Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-04-13
FURMAN G. COLE ON
STAND FOR Defence
Former Recorder Assumes run
Responsibility and Declares
Others Innocent.

=, ~, CONT of General Sessions, yes
-, afternoon. during the trial "t
vVliam a. cole. former deputy recorder
-, d,,ds Walter Babcock. former act
i,,, dcnutv. and Harry Fennimorc' lor
,,,.., transcrihing clerk in the oii'ce oi
,b.. recorder of deeds. charged Win
,.,,s,,i,ing to dcfraud New Castle couh-
- e,rman e.. cole. former recorder "l
.t..ls and confessed enbezzler. asSuh'u
,,,11 ,..sonnsihilitv FOR his crime, tcsti-
t,.d that The accused did not conSplre
with him to dcfraud and declared 'h'S
l,..,, nothing of the cmbcZzlcm"ht uh-
III after his arrest.
t',Ifulau c. cole was ON th' WITNESS
stand an hour during which h' was
questioned 10y Attorneys Philip l.. ''"f-
r,tt and !. Frank Ball. for the defense
and D.putv Attorney General aaron
Iyne,.r. for the prosecution, OF Il
while his testimony was almost lnauui-
III, hut after repeated urging he falS'u
his voice
It,rlviug to Attorney Galr"ttS PucS-
mons FurInan G. cole said h" served
as recorder Of deeds from January l"lS'
t. January. IH.t. when ho Was arrested
Ton .ubczzlcmrnt He pleaded gull'S
Nj. sentenced and is lnyinG the
ta.aaItv Ills father, William c. '"i''
.p1ointcd deputy recorder "f deeds III
Apri 1919. dld little work and never
learned the details ot the recorder OF
No, Furman instructed the employees
and told his father to make out the dc
pnsit slips. Taking charge of the Cash.
Furnan opened two bank accounts, one
With the Wilmington Trust Go. ana the
Other With the Delaware Trust Co,
nahiuE deposits in his own name.
Wh,u settling with the CountN treas
urcr hc gave checks ON the Delaware
Trust 90 William 6. cole subsequent r
IL checked the delivery slips. and when
hc called attention TO items that could
not bc checked Furman told him To
lay them aside.
Conferences Not on once Affairs.
Furrnau sand hc Was tho only person
who knew the amount uf cash received,
and only hC and EabcoCk knew the
combination Of the safe. William q
Cole had rheumatism. his eyes were in
bad condition. and he was not able 10
de- n days work The conferences dld
not relate TO office affairs; they were
or current events. None Of the cm-
ploycs had knowledge Of the Irregular
ties until after Furman's arrest.
Attorney BaH inquired concerning
work changes Furman stated they
were made for the purpose Of equalizing
wo,-k Tie declared the defendants
never talked with him on a scheme 10
defraud and never made such agree
ment.
Deputy Attorney Finger
cross-cxamined the witness at length
Furman said he distributed work SO
that all the employees could assist his
father. He relied chiefly on Walter
BahcoCk and Walter Tanning, but not
more on Babcocll than Tanning. From
outsiCe sources he had heard OF ieal
ousy between BabCock and flaming,
and he tried to keep il down. Tanning
made most OF the entries in the fec
book. Babcock knew the combination
cf the safe. but Tanning did not know
St.
Furnan complained Of pains in his
head. resulting from a fall two years
ago. and stated he did not remember
when the diversion OF funds began
He detailed procedure, however. Chart
ers received for recording We're put in
q tin box near Babcock. F'urman re-
moved some of them almost daily
while Babcock's head was bowed or
turned. The papers he took from the
box should have been put on the fee
book. but he did not have them placed
thereon. He carried them 10 a desk
and had them indexed. Donnelly IN
dexed some. Subsequently he taught
Fennimore indexing or had him taught
Charters were received late in the morn
ing. ~ were wanted in a hurry and
he took them TO Fennimore. After the
indcxing he put them in a drawer, where
transcribers obtained them. Later they
were sent 10 the owners. For the re-
cnrding Of out-of-town charters he was
given checks. Monthly bills Were sent
% local charter agencje5.
Made Out Bills AT Night.
DEPUTY Attorney General Finger in
terrogated the witness concerning the
bills FIlrman sa ID he made them out
AZ night and on Sunday. without the
help or knowledge OF anyone. some
times in the office and sometimes al
home. He made them out from nota-
tons on a notebook and used a Rova
typewriter when preparing them. He
took the Royal home last November
after the Levy Court had purchased d
Remington for the Office. Mr.. Finger
carried {. Royal to the witness stand