The San Francisco call., 1908-12-18
WILLIAM q. HENSHAW
MAKES A STATEMENT OF
MURRAY=SIGNOR AFFAIR

William G. Henshaw at the Union
savings bank this morning said:
T. B. Signor was the man who
brought Mr.. Murray in communication
with me. What his relations with Mr..
Murray were I do not know, further
than the statements which Mr. Murray
made to me yesterday. and which 1
have no reason to disbelieye.
The facts of this whole matter, so
far as l am concerned. are as follows:
l am interested with other gentlemen
in a large cement plant in southern
California In some way Signor be-
came acquainted with the fact that we
desired to float block OF bonds and
introduced c. T. Walker, my secretary
to Mr.. Murray as a capitalist likely to
invest in the enterprise. My impress
sion is that he also introduced my
brother. Tyler Henshaw, to ar; Murray
in San Francisco, and that they dis
cussed the proposed bond deal.
The next day or the day succeed
ing Mr.. Murray called at the Union
favorably impressed with the terms of
the proposed investment. He said he
felt disposed to purchase the bonds and
that if he went into the thing at all 1t
would be on a large scale.
But he said he would have to exam
inc into his affairs and see how much
spare money he had at his disposal:
had never met Mr.. Murray before
and had only heard of him in gen.
eraI way. but he impressed me by his
manner and his businesslike view of
the subject under discussion. He de-
parted. saying he would give me a
definite answer shortly, going first to
Los Angeles.
property while in Los Angeles, and we
received a telegram purporting to be
from him expressing himself as pleased
with what he saw and accepting the
proposition made to him. Signor os-
~ mi fnh n nc
Angeles, and when he returned he told
us Murray was sick. and exhibited a
power of attorney executed in regular
form TO show that he was authorized
to act for him.
Not long after he wrote me a brief
letter from Salt Lake saying he had
decided not to make the bond purchase.
Signor afterward came TO us and rep
resented that Murray had been induced
TO write his Salt Lake letter by persons
who desired him TO invest his money in
some other enterprise He followed this
up by bringing to me a power of attor-
ney. executed in Los Angeles. empower
ing Signor to contract. for the bonds In
Nurray's behalf. He said Murray was
sick. but was anxious to make the
bond purchase. We verified the fact
that the power of attorney had been
actually executed before a duly quail
fed notary public. and hence gave cre-
dence to Signor's representation tha L
he was Murray's authorized agent
1t is my belief now that the power
of attorney is a forgery. and that some
person falsely imperSonafed Murray
before the Los Angeles notary; but the
document appeared to be conclusive
proof at the time that Signor was vest
ed with authority to act for Murray
in the matter.
Signor deposited four one day notes
for 500. 600 ostensibly signed by Muir
day as a guarantee that the intended
purchase would be made.
Together with them Signor presented
by Murray stating that he simply exc
cuted the notes as an evidence of good
faith and would take them up in a few
days. The notes were witnessed by a
man who represented himself as being
Murray's attending physician. The letter
and attestation are. I presume, for
geries.
The option having expired. consid-
cred the whole incident closed and
made other arrangements to dispose of
the bonds. The notes remained here
subject to Signor's order: but he never
asked for their return nor make any
effort 10 use them In any way He
never got dollar, a share of stock
or a bond on them. and as they were
given as security for conditional pur-
chase that was never made I regarded
them as waste paper.
After awhile ! began to hear stories
of Signor's peculiar operations, and
came to the conclusion that the notes
were not genuine. Not till very recent
~. however. did I have any suspicion
that the power of attorney was fraudu-
lent. 7 don't know for certain now
that ii is forgery. hut what Mr.. Muir
ray told me yesterday. coupled with