How to Make Court Proceedings Interesting. The selection and arrangement of interesting details in legal proceedings is shown in the following court story of a bankruptcy case, in which the reader's attention is attracted by the feature played up at the beginning:
How to start a furniture installment
house on less than $1000, vote yourself
a salary of $10,000 a year, furnish
a mansion and live like a prince—all
on the income from the original investment—was
revealed to District Judge
Van Buren yesterday in the questioning
of John C. Winifred. The court
was astounded and angered. When
the hearing ended Winifred was on his
way to the county jail to begin an indeterminate
sentence for contempt as
a result of "mushroom" financing.
The story of Winifred's remarkable success at furniture finance was told during the court's investigation of the bankrupt Bijou Furniture Company, 610 Devine Street, of which Winifred was owner. Winifred had a branch store at Plaintown. Two days before his creditors filed an involuntary petition of bankruptcy Winifred sold the branch "Furniture Club" business to Frances Hankow for $1,100.
John Whittle, counsel for the receiver, thought the $1,100 belonged to the creditors. Judge Van Buren agreed with him. Winifred was ordered to produce the money. When he appeared in court without it, the judge sent him to jail until he changes his mind.
Winifred operated a "furniture club," members paying from 25 cents to $1 each week. Its 2,500 members had paid in more than $40,000 when the crash came.
The "furniture wizard" said he began business about two years ago with a capital of less than $1000. He voted himself an annual salary of $10,000, the money being taken from the ac-
