Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1914-04-23
MORE TES1||ES & IN
COURIER Jews SUIT
Was New in Newspaper. Busi.
y ness---Left Details to Others.

Fargo, April 16.-Testimony in
the Courier-News Guild-More dam
age suit was taken yesterday by the
calling of the defendant, A. Y. More
to the stand. Mr.. More's testimony
srelated to the details of the manage
ment of the Courier-News during his
ownership from August 10. 1912, to
September 1, 1913, when DR.. Guild
bought in and assumed the manage
ment, paying 100000 for the plant.
Mr.. More testified, in replying to
question of counsel, that he had
come to North Dakota in 1888 and
taught school, working in the har-
vest fields during the vacation Pc
riods. He said he went into the
,hardware business in the fall of 1898
at Wimbledon, which has continued
to be his home since, though in the
last two years his family has spent
much of the time in Fargo.
His brother, went into business
with him and they gradually in
creased until they did "a general trac-
tion engine and farm implement
business. At first Mr.. More stated
they employed no bookkeeper but
kept a simple set of books them
selves. He thought his brother had
more tcharge of the books than him.
self. During the last ten years, he
said, they have kept bookkeeper.
Bought Courier-News.
:. He said he bought the Fargo
Courier-News in August, 1912, from
Thomas F. Marshall, James Buchan-
an and the Northern Savings bank.
Questioned about the preparation
and the fling of the bill of sale, he
said if his memory served him cor
rectly, that it was prepared either
by Mr.. Fowler or R. M. Pollock, his
attorneys, and that it had been duly
fled with the register Of deeds.
Admitting that he was unfamiliar
with the management of the news
paper plant, which he said had been
left largely to "A. M. Baker, and that
he was somewhat inattentive to all
the necessary details he said,
though he was not sure about it, he
thought an entirely new set Of books
was opened when he bought the
plant.
Mr.. Bakers duties he described
az advertising man and general man
ager of the business. He said he
thought under his supervision a new
set of books was opened by Miss
Mary Jorgenson, the bookkeeper,
with the assistance of Walter
Thompson, expert public accountant.
Miss Jorgenson, he said, had charge
of all the books, of making the bank
deposits and of drawing the funds
necessary for the operation of the
business.
Put Up Frequently.
Mr.. More stated he knew little
about the business except when it
was necessary for him to "put up"
funds to pay the overdrafts. He
said either the bank or Miss Jorgen-
son would notify him, and he would
write a check, drawing on other re.
sources for these funds.
He said he put up frequently"
and that he took the money from
other sources and put it into The
Courier-News. A lot of this, he
said, came from his private business
and was entered on the More Bros.
account.
His bank accounts of More Bros.
he said, we're kept partly with the
First National bank and partly with
the Merchants National bank. The
Courier-News account was kept with
the Merchants National bank. He
said he could not recall If he had
ever kept a personal account with
any of the Fargo banks, but thought
it improbable.
Paid $780, 900.
Judge Young asked Mr.. More to
identity the books kept the Courier
News plant under the More manage
ment. There was considerable diff
ficulty in accomplishing this.
Mr.. More said he was SO unfamil-
lar with the management of the
place, especially the bookkeeping de-
partment, that he scarcely recalled
having seen any of the various ledg-
ers before. His recollection was
hazy about them all, 80 he felt he
could not identify them particularly.
When shown an item Of $4,000