New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-07
SAYS He Took Only
What He Earned
Discharged by Boyd, He
Says, for Revealing
German Plot
TStaf Corrsspoudercel

q.
a dollar moved except at her instance
and desire while he was her "hnancla.
adviser" Such was the declaration oil
Means to-day when he took the WIT
ness stand here 20 answer TO the charge
Of sauandering the woman's estate anu
numbering her.
That he had dissolved her trust
funds. borrowed thousands on her Sc
curities. sold her stocks and apphea
IN. proceeds 20 his own bank accounts
he admitted. That he had then plunged
with the money into extensive and dis
astrous cotton speculatons he did NOT
DENY. If he had plunged, 1t was be-
csuse she had ordered him 70 plunge
II he had liquidated her trust iunaS
and peddled her bonds, it was at hcr
command.
Since he undertook the management
Of her tangled affairs in August I'I0'
never had he deviatcd from the pain
of rectitude. And prior to that when
he was "working for German inter-
ests.p not even the dire threats OF
Hobenzollern vengeance, called down
upon him by Captain Karl Boy-La' haG
sweryed his loyalty to the Cnl'eu
states When he had learned no"
Uuorta. deposcd President OF NeNICo'
was Noting In Barcelona SPAIN "
wage war an an ally OF the hals1l - IN vi
the United States, De h"o "o'...SI
William j. Burns, the dclecIE, VI, NJ,
IN turn notified the PRESIDENT Al. N ~,
came the muttered threats Oi ,.-l -,
censed Boy-Ed and the oIs0""'
Means by has clients.
Tells of German Work
Called TO the stand soon after court
convened. Means devoted the eHtlIe
porning 10 explanation OF ms Nel-
man work" This began, he sala' l"
the autumn of 1914 When' as AN en-
,,Iove of Burns. he investigated re-
ports that British and + rencth We
ships lowering Of tho Ailahtlc coas'
,yere bciug supplied from American
,,orts and that submarines were De'hs
tUI+ for the Allies at Fore RIVER
Mae and other American smpyaIds,
IL iof+ Rurns I'm the fall Of 1919, ana
prcept fo- occasional small aAaLLs
left German interests alone re
spite this remuneration means aN
mitted that in February OF TINS year
The Pinkerton detective agency was III
vestigatug him. .-,.-,.
"But such inquiries do not "oIIE
me" he wrote on February j. TO ms
brother, Alton. Naturally, ! "ou'd
offer my services 90 the United StaJes'
but / would not violate the commence .
of German interests unless those lN-
terests were detrimental TO the OhI'eu .
States ..-1
he had severed all his German con .
nections in October, 1916, because ne .
was bitterly opposed 20 undersea war .
fare and was convinced that the Onlted .
States and Germany would soon .
break"
Financial and legal negotiations in .
the interest of Mrs. King also claimed .
his attention az this time, Means SAID f.
His first meeting with the wealthy
widow Of James C. King, multi-mll- /
lonsire lumbermau, was az dinner
given by Mrs. NaIzic Melvin IN the .
Hotel Lasalle, Chicago, M June, 1919. .
AT that time, Means said, he was Chi
caro representative Of the Cannon
Cotton Mills Of Concord. His salary
was Si.25O a year, which he managed
TO increase TO from $4,000 TO $4,000
hy extra sales commissions and his
writings In textile and business pub .
lications A month after his intrOduc- .
tiou TO Mrs. King he resigned his posi- F.
tion with the cotton concern. But his /
first business transaction for the .
wealthy widow was in August, 1915.
Meets Mrs. King
81 was living az the Manhattan Hotel,
IN New York, 10 the spring Of that year,
and Mrs. King came 90 see me-" Means
explained. "She had what was known
as q mutual trust fund held 40 the
Woodruff Trust Company, Joliet, III.
She had borrowed $4,000 from the
First National Bank Of Chicago, Of
which George Woodruff, Of the trust
company, ls president. She was won
dering u Mr.. Woodruff was o. X. l
suggested she employ an auditor 90 go
10 Chicago and find out, and she did
The face value OF the securities held
By Mrs King with the Woodruff Trust
Company, Means said, was SOB 600.
She had borrowed the S33 600 against
this collateral. Mr. Woodruff had
bought some Studebakcr stock for the
trust fund which he had later trans
ferred 20 his own account By agree
meut with Mrs. King Means. on in-
vestigating the matter, found that Mrs
King had $2l 900 coming 10 her, and az
his suggestion she demanded and re-
ceived 10. And so began his financial
administration Of her affairs under an
agreement that he was 90 get half OF
what he saved or earned for he less
$4,000.
Soon afterward the Woodruff Trust
FffwA al o..
Means declared, was because Dir
Woodruff did not want 60 handle %
further. The securities were shipped
90 the Northern Trust Company in the
name OF Mrs. King lie had nothing
70 do with the matter.
Saved Money for Her
Early economics effected by " ans,
be said, were connected with the mar
riage and divorce portions settled by
Mrs. King on DR.. Robert Perry Chance.
whom she had married in Paus in
1908. With the decree Of divorce
granted Chance by the French courts
went $4,000 which the former Ars
King had settled upon him. Through
MoAns's activities this amount was re-
duccd 10 $4,000 But despite these
savings and her large income. said
Means, Mrs. King was short Of 'gdy
cash
She had borrowed $4,000 from Mrs.
James b. Foraker. known Familiarity
l. Me.ve a. "BusteF" She had Dor