The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-01-06
Some Sensational Features Are
Connected Herewith.
The Plaintiff Is Sheriff De Neen
of Maryland.
Hands Chamber of Commerce
Man a Bunch.
From Saturdays Daily.

| "A. y. Cummings, member VI ILe
Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, is
the defendant in a sensational suit which
was filed in the United States court in
ST. Paul yesterday to recover over 500
600 which Cummings is charged with
having Incorporated while ostensibly
acting as broker in the purchase and
sale of stocks on the New York Stock
Exchange. Cummings was at the time
a stock broker in Pittsburg with branch
offices at various surrounding towns.
The plaintiff in the case is George E.
De Neen, the sheriff of Allegheny county,
Maryland, whose residence is at Cum
berland. Mr.. De- Neen is one of the
leading politicians of western Maryland
and man of considerable property. He
says he thought he was buying such
stocks as Brooklyn Rapid Transit, Unit
ed States Steel, Amalgamated Copper
and others listed on the New York Stock
Exchange. He paid the interest on the
stocks just as though the stock was ac-
tually in the strong box of his broker,
but he now claims he will be able to
show in court that Cummings carried
the trades in his hat" that is, in the Ian
guage of the broker, he "put them in the
bucket" and the broker never put the
transaction beyond his own office, a
mere matter of bookkeeping.
According to the complaint, Sheriff
De Neen paid to Cummings $4,000
which was to serve as margins on stock
purchased. These stocks increased in
market value from the time they were
purchased until Cummings office at
Cumberland was closed, at which time
they would have been worth $96I.75
more than De Neen had paid for them, if
the stock had been actually bought, as
De Neen supposed.
| This business was conducted between
about Dec l, 1901, and Sept. 2, 1902,
when! the Cummings concern ''folded
it's tents like the Arab and as silently
stole away" No bankruptcy proceedings
were inaugurated and Cummings sim
ply "was not"
| 1t is stated that Cummings laid the
failure upon one of his partners who
disappeared after having withdrawn the
bank deposits of the firm. However this
may be, Sheriff De Neen lost his $780,
600 and only by mere accident did he
learn that A. j. Cummings is now a
member of the Minneapolis Chamber of
Commerce, in good standing, and that he
is presumed to be able to make good the
money which De Neen has not seen
sinces Sept. 2, 1902.
A. j. Cummings has also been made
the defendant in similar action,
brought in the district court of Ramsey
county by Henry H. Hartsock, also of
Cumberland, Nd, who claims to have
lost $l,640 in the same way. This case
|
cause the amount involved did not ex-
coed $4,000
Four other actions were also brought
against A. j. Cummins by parties liv-
ing in Bay City and Detroit, Mich, for
sums ranging from $500 to $1,000
These suits are brought against Mr..
Cummings as partner of the firm F. L.
Camp & Co., that formerly had head
quarters in Buffalo and at Detroit From
both of these cities the Cummings con-
Germ ran private wires to surrounding
towns. From the Buffalo office the chain
of branch offices extended to Canada,
and from Detroit the'offices extended in
to Michigan and also, it is reported, into
Ohio, just as there was a series of
branch offices running out from Pitts
burg and just as A. j. Cummings now
has a number of branch offices running
out from st. Paul to Owatonna, Red
Wing, Wabasha, st. Cloud, Melrose, Fer
gus Falls and other towns in Minnesota.
These actions were brought under the
direction of James III. De Neen of
Cumberland, brother of the sheriff
whose $4,000 Cummings is expected to
pay back, if the cases are brought to a
successful issue. si H
Mr.. De Neen told the story of his
brothers experiences to The Times sew
eral days ago at the Hotel Heyser. He
was indignant when the statement was
made in his presence that Cummings was
a member of the Minneapolis Chamber
of Commerce and therefore presumed
to be an honorable business man.
"If a membership in your chamber
gives a man a right to rob his customers.
then Cummings belongs in the cham
ber," said the irate Marylander. "Cum-
mings' record in Cumberland casts a
shadow upon any association of men to
whom he may belong. / have no idea