Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-14
SCENT SPITE WORK
IN THE CHARGES
LONG BEACH SCHOOL TRUS.
TEES FRIENDS INDIGNANT
Lumber Transaction Investigated by
County Superintendent, Who
Sees No. Grounds for Filing
Complaint

Mark keppel, county superintendent
of schools, has concluded his investiga-
tion of the charges made some time ago
against one of the school trustees at
Long Beach, and has turned over all
the facts in his possession to the attor-
ney representing the persons making
the charges.
In his report Mr.. Keppel says that
while the records. of the Long Beach
board furnish grounds for the filing of
the complaint, his investigation gives
some reason for believing that an
error has crept into the records and he
has been unable to unearth any evil
dence of willful wrongdoing on the part
of II. S. Enloe, the accused trustee.
The county superintendent admits.
however, that in some respects he was
badly handicapped iii his investigation
in that he was unable to compel wit
nesses to testify in the case and the
statements made to him in regard tc
the affair were not under oath.
The case against Enloe involves an
intimation that as a member of the
school board he was guilty of a petty
grating operation in securing possess
sion for $50 of some lumber which it
is contended was worth about 5000.
Dates Year Back
About a year ago the board found
that it had on it's hands about HOO feet
of maple flooring left over from the
supply of lumber purchased for one of
the new schools in that city. A bid of
$50 for this lumber was accepted, but
later the school trustees came to the
conclusion that they had been a trife
hasty and they asked the purchaser to
pay for the lumber he had used at the
S36 rate and return the remainder. In
accordance with this request the pur-
chaser turned over Sc to the board.
Last August a Long Beach contractor
named Beard was given the remaining
lumber on a bid of $50 and the board
supposed the incident was finally
closed.
Later however some persons inter-
ested in the case found that Beard was
using this lumber in house which he
was building for School Trustee Enloe,
and a further. investigation developed
the fact that the boards report to the
county auditor stated that the $50
which the school district had received
for the flooring had been paid in by
Enloe.
These two facts taken together were
considered sufficiently suspicious to
warrant an inquiry, and the subject
was turned over to superintendent
Keppel.
Mr.. Keppel says there is no question
Enloe's house. Mr.. Enloe himself ad-
mits that. But the $50 check which
was turned over to the board for the
lumber is signed by Beard, and indi-
Gates that the report to the county audi
tor, that payment was made by Enloe
is incorrect.
Expalantion for Error
The only explanation of this error
that so far has been made by Secretary
Wood of the Long Beach school board
is that the entry on the records was
dictated by one of the other trustees
and that by mistake he gave the name
of Enloe instead of Beard as the man
who had turned in the money.
Whether the persons back of these
charges against Enloe will take any
but there is said to he considerab BILE
feeling on the part of some of the
Long Beach residents against one or
two members of the school board
This feeling had it's origin some time
ago in an attempt to GUST the princi-
pal of one of the schools.
A petition signed by a large number
of the parents whose children attended
the school was presented, asking for
the removal of the principal in question
but the board did not see fit to grant
the request
Some of Enloe's friends insist that
the filing of charges against him in the
lumber case was really piece of spite
work with view of getting even with
him for the refusal of the petition for
the ousting of the principal.