Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-09
K|ERAN S[|PSTHROUGH
Dodges Orders of Arrest From
Pittsburg.
POLICE ARE SEEKING HIM
Left Washington and May Be Now
in Philadelphia.
NO TRACE Is FOUND THERE
Cardinal Contradicts Cromwell, Who
Says Prelate Asked Him to
Act in His Behalf,

| 1ient OF the Eldellty r unuinS Company OIL
this city, who Is charged with larceny and
false pretense by the charitable institu-
tons of the Catholic Church OF Pittsburg,
continued today.
The Fidelity Funding Company is in the
| hands OF receiver who is anxious to
! have Kieran come to this city and
straighten out its tangled finances.
Kieran left Washington yesterday and
| was followed by detective, who lost
trace of him at North Philadelphia, where
| Kieran is said to have left the train. The
search for him was renewed in Philadel-
phia today and was taken up in New
York. to which city 1t was believed Kie-
ran was on his way when last seen.
Was in Washington.
1tieran was in Washington yesterday
| ing any Information as to where he was
going. 1t is supposed there was reason for
| believing he was headed toward New
York.
Confusion and alarm continued to grow
among Roman Catholic clergymen and in
stitutions all over the country as details
Of the tangled affairs of the company
were brought to light.
charges and statements. and no definite
facts concerning the amount Of the con-
Germs actual liabilities or the losses. to
be sustained by it's creditors can be had
until kieran sees fit to come forward and
tell what he knows
1T VIII also be necessary that kieran
produce a set of personal books kept by
him. which, it is asserted. contain much
information about the transactions which
IS NOT revealed In the company's books,
@ 1y,6c <,fD L
Jr.. state receiver for the concern
According to statements made by Gill
roy yesterday there can be no question
that the company's liabilities are some
one institutions. particularly st. Mary's
Academy OF Nauvoo, ILL.,, will be severely
embarrassed as a result of the trouble
Others Are Sought.
Gilroy was also eager yesterday to find
Mrs. l.. w. Davis, who had acted as
kieran's stenographer before he aban-
doned his post. He had an order from
the court empowering him to examine
her relative to kieran's books and ac-
counts, and similar order for the
examination of w. B. Arundel and H. H.
Van Deusen, who had been associated
with Kieran before the crash.
Efforts were made to find Mrs. Davis
other places, but neither she nor any
OF the others whom the receiver desired
to see could be found
one important feature of yesterdays
developments was the disclosure that VII
liam Nelson Cromwell had appeared prom
lnently In the case and that many credit
ors mad been asked to give him power of
attorney to act for them in all future con-
gave to Cromwell very sweeping authori-
" to act for kieran, the Fidelity Fund
ing Company, the Federal Construction
Company and the Columbia Construction
company In all matters that should arise
IN connection with the present difficulty
When Cromwell was seen last night he
stated that he had been asked by MANY
high officials of the Catholic Church to
act for them and the affairs of their in
situations, but that he had not fully de-
termined yet what he would do in the
matter
my position he said. 'is one of serv.
Ing the interests of the church, if I do
anything at ALL Since the trouble with
the funding company began I have been
Appealed to by many digntaries high in
the Catholic Church. including Cardinal
Gibbons. to act In their interests At first
L declined to consider the matter Then
the appeals continued to come to me, and
finally 1t seemed to me that perhaps
should lay aside lawyers repugnance
for hard work and take hold of it.
To Act for Church Only.
Il now have in my possession some of
the records and reports of the company,
but it will take me at least a week to go
through the great mass of matter and find
out what the true conditions are In any
event, shall act only for the church, and
at present 1 cannot say anything about
the affairs. I do not know what financial
institutions are concerned. l do not know
uyba ath lio
nor what they are likely to lose. 1 under
stand, however that some of them are
involved very heavily
Judge Morgan J. O'Brien. who acted as
one of committee in the behalf of a
group of creditors in an effort to save the
Fidelity from bankruptcy several months
ago, gave some light last night as to the
history of the trouble. He said that there
were but two Catholic institutions which
would suffer very severely. and these
were st. Mary'S Academy, in Nauvoo, ILL.,,
and ST. Vincent's College, in Chicago.
''AS to the extent of losses by the Cath
Ollie institutions. there are only two or
three--in fact, l think the one in Illinois
and the one in ChicagO-that will not be
able to meet all their obligations to the
company. These two in particular gave
lot of notes and are imperiled, but the
rest of them are in Il position to be pro-
tected. In all those cases except where
Mr.. Kieran got notes aud issued them be-
yond what he should have done there will
be no trouble.
I'm the case of ST. Mary's Academy, in
Illinois, il appears that they were too con-
fident and assumed obligations in excess
of the value of the property. In these
cases | do not know what will be done,
! but so far as the other institutions are
concerned they can pay. or there are peo-
pie behind them who will pay, every dol
lar that is owed There are no church in
stitutions involved in New York city or
New York state except Buffalo, so far as
] know Archbishop Farley has been very
much opposed to overbuilding in New
York. and no doubt that saved our own
! institutions from possible embarrassment
I desire to say, however, that every hon.
| est creditor in this matter will be paid in
! full
kicran and his associates, who came
| here from the west about two years ago.
! had conceived the idea of establishing a
| great Catholic tiduciary institution in this
| city. The nucleus of the bank was the
Fidelity Funding Company.
In their interest a syndicate of finan-
ciers was formed to negotiate with the
! Mutual Life Insurance Company for the
| purchase OF the United States Mortgage
and Trust Company. 1t was planned to
consolidate this company with the Wind
| sor Trust and Empire Trust companies.
Pastor Included in Suit.
| CLEVELAND. Ohio. December "A
suit filed In the common pleas court
/ here today against p. J. Kieran presi-
dent of the Fidelity Funding Company of
! New York, and ]. P. Madigan and Rev.