anaheim-gazette 1924-03-27

KEEN HAT STORE MEN ON THE DEFENSIVE Deny Charges of Fraud Filed Against Them in Court. Norman Marmaduke, attorney for Churchill and Hardabeck, trustees of the Keen Hat Stores, whose trial on the charge of fraud will come up in Judge Williams' court April 9, has issued the following statement in defense of his clients: "I don't wish to appear in the attitude of trying this case in the newspapers," said Marmaduke. "That isn't my practice. But there has been so much already published about my clients; so many mis-statements and exaggerations, that they feel anxious to have the truth known about them. It seems to me that in all fairness, the public should hear their side of the story. As a matter of fact, it is to the interest of the stockholders in the Keen Hat stores to hear the truth about this thing. "Now that time enough has elapsed to cool the feeling of anger against them, caused by malicious propaganda and a saner view of the matter may be taken, Churchill and Hardabeck feel that their friends and the public are entitled to a truthful statement. They are confident that the newspapers who printed previous statements will cooperate by printing this one. "The Keen Hat Stores company was organized as a common law trust, to protect the stockholders against assessments in case of financial trouble, and the stockholders today are not and cannot be assessed to pay the debts of the company, due to that fact. "In asking the corporation department for a permit to sell securities to the public, they did not ask for or receive a single share of promotion or fee stock, although they might have funds against them with the corporation commissioner. This resulted in an audit by the department and by an auditor paid by the group of stockholders. The charges were proved unfounded and dismissed. "This evidence of internal dissension among the stockholders resulted in a demand for payment by creditors, who threw their accounts into a pool with the Los Angeles Board of Trade. That body demanded that the stores be assigned to it unconditionally. This, they were advised by their attorney, they could not do under their duties as trustees. The Board of Trade then attached and closed the stores. Then, to insure a fair distribution of the assets of the company, which were double the liabilities, Churchill and Hardabeck were forced to give a voluntary petition in bankruptcy." VISIBLY INFECTED HERDS BURied BY MARCH 12 "All known infected herds under ground." This telegram, sent to the United States Department of Agriculture by its chief veterinary inspector in counties of California quarantined for foot-and-moth disease, was received less than three weeks after the first report of the outbreak. The toll of the disease thus far, as represented by animals destroyed and buried, is as follows: Cattle ... 3,979 Swine ... 8,127 Goats ... 37 Sheep ... 11 Total ... 12,154 In addition to the figures given, several horses which had been driven out of the quarantined counties are reported unofficially to have been killed. An example of the aggressive meas- "The Keen Hat Stores company was organized as a common law trust, to protect the stockholders against assessments in case of financial trouble, and the stockholders today are not and cannot be assessed to pay the debts of the company, due to that fact. "In asking the corporation department for a permit to sell securities to the public, they did not ask for or receive a single share of promotion or fee stock, although they might have been granted as much as $25,000 promotion stock had they so desired. It is therefore absurd to believe the statement that thy claimed to have $10,000 worth of stock for which they paid cash, when they could have had double this amount for the asking. Their permit provided that they, as trustees, were permitted to sell, to themselves, 'not to exceed,' $10,000 or 200 shares for either or both of them, and the permit therefore limited their possible holdings to 200 shares. But the purchase of but one share only, constituted compliance with the provisions for the permit. Any shares so purchased by them cost them $50 per share and they were allowed no commissions for selling themselves. This statement can be verified by writing the corporation commission in Los Angeles, 1006 Pacific Finance building. "The only possible way in which they could profit from the company was to make the company earn enough money to retire the preferred shares and enhance the value of common shares ten times. Most casual reading of their permit and stock certificates will show this. "Many false and exaggerated statements have been published about Churchill and Hardabock, among them being: "That they had violated their permit. This I have already answered. "That their permit had been revoked for violation, which is false and can be so proved by referring to the corporation department. "That they sold from $250,000 to $1,000,000 worth of stock and did not account for it. This has been proved false by audits of the books by the corporation department and a stockholder's committee. The truth is that out of $113,050 of stock subscribed for, $102,000 in round figures was paid in in cash, which, after deducting approximately $20,000 for commissions to stock salesmen allowed by their permit, left them around $82,000 to use. With this money they in- buried, is as follows: Cattle ... 