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Show oo DISCLOSE GRAFT Oi STATE BOARD HELENA, Mont., Nov. 28. As Sam W. Langhoine, Jr., lormer chief clerk of the state board of atock commissioners, commis-sioners, stepped from the train on his arrival here after having served a year in prison for forgery in connection con-nection with alleged extensive defalcations defal-cations in his official position, he was re-arrested by a deputy sheriff who held a warrant which had been sworn out by George E. Hurd, a special prosecutor engaged by the last legislature to probe the sto'ck board scandal. A few minutes later, however, how-ever, Langhome's aged father had arranged for the release of his son on $1,500 ball, and young Langhorno with his young wife, who met him last night In Butte, went to the older Langhome's home. Langhorne was first arrested last oDcomber, and the next day after his arrest be pleaded guilty to the charge of forging an endorsement on a ?40 check issued by the state board of stock commissioners out of tho es-tray es-tray fund The prosecution was handled by Attorney General A J. Galen, and Langhorno retained as counsel for tho defense A. P. Hey-wood, Hey-wood, who was county attorney-elect. When the legislature met a few days later, stockmen throughout the stato demanded a vigorous investigation and as a result Mr. Hurd, a Glasgow, Mont., attorney, was designated in a special statute as special prosecutor to handle the case. Mr. Hurd today announced that during the years 1909 and 1910, 325 checks were fraudulently fraudu-lently cashed against the estray fund in tho custody of the state board, the total amount of tho checks being approximately $19,600. Mr. Hurd further announced that all the checks issued in 1907 and 190S bad been destroyed de-stroyed after their return from tho banks, thus making It practically impossible im-possible to check the amount of the shortage Jn these years. "I am convinced that Langhorno was not alone In theso operations and did not alono profit in them," said Mr. Hurd. Mr. Hurd declared that other arrests ar-rests would follow shoitly, but refused re-fused to say whether bo expected Langhorne to implicate "higher ups. " The specific charge on which Langhorne Lang-horne was re-arrested was of forging the name of C. W. Carver, a Glasgow Glas-gow woman, to a check made payable to her and Issued by the state board of stock commissioners in payment of one of Mrs. Carver'3 steers, which had been designated by the inspectors inspect-ors of the board as an estray, and so sold In Chicago. Instead of sendinsr the check to the payee, It is alleged that Langborne forged the endorfle-ment endorfle-ment and cashed the check. Similar methods are allaged to have been followed fol-lowed In each of the 3251 instances, save that in tho majority of cases tho check was made out to a fictitious fic-titious payee, and was then cashed under a forged or fictitious endorsement. endorse-ment. oo |