H.I. Bettis to J. Ross Clark p 1

FORM A320-1-04-5M-WALTERSAN PEDRO, LOS ANGELES AND SALT LAKE RAILROAD COMPANYACCOUNTING DEPARTMENTH. I. BETTIS, AuditorSubjectLas Vegas Rancho.Los Angeles, Cal., November 17, 1904.Mr. J. Ross Clark,Second Yice President, Building. Dear Sir:In accordance with your suggestion I went to Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 26th and made careful examination of our properties there, including the hotel, the store and the ranch, riding over the ranch and out upon the range to see the horses and cattle. An inventory was taken of the merchandise in the store as of November 1, 1904, the total of which amounted to $2720.51. The farm implements and equipment of the ranch and hotel are practically the same as when inventory was taken January 1, 1904, with the addition of items amounting to $544.44 mentioned hereafter; total value is estimated at about $2500.00.Some of the store records were sent to my office and the account has been checked as well as possible for the ten months ended October 31, 1904, and the results are shown on the statement attached hereto. Mr. Bracken was instructed about January 1, 1904, as to the manner in which he should keep his records, but he did not follow the instructions in some particulars. Possibly I am somewhat at fault in this, but the inaccessibility of the ranch and my understanding that the store was to be closed almost any time for the last four or five months has led me to leave the matter without more attention.By distributing the pay roll and charging to the different ac-