Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-03-21
JONES.SPRINGS ROW ,
Sensational Criminal Prosecution ID
Lancaster
Manager of Mercantile Company
Charged With Use Of Company
Funds in the Pursuit OF Priyass
speeuIation-Bitter Partizapship -
Ev;denes and FEELING Runping High.

Charlotte Observer. ~ l,%f,se ~
Lancaster, s. c., March 1S.-Coming
to a climax to a day marked pys sen-
sations In the trial of Charles D.TJones,
banker and lawyer and former presl-
dent of the Lancaster Mercant1te eom-
pany. charged with misapnyo
of funds and breach Of trust Witp
fraudulent intent, q threatened person.
al encounter in court between Frank
ri. Barrett, of Augusta, states Witnesss
and Claude N. Sapp, Of Columbia. 2.
counsel for the defense, was avertea
shortly before court adjourned tnis al
ternoon by the interference oL tns
county sheriff, who stepped petWeens
the two men. 81.
nation and after q series OF clasheS
and repeated matching Of wits be-
tween him and the examining lawyer.
Mr.. Sapp apparently became angered
by the alleged 'insolence"g Of the W.T.
ness, the latter resented remarks nv
Mr.. Sapp and the two were about f0
go together when the snerin inter-
fered.
First witness for the state today was
George G. Scott, certified public ac.
countant, of Charlotte, who testined
that he was chairman OF the STATE
board of public accountants and a dt'
rector in the national board OF. ac-i
countants.
He testified that he came to Ian
caster In July Of last year and made
an audit Of the books Of the Lancas-
ter Mercantile company, and had MS
attention called to an item or $I,eVV
ional bank of Lancaster on which no
satisfactory report was made; that IN
company with H. r. Rice, secretary
of the mercantile company, ne cailed
at the bank and requested the casnier
for permission to see the, cancelied
check to see just how they handled II
and that the cashier went 10 Jones.
who was the main banking office, ana
told him what was wanted and Jones
refused to let them see the. check ID
the argument which followed, Jones
and Rice engaged in a fisticun. /.
Witness was asked to point out the
ertry on the check register OF the mer-
camille company and, read the foiiow-
ing entry: aa9yg,a ~, ! .,7%., W, (
bank, $500 charge hedge account
order of c. d. Jones'" Z. M
defense read two indictments Tor
embezzlement in the superior court
of Mecklenburg county signed :by
Judge Finley. sthei charges haying
been made by the =. thefn rPaN@
company against the witness ana
on being asked regarding them, Wit
ness stated that he did not remember
them. ,,;. ~ 81 = i I. Z, ~. " ~
On redirect examination, witness
testified that he was never arrested !
or ever brought. into court on these 1
indictments, that they were DIS
missed and parties who brought the
suit were ordered to pay the costs' 4
Revere Testifiss.
c. T. Revere, Of New York. mama
ger of, the cotton department Sof
Munds, Rogers & Stackpoie,; was the
next witness. He testified that de-
fendant had had dealings with his con-
Germ and that they had handled around
5000 bales Of cotton for him during
the year 1920; that the account was
handled through F. ii. Barrett sot
Augusta, Ga, who had charge OF an
their southern accounts; that they
carried the account in the name OF z.
H. Barrett, account Of C.sD Jones'
that Jones had 800 bales Of March cot
ton carried over into 1921, 100 bought
at 22.45 and 200 at 20.36, on winch ne
had remitted margin Of $4,000 In Mo-
vensber, 1920, and $4,000 In Dccsmber,
1920. - ,a.
Letters and kilograms bearing on
these remtttances were placed In eV-
dence. In compliance, with Jones IN
structfous, on February %. 1871, the
witness said, the three March con-
tracts were transferred to July, the
contract for 100 bales showing a loss
Of $4,000 and the one for 200 a loss or
$7,S52; Jones told him one OF the con-
tracts was for someone in his ofnce.
and on June IA, 1921, they were m
structed by Jones to transfer the loss
of s7,S52 on the two March contracts
| to the mercantile company ana ~
transfer q credit Of $7,5OO. from the ac-
count of Jones to the account OF mer-
camille company. hc @&
Witness stated that prior to june.
| 1921, when the transfer was made
Jones' account Of the two July con.
| tracts, they had never had an account
with the mercantile company. ~,
On cross examination, defense
sought to show that the transfer or
contracts standing in Jones name TO
account of the mercantile company
was done in order to have 1t show IN
the semi annual statement July /.
BIakeney Testifies. ~
+. D. Blakeney, head bookkeeper} or
Munds, Rogers & Stackpole. was the
| next witness. He substantiated the
| testimony of Revere and went over all
| the transactions in detail regarding
the transfer of the contracts from
Jones' account to the account OF the
mercantile company. .
" Frank H. Barrett, Of Augusta, Ga,
the last witness at today's hearing,
called by the state. proved to be the
star. witness so far produced In this
case from the states standpoint. All
Of the alleged transactions with
Munds. Rogers & StaclSpole had been
made through the office Of Mr.. Barrett
and on cross examination, being asked
II he had not been paid to come here
and testify, witness stated that he had
come to see justice done, that his name
appeared in all these transactions and
since the transactions were apparent
ly irregular and crooked he had come
here himself and brought men from
Munds, Rogers & Stackpole for the
purpose of clearing any reflection on
his name or the firms name. He de-
clared these transactions were alleged
to be crooked and his name appear
ing on them. II would go to hell /, to
protect my name," he declared.
He further testified that he only
wanted to see justice done, that he be-
lieved defendant guilty. but IL not