The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-06-24
PEOPLE VS.. KNAPP
EN InENCE IN TRIAL OF BANKER
AT COOPERSTOWN SHOWS
BANK WAS OFTEN SHORT OF
READY CASH AND OFFICIALS
RAISED MONEY AS BEST THEY
COULD-ANOTHER CASE NEXT
FALL.


COULD-ANOTHER CASE NEXT
FALL.
At Cooperstown the trial of
Charles p. Knapp before Judge CO.
man and an Otsego county jury is
still on. 1t was decided that justice
could not be done if both Charles p.
and Charles j. Knapp were tried at
the same time, so the peoples case
against Charles J. Knapp will go
over until fall.
The indictment on which Charles
p. Knapp is on trial is against him
and his uncle, Charles j. Knapp,
president of the Binghamton Trust
Co, jointly, and charges that they
wilfully and fraudently received a
deposit of $50 from Ansel Barnes of
Deposit when they knew the bank
must close.
Morris A. Knapp, who, with his
sister, Florence Knapp Yocum, and
c. P. and c. j. Knapp, constituted
the firm of Knapp Bros, was the first
witness called by the state. He is
27 years old and although he be-
he took no part in the affairs of the
bank until Jan. 20, 1909, when his
cousin, Charles p. Knapp, the de-
fendant, made arrangements with
him to be at the bank while the tel
Ter was away, meet the customers,
take care of the overdrafts and 9TH
erwise look after the affairs of the
company. On one occasion, he testi-
fed, Mr.. Howell, the cashier, called
him over to the bank and asked him
to go out and get some money, as
there wasn't enough currency to
carry them along. This was object
ed to and ordered stricken out.
The witness said he went out and
got 5000 to $500, which he deposited
to the credit of those from whom he
obtained it. He testified that when
he took Charles P. Knapp's working
place as clerk in the bank he found
only 81, 500 to $4,000 cash on hand.
The notes the Outing company tried
to sell the company were overdrawn,
in some cases thousands of dollars.
Z. .. knapp told the witness ne
was to protest c. P. Knapp's checks
and told the latter he was not to
overdraw his account further. c.
j. Knapp also took c. p. Knapp to
task for turning over interest coup
ons on mortgage bonds of the Out
ing company to the latter company,
before being paid.
About March Is Charles J. Knapp
complained in c. P. Knapp's pres
ence that the Outing company was
Improbable. In Binghamton, on the
same date, the witness agreed to
raise $4,000 or $4,000; his sister,
Mrs. Yocum, $4,000 and c. j.
Knapp said he could get about S2,-
600, all for the Knapp Bros. bank,
which must have the money c. P.
Knapp said he had lost all he had
and could not raise any. At this
time creditors threatened to sue the
Outing company on notes. A few
days previous to March 10 the wit
ness began to protest all Outing
company checks except those drawn
to employees.
Morris Knapps explained that
Charles p. Knapp claimed the fam
Gus 100000 knapp old account
overdraft came about the time the
Knapps took over the old Deposit
National bank. New books were
started and all old accounts were
charged under that heading. About
$4,000 of Outing assets were held
to cover this, also some other Sc
curities.
Morris A. Knapp, on cross-exami-
nation by Frank J. Mangan, recalled
that in a conversation with Mr..
Mangan at the Imperial hotel in
New York, he had said:
The worst that can be said about
Charley Knapp is that he is poor
business man"
Mr.. Moran tried TO prove there
was no unusual shortage of currency
at the bank and that the financial
panic of 1907 caused a money strin-
gency in 1908. The witness said he
protested about every Outing check
for ten days, following his own judg-
ment.
Florence Knapp Yocum testified
she was a member of Knapp Bros.
but knew nothing about the affairs
of the firm. She was not consult
ed, she said, or receive statements OF
the banks condition. She held one
deposit certificate for sl6,5OO and
another for $4,000. In 1906, when
she wanted to withdraw $4,000
c. p. Knapp asked her to get the
money elsewhere. Three times she
tried to do so and found the certi
ficates were not good collateral, be
ing told so by the bank at East
Orange, n. j., her home. c. p
Knapp told her not to show the
certificates around. They drew
six per cent. interest.
Later she got the money from the
Binghamton Trust company through
the assistance of c. p. Knapp. She
was never able to withdraw her S22,
900 from the Knapp bank.
During the testimony OF Leonard