Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-08-20

gauntlet to her husbands accusers IN
the statement that she will send five
other men to the penitentiary II ner
husband is convicted of the crime for
which he is now under five lndict-
nents.
Who the five men are and the exact
way in which they are implicated
Mrs. Ware refuses to divulge, but in
an interview she has given out the
statement and says she will stand by
It.
Mrs. Wares devotion to her hus.
band is remarkable example of a
wife's love- When the news of the
mother, Mrs Bullard, went to the
daughters home and entreated her to
leave her husband and return to her
home of her girlhood. The unusual
Instance of a woman choosing be-
tween her mother and her husband
was afforded, Mrs. Ware told her
mother that she would obey the Bibli-
cal Injunction to forsake all and cling
to her husband, and that she would
not listen to such advice.
Town Divided.
Roy Ware and his affairs divided
that town as Clearly into two factions
as steel wedge splits pine.
Seymour has always regarded Roy
Ware as something particularly her
own and Of her own making. When
he was first accused of appropriating
he banks money to his own use the
sown stood aghast. There were a
good many people who would not be
lieve it, and they do not believe it
yet in spite of the fact that there are
i've indictments against the man, any
one of which might mean a term IN
states prison.
The history of the banks failure is
long story. 1t is fraught with many
of the elements of stern tragedy.
There are q number of people in
Wayne county to whom it spells utter
financial ruin, and yet some Of these
are Roy Wares staunch friends to-
day. There is reason for all this,
reason not far to seek These peo-
pie believe that Roy Ware was only a
weak instrument in the hands of other
men,
Aged President.
Aaron Evans, the aged president Of
the bank said the other day: There
has been a thief in the bank for many
years. The problem is to find the
th1ef and his accomplices"
Even those who believe Roy Ware
guilty are repeating this question over
and over, What did he do with the
$20O,OOo?" 1t was town pride that he
did not smoke, drink, swear or gamble
On Sunday he passed the plate in the
presbyterian church and on week DAYS
he worked in the bank There Is
only one way they say, for him to
nave spent the money, and that is
whispered softly under the breath
bucket shops. But that is a story
winch might involve others and 10
open accusations are beino made.
Roy Ware was poor boy. He was
not only poor, but he was afflicted
with spinal disease, which dwarfed
his physical growth. Up until the
Clme ne was sixteen he went to school
ana studied hard He was determined
mat his aft1iction should not alto
gether hamper him in the fight for
lie When he was fourteen Senator
Lewis who about that time founded
the Farmers and Drovers' bank. took
charge OF the boy as his own special
protege. Senator Lewis was only y,
young man himself, but he thought he
saw good material there which might
40 the world some good. The senator
also conducted a little print shop and
ne put Ware there that he might earn
rev odd dollars and still keep up his
studies. After Ware was sixteen he
was taken into the bank as a clerk,
Ihen he rose steadily. Every dav the
people gained new confidence in him
me bank was solid beyond doubt
ana they could trust Roy Ware. When
ne was twenty-three he was made
cashier. One OF the other clerks in
the bank, Jim Phillips had a nrettv
young sister-in-law. Daisy Bullard lord.
ed 1t over the town boys like anv
queen. But nothing succeeds like sue.
cess, and Ware won her for his vita
They were married the same wear he
reached the goal of the cashiers cage
AT this time Jim Phillips was assistant
cashier. Senator Lewis had sold out
his interests and moved away. Ware
was the practical head Of the bank.
Hls honesty went unquestioned, just
as the faith in ones mother.
An Unbroken Calm.
The life of the town flowed for ten
years in the unbroken calm. Business
was prosperous, the corn crop never
failed and the people rested secure in
the belief that the bank was as firm
as solid masonry.
The discovery to the contrary came
with distinct shock and found the
people lily prepared. Bank Examiner
Leland Windsor went down from Des
Moines, March 9 last and he found
some entries on the books which look.
ed suspicious.
Mr. Windsor went over to see DR..
O. A. d. Cover, one Of the directors in
the bank, and a few of the people came
to hear that Roy Ware was short in
his accounts. The word was passed
around, but everyone fatty refused to
believe it. One of the well known men
in the town. lawyer, heard it as ne
went home to supper on Thursday
evening and repeated it to neighbor.
well, | was simply a mean, despic-
able liar until the doors of the bank
closed" said the lawyer in speaking
of it arterward. That was the way the