New-York tribune., 1911-01-10
HYDE'S REMOVAL ASKED
Charges Against City Chamber
lain Filed with Mayor by Lawyer.
GUARANTEE FOUND IN SAFE
Controller Gets Carnegie Trust s
Surety-Asks Mayor for Meet
ing Of Banking Commission.

City Chamberlain Hyde's continued alb
scnce from his Office remained as much a
mystery as ever yesterday, and incidental
" produced a trio OF documents centring
With the filing OF formal set OF charges
against the Mayors appointee. Joined with
petition for his removal from office. Con-
troller Prendergast started the Hyde ac-
tivities of the day with letter TO the
Mayor requesting him 10 call meeting OF
the City Banking Commission at Il o'clock
noon. Later in tho day the Controller re-
ceived this brief answer to his request from
the Mayor:
II came over late today, after being in
bed yesterday with an apparent attack Of
the grip. and found your note here.
have 10 leave early to-day. should not
have come over at all. and am doing only
those things which have TO be done to-
day. I hope I shall be better tomorrow,
and when l come over I shall try TO ar
range a meeting OF the Banking Commits
sion as you request
Mr. Prendergast has also requested the
Mayor 10 have Deputy Chamberlain Walsh
produce the much discussed guarantee OF
the city's deposit in the Carnegie Trust
Company, but after his letter had been
sent over to the Mayors Office. and before
the reply was senr back, the guarantee
turned UP in the Chamberlain's office IL
bad been in the private safe in tho latter s
office, from which his secretary. John v.
Smith, produced It. A deputy from Mr
Prendergast's Office was informed by Mr..
Walsh the deputy and acting Chamber
lain. that the guarantee had been found
and Mr.. Prendergast was satisfied on that
point.
With the interchange Of courtesies be-
tween the Mayor and the Controller out
of the way and the air apparently cleared
for the time being, another storm broke
on the Hyde horizon half an hour later
when Alfred Epstein, a lawyer, who
brought a taxpayers suit last week to re-
strain the Controller from paying Mr..
Hyde's December salary, filed in the May
or's Office written charges against the City
Chamberlain, as the basis for a petition
asking Mayor Gaynor TO remove Mr.. Hyde
from the office he holds.
The complainant's first charge contained
q brief review of Mr.. Hyde's appearances
at his official desk, with particular empha-
sis on his non-appearances, and was as fol-
lows:
That he has unreasonaby and without
cause absented himself from his official
desk, and has not performed his duties as
City Chamberlain since December /, lsio'
and that during the entire months or June
and July, 1910, he absented himSeir from
his Office and that in August, 1910. he at
tended at his office only on eight days, IN
the month OF September only three days,
in the month of November only fourteen
days. and that during the year of 1910 he
did not report at his Office for 224 days.
SUNDAYS and holidays inclusive for which
he has received compensation, as provided
for in Section 1856 OF the greater New York
charter"
In the second charge Nr. Epstein taxes
I'D the matter OF the city's deposits IN the
Carnegie Trust Company and the Northern
Bank of New York, and the third chsrse
is a review OF nine cases OF loans on mort
cages which, the complainant charges.
were in excess of the 60 per cent OF the
.trus and fair valuation" provided for un-
der the law.
"I respectfully ask that your honor no.
tify Charles IL. Hyde OF these charges, ana
that you set the matter down for near
ing. when ] can examine Mr.. Hyde IN REL
erence 10 these matters and produce the
evidence TO substantate these charges
the statement ends.
Mr.. Epstein said he was actuated solely
nv public spirit, and not at all by any
personal dislike of the City Chamberlain
or because Of any prompting of others. II