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Show Bl JOHN FEES iniGESHS I Complaints Totaling Half Million Mil-lion Dollars Served Against Noted Ball Figure NEW YORK, Feb. 3. Complaints in a half milliom dollar damage suit were served yesterday by the Now York American League club against B. Bancroft Ban-croft Johnson, presidont of the American Amer-ican League. Action was started against Johnson til tho time of the American League meeting on December 10, when notices of suits were served on Johnscn and Ills five loyal club owners, Connio Mack. Philadelphia; Clark Griffith. Washington; Frank Nevin, Detroit; Philip Ball, St. Louis, and James Dunn Cleveland. Complaints were also served serv-ed today on these five magnates In ane of the three suits brought against Johnson. In thc first suit, the Nov; York club Icmands damages of $500,000 person-illy person-illy from Johnson on the ground that le "conceived the idea of driving the iTew York club out of baseball and to this end did various acts injurious to the New York club, Including :he sus-pesion sus-pesion of Mays, and by erroneous .statements influenced tho Giams to ! write, refusing to continue permission lo tho Yankees to use the Polo Grounds after 1020, and by making public the plans which the New York club had for thc acquisition of a new site, preented its acquisition on ad-'vantageous ad-'vantageous terms." 1 Loyal Club Owriero i The complaint also contains ex-j ex-j tracts of a lotter written by Johnson to his five "loyal" clubs owners, dated August 6, 1919. and marked "Personal I and Confidential." The extracts are las follows- i "It is my judgment that thoy should be retired from our organization." "I am sure other people can be Interested In-terested in tho proposition and that a satisfactory arrangement can be made with the present owners of the Now York Nationals." In tho second suit the New York club prays for a judgment restraining Johnson from paying to himself or re-j ceiving out of the funds of the American Ameri-can League any salary or compensa- I nuii uiniui as jjiesiuum, Mtm ciarj or 'treasurer of the American Lcague.'and j requiring him to account for and re-(Store re-(Store with interest all sums which he may have taken as salary since the annual an-nual meeting of the league in Decern- ber, 1919. 1 The third suit which is against John-;son John-;son and his five so-called "loyal" club j owners ask that they be restrained from "doing any further acts In. aid of what is said to be tho purpose and plan of thc defendant Johnson to injure in-jure tho New York Club and to drlvo It out of baseball." Asks Appointment of Receiver This complaint also asks for the ap-pointmont ap-pointmont of a receiver and for an injunction in-junction during the pendency of this action. Justice Vernon M. Davis, of the New York supremo court, signed an order for the taking in Cleveland of the tes-tImony tes-tImony of James C. Dunn, president, (Walter McNIcholla, secretary, and E. jS. Bernard, business manager of the iCloveland baseball club, and requiring j the club to produce for Inspection its .minute books, stock books and othe'r records concerning the financial interest inter-est of Ban Johnson in the Cleveland club, and concerning his participation in its affairs. oo |
