The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1912-11-21

check He read them carefully. the,
he laughed.
wen" he said. aMr. Curtis seems
to have landed on our old friend, the
State Boss. withn nice upper cut. from.
his cofn."
HE seems. on the contrary" re.
piled one Of the directors. Ito have
landed on US. His last oficial act
vas to hand over the company's money
10 this politician"
Yes" said the lawyer, but this
payment has a quite suficient string
to t. 1t IS explained fully In his let
ter. Mr.. Curtis advises us that, in or.
der to wipe out personal debt, debt
legally but not morally Just, he has
given the man a check on the funds
OF the company. He begs us to OBJ
serve that this check directs payment
to be made by the bank out OF tho
funds OF the Life Assurance Company
OF North America. and thatit is signed
BY him as the trustee Of such funds.
He baS9 US further to observe that this
payment is, consequently. plainly on
the face Of this check payment with
trust funds. Therefore. this politician
takes no title to the money which he
viii receive by 1t. and must pay It
back to the company"
Il do not quite understand said
one OF the directors.
1T Is all entirely clear" replied tho
lawyer. This check is made payable
on trust fund. 1t shows on its face
that It is drawn on moneys belonging
to the Assurance Company and not in
diyldually to Richard R. Curtis. This
notice is set out fully in the body Of
the check. The signature with tho
word, trustee. attached, confirms the
trust nature Of the fund upon which
II is drawn. Now, these political leech-
es have grown so accustomed to being
fed on insurance money that they have
come wholly to overlook the law. No
doctrine OF the law is better settled
than that trust has no power to pay
out trust funds in settlement of his
private debts, and one who takes trust
funds, with notice Of that fact, ac-
quires no title to them and can be
made TO restore them. The peculiar
wording OF this check gave full notice
that 1t was drawn on trust funds. The
person who cashed 1t was thereby
fully aware of that fact and, conse-
quently, he must restore this money"
But" said the chairman, SIS this
politician good for that amount?n-
What" replied the lawyer, our
friend, the State Boss, good for It?
Why, the thief has million dollars
in one building on Twenty.third
street,
In their consuming interest in the
matter my presence was apparently
overlooked, and stepped softly
through the door. These men did not
realize its full signifcance; to them
1t was merely vengeance visited by a
dead man on his enemy, a payment
to rogue in his own pocket.pieces;
but to one who knew all the facts,
Randolph Mason's plan had worked a
larger justice. Mason had seen in
stantly that, If this mortgage could
be lifted, Mrs. Curtis could sell the
house, the purchasers title would be
clear, and she could take the money
out of the country and conceal 1t. The
only. problem was to get the cancella.
ton OF the mortgage on the records.
This check on the trust funds did that
and yet left the taker of 1t liable to
the assurance company. which owned
the funds. Suppose it were technical.
ly crime in Richard R. Curtis thus
temporarily to appropriate the moneys
held in trust. He was dead and no In
jury would come to any one innocent
Of wrong. A dependent woman had
her property returned to her; skull.
king rogue had his own knife In his
ribs, and the Assurance Company of
North America would receive its
money with usury. / saw now why
the dying man looked upon Randolph
Mason as providence OF God.