The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-04-16
DR.. GUILD
PUT MORE
ON STAND

A Y. More, defendant in The Cour-
ier-News- Guild More case now pend
ing in district court, was put on the
witness stand this morning by the
plaintiff, DR.. Lewis T. Guild. on cross
examination under the statute.
The testimony given by the defend
ant and conducted by Judge N. c..
Young as counsel for the plaintiff, DR..
Guild, was very interesting and de-
veloped nan technical details IL re-
gard to the management Of The Cour-
ier-NeWs during Mr.. More's sole own
ership Of that paper from Aug. 10,
1912. until SEPT. 1, 1918, when DR.. Guild
bought in land assumed the manage
ment. "a ,.sE
Replying to questions of counsel. Mr.
More stated he had orn to North
Dakota in 1888 and taught school,
working in the harvest fields during
the vacation periods. He said he went
into the hardware business in the fall
Of 1893 at Wimbledon. which has con-
tinued 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 n they gradually increased UNI
til they did a general traction engine
and farm implement business. At
first Mr.. More stated they employed
no bookkeeper but kept a simple set
books themselves. He thought his.
brother had more charge of the books
than himself. During the last ten
years, he said, they have kept a book
keeper.
Bought Courier-News.
He said he bought The Fargo Cour-
in August, 1912, from Thorn
as F: Marshall. James Buchanan and
the Northern Savings bank. CUES
toned about the preparation and filing
of the bill of sale, he said if his mem
DRY served him correctly that it was
prepared either by Mr.. Fowler or R
NJ. Pollock, his attorneys, and that it
had been duly filed with the register
of deeds.
Admitting he was unfamiliar with
the management of the newspaper
Ilant, 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 as
nan and general manager
Of the business. He said he thought
under his supervision a new set of
books was opened by Miss Mary Jor-
genson, the bookkeeper, with the as
of Walter Thomson, expert
public accountant. 9
Miss ~Jorgenson, he said, had charge
of all the books, Of making the bank
deposits and of drawing the funds nee
essary for the operation Of the bust
Put Up Frequently.
Mr.. More stated he knew little about
the business except when it was nee
essary for him to put up funds to
pay the overdrafts. He said either the
bank or Miss ~Jorgenson would mott
fy him, and he would write a check,
drawing from other for these
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 en-
tered on the More Bros. account.
His bank accounts of More Bros, he
said, were kept partly with the First
National bank and partly with the
Merchants National bank. The Cour-
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 improb-
able.
RAID $GU,VuU.
Judge Young asked Mr.. More to
the books kept by the Courier
News plant under the More manage
ment. There was considerable diff
Guilty in accomplishing this.
Mr.. Moore said he was so unfamiliar
the management of the place,
especially the bookkeeping depart
ment, that he scarcely recalled having
seen any Of the various ledgerS be-
fore. His recollection was hazy about
them all, so he felt he could not iden-
tify them particularly.
When shown an item OF ,$27, 900 en-
in n place which was called
the amount Of sale Of the plant, MT.
amount, for he had only paid $4,000
for The Courier-News and that by
note.
The $1,000 Entry.
Much time was consumed yester-
day afternoon in trying to secure tes-
regarding a certain $1,000 n
try accredited to circulation in the
month Of July, 1918. but objections
by Counsellor Pollock were sus-
by the court.
This morning the court felt that the
situation was a trife different in that
yesterday attempt was made to have
Il "oAla tSOti1S rooouN SoAO
mans books and that today Judge
Young was attempting to secure tes-
from the man himself about
his own books. @
Various small entries were shown
the month of July, the total Of
which amounted to something over
$500. At the last of the month anoth-
err entry was made Of $1,000. rhis is
what the plaintiff alleges swelled the
circulation accounts.
On the very next page in the ledger
$1,000 was paid out, being charged off
to A. Y. More. Counsel asked the wit
ness il this was meant to show the
July earnings Of the paper.
MI. More denied this and said he had
requested Miss Jorgenson to make
this entry Of $1,000 and credit 1t to
circulation. He said the request was
made either on tbs morning of Aug.
6 or Aug. Z, 1918, 800 after his re-
turn from - Minneapolis business trip
about that time.
y" -. HEg@.. p -l - lHa. .-.E-