The San Francisco call., 1909-09-01
loose METHODS OF
GRAY GET HEARING
Alameda County Grand jury
BIames Administrator for
Neglect of Duty

OAKLAND. Aug. SI.-Attorney John
s. de Lancey and A. J. Flood who were
Jointly indicted for forgery in the dis
charge of their duties in Public Ad-
nlinistrator Gray's office, appeared for
srrai ignment before Judge Brown to-
day. but after waving the reading Of
the indictments requested a weeks de-
lay before entering plea, ana the
motion was granted
Attorney l. :. Church appeared lot
Flood and Attorney NJ. c. Chapman iof
De Lancey. bat refused TO state what
The plans for their clients We're until
they had had time TO examine the
bulky transcript Of testimony given be-
fore the grand jury which District
Attorney Donahue furnished them
today
The testimony contained the sig
uifcant admission by Public Admins
traitor George Gray that. in his opinion,
ii would have been impossible for Flood
To have executed the forged claim for
SIl5 burial services against the estate
OF A. /. Poundstone and TO have Sc
cured the cash for it after approval
by the court without De Lancey s
knowledge of the fraudulent nature Of
the claim and without De Lancey's con-
nivance 1t was for presenting this
claim TO the court and representing
that Il was authentic. that De Lancey
was indicted and Gray's admission ev-
identity carried weight when members
of the grand jury deliberated over De
Lanceys implication
The testimony also showed that
Flood took $3.50 from the personal eff
fects or POundstone in a room which
POundstone had occupied at S65 Isa-
bella street after Poundstone's removal
and death at the county infirmary. This
was stated by Mrs. Clothilda Harper.
Poundstone's landlady, and there was
no record made Of the money.
Gray's admission that he only visit
ed his Office on Mondays. that he knew
practically nothing of its details, that
he had implicit faith in Flood and De
Lancey, and that the scheme of ac-
counts was slipshod and uncertain in
the extreme. drew forth caustic COM
ments from jurors.
1T seems very strange, Mr.. Gray"
said a juror, that you should be WILL
ing TO accept the fees to which your
position entitled you and then con-
tribute practically nothing in the way
Of time or attention 10 your Office busi-
ness"
De Lancey's testimony showed that
his memory failed badly when ques-
toned over the Poundstone burial
charge. He said the money must have
gone 10 Finney" the undertaken. whose.
name was forged and that he had no
suspicion Of anything wrong being in
jected into the settling of the estate by
Flood. In fact he had slight recollec-
tion Of the affair at all. Gray. on the
contrary, testified that when the first
intimatiOn Of the fraud came 10 him
that he was persuaded by De Lancey
TO go to the county's clerks office.
NJ
without apparent reason, took down
the records OF the estate of Thomas
Lawson.
Finney's genuine signature appeared
in the papers, and il was this act of
De Lancey's which so readily enabled
The handwriting experts to declare that
the forgery was a clumsy reproduction
from a signature by Finney, which had
been found
Miss Marian Stevenson. stenog-
rapher in Gray's Office, testified that
De Lsncey always expressed himself
strongly in her presence against
'rakeoffs" She admitted that she had
once bid in q block Of worthless stock
offered at auction on the courthouse
steps for 81, the cash being supplied
by De Lancey when there were no
other bidders. Subsequently De Lancey
sold the shares for 800 on a venture
and gave her half
} p MUNRO an aucuOneer regularly
employed by De Lancey, testified that
he had always split his fees with that
attorney.
Flood again spent the day in Dis
trict Attorney Donahue's Office en-
tightening Donahue regarding trans
actions Of the affairs of estates with
which he had had dealings
The wiz OF Josiah Garratt. which for
4 time was thought 10 have been hid
den by De Lancey and Flood. was pro-
ouced IN court today and was found to
have been marked copy" The hand
writing is similar to that Of Garratt
and viii be submitted 10 experts for
establishment. If il is found 10 be
Garratts handwriting. the will is to be
acted upon. but. if not il will be re-
5ecteo. The document leaves Garratt's
estate, valued AT $50 600, to his widow
and children in England