3,979 Swine ... 8,127 Goats ... 37 Sheep ... 11 Total ... 12,154 In addition to the figures given, several horses which had been driven out of the quarantined counties are reported unofficially to have been killed. An example of the aggressive measures used to control the livestock plague was the rounding up of 719 cattle running at large in Contra Costa County, which is one o'f those in the quarantined group. Infection was found among the cattle on March 10, and before the night of March 11 all the animals were rounded up, slaughtered, and under ground. The isinfecting crews have followed the rifle squads closely, in order to destroy infection which the diseased animals may have left in buildings and on premises. As the case in former outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, inspectors say that the disease is of extreme virulence. Last week, after several days had elapsed with reports of but a few new cases, the stock on 13 new premises suddenly showed symptoms of this terrible foreign scourage. "We shall not be at all surprised," Dr. J. R. Mohler, chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry, stated in discussing the situation, "to have the number of infected premises number well over a hundred, even though every animal in the 93 herds destroyed is now under ground. Even after disinfecting crews have completed their work in the most thorough manner possible, test hogs introduced to determine whether the premises are safe will, in rare cases, root up infected material and, of course, contract the disease. For this reason the present gratifying progress must be considered as only a preliminary step in the task of suppressing completely the present outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease." A gratifying feature of the control measure, department officials say, is the splendid spirit with which livestock owners are accepting the destruction of their hords, and their willingness to wait for indemnity payments for which appropriation has not yet been made. Thore has been general compliance also with quarantine measures. A few persons who have violated the restrictions have been dealt with promptly by the Of course Montana goes the record for President and his name, pindignant and nation. And tanta states prehensible he himself s Doheny attentive heny in the ollands and subpoena brok investigating to conceal it close it and Mr. Doheny newspaper letter dragged way also in brother, John an oil company Corporation dent. Walsh to get him l his own letters prove that it the subject thereto develop ther New York remarks. "It that we have every idle plecion about United States publicity." "That they sold from $250,000 to $1,000,000 worth of stock and did not account for it. This has been proved false by audits of the books by the corporation department and a stockholder's committee. The truth is that out of $113,050 of stock subscribed for, $102,000 in round figures was paid in cash, which, after deducting approximately $20,000 for commissions to stock salesmen allowed by their permit, left them around $82,000 to use. With this money they installed and stocked three stores and had another ready to open. The quality of the stores is known to all. After installing the Anaheim and Long Beach stores and paying all bills, they found they had a large cash surplus and one of their manufacturing friends, whose name will be given on request, urged them to take over a store in Fresno. They investigated and found an apparently very good opening. A store was opened and about two months later the raisin situation there took a slump, which is a matter of common knowledge. Many other stores failed. This store took a heavy loss but withdrew without a failure. However, the oil situation around Long Beach and poor prices for oranges, coupled with the lay-off of oil men in Orange county, made business very poor in both Long Beach and Anaheim. This is a condition over which Churchill and Hardabek had no control and any fair-minded person can verify the statement. The company, however, was solvent, having assets double its liabilities, and they were about to put into operation a plan of refinancing which they intended to submit to their stockholders January 30. Before they had the opportunity, a few stockholders filed a charge of misappropriation of A gratifying feature of the control measure, department officials say, is the splendid spirit with which livestock owners are accepting the destruction of their herds, and their willingness to wait for indemnity payments for which appropriation has not yet been made. There has been general compliance also with quarantine measures. A few persons who have violated the restrictions have been dealt with promptly by the courts. One offender received a six months' jail sentence, and others paid fines. The force of Federal inspectors in the nine quarantined counties now aggregates 61, and there is a greater