The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-05-25
Seen Here By Geo. Crawford
 } Weeks Ago

Keating Declares He
 Made Monthly Audit
 of Former Collectors Statements - Richard
 Sheridan, Smiths As
 sistant, Makes State
 ment.
 Where is Howard F. Smith, | former tax collector of Bridge port? The question still baf-
 fles all investigators, but the
 fact that he has been recently,
 or at least since his disappear
 ance from this city about New
 Years, in Providence, was
 made known today from in-
 quiries in that city.
 Miss Elizabeth Gilmore, a
 manic1Irist and hair dresser of
 Providence, maintaining an ex-
 elusive shop in that city said today to a reporter, T don't be- lieve Howard Smith is in Prov
 idence at the present time, for I haven't seen him for some weeks, and he was accustomed to make visit to my office
 when he came to Providence
 regarding certain business he
 had with a weighing machine l of some sort.
 "He and I were in a way brought up together" said the pretty mani
 curist today, although he was con- l sAI,
 used to make clothes for me and my l sister, Mrs. Cronin of New London land knew MT. Smith well. l have
 never known him intimately. how 1 ever. and was one of his many ac- Quaintances.
 1 Miss Gilmore. one of the leading manicurists of Providence, is well known and was born and brought up 1 in Bridgeport and was seen in Provi- dence imm edtateIy after the report er's arrival. She IS the daughter of | MT. and Mrs. William B. Gilmore, l 415 North Washington avenue. | Agent Expected. The agent from the Massachusetts Bonding and Insurance company is
 expected in Bridgeport today to in vestigate the reported deficit of for
 mer Tax Collector Howard D. Smith After making a report to his company
 the company will endeavor to ascer- l tain the whereabouts of the missing collector.
 The conference which will be held | in the mayors office sometime today
 will be attended by the mayor, City
 Auditor Bernard F. Heating, the com
 pany's agent, and possibly B. F.
 Cooney, local agent for the bonding | company a close friend of Smith. l Police Search Started. Proceedings were started today by
 the local police to find Smith. These proceedings were instigated on the ! application for a warrant by the City | of Bridgeport. The specific charges
 on which the warrant will be served, | if Smith is apprehended, are to be 1 given to Prosecuting Attorney E. Earle GarIick by Auditor Bernard F.
 Heating some time today. 1 A report today was circulated to | the effect that Smith had been seen 1 nue talking to a local well known
 man. He is also reported as having l called upon a Providence hairdresser f a few weeks ago.
 | Concerning the statement made to the effect that the books of the tax collector were never audited during a period of four years. Auditor Heating, | this morning said that statement was very misleading, and as for the books not being audited for a period | of four years, that reference is abso- the statements of Smith and the amount of money deposited by his of flee corTesponded with the amount reported by him as having been col Iected"
 The inference to be drawn Is that there was possibly accounts collected and not reported as having been col lected by Smith.
 Ase1stant Du1nbfounded Richard G. Sheriden. 407 William street, assistant to Smith for eight years today. said. ''I am still dumb founded and can hardly believe that Howard would do what the present allegations claim. I still think that there must be some sort of clerical error that will show that everything is all right. I hope so and feel very badly over the whole affair." When asked when he had last seen l Smith. Sheriden replied "One night last February I was out for an auto
 mobile ride and stopped at Towards cigars. At that time he complained 1 of not feeling very well, asked me how things were going. Other than that he looked a little worn out and tired, was apparantly quite the same' In the course of the conversation SheridenF stated that all the monthly statement were made out by Smith 1 himself and that Smith personally attended to the banking of the collect tions made by his office. The cigar store conducted by Smith on Fairfield avenue is still operating under the supervision of the sheriff
 who has served attachments upon all ! the tangable property of Smith. Dur
 conducted by Smith. it Is said was the
 scene Of several games Mrs Smith Away | All efforts to reach Mrs. Smith, wife
 futile. When the residence of the former collector was called on the telephone information to ~the effect that Mrs. Srnith had gone away for lthe day" was yen D. .-an intimate