The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-04-05

Cummings has begun an official
 investigation into the bank
 ruptcy case of Burr & Knapp.
 the failure of whose banking
 house in Bridgeport, Oct. 22,
 1914, brought disaster to many
 depositors, involved deposits of
 nearly a million dollars, and
 caused a scandal in social and
 banking circles.
 The action of the states af-
 torney's office has followed a
 storm of complaints. Money of
 hundreds of poor families, many widows, not a few trust funds for orphans, and thou sands of dollars of sick benefit funds have been dissipated, practically. wiped out, through the crash of the depository.
 Impelled by the repeated charges that the law has been infringed upon, the states at torney has begun an inquiry which already has dsvelopesl new sensations in a case. that has stirred the courts of Fair field county as rarely in their history. e s>z-
 One of the most startling facts de- ve1oped in the, new inquiry was the discovery that the records of the banking house-access to which was refused creditors by Herbert M. Knapp and his associates-have been discovered hidden in a barn near Trunbull. Uttered with stable, re- fuse. straw and hay, and scattered widely over the floor of the remote little structure, they have been as sembled with much care. and now are stored in the, offices of Spotswood D. Bowers, an attorney especially assign ed by the states attorney to conduct the special inquiry.
 John C. Chamberlai trustee under. the bankruptcy proceedings, has been directed by John w. Banks, referee in bankruptcy, to make a supplement tary report on the finances of the in the hope that hidden as- sets may be revealed, and that a divi-, dend may be made possible.
 Herbert M. Knapp, who now is con 1ucting a realty office under the name of the Title Guaranty & Trust Go, will be summoned to-i the witness stand, and griIIed as to the nature of certain entries discovered in these books many of them going back over a pc ,iod of at least half a dozen years.S
 A woman, employed in clerical ca oacity by the banking house, who has ,een missing for some time, will be into the new investigation. She is said to have the key to certain mysteries of the banking methods of he defunct house.
 The closest scrutiny of all books ormerly possessed by the company g. being made today by expert ac- ;ountants from New York, under the lirection of SpotswoOd D. Powers. detailed by Homer s. Cummings as pecial assistant, whose duty it will ,e to report whether any criminal act las been committed by officers of the Lefunct banking institution or those associated with him in collateral or companies.
 An attempt to get the books from mcers of the Burr 6 Knapp Go. re- entIy met with nefusals to divulge he hiding place or to turn them over o the states attorney's agent for e1- Under an order issued " John w. Banks, referee in bank uptcy, before whom proceedings are low, being conducted. John c. Cham erlain. trustee was compelled to turn hem over to the investigators.
 A truck-load of the books was haul q from the barn of George Cham ber- ain, a farmer, living on Reservoir venue and they are now closely Tn a room or the law -Of1CGS f Bowers, Williamson & Cornell in he Citizens building.
 When found, some of the books and apers were piled in boxes and others trewn about the floor amidst straw, ay and stable refuse. Great difh- ulty was experienced in collecting the apers, many of which were scattered 1idely. partly covered by accurnu- ltions of debris.
 It is freely admitted by the inves- lgators that many of the transactions at least appear to be shady and nat under the bankruptcy acts. Her ert M. Knapp, former president Of 1e Burr & Knapp banking firm, un- oubtedIy will be put upon the wit ess stand before Referee Banks that e may explain certain entries, some f them many years old
 Whether the heads. of the Georgia oan & Trust Co.,. the Sedalia 1Tis- ,uri Water Co.,, the Waterv1iet Fly raunc Co. and other companies that
 ffv,,sefI rv. e