The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-15
Enormous Suits Against 1. & N. and Southern In
 Courts At Decatur
CHARGE THEY AIDED | IN WHOLESALE FRAUD
and Bales of Cotton Were Sold Spurious Bills and Were
 Never Delivered

new and interesting chapter was added to the Knight. Yancey & Co. fail ure yesterday, when Percy Benners and Burr of Birmingham. attorneys for the majority of creditors. filed nine suits against the Southern Railway company and the Louisville and Nashville railroad to recover some of the money alleged to have been secured by the bankrupt cot ton concern on spurious bills of lading. 4.
 The suits were filed in the law and equity court at Decatur, and the com plaints are so voluminous to require them to be in printed form. It is charged | in the complaints, which will aggregate claims for $2.3oO0o0 against the railroads | that the Southern and Louisville and Nashville connived in the issuance of the | fake bills of lading charged to Knight, | Yancey & Co.,. and assisted in the per- petration of the frauds which secured. 1t is claimed. several millions of dollars from English and German cotton men through the forged bills. For this tho creditors charge the railroads with Joint liability.
 In each of the complaints filed yester- I Ndy III IcCdtuf ilib diitSdlioi lo iiddS that the Southern Railway company and the Louisville and Nashville railroad well knew the practice of Knight, Yancey 6s Go. and assisted in the continuation of the practices of deceit by ordering the delivery of cotton abroad on spurious bills of lading. knowing fully of the 'r- regular practices.
 The suits will precipitate legal battle. it is expected. the parallel of which is unknown in legal circles of Alabama or the south.
 | The English creditors who started the
 fight yesterday claim about s20o.0O0, while the German creditors claim about s9oO,Ooo.
 Formal Announcement Mnde
 The following formal announcement was
 trade hers yesterday by Percy. Banners
 & Bur- representing the plaintiffs in theI suits filed yesterdays. !
 "The first suits against the Lousvlld and Nashville and the Southern railway brought by English and German creditors of Knight, Yancey & Go. were begun to- day by the filing of complaint against the railroads by Alexander Eccles X Co. of Liverpool, and by Knoop & Tabarious and other merchants of Bremen, Ger many, in the Morgan county law and equity court at Decatur. The other Eng fish creditors of Knight. Yancey & Co. are expected to file similar suits within the next ten days. The totalt ums for which actions will be brought aga -t tho railroads by English creditors is s2,0s,,oOo. while the Germans will be about $8oo,0o0.
 ..The English creditors are represented | 2;erlo e I'm Ter of New York, and Attorneys Percy, Benners & Burr of Birmingham. and the German creditors by Percy, Benners Ss Burr of Birmingham and Phelan Beale of New York.
 Complaints Voluminous
 "The complaints in the suits are vo'um- inous and present the facts in Il dif- ferent legal aspects. The gist of the ac- ton, however, is the following allegation in the complaint: The firm of Knight. Yancey & Co. had been in the habit of obtaining money on drafts secured by spurious bills of lading. similar to those upon which tho present actions have been brought, for the past five years. A month of two after each bill of lading was issued, Knight, Yancey & Co. would buy cotton similar to that marked for the bill and ship it forward under the same marks as those described in the bill of lading. When the cotton arrived at des- tination abroad, 1t would be delivered upon the surrender of the spurious bill of lading, despite the fact that the spurious bills differed in date and pumber. and in other respects from the ships mani- | fast It Is alleged that this practice of Knight. Yancey & Go. was well known to the railroads, and was connived at by the officers of the railroads. And that upon questions arising as to the propriety of delivery upon spurious bills of lading the matter would be referred to the railroad concerned, and the railroad would direct delivery, thus preventing the discovery of the forgeries and enabling Knight, Yam cey & Go. to continue the course of deal- | ing which led to their failure. It Is al- legged that over 100000 bales of cotton have been delivered on forged bills of lading. and that when the failure came that there was outstanding forged bills for 50,- 900 bales of cotton upon which no cotton has been delivered. The English credit ors maintain that this conniyance on the part of the railroad renders them equally liable With hnlgnt, ldHcey 0 So. loE ' the losses sustained by the latter's GUS | toner's"
 | VIII Not Be Surprise
 The filing of the, suits by the creditors will not, it is believed. be surprising to the Southern and Louisville and Nashville railroads. For at every meeting of the creditors the railroads have been repre- sented by attorneys who objected strer uously at times to the introduction of an ' testimony that would in any way refiet upon the acceptation by them of the aisl lesed forged bills of ladng.
 The failure and subsequent details of the firm of Knight Yancey & Co. arc comparatively fresh in the memory of the people in this state and the south.
 The company was composed of several well-known men and operated a cotton business at Decatur, Selma and other points. The company failed April 90 l9cs. I