Evening star., 1930-12-02
: ares Few Items Were
Removed to Fixed Charge
Records of Firm.
MANIPULATION ALLEGED
IN HANDLING OF RECORDS
Defense Prevents Witness Calling
Method Temporary Dump
ing Ground.

A sharp-featured young bookkeeper
legged record juggling and manipulation
to the jury in the F. H. Smith Co.
conspiracy trial in District Supreme
Court today.
Testifying against the defendants, e..
Bryan Pitts, G. Ebert Anadale and
John H Edwards, jr, the witness, Ed
ward Pierce, former Smith Co. book
keeper, charged an average Of from
100000 to $125, 900 had been listed in
a suspense account" each month dur
ing the period of his employment. He
said these sums never were charged
to any fixed account, except In a few
isolated instances.
Other alleged irregularities, Pierce
contended he had noticed, included the
removal from the files of numerous
Cancelled checks. He said he had
pulled" the checks and turned them
over to Edwards at the instruction OF
the latter.
Objection Is Upheld.
At one point in the cross-examination
ElEICC, s1lOWCNCIg E1aA4A NJ 1SSANAAO Va
defense counsel succeeded in drawing
an affirmative answer to a query that
so far as he knew the suspense account
had been properly used.
Raichle jumped up and waived his
arms in an effort to silence the witness
when Pierce declared the suspense ac-
count was more or less a temporary
dumping ground for items they had nc
place for"
Il object and demand that his state
ment be stricken from the record,
Raichle shouted. Associate Justice VII
liam Hitz sustained the objection.
Another objection was voiced by the
defense attorney when Pierce was asked
by Mel j. Burkinshaw, an assistant
United States attorney, to tell whether
he had found it difficult task to bal
ance the company's books. Raichle was
upheld by Justice HitZ.
Quit to Play Base Ball.
"Is 1t not a fact" Raichle demanded
"that you were discharged for steal
ing coupons and cashing them?"
mfr. Edwards asked me-" Pierce re-
sponded, where / got them, but ]
wasn't discharged. ] resigned to. &C
cept contract to play professional
base ball."
Pierce added the only knowledge he
had Of the incident to which Raichle
referred might have developed from
the fact that he once cashed from per-
sonal funds a coupon for strange
man who was in the Smith Co. Offices
one morning when he reported for work
He said the man complained he had
been waiting 80 minutes to have the
coupon of a security converted into
cash. The witness declared he later
cashed the coupon in the customary
manner so he might reimburse him
self.
Raichle attempted without success
to force Pierce to admit he had been
accused Of stealing several coupons after
they already had been cashed once. The
witness insisted he never had been
charged with any such thefts, and no
one had even discussed the matter with
him in any sense except Edwards.
Raichle had sought to prove other Of
ficials of the company had questioned
Pierce concerning the alleged thefts.
Tells of Checks to Cash"
Pierce said he was Is years old. He
testified the only bookkeeping expert
ence he obtained prior to his employ
ment by the Smith company was with
an Atlanta advertising concern. He had
Cdke1 a correspondence SC14OOA OOIhoC AL
bookkeeping.
Another former Smith company book
keeper, John S. Warrington, testified
countless checks for sums ranging from
$1,000 to $4,000 and made out to
cash" had been written by officials.
He said in some months there were
1.-TWO such checks and in other months
102." He explained most of these
checks were listed in the suspense ac-
count.
Meanwhile, the jurors glanced with
curiosity at strange device brought
into the court room for the first time
with the opening of the session. News
paper men were told the machine was
owned by the Murray Hill Trust Co. of
New York City.
It was reported an effort would be
made by the Government to have a
witness from the trust company show
motion pictures of checks of the de-
PENDANTS cashed by his bank through
operation Of the machine.
Wilton j. Lambert of defense coun-
sci declared he never had heard of the
granting Of authority for such an ex-
hibition in a District court and would
oppose any effort which might be made
to carry out such plans.
A.