Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-12-22

- There is not the least 1ounuh- ~
II ton Of truth in these reports All u
:. Of the Wilmington banks have re- y
II Gently been examined by the State Il
= Banking Department and are on an +
:. exceptionally sound basis. II
:;tt...ttttt..tttttttttttttttttttttttttt
A. NJ. Birdsall of New York. general
counsel for the National Surety Co, after
amending several days here IN connection
with the matter of the companys habll-
itv IN both the William Bush and g T.
Eastman cases, told representative Q
Every Evening, last night, before lcavini
The city that the surety company had paid
the fun bond oibigations tothe Whining
ton Savings Fund Society, also 20 the
First Ccntral Presbyterian Church, =
draft 20 cover the full amount of the
bond IN each case has been gwen nj
though the surety company has not yet
closed ITS work IN the matter Of reimburse
mont from the assets of the two deiaulters-
Mr. Rirdsall said the bond in each case
was not quite equivalent 10 tho full amount
II the loss. hut the difference was not
large. and in the case of the Savings Fund
society nc thought that nearly AL of that
VII he recovered.
Eastman was also bonded with the
National Surety Co. as assistant treasurer
nf the Hercules Powder Co, but, owlrg to
he fact that the. reported speculatit On
the part of Eastman in the powder com
pany's securities have not been fully
,hccked up, pavment is necessarily dc
fcrred. This checking-upis now in prog
ress and IL is likely that the Hercules
hond will be paid off by the company
within week. when Mr.. Birdsall again
visits Wilmington.
MIR Bird.an said about $50, 900 IN
cash had been recovered from Bush. and
he believed that several thousand dollars
IN cash, or It's equivalent, would be re-
covered from Eastman, whose affairs,
he said. are in process of investigation.
6;tlpin. Van Trump & Montgomery, local
insurance agents in the du Pont building,
were the agents for the National Surety
Co, and are looking after the interests
- the latter company, and are assisting
IN this investigation.
When Mr. Birdsall WAS asked if he
would state the amount of the bond IN
each case. he said he thought he should
not do IL, but probably the Savings Fund
Society and the church people would gve
this information.
When Mr.. Birdsall was asked " hat the
prospects were for recovering the securities
that had been taken by Bush from the
Savings Fund Society and pledged with
local brokerage house, he said that the
matter now rests with the Wilmington
Savings Fund Society, and that he was not,
therefore, prepared 10 make any statement
in that behalf
sr.H AND EASTMAN N THE woRkHoUsE.
The curtain has fallen on the tragedy IN
which William Bush and Charles j
Eastman plaved LEADING roles. These men,
one formerly secretary and treasurer OF
the Wilmington Savings Fund Society,
and the other assistant treasurer Of the
Hercules Powder Company, have begun
serving sentences OF eight years each IN the
New Castle county wOrkhouse
Al the workhouse today il was said
that the men are apparently resigned ia
their fate, and seem reasonably cheerful
II i. understood that Bush Will be book
keeper and Eastman auditor st the lnstl-
tuition.
NO ADDITIONAL WARRANTS.
Relating to the rumors of embezzle-
nent. which have been current IN VIII
mington during the past few days, At
tornev-G General Reinhardt has made the
following statement:
"All r1lrnors OF defalcations which have
been brought to my attention have been
thoroughly investigated and found to be
without any foundation IN fact. No addl-
tional warrants have been issued from the
Office OF the attorney-general and none
are under consideration.
The publiSshoudbe be very slow TO place
anv reliance in the various stories oil
alleged wrongdoings which are in circula
ton at the present time
ALMOST MAXIMUM PENALTY
Bush. who pleaded guilty to embezzle-
ment OF 100000 worth Of securities
from the society, received within two
wears OF the maximum sentence for the
crime, and the rapidity in which both
crime and punishment have been brought
to a climax has created widespread at
tentlon.
Even more suddenly came the exposure
and commitment of Eastman He was
arrested on Monday morning and sen
fenced yesterday afternoon. He might
have pleaded guilty TO the charge oi
larceny. which carried with il a maximum
sentence of three wears and 20lashes at The
whipping post But this would have
branded HIM as a felon and had the lashe!
been imposed his right of citizenship would
have been forfeited Consequently h,
chose to plead guilty to the charge entail
ing longer sentence.
In court yesterday Richard s Rodney
his counsel, appeared more visibly moveC
by the sentence imposed by Judge Ric'
than was Eastman himself Mrs Eastman
was not present IN court, nor was Mrs
Bush when her husband was sentenced il
the morning She wept when told over th,
telephone Of the sentence
The total embezzlement Of Eastman
discounting recovered bonds, is 500, ,00O
Continued on page
e. 1.