Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 July 1911 — PURTELLE’S FINANCES [ARTICLE]

PURTELLE’S FINANCES

In Bad Shape and Effort Being Made In Rensselaer to Raise SSOO. -X Some more of loose financing of one Eugene Purtelle, the traction promotor, came to light in Hammond this morning when a gang of Greek laborers who have been working on a bridge near Thayer for Purtelle and his Northwestern Indiana Traction Co. came up to Hammond with a check for $345 payable at the Citizen’s German National bank. The check bore the legends*—Lasalle Construction Co., Northwestern Indiana Traction Company and Eugene Purtelle. The bank officials did not cash it, they couldn’t. They had no money of Purtelle’s to pay it with. The unfortunate laborers had their trip for nothing and probably did their work for nothing. The men went to James Bereolos for help and advice and the good-hearted restaurant man took them to a lawyer who will probably make things interesting for Eugene Purtelle.—Hammond Times, July 26

According to James Bereolos, who befriended a number of Greeks who came to Hammond to get their pay after they had been informd by Eugene Purtelle that their checks would be cashed at a local bank, Purtelle promised to have the money in the bank this morning. At noon Purtelle had not kept his promise. Upon their arrival in Hammond after working at Thayer for some time the Greeks went to the office of McMahon & Conroy for legal advice,. They promised to be back at one o’clock when members of the firm promised to take the matter up further. In the meantime they went to Jamps Bereolos’ restaurant and he referred them to Attorney W. Whinery. Whinery took the matter up with Purtelle and exacted the promise from film that he would have funds in the bank by this morning. He did not keep his promise and other steps will now have to be taken to get the money. Attorney J. K. Stinson said today that he had no knowledge of the operations of Eugene Purtelle. He said that he severed all relations with Purtelle when he learned that he i 9 not paying his bills. He said further that he has several hundred dollars coming from Purtelle which is not paid. That Purtelle is still trying to work out his dream of a railroad is shown by the fact that only recently he staked off a strip of land through Dr. Brown’s farm near Maynard. "

Dr. Brown told Stinson that he had done so without any authority from him but if there is a chance of building the road that he would be glad to donate the right of way. —Times, July 27. Purtelle was in Rensselaer agairf Thursday afternoon and yesterday in consultation with some of the fellows here whp seem to still have faith in him, and an effort was made at a meeting held in Halleck &

Leopold’s office Thursday night to raise SSOO among people heVe to take care of this Hammond check and a number of small checks he had given in Rensselaer for labor and other bills some time ago, and which were turned down by his frank at Hammond for want of funds. The object was, we are told, to get fifty men to subscribe $lO each to raise this ssod, and at ten' o’clock yesterday we were told that twenty names of the fifty wanted had been secured. One of our informants said if they were successful in raising this SSOO that it was to be in a Rensselaer bank and paid out only for work here knd' to take care of the outstanding checks here, of which there are perhaps ten or a dozen, and was not to be used for taking .up this Hammond check. It has been known here from the first that the Rensselaer banks declined to cash Purtelle checks for the holders, but have only accepted them for collection. A number of the checks he gave here were turned down by the Hammond bank, as above stated, and several have not been taken up by Purtelle to this date, we are told. People Here had thought that he had succeeded in getting some Chicago backing to secure and cinch a right-of-way and do what little work he has thus far done, but,, it would appear that the backing, if any, was very limited or he would not be in the financial straits that he now is so early in the plot. Of if he has had any outside backing the people who have backed him thus far will have to put up more money or lose what they have already put in, and in view of the present financial status of the matter it is evident the backing has either been exhausted or has declined to go any further.

Purtelle still continues to make a great blow about what is being done and is going to be done “tomorrow or next day.” About 75 men are now at work about Thayer and Roselawn, he states; he is going to have the road completed between Mt. Ayr and Thayer in 90 days; a petition for an election will be filed with the commissioners at their August meeting to vote a subsidy in Newtorl tp., and he’s going to put up a bond to cover the costs of a subsidy election in Carpenter tp., and Remington, but he seems to have the noted Baron Munchasen outclassed as a romancer, and his statements —like his checks—should be taken only for what they are worth.