Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-10-25
MAY DROP CHARGE
AGAINST BASTRESS
Mount Carmel Iron Works Di-
rectors to Decide at
Meeting Today
CONFERENCES ARE HELD
BY a star Correspondent


Mt. Carmel, Pa, Oct. 25.-Preim-
mary conferences are being held today
by directors of the Mt Carmel Iron
Works prior to the meeting of the board
late this afternoon :" tonight.
John Aluir. president of the company.
when asked whether the charge of EN-
bezzlement against ]. 4. Bastress would
be withdrawn, said he did not know.
There seemed to be considerable SYM
pathy for Bastress in the minds of some
of the directors. he said. and it was hard
to say what might happen.
1t was Mr.. Muir who sworre out the
warrant upon which Mr.. Bastress was
arrested. Mr.. Bastress himself today
seemed confident that the report of the
auditor would vindicate him in the iron
works case and that the charges would
be dropped.
Edward Brennan, director, when
asked whether the embezzlement charge
would be dropped said he could not
say what the directors would decide at
the meeting
Denies "TraiI Of Death"
No dark trail of the dead" has
haunted his business footsteps through
fault of his. said Bastress.
He sat today in his sumptuously fur
nished offices. over the Guarantee Trust
and Safe Deposit Company, the bank of
which he was until Thursday the pres
ident. Short and squat and stout, he
was living example of the iron nerved
business man he admires.
George Il. Feast, general manager of
the iron company. who shot himself in
n railroad train after his arrest in Phil
adelphia, ended his life not because he
was a ruined man, but because he had
lost his nerve"
Bastress, i. IS evident, had no inten-
tion of losing his own poise, even though
held under 500. 900 bail; even though
Feast, it is alleged, chose the easiest
while under the same charge: even
though Feast before he died cried 81
was the goat. Bastress forced me to do
his dirty work"
Scent in Office
Feast lost his nerve, and man
who loses his nerve is no man." was
Bastress's terse comment. He shifted
uneasily in his big leather covered
chair, and let his eyes rove over the
costly collection of law books in their
new oaken cases that covered the wall
Behind him, through a half closed
door. glimpse was had of splepdidly
furnished bedroom in mahogany and
brass. Out of the window could be
seen the leisurely main street of the
town, with its prosperous stores and
its prosperous people, the town in
which Bastress grew up. and where his
enemies said he waxed rich at their ex
pense.
Bastress said he believed his son
made a mistake in judgment when he
issued the statement concerning the
actress who. he said, Feast supported
in New York, although the father saw
the statement before it was issued.
sit was mistake in judgment" he
said. "but it was issued in the impul-
siveness of youth"
Determination of Bastress to fight the
charges against him led to sudden
change in the attitude of Edgar r. Bas-
tress, son of the fnancier. Thursday he
made statement over his signature that
Feast, the suicide, had spent lot of
money supporting an actress in New
York. He said that the address of the
actress and all the thrilling details
would be Immediately forthcoming.
Now the actress is being kept in the
background for use if Bastress is brought
to trial.