Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-09-09
Council Bluffs
SUTOR DISNISSES HIS CASE
Willing Mabray Mike Unable to Prove
Collision Of Local People
JUDGE SAYS EVIDENCE LACKING
Court Repeatedly Declares Case with
out Foundation nnd Minnesotan's
Lawyers pitch IL with
Nine Others.

The suit OF Samuel Sutor, Cass Lake /
MINI, financiar and hotel man. against ]
the First National bank, Ernest h. Hart |
It's president; j. J. Spindler, It's cashier, and /
Benjamin Marks, to recover 5000 lost by |
Sutor when he played the willing mike"
for the benefit OF the Mabray gang came
to a precipitous end in the federal court
at Council Bluffs yesterday afternoon when
Sutor's attorneys, Robertson and Crawford,
moved to dismiss It without prejudice. In
tho complications that Immediately followed
nine more OF the fourteen mike" cases
went the same way
The end came at o'clock, after the court
had ordered two brief recesses to enable
the attorneys for Sutor TO find two alleged
Important witnesses and had failed to do
80, and after Judge Mcpherson had declared
in the most emphatic language his opinion
OF the evidence that had been submitted to
sustain the charge that the defendant bank
and Its officers and Marks had guilty
knowledge Of the plans and operations of
the Mabray swindlers. Earlier in the day
the court had ruled that Sutor could not
recover unless he was able to make prima
y facle case Of conspiracy, involving the bank
and one or all of the defendants.
scott Takes stand.
Up to o'clock a continual string of the
plaintiffs witnesses went on the stand and
N told the tales of how the swindling opera
lions were conducted, but no attempt was
made to connect the bank and others with
the business until they put on Frank Scott
of Pawnee, Okl., one of the Mabrayites, who
turned states evidence and aided in
curing the evidence that convicted the other
indicted men. Scott said he knew nothing
of his own knowledge, but was told by
Nal nd ba Oth
Bluffs officers, one of the newspapers and
many Of the citizens had been fixed" and
that Ben Marks was the "fixer." Scott was
very uneasy, for directly in front Of him
at the counseis table sat the venerable
Colonel Stokes of Holt county, Missouri,
=, who had known Scott all his life and who
had been called to Council Bluffs by the
defendants to impeach the Oklahoma mans
testimony. Scott was to have been the star
witness for the prosecution. by whom 1t
was to be shown that Marks and the bank
officials were in frequent secret conferences
with Mabray and his heutenants, but he
seemed very much disturbed by the intense
open gaze OF the Missouri colonel He was
thus only able to recall one instance when
he saw Mabray speak to Marks and none
whatever with any of the others. He saw
Marks driving along the road to Manawa
pne day, stop to examine a couple OF coats
hanging on the fence, and while doing 80
Mabray rode up and spoke to him, claiming
The coats, and Marks drove away.
Court Xncensed,
After much similar testimony, in which
there were insinuations indicating that all
the city and county officers and large
percentage of the reputable citizens of the
city had been fixed" Judge Mcpherson
losing patiencs, declared With emphasis;
al will not allow this court to be made
a smut mill. It's an injustice to allow
the public officers, financial institutions and
newspapers to be sandered by the GOSSIP
of this gang OF scoundrels. You must
make a prima facie case against ono oil
more OF these defendants before I will
permit any moro of the declarations Of
these conspiratorB TO be admitted In evil
y dence."
n AFTER traversing for three hours through
evidence showing only the swindlinI
character of all of the operations, by tn,
testimony of many witnesses. who wer,
also mikes" including CongressmaI
\ Thomas Gale OF Alaska, who lost g, 900
w. H H. Bedford. the Bolock, Mo. CAPT
talist, who lost $4,000; william NJ. Nc
Grath, the Minneapolis lawyer-newspape
man who dropped $4,000, and severa
others, Judge Mcpherson again lost hi
patience.
Court Says suit Falls.
II have permitted counsel for the plain
tiff the widest latitude and let them con
sumo the time of the court by floods o
testimony showing the character of tn
swindlers in the face OF the statemen
~ made by Mr.. FINLEY for the defense tina
defense would not controvert this evidence
and the only evidence the plaintiff ha
produced here TO establish prima fac
case of conspiracy is that one man say
he saw Ben Marks stop to examine tw
coats he saw hanging on a fence and Ma
bray came up and claimed them an,
Marks rode away, and the evidence of an
other witness who says he saw Mahra,
going several times into the rear OF Marks
residence That same state OF facts coui
he true with me or with any person
There is not one iota of evidence here con
meeting the bank, Mr.. Hart, Mr.. SpindleI
any of these defendants with Mabray
There is nothing here to cause the slightes
. 0suspicion I'm the mind OF the most suspl
eious person in this court room that Mark
or al Of these defendants had an under
st~nSp,E with Mabray."
McGrath Case Next.
II was so plainly evident that Judge Nc
Phersou would sustain a motion by the dc
fcnso to dismiss that Attorneys Crawfor
and Robertson, after hurried consulta
ton forestalled. such a ruling by movin
30 dismiss the case without prejudice. all
Immediately to elnpanel Jury to hear tn
case of McGrath against the same defend
ants Reference to the docket shove
this case Was one OF the last TO be trie
and Judge Mcpherson said:
you viii try the cases according 20 tn
assignment OF l VIII dismiss them ALL"
This stlll further complicated the situa
ton ana the attorneys maintained thel
standing In court by dismssing all of IN
cases pepding between the Sutor suit an
McGrath's. Judge Mcpherson immedia tel
adjourned court. directing the United state
marshal 10 have twenty-five additions