Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1913-05-11
BONDING COMPANY
 WILL PAY CITY Representative Says If Rus sells Shortage is Shown,
 It Will Be Paid.
DISTRICTS INVOLVED
Russell Still Maintains He Lost Money in the Watson Company
 How it Was Bone.

eff the improvement districts of Pine Bluff, involved in the alleged shortage credited to A. c. Russell have claim for $10,000, the amount of his bond with my company, and prove this claim to be correct. it s as good as gold. You have never heard of the American Surety Com pany failing to settle any indebted ness it ncurs in the dedication of any of it's bond patrons"'
 Such was the statement of H. T. Lawrence, representative of the American Surety Company, who arrived in Pine Bluff yesterday to look into the shortage admitted by for mer City Collector A. G. Russell, whose arrest occurred Friday night on an embezzlement charge Russeli's arrest and the report of his heavy shortage created considerable excite ment in this city when it became
 
 morning.
 MT. Lawrence held a c,< ference with the committee of five selected by Russell from his committee of fif- teen, before whom he unburdened himself Friday morning at the Y. M C. A.. yesterday morning and the matter was gone over thoroughly. Russell was present at the conference and he made a list, it is said, of the shortages in the improvement dis tricts, naming each district and the discrepancy in each. 1t is understood that Russell made the emphatic stat- ment at the conference again that every cent that was taken from the l improvement district funds was drop ped in the Watson Company, the stock medicine concern in which he was a stockholder.
 MT. Lawrence was told that Rus sells friends would make up his shortage and repay every improve meht district in full, with what money is to be realized from Russell's prop erty and other holdings, and it is said that he has enough property to more than pay the total shortage, which will hardly exceed $13,5OO. MT. Lawrence will remain here, he says, until Tuesday, by which time he hopes to have instructions from his com pany how to proceed in the matter He declared that there was no desire on the part of his company to prose- cute Russell if the shortage was mado good, but added that in some instan- ces his company insisted on prescott tion in order to make examples of men who deliberately inappropriate money of others.
 The Actual Shortage.
 While no official figures have been given out as to the discrepan- cies in the books of the various inn provement districts, it is reported that the following list was furnished by Russell to the committee and the bonding company representative yes terday, showing just what districts were involved and the amounts taken from each fund According to this list none of the sewer districts of the city are involved. All of the side walk and curb districts are listed, showing shortage of various amounts. The list does not include Paving District No. 12, West Second avenue, the commissioners of which compell- ed the former city collector to settle with them before his retirement from office. Paving District No. 21 is also omitted from the list. The districts involved, according to the unofficial list given ont vesterday follow.