Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-04-03
Checks for Transactions
Drawn on Court
House Funds.
MONEY BORROWED HAS
ALL BEEN REPAID
Mr.. Egan Frankly Explains
Various Transactions at
Hearing Today.
IRON a star Correspondept.1

JERSE 1/CIT1, April 3.-Hafdly ten
minutes after County Collector Stephen
NJ Egan lad resumed the stand today
in the Court House probe Attorney
Robert H. McC; ter showed him a $500
check made out to William E. Smith,
member of the Court House Commis-
sion, and demanded
DO you recognize tat cheek?"
4 do said Egan; II made it out to
Smith. recognizing il as a personal
loan"
Wen. here Is another for 81, 100
drawn TO Smith; another Of $500 and
another of $3.50. All are drawn from the
Court House fund.-
I gave Smith the checks. as / said
before, as a personal loan. The money
has all been repaid
In rapid succession then McCarter
brought out four other checks drawn
by Egan out of the fund to the credit
of Alex ]. Clements, president of the
building commission. They were for
$3.50, 5000. sl51 and $500 and ranged il
Those were also personal loans, SIR
said the county collector.
Il made them with the understand
ing that they were to be quickly re-
paid and they were"
Gave Checks to Fiack.
Then McCarter brought out that
Egan had also given checks OF s12S and
1888 70 n. J. Flaclz, the custodian of
the building. He said these were ad-
vances on salary, and he said he un-
derstood he had perfect right to make
such advances.
''Wcll, You gave other checks out of
the fund, didn't your" asked the in
quisitor. How about the $4,000 check
you signed for Harry H. Crane?'
Crane was the paving contractor"
said Egan- HE treatened to stop work
entirely unless we put up that amount
of money on his contract. / signed the
check rather than hold up the work in
definitely
Then Mr.. lIcCarter brought forth
series of checks showing where Egan
had drawn sums from the fund to his
own account amounting to s18S, ,32a.
Admits Transfer of Funds.
That is perfectly right explained
the witness readily. II changed the
money from the building fund to my
personal account in order to rechange
it to another account. 1t has been all
restored and the books show that
saved interest by the transaction
The checks Egan admitted transfer
ing to his own account were: August
3. 1906, $40, 200; Septen Der A. 1906. s., 900;
July L. 1907, $4,000: August 2, 1908,
$4,000: December 1. 1908, 100000; April
20, 1910. $4,000, and August 3. 1919.
s323.26 Under examination by his own
attorney. Mr.. Egan made about the
same explanation Of the checks he had
given at the outset.
The Court House was crowded from
the moment Judge Swayze took his seat
and interest in the probe never tagged
from the first moment, when, in reply
to a question of Mr. McCarter. the wit
ness said that there still remains about
$1,000 in the building fund.
"Bronzer work Was steel.
After the county collector had given
his testimony Hugh Roberts, the ar
chitect. was brought TO the stand with
the request 10 explain how it hap
pened that the pillasters and cornices
he had 20. KID" as bronze came to be
steel when they We're set in place.
Roberts said:
when / reviewed the plans for tho
Court House I found that bronze was
sch, aled for the cornices and the
plllasters as had designed, and 1 nat
urally certified the plans in that re-
spect."
well, you know the difference be-
tween bronze and steel. don't you?"
asked Inquisitor hcCarter.
"Of course"
You continued your supervision Of
the building after work was started.
didn't your
Yes. sir
Then you must have known that
the cornices and pillasters were steel
instead of bronze, as you had specified
them, when you saw them going up?"
Yes, L knew they were steel"
But Mr.. Roberts did not make use of
his advantage to explain why he had
not made known the substitution OF
steel for bronze. and he and Mr.. Nc
Carter became involved in a long
wrangle of contradictory statements.