number of State inspectors and assistants. Every herd in the quarantined counties will be inspected and kept under careful surveillance. The state of California has placed nine additional counties under provisional quarantine. In those counties all livestock on farms in townships bordering the closed quarantined region are also to be inspected. Inspectors have been working practically from sunrise to sunset. Much of the success in suppressing the disease in the 93 herds infected within a period of 21 days has been due to the wholesale method of slaughter and burial. Rifles have proved to be the quickest means of slaughtering the thousands of diseased and exposed animals. On one farm where 350 dead cattle had to be buried, the task of making the huge ditch six feet deep in heavy clay soil was encountered. The inspector in charge, however, found a contractor who put 18 four-horse teams on the job, completing it quickly. Officials of the Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Department ANAHEIM GAZETTE of Agriculture, report that no case of foot-and-mouth disease has been found outside of the quarantined California counties, but urge livestock owners to report immediately any cases resembling the disease. Descriptions have been published widely, but persons in doubt are advised to consult the nearest veterinarian or notify state or federal livestock officials. Experience in handling past outbreaks points to the need for special caution at this time. Infection may lie dormant for several months, and for that reason continued vigilance, inspections, and care will be necessary for a period of fully six months from the time the last animal known to be infected is buried. WASHINGTON LETTER (From Our Regular Correspondent) The orgy of muck-raking continues unabated in the national capital. The latest report is that evidence has been presented to a Chicago grand jury indicating that two members of Congress have accepted bribes in connection with obtaining pardons and the House has adopted a resolution calling on the Attorney General for their names. Meanwhile, Representatives Langley of Kentucky and Zihlman of Maryland have announced that reports have reached them that they have been named before the grand jury but that they are guiltless. Every rumor and every unexplained scrap of evidence is seized upon by the scandal-mongers and magnified into something sensational and appalling, but sensible observers will not fail to remember that this is a presidential year, that the Democrats are desperate for an issue, that their most probable candidate, McAdoo, has been destroyed by the revelations of government reports, based on records running back 25 years, state that the price of livestock to American farmers depends almost exclusively on the domestic consumption of meat. In other words, foreign trade ni ment products has practically nothing to do with the price which farmers receive. In testimony given to the Interstate Commerce commission, Secretary Hoover stated that a seven-pound per capita increase in the annual consumption of meat in the United States would help the formers more than a 35 per cent increase in all the exports of meat products. Obviously, seven ponds of meat a year, per person, would be a very slight increase when figured in terms of days; it would be about ten ounces per week. This statement applies in much the same way to the other products of American farms. Whatever is to be done for the farmers of the United States must be done by the home market. People in glass houses usually trow stones. Pioneer Resident of Auaheim J.E. Schumacher Candidate for J.E. Schumacher Candidate for CITY TRUSTEE SHORT TERM Elcction Monday, April 24, 1924 IMPORTANT NOTICE All milk sold by the Anaheim Creamery Co. comes from Buena Park, and most of it from our own dairy ERY Co. comes from Buena Park, and most of it from our own dairy BUENA PARK Is located just 13 minutes by auto from Anaheim. This means the milk is in our Sanitary Dairy within a very brief time after it is taken from the cows. We invite your inspection any time. ANAHEIM CREAMERY CO. 120 West Chartres St. Phone 666 Anaheim, Calif. California Theatre ANAHEIM Thursday, March 27 FIVE PERSONALLY SELECTED ACTS OF VAUDEVILLE On the Screen Viola Dana in "THE SOCIAL CODE" Friday and Saturday, Mar. 28-29 "When a Man's a Man," with John Bowers — Marguerite De La Motte — George Hackathorn Mermaid Comedy "Uncle Sam" — International News Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday March 30-31, April 1-2 Victor Hugo's Immortal Classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame Starring Lon Chaney Acknowledged and acclaimed as the supreme achievement of the screen The Hunchback of Notre Dame Starring Lon Chaney Acknowledged and acclaimed as the supreme achievement of the screen Try Us for Job Printing Choose Your Bank —as you would choose a partner. For whether you are in business or not, those qualities you value most in your closest friend or associate are the same qualities that will make your banking connection most helpful and satisfactory. Test these banks out. 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