The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1909-06-11
B0URKE ACCOUNT REAL
CAUSE OF FAILURE
Continued from Page oseJ


margins. The witness replied that he
had never done so. except when the
account was first opened.
Il told him TO call on me for mar
gins at any time. II he desired 10 do
SO. but he never did"
Mr.. Ledyard then left the stand and
Mr. Currie was again put on by MIR.
Ledyard Had Two Accounts.
In Mr.. Ledyard's testimony 1t was
brought out that he had two accounts
on the books, the joint account and
one designated as n. u. Ledyard.
Range account" Mr.. Currie explain
ed that he had directed Bookkeeper
Page TO put Mr.. Ledyard's personal
matters in separate account, and u
was this one that was known as the
! Range. Currie went over the details
of closing ont the joint account and
reiterated that all the trading done by
him under that account was done with
the "full. unlimited authority OF Mr..
| Ledyard"
HE gave me authority to do as l
pleased" added Currie.
Delving into the details OF the trans.
fer of stock from the joint account To
Mr.. Ledyard's personal account, At
torney Henderson succeeded In rat.
Ting Mr.. Currie to some extent and
the latter finally broke out indignant
! ly:
you mustn't be putting me in
wrong here right along. Mr.. Hender-
son. | am telling the truth"
Justice Jeffries questioned Mr.. Cur
RE closely as 10 margins and the
practice followed when no margins
were put up. Witness said that in
such cases his personal account was
good. for the margin, though some
| times. II the stock happened TO adj
vance two or three points the same
day the order was given the margins
were taken care of by the advance.
The court went over the list OF bad
accounts, in each OF which the mar
gins. II any had been put up, had all
been absorbed.
Court Probes a Bit.
"Mr. Currie, what was the imme-
date cause of your failure?"
This question, coming Unexpectedly
from Justice Jeffries toward the close
of Mr.. Currie's examination. caused
everyone in the court room TO sit up
and take notice. 1t was rather dra-
matte moment and Mr.. Currie's au-
swer to the query. which. under the
circumstances. was significant, was
awaited with unusual interest.
Bad debts, SIR Mr.. Currie answer
ed. calmly.
Il know that, but what is the thing
that really brought it on?"
We'll. ii was when / got my bal
ance sheet and found just where We
stood. had undertaken TO replenish
the capital 10 the extent Mr.. Bourke's
account had run behind. but had De-
come short of ready money 10 con-
tinue putting up his margins"
AS a matter OF fact, the failure was
due TO lack OF capital to protect your |
purchases, was 1t not?"
And TO this Mr.. Currie assented.
Attorney Henderson turned to a.
book and pointed out a series of debit
balances running along for some time
and ranging from $4,000 to 100000.
Mr.. Currie said his personal account
for the same period would show a
credit balance.
OSBORNE Lost $Z56,OOO.
Mr.. Henderson showed from the
books that a loss OF $236.000 incurred
by Fred S. Osborne when he
was a partner Of Cameron Currie.
had been carried along from 1902 until |
shortly before the failure of Cameron
Currie & Co. as a charge against Os-
borne. Then IL was charged TO profit |
and loss account OF the firm and so
stands on the books today. Hender-
son tried TO get Currie TO admit that
il should have been properly charged |
against him personally instead Of
against the firm, but failed. IL this
had been done, Henderson claims.
there would have been a debit OF
about 100000 against Currie instead
OF a credit In May. 1908.
II looked once as though the court
were getting ready TO dispose OF the
case when he asked Assistant Prose
cutor Aldrich TO state the charge
against the defendants and then gave
his understanding OF ii which was
that the defendants were charged
with conspiring to use the firms mon
ey TO margin their own accounts, car
ried on in fictitious names, and in so
doing had lost the money.
Mr.. Aldrich took exception TO the
courts reference to the customers
funds as trust moneys and Justice
Jeffries recalled Cameron Currfe's
testimony that the money deposited
by customers was placed with the 4 In
for the specific purpose OK protecting
their accounts.
Gordon Fernley, formerly assistant
was placed on the stand to show the
method of doing business. but after
few preliminary questions an adj
journment was taken till l o'clock.
Fred T. Dolsen. originally one OF
the defendants In the conspiracy case.
took the stand, Friday afternoon, as
a witness. nominally, for the people
His attorney, Frank Simons. objected
to his taking the stand until he was
formally discharged, but was satisfied
when Justice Jeffries gave formal
ruling that Dolsen was no longer a de-
PENDANT
Dolsen was questioned as to the &C.
counts OF the various employees, and
gave some testimony Of a corrobora.
tive nature though much of II was OBJ
jected to on the ground that IL was
hearsay. On cross-examination by Az
torney Hall, Dolsen admitted he had
traded under the name of Oliver. His
attorney permitted him TO use his
own judgment in answering questions. !
His testimony in this connection was
important In that. as he claimed. Cur
rie knew about his trading.
II developed that In his trading he
had been successful latterly and after