Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 299, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 December 1914 — Padlock Still on the Door Of the Koffman Store. [ARTICLE]

Padlock Still on the Door Of the Koffman Store.

The antics of J. C. Felker, the young man who came down from Chicago Saturday and took charge of the Israel Koffman store, have so far failed to disclose any authority that might show him to be the accredited agent of the Central Trust Company o-f Illinois and the goods are still in the utore with a padlock and chain on the front door and the back door nailed up. Felker made a trip to Lafayette yesterday and Attorney Parkinson went there today. what information there is In Laifayette in connection with the stock or the alleged bankruptcy proceedings ft is hard to tell unless Sol-Koffman, the recent manager of the store, is there. It was reported that he had gone there from here last Saturday night. It would seem that Felker would have gone -to Chicago to have consulted the Central Trust Company if he had been their bonia fide agent and having failed to do this or to have received from that concern some authority it looks more and more as though Felker is a complete fake land is a part of an apparent scheme to defraud the creditors. The Republican has secured a copy of an alleged letter from the Central Trust Company to Israel Koffman and although written on stationery of that company it liras very little the appearance of being a letter that that company would have sent and Fdker does not have the appearance of being the kind of man that would be sent on the important mission of taking over the stock of goods. It is not improbable that the entire proceeding is one of fraud and that the men implicated are flirting with the penitentiary.

The American merchant marine has been increased by 101 vessels, with a total displacement of 341,078 gross tons, since Sept 3, according to an announcement by the department of commerce.