Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 June 1918 — TOO MANY IRONS IN THE FIRE [ARTICLE]

TOO MANY IRONS IN THE FIRE

Trustee of Wheatfield Township Was Short In Accounts. W. H. Blodgett, staff correspondent of the Indianapolis News, had the following article in Saturday evening’s News under a Rensselaer date line, concerning the public affairs of Albert S. Keene, the Republican trustee of Wheatfield township, who, in addition to carrying on a furniture and undertaking business, has been engaged in road and bridge contracting and is the contractor for the partially completed street contracts in Rensselaer, which have been dragging along for two or three years. < Mr. Blodgett’s article follows: Turning for the time being from the subject of road building to another line of investigation carried on by the state board of accounts, attention is directed to the-report of Ed. A. Major and M. Frazer, field examiners, into the affairs of Albert S. Keene, trustee of Wheatfield township, Jasper county, from Jan. 1, 1916, to Dec. 31, 1917. The report on file at the courthouse here shows that Mr. Keene, as the result of the investigation, made by the state board of accounts, reimbursed Jasper county more than $3,000. The summary as set forth in the report, shows the following:

Charges: Shortage in depository ..... .$3,015.33 Overpayment teacher 50.00 Excess per diem and expenses.. 231.00 Depository interest 38.27 42* i fas • By deposit March 9, 1918. .$3,288.18 By deposit April 9, 1918.. 46.42 Totals $3,33|.60 $3,334.60 “The trustee’s service and expense account for 1916 and 1917, including office rent, shows that there was due, the trustee the sum of $1,761,” the report says. “He drew for said period the sum of $1,992, which was $231 in excess of the amount due. Said excess amount was returned to the township and proper entry made upon the cash book debiting the township fund. “The records show Lhat Mary Sherwood, teachet, was overpaid the sum of SSO for teaching during the 1916-1917 school year, which amount was returned to the township by the trustee and proper entry made upon the cash book. “The records show that funds belonging to the township were not upon deposit, but in the hands Of the trustee. If said funds had been on deposit they would have earned $38.27 more depository interest; therefore the township had suffered the loss of said sum, which the trustee deposited in the township depository and the tuition fund debited with the amount. “The appropriations were made in gross by funds and not as to the sub-

division of funds. We directed the trustee that in the future appropriations should be made for each class of expenditures completed.” The report of the examiners show that Mr. Keene took office January 1, 1915, and gave a personal bond of SB,OOO. He did not, the report said, comply with the law in buying supplies, but bought the supplies in open market. In Wheatfield township there are five schoolhouses, on which is carried $1,950 fire insurance and $450 in tornado insurance. The pay of teachers in 1916 cost $1,812 and in 1917 cost $2,065.75. Road supervisorships were paid $334 in 1916 and $215 in 1917, and the advisory board was paid sls each year. Road labor in 1916 cost $281.81, and in 1917 ,$72.72. Gravel, stone, and so forth, in 1916 cost $363.93, and in 1917 the cost was $253.03. Bridges and culverts m 1916 cost $126.75, and in 1917 collapsible culvert forms cost $175. In 1916 sewer pipes cost $318.56 and in 1917 sewer pipes cost $144. In 1916 maps, charts and globes cost $lO3 and other school supplies $102.84. In 1917 the same kind of school supplies cost $113.47. Transportation in 1916 cost $440 and in 1917 it cost $601.75. The total disbursement for medrca'J aid, food and clothing, fuel, and burials in 1916 and 1917 was $838.54, and in 1917 the trustee paid $134.50 for stock killed or maimed. The total taxable property in the township, including incorporated cities and towns, is $900,984.20.