Omaha daily bee., 1919-03-12
TRUCK LOAD OF
RECORDS OF THE
BOARD MISSING
George WeidenfeId, Former
Accountant, Accused of
Having Them Taken
to His Home.
From a staff Correspondent.

Lincoln. Neb., March ll.-Obey-
Ing an order issued by Chairman R.
F. Neal, of the joint committee Of
the senate and house, investigating
The Board of Commissioners of
state institutions, the sheriff of Lam
caster county has issued a subpoena
on George Weidenfeld, commanding
him to appear before the committee
Wednesday morning at 9 o'clock.
The State Board Of Sontrol sent
letter to the Neal investigating COM
mittee Tuesday, charging that
George Weidenfeld, former account
ant for the board, who was asked
70 resign last Saturday, had removed
from the boards offices 500 pounds
OF public records in addition to
shelving and other material.
Aitldavits accompanying the let
ter purported to show that the rec
ords were taken to Mr.. Weidenfeld's
home on January Is, by employees of
The Handcraft Furniture company.
the state penitentiary furniture max
ing plant.
Nothing was taken to my home
but what was my personal prop
erty," Weidenfeld said when the
charges were read to him over the
telephone by newspaper men. He
said he had nothing further to add.
The Board of Control asks the
Neal committee, composed of joint
senate and house members empow-
cred to investigate into affairs of
the board, to require Weidenfeld to
return the records, and that rep
resentative Of the board be allowed
10 question Widenfeld about them at
the public hearing which the COM
mittee announced would begin We'd
nesday morning, March IL, at 9 a.
m, in the Lindell hotel.
The committee, which for two
weeks has been conducting a secret
inquiry, announced that its proceed
ings would be public after Wednes-
day.
The board says it did not discover
The alleged loss until last Saturday
A supporting affidavit by Anna E
Yockel. bookkeeper for the board in
Weidenfeld's office, says that a mass
of documents were piled up in the
Office on January IS, and on January
Is Weidenfeld helped a stranger
carry them out through the base
nent door.
In another affidavit H. X. Mont
gomery, assistant manager of the
Handcraft Furniture company, said
Weiienfeld called him up on Janu-
airy IA to ask the Handcraft truck
to stop at the capitol, take some
packages to his home and pick up
some furniture at his home to take
to the penitentiary for repairs.
A. c. Blair, the driver of the
truck, makes affidavit that he took
six or seven packages weighing
about 500 pounds" from the capitol
basement to Weidenfeld's home
January is, along with six or seven
pieces Of lumber. Blair quotes him
self as telling the manager when he
rot back:
II wonder why Mr.. Weidenfeld
would want to take the records
and books from the office of the
Board of Control to his own home
ind put them in his basementI"
Weidenfeld was dismissed last
Saturday, after the board had con-
WINGED itself that he had written an
anonymous letter to State Senator
Bradstreet, which Bradstreet
promptly gave to newspapers, call
ing attention to certain visits Sec
retary Leo Mathews and Commits
sioner E. o. Mayfeld of the board
had made to Omaha and elsewhere,
and limiting darkly that these visits
might have some Interior motive in
connection with the investigation of
the hoard.