The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-07-24
D|SAPP PPEARANCE Of
DISTRICT CLERK
SPECIAL bcENT OF SURETY COM
paw FAILS TO FIND DISTRICT
CLERK OF OKLAHOMA COUNTY.

Where I- a. 4 Rat.rdge clerk OF
tbe oklahoma county district court:
The ers. in a.s office 10 no, know.
HI. .muy di-rla.ms any knowledge
OF his anereA bouts. The county com
ni-..eae-s do not know The United
State Fidelity and Guaranty com
ranv which is on his bond for slo.-
Ooa does not know. And Special
AGENT joan b. Becbout OF The guar
nr,r company admitted Saturday
thai be- had been trying TO find him
al. week
one Of the commissioners was in
conference wi-h County Attorney
sam Hooker saturday afternoon, and
unless the bonding company takes
charge of the office Monday morn
ips -aa chances arc that a special
commissioners meeting viii be call
ed 20 put somebody in charge a.
one. al least unit. the condition OF
the onice is thoroughly inyes.igst-
ed.
On July l3 Ratledge gave Hatha-
way Harper a mortgage for $4,000 on
his automobile and left town tha,
same day Before he left he told his
deputies that he was going to his
old home in Tennessee 10 see a sick
relative. A that time Special Agent
Eeeuou- was auditing his books. Al
ter tae latter mad completed his eX-
animation. he conferred with the
board OF county commissioners in
regard 10 the alleged unsatisfactory
condtion OF the clerks accounts, and
telegram va, sent TO the point in
tennessee 10 which Ratledge said
he was going 1t was returned unde-
livercd
The resident agent of the United
states Fidelity aud Guaranty com
pam al Denver, Colo, wired here
that Ratledge had driven into that
citg on the night OF Saturday, July
| l.. had put his auto in garage,
and had not been seen since Monday,
I July II. His car is still in the Denver
/ garage. Ree0Out admitted that his ef-
, forts 10 get into communication
with Ratledse had been futile, and
neither his family, nor the clerks
In his office have heard from him
since he lett.
When Hathaway Harper went out
OF office as clerk Of the district
court. Y is alleged that ne TUNED
over Sr7OC to Ratledse on old case.
Nhich could not le settled at thai
time. In the clerk ; reports for Feb
ruary, March and Apri. he never
mentioned that amount, showing only
what he had taken in as fees, bu'
when his books were audited in MAY
he was asked in regard TO it and
then included It in his report Mr.
Harper stated Saturday evening that
+ h mad turned over two checks "a
Ratledge as clerk and that he had
both cancelled checks in his posses
sion. one Of them was for $1,000, the
other for $5,2SS.39.
As Ratledge keers no cash book,
II is absolutely impossible 10 tell the
exact condition of the finances Of
his office without a thorough exam
ination. Mr. Beebout admitted Satur-
day night that he had found an ap-
parent shortage of $1,000 when ne
last examined the books, but stat
ed that Rat,edge had made that
good"
II the slO,2SS.39 Ratledge received
from Harper has ever been placed to
the credit Of the county. the records
do not show it, and in fact il
is hard to tell just how Ratledge
stands with the county.
Rafledge came here from Edmond
several years ago, where he held the
office of city clerk. He opened an
office as "A public stenographer. and
i'm spite OF the fact that he was so
badly crippled that he had to use
-wo cru;chcs in walking was fairly