The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1922-06-15
COLORADO CAPITAL
PRESIDENT OF
CHAPPELL
Is REARRESTED

Federal warrants charging obstruc
ton Of justice may be issued for
prominent county and city officials
of Chappell, Nebr., in connection with
the probe of the failure of the First
National bank of that town, it was
reported Wednesday.
| This is the latest and most sensa-
tional development in the bank scan
dal expose since the finding a few
days ago of $4,000 worth of notes
which had been buried in coffee can
in the chicken coop at the home Of
John R. Wertz, indicted president Of
the defunct bank.
Complaint has been made to depart
ment of justice officials that Francis
A. Chapman of Denver, who is re-
ceiver for the bank, and his assistant,
Ralph S. Pryce, were threatened by
Wertz last week. with mob violence
unless they left Chappell Immediately.
Chapman and Pryce have declared
they will stick on the job until the
men who wrecked the bank are in the
penitentiary. Meanwhile, the COM
munity is split into two factions
Wertz and anti-Wertz. A number of
operatives of the department of JUS
i tice. under the direction of Special
Agent M. Eberstein, who is in charge
of the investigation, are busy on the
case. Some are working openly and
! some under cover. Further and more
sensational developments are predict
ed within the next few days.
Announcement that part Of the
documentary evidence stolen from the
bank, after eleven men had been in
dicted for wrecking the institution,
had been found in the Wertz chicken
coop and that Wertz, already under
indictment, had been rearrested and
charged with Extracting valuable pa
pers and converting same to his own
use," shook the community from CEN
ter to circumference.
John Wertz is the big man Of Chap
pell. He is considered one of the
wealthiest if not the wealthiest man
in the community. He owns a big
part of the town and county, he is a
political power and the present ad-
ministration is commonly spoken of
as the "Wertz ring" County Attor-
ney Pfeiffer has been retained to de-
fend him in the criminal cases grow
ing out of the bank failure.
Recovery of the $4,000 worth of
notes, which were a part of the bank
records upon which Wertz, Vice Pres
ident Harvey l. Babcock, Cashier
Frank A. Burling and eight others
were indicted, was the direct result
of tip given Assistant Receiver Pyce
b" Eugene Dennis, the "Kansas Won
der Girl" few weeks ago. With the
skilled Investigators, who were on the
case, unable to find a trace of the
papers which had mysteriously disap-
peared from the bank, Pryce came to
Denver to consult the wonder Girl"
Described House Where Search Is
Conducted.
She told him the papers were hid
den in a certain house in Chappell,
described the men who were impli-
Gated in the theft, and then told him
one of the members of the gang would
"squeal" on the others.
The residences of Babcock and
Wertz look almost exactly alike.
Pryce thought the girl had described
the Babcock residence tho he believes
now it was the Wertz house she had
in mind. He searched the Babcock
home with the owners permission but
found no papers. In the furnace, de-
tectives said, there was a charred
mass Of papers, as tho a bundle of
books had been burned.
The following Monday-June g.
Harry Wilson, one of Receiver Chap
mans clerks at the bank, received an
anonymous note which said:
you'll find valuable papers in ].
r. VS. chicken coop. buried in tin
can."
On June z, Pryce received a similar
note which also said:
"He's the guilty one. Get him."
One June 8, Receiver Chapman re-
ceived letter from an anonymous in
formant, giving the same information
but in more detail.
After Pryce received his note, Spe-
cial Agent Thomas F. Mitchell of the
department of justice, at the direction
of Agent Eberstein, went to Omaha
and procured search warrant auth
ises. He returned to Chappell last
stein and Pryce, he called on Wertz
premises. Wertz, the officers report
ed, refused their request, whereupon
they produced their search warrant.
Armed with spades, they proceeded to
dig in the chicken coop.
| After an hours digging Pryces
spade uncovered three-pound coffee
can which had been buried under six
inches Of earth directly under q nest.
In the can was a bundle Of notes
having face value Of $4,000.
"That's the first time I ever saw
those" protested Wertz as he denied
any knowledge of how they came to
be there.
A search of the house followed, but
no trace could be found of any addi-
tional papers.
A federal warrant was then sworn
out for Wertz and he was taken into