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CASHIER BIELBY'S DEFALCATION The Net Loss to the Rome Bank Will Not Exceed 89,000-Mayor Gillett Still Missing. ROME, N. Y., Dec. 20.-The defalcation in the Central National Bank of this city, the arrest and confession of the cashier, John E. Bielby, and the flight of the teller. Samuel Gillett. who is Mayor of the city, are still causing much excitement here. The bank still remains closed, but the prospects for the resumption of business are now quite bright. The defalcation. which promised yesterday to run up to $50,000 or $60,000, will, it is believed, not execed $40,000. To-day Mr. Bielby was arraigned before United States Commissioner E. A. Rowland. United States District Attorney Poucher of Oswego appeared for the prosecution. and C. T. Titus of Rome for the defendant. Mr. Bielby pleaded not guilty to the charge of embezzlement and waived examination. The Government decided to prove a prima facie case, and Bank Examiner Van Vranken was sworn. He testified that he had found an apparent shortage in the bank accounts aggregating. as far as the defendant was concerned, about $40,000. but the defendant had stated that he could account for about $8,000 of this discrepancy satisfactorily. He further testified that the defendant had forged three notes. one of $3,000, purporting to be signed by James Evans, another of $6,000. bearing the signature of A. Ethridge, and one of $1,000," bearing the name of W. A. Bielby. He also swore that he found that the ledger account with the National Park Bank of New York overstates the account charged to that bank to the extent of $55,000. At the conclusion of Mr. Van Vranken's testimony Commissioner Rowland decided to hold the defendant for the United States Grand Jury, which sits in Albany on the third Wednesday in January. The defendant was admitted to bail in the sum of $7,000. It has been fully determined that the bank's loss is only about $40,000. The surplus of the institution is $20,000. and the bond of the cashier is $20,000. In addition to this Bielby has $8,000 in securities to turn over to the bank. There is an item of $3,000 put on the pass book of the City Chamberlain which has not been credited. and the shortage of which is attributed to the teller. There is also in the total shortage an item in doubt of $5,500 in the National Park Bank which Bielby denies any knowledge of, and which may or may not be chargeable to the teller. These items are figured in the total shortage, which is now given at $37,000. Deducting from this the $8,000 turned back into the bank by Bielby leaves the actual shortage $29,000; deducting from this the amount of Bielby's bond leaves the net loss to the bank $9,000. Mayor Gfilett. who left town at the first signal of danger on Monday, has not returned and there is no trace of his whereabouts. He is about 35 years old and has a wife and four children. As there is no official head to thecity. the Common Council has been called to meet to-morrow evening and elect a Mayor pro tem.
