New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1842-05-09

good. ,ay-l from fir AZ public snr, W - f'h' sile'
] >a.cs ~ burnt goods % public store. DR. t..
To storage and expense on good, re>ncd from 1
the IRE ~ Front street s-''' "
Received paymeuin fan ,..-,,o,r
>torek,ep-r. Cl,tomitpu~'
Nsw YoRx. February n. 1870
Tb- history OF all the transactions OF the Gus
,om-house officers, acting under the orders OF
/ the collector. A. well IN securing and packing
1 the goods preserved from the fre. whether Jam
aged or nor, and the manner IN winch inc SAFE
was conducted, vii. fully appear IN ne testimony
taken and recorded, and 20 which reference :
made The witness examined Were huhe
rous. and the testimony given by them exclusive
and elaborate. constituting more matter, both
| relevant and irrelevant. than could BE- con'eh-
[ ieotlv Incorporated m this report TINS tesii-
mopy d..clo-.s tissue of official pertdy and
| fr.rd ofihe most disgracetul character, from ne
commencement to the close OF the aucio Slie
! of those goods. Without entering into details,
/ which would be tedious and Improbable, "a sum-
mary OF the leading facts testified To BY the eye
witnesses will be sufficiently comprehensive 20
embrace all that l. esseniia. 20 draw the atien-
! ton of Government 10 tins matter.
! ON the night of the tire IN From; street, by
which the public store situated IN that street "ds
consumed with all - contents, the cnsism-house
officers who were designated by the collector 10
/ take. possession of the remnant oi goods saved
/ from The confirmation, had express orders To
admit no person to examine the goods 80 mat
IN. claimants were deprived OF al opportunity OF
selecting such parcels as they could IDENTIFY ana
/ a am a. part of their lmPortalions, and sepi-
rate them from the general mass thrown to-
2. Their bv the officer, oi the customs WAC had
charge OF them. on the same night, or the io!-
lowing morning. the goods were removed tc al
open lot. used a. a coal yard, where they were
prepared n heaps or lots Tor sale, by certain oih-
Ger, ol tbs customs selected by the collector Tor
That purpose.
From this lot all parsons were excluded, and
especially the claimants OF the goods Who ap-
pli,f for permission to examine the parcels, ana
designate such ~ might belong 10 them Which
was refused, and, during the preparation OF the
goods for SHE. only one or two persons were adj
miited within the enclosure and they by the
special permission OF the collector, who were also
allowed 90 carry oft part OF the goods, on
mere allegation that they were the owners OF Tie
goods SO carried oil These persons ap1car 10
have been iayoritcs OF the collector, a. all oiher
claimants were strictly prohibited from entering
the enclosure. Thus the goods were secretly ar
ranged Tor auction. without the knowledge OF any
other person or persons than those employed IN
the business 50 that It became impossible Tor
bidders 20 know the good from the bad lots
many of the pieces beng sound, or nearly 80,
while the largest portion were damaged 10 an cX-
tent which rendered them entirely worthless. II
appears, in evidence, that some individuals
during the time the abOrers were engaged IN
making mp the heaps, preparatory to the auction
took a position in the third story OF an adjoining
building, from which they could observe The
manner in which the heaps were arranged. The
cn,;om-hou~e officer, within the enclosure, find
ing that thcy were observed, and the manner OF
putting up the heap, or lois was discovered, 50
That no advantage could b. taken al the sales by
themselves and their friends, from the exclusive
KNOWLEDGE they possessed OF the value of the
different heapS or lots, st 10 work forthwith, IN
the night uma. and rc-auanged the goods IN
manner well calculated 10 deceive the persons
who had detected them. and others 70 whom
their information might b. communicate.
The first sales took place the 7th February,
1910. AT this sale, the inferior goods, or those
most damaged were offered The sale went of
quietly, because those IN the secret knew the
goods to be worthless, and, Of cour.e, there was
but little competition from that quarter Inc
bidders who attended the sale to purchase tor
their own use, were deceived IN ihs quality and
condl,len OF the goods by great variety Of ex-
pedents, resor'ed 10 by the cuslonl-house ollcers
to nhsead them Among other expedieh's,
damaged goods, tina, wsre OF no value, were en-
co ed IN an envelope OF the hnest description Of
cloths. pert ely sound aud uninJured Thus, the
purchaser, supposng h. had obtained good ar
ticle, on opening the piece, 10 examine rs con-
tents and quality, found, t. his utter asienlsh-
me mt. that the interior was filled up with dam
AGED goods of no value whatever. The decep
lions were numerous at this sale, bat these viii
serve 10 show their general character. The plr-
chaseTs were so grossly deceived IN their pur-
chases. that il was believed by the custom house
officers that they would not venture to BID at the
second sale. for which the mot valuable portion
OF the goods saved from the tire were Reserved
This second sale took place ON the It'll tebru
ary, lslO one week alter the hr.t sale but II Is
eyden, that the whole might have been disposed
OF at the .ane ,iinr, 1t 1t had been 80 ordered by
the collector The frauds pric Used at tbs sale
transce nded by Tar those discovered az the h'st
sale.
twill be seen, by recurrence to the ieslmo-
ny OF the numerous witnesses, that the heaps or
lots were 20 arranged that no bidder who had
not seen the manner in which they were put ap
could form any idea OF Their relative value, this
being known only to the csstCm house officers
who were combined VIVA them.
The bs.t heaps ~ lots were covered with
damaged goods aud the inferior Or worthless
parcels had ON the outside whole pieces OF sound
goods. or nearly sound, having received bat little
injury from the tire. They were surrounded by
armed men. belonging to DE cusloln-house, Who
iorcby resisted every attempt made by persons
who desired 20 purchase to examine the heaps or
lots. or even to touch any part OF lne goods. Ia
one instance, person present drew from und,ra
heap of goods apparently damaged piece OF
sound cloth. which had received no INJURY. he
Immediately proclaimed to the other bidders the
fact, and pronounced the sale a fraudulent one,