The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-06-21
Rogers, Deceased Oil Man, Aided Humorist to Un- cover Unique Proceedings of Girl the Latter Trusted Fully.

Clemens is Real Cause of Investigation Which Ter
 minated in Attachment
 Levied on Gift Home. The story relative to the suit
 brought by Mark Twain, the famous
 humorist now residing in Bedding,
 against his social secretary. who was
 Miss Isabel G. Lyon, and who is now
 Mrs. Ralph w. Ashcroft, which was
 printed exclusively in the Farmer Sat
 urday, is followed today by disclosures
 in which Mrs. Ashcroft is charged
 with mismanagement of affairs of the
 writer's household. This alleged mis- management was conducted under col
 or of a power of attorney purporting
 to be given to Mir and Mrs. Ashcroft by MT. Clemens. But he denies that he ever knowingly signed the instru- ment. 1t is, however. properly wit messed.
 MT. Clemens would probably not have suspected any mismanagement of his affairs had it not been for his daughter, Miss Clara Clemens, who re- opera tour which had shown loss of $16,OO0 it is claimed. The social sec retary, it is said, ventured to reprove Miss Clemens for so expending her fathers money. Miss Clemens is said to have then determined to find out how the social secretary handled her duties.
 Reluctantly under the persuasions of his daughter, MT. Clemens consented to . investigate the administration of his secretaries. An expert was en- ployed with the result that $9,700 in checks were found which had been drawn to Cash" by Miss Lyon, it be- ing part of her duty to draw the checks. Miss Clemens is unable to un- derstand what use was made of all this cash.
 ITO really understand the case one has to go far back" said MT. Glenn been MT. Clemens secretary for seven years, having come to him upon the recommendation of his business agent in Hartford. At that time she was Miss Isabelle ". Lyon. Miss Clara was away on a concert tour at the time, and Miss Jane was in a. sanitar- ium-
 When MT. Clemens built his new home at Bedding she supervised the work and purchased the furnishings for him. She performed these offices very well, and as a reward MT. Glenn ems deeded her a farm of about twenty acres Standing on it was an old fashioned farmhouse, which Miss Lyon proposed to repair as a residence for her mother.
 "At this time she was receiving a salary of $50 a month and expenses. It was in 1907 that she began the re- construction of the old house. Dur ing the course of these operations she informed MT. Clemens that it would be necessary to mortgage the property in order to raise the amount requisite for the repairs. He told her not to do so-
 ".why not borrow the money from mo rn fa6 lrT on about my check books, and can tell me how much you have spent when you are through. Then we can take up the matter of repayment
 Miss Lyon did so, and the repairs and construction on her house con- tinued until the fall of 1908, when she that she had used $1, 800 of MT. Clemens money
 ''It was not until February or March of this year that any complications arose. Friends told MT. Clemens that they did not believe Miss Lyon was living within her income. She had furnished her home laviShly, they said.n
 "I had a hard time inducing father to take the matter up at all" said Miss MISS Clemens. For a long time he him to consent to an investigation. | This he put in the hands of MT. Ash | croft, who for two years has been his | financial manager. |
 W and I hardly liked that. Still father laughed at me. All the time | this preliminary examination was gO- ing on Miss Lyon continued to live in | the house and act in an independent | and domineering way. At last she | staggered us by announcing her en- gagement to MT. Ashcroft. They were | married March IS, of this year, and | from 'Stormfield.' They moved to the house father had given Miss Lyon- It was then that I persuaded father to take the investigation out of MT. Ash croft'S hands.
 Henry H. Rogers offered to take the matter up, and we put it in his hands, so that an expert might go over Miss Lyons accounts under his supervis- ion. Miss Lyons accounts were found | to be in such a confused state that very slow progress was made. Then MT Rogers died and that complicated things still more.
 We next put the matter in the II hands of John B. Stanchfield, who em- ployed the same expert from MT. Rog- CTS office who had been on the case previously. At this stage Mrs. Lyon that was what she call ed herself-developed a sudden case of nervous Drostration, due, she said, to the delay. She and her husband went | to England by way of Holland, sailing on the ninth of this month. Shortly after that the report from MT. Stanch- field came in.
 The report showed that instead or 3, 800 Miss Lyon had expended more than S, 800 on the house alone. Be sides that it showed that her check book credited an amount exceeding E, 700 to cash
 CT have run fathers household my self and I know just about what it ,osts That S10.OOO was all drawn turing the years 1907 and 1908. Every oill except small sundrieS and Occa- sional travelling expenses, is paid by .heck and shows on Mrs. AShcrOft'S book. Now what did she do with such m astonishingly large amount of ash? .'
 This investigation also showed power of attorney given to Miss Lyon md MT. Ashcroft jointly in Novem- ,er, 1908, which. I believe, was the most broad and comprehensive instrument if the sort ever executed The law