The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-03-06
THE GARDNER TRAGEDY.
The Suicide-History or the Case-The In-
quest, and the Testimony taken Thercat.
aUR SPECIAL WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENCE.

The Suicide-History or the Case-The In-
quest, and the Testimony taken Thcrcat.
OUR SPECIAL WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENCE.
| WASHINGTON March 8, 1854.
Tbe te egraph will have already conveyed to you the
tragic den, wneent Of the Gardner drama which in its
several stage has been before the country for
rnIa Of Yea, But your readers win expect something
more than the though thrilling announcement that
sthe iurv in the 'srdner into court to-day
with verdict of ru y against George A. Gardner on
the Indictment for per Jury Judge Crawford thereupon
sentenced the prisoner ten years imprisonment in the
penitentary of the Dstric Of Columbia and immediate
y afterward the unforuna convict took poison from
the effects of which he d. ed, after laying In con-
vulsions for three hours" The drama in which
George A. Gardner was the principal actor was
one in which the people Of tho United States
took intense interest we'll rom the ingenuity Of
the plot the various phases which assumed in its de-
velopement the personagcs (some of them high in Office
in the govern men) who complcat M IN it. and the
success with which, for time fraud vfumphed over
right and justice. would not say har word Of the
dead. He was man of great talent and ability, who
might have earned for himself distinction I'd ndepen
dence had he attempted to out an hon, vble des
tiny but he yielded to the temptation with viii, h in
inauspicious hour his evil genius lured him to- 1t would
be needless afectation to attempt to impose on
selves, the public with probability or eyenc the
the victim, as it sought to be rcpreselv
ed, of combination of unfortunate circumstances
or Of malicious enemies. There is now in endeayor
ing to nterpose between his memory and guilt
Ee has, this stood before the Great Tribunal and e
gal bubbles and hollow sophistres longer ava il him
aught in this world that to which he rashy hastened
I" with all his imperfectons on his head.n
The story which, after the Mexican war Georre A.
Gardner concocted to the valuable mines, mining
utp and VIII Ioaf 70
conflict and the various Deeds documents and vouchers
purporting to bear the seals and signatures Of Mex
officials, with which he corroborated his story and
successfully imposed the commissioners appointed to
settle the claims citizens Of either countryside adrot
with which he perfected all the proofs requisite to
substantiate his claim, and the which crowned
his schemes to the extent of receiving the Treasu
ry $42S, TAO, (his original claim being 100000
stamp him of the most remarkable criminals that
history records and throw around the whole case the
mantle of romance almost putting beyond the range
of credence But this is but another verication of the
line which has grown into proverb: Truth strange
stranger than fiction"
Mr.. Gardner did not however, depend entirely upon
the completeness Of the chain Of evidence with which he
backed his claim buanother curious feature in this
strange casehe procured the legal services Of gentle
man who before the conclusion of the matter became
Of the Cabinet Ministers mean Mr. Corwin secre-
tary Of the easury-to whom he paid large per cent
age Of the claim amounting it s said to seventy
five thousand dollars and who may be said to be the only
person that has reaped large harvest of gain from this
IT is dcult to believe that shrewd penetrating law
have possibly prosecuted such claim without having
detected the evidences Of fraud which afterwards mani
or At It least @ Without having had his
them he derect Of his duty in his double capacity
first Of advocate and afterwards Of officer Of the
ment and is morally If not legally pdrtceps criimis
But whether he was not that the fraud has
been exposed he is bound in honor wel in law
fbntr he
rived from the guilt of his client It not simple
fee that he received If he would have right to re-
tain it. 1t certain stipulated share Of the spoil 30
frauduenty extracted from the government and this he
is liable to be compelled to disgore the princi
the fraud lawyer then he must have been guilty Of
violation Of his duty to the country when as secre
fary o. sne treasury ne endorsed the decision Of the
George A. Gardner native Of the State of New
to the breaking Of the Mexican war he had resided in
that country following the avocation Of dentist He
thus able escape the fate which might have bes
len him in the then excited state Of the Mexican mind
the treaty Of Guadalupe Hdago was concluded he ap-
peared as the claimant Of some six hundred thousand
dollars as compensation for the losses which he pre-
ing operations Under the circumstances which have
detailed that claim was to certain extent successful
The commissioners awarded him three hundred |
thousand dollars though he has stated that the he
actually received did not exceed hundred thousand
doars-the balance of the having gone to satisfy
the legal gentlemen who were sharers with him in the
golden speculation.
The circumstance which led to the detection Of the
fraud of the not least curious in this remarkable
A decision under the commission had been
awarded favor of the Messrs Harrous for some hun
red thousand dollars There was no question as to the
legality and fairness of this claim but technical
groundwaitng for the receipt Of document from the
ed The principal counsel in the of this lat
ter claim and who had been also associate counsel in
the Gardner matter endeayored to procure its immediate
satisfaction out Of the Treasury of the United States and
for the purpose of eecting that object he ventured an
s~4s~ rr {hoC
secrets in the Gardner matter If the award in favor Of
the Messrs. Hargous were not Immediately made The
affair thus got wind and President Fillmore took up
warmly, and insisted on thorough investigation 4
close scrutiny and inquiries established the fact
mines were nothing more nor less than CAotsanr
en- Esp0gnc-that the signatures and seals of the Mex
can officials were fabrcatons and that the commission
and government had been egregously cheated. An
embargo Immediately laid on certain moneys the
proceeds of the fraud which Gardner had njudicously
left in bank. criminal prosecution was instituted
against himself for perjury and civil suit for the
covery Of the money; and criminal prosecutions
also instituted against his brother John Charles Gard
ner for forgery and perjury. These suits have been
pending for nearly two years In the meantime commits
sons been sent to Mexico to hunt after the mines
and returned without finding them having narrowly
escaped being murdered by banditt-another curious
phase in the en to-day @ the prStracsd trial Of
brought to close in the Criminal Court Of this city, by
the rendition Of verdict Of guilty and by the sentence
of the convicted criminal to ten years imprisonment in
the District penitentiary
Upon the news Of the conviction and sentence followed
fast rumor dreadful import that the unfortunate man.
in the desperate circumstance in which found himself
placed dose of the deadly poison known as
strychnne and then in the ag0nes Of DEATH This
rumor intensified the sensation which the termination
the remarkable had excited; and again that
tongued rumor he dead. II was too true
Immediately after his sentence and while s in court he
had accomplished his resolve unobserved or at least un
noted the time and before he had been than half
an hour the guardroom Of the penentiary nought re-
NAMED Of the guilty and unfortunate Gardner but de-
serted tenement Of clay Resoutely, will be seen by
the testimony which hereafter ex-unfnchinqIy and
without divugng his secret did he meet his DEATH none
knowing his lips of what he died His brother was
with him. and he alone would have anticipated
and the secret Of his tragic end He told the at
tendant ailors that II affection to which
he was subject and which medical aid could affect
Thus died George A. Gardner-sternly resolutely un
yiedingly taking that dreadful "leap in the dark
his remains spread upon the pallet where he died.
In the rude guardroom of the dinQy ail saw inaui
siivc stare csllousy at the mystery but none shed
tear over it; and followed the Coroner, the lawyers