a gooC
thing. Most Of you know that exper
accountants are as a general rule thi
biggest liars on earth. I'm in favor o.
hiring q common plug booklzeeper 70
about SIS a month to get busy and al