The Colfax gazette. [volume] (Colfax, Wash.) 1893-1932, 1911-12-01
INSURANCE AGENT
IS found GUILTY
USED COMPANY MONEY And De.
PARTED =. O'NEIL FOUND
GUILTY AT MIDNIGHT.

- n.
which the company was advancing to
him, R. E. Mckay, county agent for
the Reliance Life Insurance company
of Plttsburg, has been found guilty of
apprOpriating to his own use S100.55
which he collected on policy written
for DR.. PalamOuntain. Mckay was
charged with larceny by embezzle-
ment and the case was tried before
Whitman county jury Saturday. 1t
was 10 o'clock in the evening before
the case finally went TO the jury.
With just time enough to elect a fore
man and take one ballot the jury re-
turned to the court room declaring
Mckay guilty as charged.
Mckay came to COlfax about Oc-
tober l with letter of introduction
to w. r. Anderson, cashier Of the
Farmers State bank, and others He
Immediately went to work. OCCASION
ally he had hard luck story to tell
One time it was Of being robbed of
over 500 in rooming house during
the Whitman county fair. At another
time it was of losses in a poker game
On the strength of these stories he
borrowed money from his new
friends. He also worked off a few
small bad checks on people to whom
he had been introduced by some Of
the leading men of CoIfax. To pro-
tecL their own regulations the men
who did the Introducing made good
the checks. Mr.. Reed, manager for
the company in the Northwest, came
over from Seattle to see why a pre-
MUM OF y30.50 collected from Paul
PattisOn had not been turned over to
the company and while here learned
that DR.. PalamOuntain's premium of
$100.55 had been collected and not
reported Mr. Reed looked up Nc
Kay's record and remarked that the
situation looked dark Mckay was
working in EndicOtt at the time He
feared arrest if he came to COlfax so
decided to disappear for time. He
went to Walla Walla and remained
for few hours and then went to SpO-
kane where he was arrested a few
days later and brought to Colfax by
Deputy Sheriff William Cole. Nc
Kay claims he went away 10 gain a
little time while waiting for money
which he said should have been sent
to him through the mail
When placed On the witness stand
in his OWE behalf Mckay admitted
that he had deliberately lied to Mr.
Reed in regard to the business hop
ing TO gain a little time to straighten
out his bad financial condition. His
story about the collection of the
premium of $100.55 from Dr.. Pala-
mountain differed radically from the
testimony of the doctor.
Before coming here Mckay said he
had been working at the life insur-
ance business for five years for many
different companies in Seattle and
Portland. Just before beginning
work for the Reliance company
Mckay sent his wife and little
baby to Oklahoma to stay with
relatives until he could get a perma-
nent location, he said. At that time
he was broke" and the company ad-
vanced him money to get out Of
Seattle.
Mckay stated that he is not yet
q years of age and this is the first
time that he has ever been arrested
for trouble with any Of the COM
panies with which he has worked.
Under the law he may be sent to the
refOrmatOry as he is under 80 years
of age, or to the penitentiary He
will be sentenced next Monday.
Two men who sat on the jury were
heard to remark the following day.
THE way the young lawyers handled
that case, both for the state and the
defense. was surprise TO us. They
are bright fellows and the older law
yers will have to look out for their
laurels.' Paul PattisOn and F. /.
StOtler presented the case for the
state and Charles F. Voorhees, and j.
NJ. McCroskey represented Mckay.
Other Cases.
J. O'Neil, a lumberjack, arrested
in Tekoa for stealing a set of car
penter tools was on trial all day Fri
day. He admitted that he took the
tools from a lumber pile but claimed
he did it for someone else. The real
contest was over the value of the
tools and several witnesses were in
troduced by both sides. O'Neil was
charged with grand larceny but for
conviction it was necessary TO prove
the tools were worth more than $25.
The defense was that the tools had
been in use for 16 years and were
worth less than 4L5. Much testi-
mony was taken on this point and it
was finally put up to the jury. The
twelve men decided the tools were
worth less than $25 and found the
defendant guilty of petit larceny.
The maximum penalty for the offense
is one years Imprisonment in the
county Jail. Judge Neill reserved
sentence until Monday, December 4.
Had the tools been found to be worth
more than $25 there would have
been no alternative and the guilty
man would have been sent to the
penitentiary. 1t took the jury four
or five hours to agree and it was
nearly midnight when O'Neil was
reused from his slumbers in the jail
and taken to the court room TO hear
the verdict. Returning to his cell
O'Neil remarked, at is b OF a
note to pull fellow out of bed at
midnight to tell him he is guilty.
Charles F. Voorhees, was appointed
by the court to defend ONeil.
After swearing that his partner
did the work Jack Smith, alias Jack