The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1921-11-18
CRIPPLE HAD SUNK
MONEY IN SCHEME
SelIig Fell Hard For Car
Hackers Line of Talk
STORY TOLD AT TRIAL
Witness Says He Invested His
1000 On the Promise of
Position


chicken was to have meant fortune
10 Mrs Margaret Cassidy after she
had talked with Carl +. Hacker,
President OF the Standard Farm De-
reiopnent company. according TO her
testimony before Judge 4. A. Mont
gomery In district court. where
hacker is on trial toCay charged
with grand larceny in connection with
the financial manipulauonS OF the
concern.
Hacker Is on trial together with
his Vile, his sister, Frances Hacker
and Mass EiiZaDeIh Riep as the re-
suls OF numerous complaints which
are alleged TO have been received
at the Office of the county attorney.
The SpSClnc charge Is maze BY MISS
Margaret Evans Oh Spring Green.
VAS, EG0 CLAIMS that she MAS swim
Cleo GuI Of $500
Mrs. Cassidy is one OF several wit
neSssS who have been called upon Dy
AIL4Ur AarhYe ana Leo J. Gleason,
Assistant county attorneys, TO tell OF
IhSE dealings win the Farm Deyel-
oqIenL company All o. the witness
e. Who ;esLtied before her claimed
they A.ad lost money which they loan
esi % hacker Oh in ested In his com
Oh l1E pIO1uLSC VI p1SiS11A-
Stories are ksuca the Same
Ii its essential deals, Mrs Cassidy !
Story was much inc same as those
which had been Told before She ha1
met hacker, she said, u nile she was
WORKING aE the WeSI hotel cafeteria
Size heard 4 story glowing with imam
c=-i possibilities o. the proposed DE
VetoYme.n5 OF large track OF Land
near Elk RiTeT- The project included
;ce establishment OF hotel unsur-
passed b. anything any OtaaE city VI
~ IN the northwest had To oner.
as was merely part OF an eiaoora,e
uGt laEnag- she said. Out she was in
iozmed thai her ability To prepare
,.Sicxer. fried, roasted or otherwise
ECl1id bring about the success OF the
.c.el. Mr.. Cas- Idly admitted that SHE
rriGed herself on hsr ability TO pre-,
pzTc chicken. IA the proposed notsi
fne testified, she vas 10 have charge
o. The cooking. and chicken would be
ne specia.Iy. she would prepare II
IL 51ca delicious form as 70 retuyen-
z;a tie mOss jaded appetite and
Riye- eating place faY-and wide.
Invested her Life Savings
AlrS Cassidy said that. after listen
she GaS impressed TO an extent that
in 10 he pos ID.itiss of the project,
led ~ lend Mr.. Hacker $1,000
to receiEe eight per cent on her mon :
Mil IAa UnGcf5IalaIng Ihat she was
CT. Later, she said in ner story To
tas comfy attorney, she feared she
hid made mistake She had turn
81 OYER Il handbook On Chicago
% sli IN which the money was depos-
tied 20 prevent withdrawal OF the
money. The wire was too late. she
said.
"Ynu seem to he worried about
your $1,000" said one of Hackers at
Ior1ay5 in the cross examination.
WHY shouldn't / be-" said Mrs,
C2-gfr+T. eft was my life savings"
Z =. SeiMg. cripple who travels
o. artificial legs also testified he HAD
psrted WITH $1,000 on the promise OF
cont2ct witt the COMPANY through an
advertisement offering 4 position to-
person who could make an investment
He said he was offered a position as
assistant treasurer at a salary Of 500
Il month and On the strength of this
tent his money to Hacker.
Many Complaints Recorded
The records of the county attor--
ney's Office show about score OF
complaints from persons who claim
TO have invested money in the Elk
River development project. The stor
fes, according to Mr.. Gleason, told OF
the proposed parceling of large tract
Oh lanQ l0JO Sndll IdIInS, IuS eStdD-
lfshment Of a hotel, country club
and an automobile transportation line
running between Minneapolis and Elk
River. None Of these materialized. he
said.
Conner R. Powell, one of the wit
nesses called by the state yesterday
said he was led to believe that Hack
er was on unusually intimate terms
with Governor J. A. o. Preus. This
was one of the things, he said, which
prompted him to invest $1,000, after
he had been promised a position as
assistant treasurer at a salary of $3.50
a month Powell is bank clerk.
Attorneys Make Arguments
Closing addresses by the attorneys
were made yesterday afternoon in the
trial before Judge Montgomery.
The case was given to the jury
following the charge Of the court
Hacker himself did not take the stand
in his own defense yesterday, the de-
Afense resting after one witness, Seth
Lundouist, one Of the attorneys FOL
Hacker. had been called to the stand
On cross examination of the states
witnesses attorneys for Hacker sought
to show that moDev given to Hacker
by persons seeking investment in the
Standard Farm Development com
pany had been given notes for the
amounts they had paid. At the time
of the various transactions stock IN
the company had not been approved
for investment by the state securities
commission.