Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-09-15
Mystery Of the Missing
Amount Still as Deep
as Ever.
DUTIES LEGAL" SAYS
TRUSTEES COUNSEL
Refuses to Discuss Flndn-
CiaI Affairs OF Bank
rupt Concern.

Since Referee Adams,s report was
read and filed yesterday the interest of
creditors of the American Vacuum
Cleaner Company and of the thousands
of other persons who have been fol-
lowing the complicated administration
of It's affairs, has been focused sharply
on the elusive will of-the-wisp $4,000,
which no one connected with the bank
rupt company knows how to classify.
apparently.
Concerning all the moneys disbursed
to creditors and for expenses and that
which remains to he disbursed out OF
the s10T, 900 realized from the plant
with the sole exception OF this item Of
So, ,000-the records are as clear as day.
but 1t is always dusk as the question
of the sum Is approached and nightfan
before the figures are reached.
In nm effort to classify this
substantial fortune Referee Ad-
AIMS has set John w. Cowan, n
accountant, mt work ON the mnzc of
figures representing the monthly re-
ports ON receipts and expenditures
turned In by the trustee. senator john
ston Cornish. This accountant declares
that II val ss Impossible for him 20
I
that "A much longer time may be nec-
essary.
1t had been the referees intention to
incorporate In the opinion In which he
yesterday cut down the fees asked by
Senators Cornish and Osborne more
than $1,000, figures showing the exact
disposition of all of the 100000 realized
from the estate Of the bankrupt COM
however, showed him that skilled ac-
countsnt alone could get at the hsures,
and that n would take him some time
10 do II.
| In the last paragraph of his opinion,
| filed yesterday, Referee Adams said:
/ 81 had intended to have made up a
statement of the disbursements I'm this
matter SO distributed as to show the
expenditures for conducting the bus1-
ness and the expenditures for other
purposes. I find this will require an
examination of the trustees vouchers,
and I have asked an accountant to pre-
pare such statement, which win be
4 filed with the papers in this matter
| Senator Osborne was asked again to-
| day If he could not roughly classify ehs
1 big sum that the creditors of the
cleaner company are so anxious TO
know more about He replied sharpiy
that his duties In connection with fhe
company were legal duties alone and
that the matter was entirely up TO the
trustee. He was asked II, In a general
way, "expenses" might not represent
the fade-away 1000. He refused to
make nny abatement one way the
other about the matter.
In the opinion of a number of aStor-
neys who have had experience IN bank
ruptcy matters this big sum will be
| found to be the total of the cost Of
running the plant for eight months
after the company was bankrupt and
the cost of litigation which was IN
| dulged In TO very Considerable e&
tent, Thsse same attorneys, however,
were unable to reconcile their theory
with the statement in Referee Adams's
opinion that apparent profits had ac-
crued from Senator Cornish's eight
months experience in running the
plant with a s100-cut- down TO- s50-a-
week assistant.
It was pointed out by one of these
attorneys that even ifsthe proflts In
this particular case were merely "ap-
parent" and lacked the body Of actual
fact and that II the accountant dfscov-
cred that the money had been spent IN
litigation and IN running the plant. the
revelation would be more astounding
than is the present inability Of those
connected with the case to classify the
| item.
said one lawyers "AddinE to this
sum of e17 900 the $4,000 paid to sena-
tor Cornish and Osborne we have e88,-
600. Assuming that the $4,000 viii be
found TO be expenses imagine how
absurd TO the observer and how tragic
TO the creditors the situation will be-
$4,000 spent in diabursing s44,0O0.0
Meanwhile there Js nothing for the
impatient creditors to do but watt
wait until the accountant has prepared
his report No one has suggested a
shorter cut to the heart of the mystery.
and Frank Benjamin. who represented
some Of the creditors, who declared
they were Disseminated against at the
meeting which resulted In the election
of trustee, considers the matter
closed Mr.. Benjamin was heavily
scored by Referee Adams in the opin-
ion filed yesterday. but is not inclined
to resent It, as he regards the fact that
the referee ordered the Benjamin ortiz
oism cut out Of the opinion rs being n