Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-10-28
WOMAN SAYS SHE
PUT HER SAVINGS
IN CROCKER'S CARE.
Mrs. 6. A. Christie Asserts She
lntrusted Entire NEST Egg"
to Missing Promoter.

To-Day before fSuWdIu ". Adhihos ASA-
cree in bankruptcy, sitting as a spe-
cial MASTER how she came to invest in
Crocker schemes.
In reply to questions by Nathan
Bilder and John Bernhard, counsel
for Cecil IL. Mcmahon, receiver for
Crocker's affairs Mrs. Christie said
chat her home is in Cleveland now,
although she is stopping at 632 War
rem street, Newark, and her nus
band is head of lumber company
in Clayville. Va.
She is the mother of Lieutenant
Arthur w. Christie, n protege of
1906, and today she described herself
as a social and business friend of the
Crocker family for several years.
She said that she first heard of
Crocker through the enthusiastic
stories her son told of how the pro-
moter frequently made $1,000 in a
day trading in stocks. On one occa-
sion. she said, the lieutenant came
home with a story OF $4,000 profit on
a single days trading.
Mrs Christie said that she had
saved 81 900 during fifteen years be-
fore her marriage, when part of the
time she was special inspector for
the Union Traction Company in Phil
adelphia.
Her son. she declared, knew about
her possession OF this NEST egg" and
was urging her continually to invest
1t with Croker, who was so uniformly
successful in the market Finally, in
January, 1907 about a year after her
son commenced urging her to invest,
she said she gave the $1,000 to
Crocker, and three months later gave
him another $500.
Her husband, with whom she was
living at the time, knew of this in
vestment, she said, and she made the
second investment of her own volition
Where did you keep this money
prior to making the Investment" she
was asked. did you keep 1t In a
bank?"
mo. never kept my money in
bank" she replied.
Where did you keep it?' persisted
counsel for the receiver.
"In little tin box at home"
did you get a receipt from Crocker
when you made your Investment"
IT did,
What did you do with it?"
II put 1t In the little tin box / used
to keep the money in" she replied.
"Have you the receipt now?"
mo; 1 lost. it," Mrs. Christie said.
She declared that she never got any
report from Crocker as to returns
from her investments with him during
the first year. but she said that she
felt sure from what her son told her
that everything was as it should be.
Advanced More Money. She Says.
Mrs. Christie declared that she adj
vanced Crocker additional sums OF
money at stated times, voluntarily,
despite the fact that she had received
no statement or accounting from him
since she gave him the first $1,000 to
invest for her
She said that on September IA, 1910.
she gave $500 to invest in the Ameri-
can Auto Company of New Jersey.
Just prior to that date she says she
sent him SITS to invest with her other
money. In November, 1911. she testi-
fed that she gave him 5000 more to
invest This made a total of $2,075
she is said to have given Crocker.
She admitted that all she had re-
ceived in return were receipts. She
stated she had not received an ac-
counting nor had asked for one be-
cause she had implicit faith in
Crocker.
Il suppose 1 am Just like the other
clients WERE" she said. II gave him
make a lot for me-"
All the time Mrs. Christie was accu-
mulating the $500 she had a saving
account In an East Orange bank and
made Withdrawals and deposits from
this account. When asked If any of
these deposits or Withdrawals were
part of the $500, she replied In the ne
gative.
why didn't you use the money you
were saving, instead of making with
drawals from the bank?" asked Mr..
Bernhard.
II don't remember" she said.
why didn't you deposit the 5000
account in the bank while you were
making deposits of other moneys?"
the attorney asked.
81 don't remember that, either" she
said.
Then Referee Adams questioned her
about the money she had given
Crocker.
you made the last payment you
say to Croker In November, 1911"
said the referee. Nov do you mean
to tell me that from January, 1907,
until November, 1911, you kept CIV
ing Croker money voluntarily when
he never gave you an accounting or
a statement to show you what he
had done with the original $1,000.
Remember, that's running over a
period of four years and no report
on where your money had gone or
anything about it,
Yes, 1 do she said. Hes a
personal friend of mine and was my
attorney. supposed everything
would be all right. He was up
10 my home to tea one night just
about the time / gave him the last
$500. He said then some time he'd
surprise me with all the money he'd
earned for me. That was enough
for me-"
Then she referred to tho receipts.
The receipt Crocker had given her for
$500 was exhibited. 1t was torn and
had been pasted on a paper.
Mrs. Christie said she tore up the
receipt when she went to clean out
the safe deposit box she had in the
East Orange bank. She also tore up
some letters at the same time, she
said, and threw all the scraps in the
basket. A few weeks ago, when she
went TO the deposit box she found the
scraps of paper in the bottom of the
box. She could not account for their
presence there.
Some of the scraps of the letters
were there, also. She said she tore up
the receipt and letters to make more
room. so that she would not have to
have a larger box. She admitted that
she took three other receipts home
and did not tear them up, as she had
the 5000 receipt.
She was asked why she tore UP one
receipt and did not tear up the other
three. She said she did not remember.
but took the others home and placed
them in q drawer
She said she took the scraps to her
attorney. and he told her to paste