The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1861-11-19

COutThCt
? Very respectfully,
; Signed DAVID Mckee. Major.
GEo. ROCKWELL, Captain.
: john SoHEE, Lieutenant.
: ALI IN THE RING.
or the hundreds OF persons from Illinoi
and Missouri, who intent only upon busines
profits have been to St. Louis TO sell horses
mules or beef cattle, none have succeeded
without feeling some Of that California gan,
whom Gen. Fremont has collected about him
The common price asked has been 900 eacl
for the animals Of the bore kind called for b,
the order obtained. .Seiover--a Majcr ant
an oil partner Of Fremont, is 10 the habit
when an application is rejected, of taking The
arm Of the applicant and ssyiu: NJ can fix tbi'
for you. am an old friend of Fremont. I
"wss with him in Europe. was his partner
81 know him well. have influence with
him. Now l must have something for my
"services. Give me & Q, 900 and you can bs,
"an order for 1000 horses, and no more shal
be said" Who sutborises "Msjor" Selove,
TO do this, we know not. That such is hi,
practice, and no man has had any lu,k il
selling horses or mules who did not submit to
his terms, the testimony before the Commit
tee will show. When the Major was out Of
tho way some other one Of the gang was sure
to supply bis place.
ITEMS BEARING on THE ABOVE.
offered $4,000 for an order for 1000 horses,
but $4,000 was asked. w. 8. Gurnee, OF
this city, was asked $40, 900 for a 800 orse
order, not choosi'g to deal in that way, be
decllaed. Sam. Buckmaster, Of Alton, paid
IS 900 for an orjer for 500 horses, and made
money 10y the purchase. We mention these
as proofs only.
ORDERS FOR SALE.
Orders for horses, mules, and all the sup-
plies Of the Quarter.naster's department in
st. Louis, have for long time beeu articles
Of commerce. bargain ard sale in St. Louis
Got out of Fremont-we know not how they
have been the means of epricbing gang Of
scoundrels the like of whom never came from,
California.
OTHER MATTERS.
In the otbor supplies outside Of horses and
mules-in clothing for the silders, arms,
blankets, wagons, harness, shoes, medicines
every ything-the rule stated above has pre-
vailed. Cases like this are frequent Sam.
pies Of shoes are exhibited at SIS per dozen.
They are suminarily and uuceremoniously re.
jected. Before the exhibitor gets back to his
store, one Of the gang at bis heels, buys all
the shoes, say 1000 pairs at the price above
named and before night the Government
drays are sent to bis store. the shoes loaded
on AMI taken up to the Government ware
house and paid for at $24 per dozen! We
do not know who makes the odd 90 per doz
en-. Certainly the soldiers DO not. So Of
the blankets to keep our boys wsrm-fraud
presided al their p rchase, inspection and dis
trbutioD. It, one case Capt TurnIey, Asst
@. M. tried to arrest the swindle. hut WAS
defeated, and as consequence Of bis inter.
ference, was sent off to the interior where bis
scruple. would not interrupt the "rsgular pro-
gress Of business
From the greatest to the smallest thing,
the gang and their confederates have exacted
tribute. Wooden rules for Engineers, charged
at ten prices, picket pins for cavalry horses at
three prices,-from these things up along to
battery harness and wagons by the hundred.
the swindlipg has all the while been active
and successful. The cavalry equipments, fur
nished by Condit, Wooey & Co., Of this city,
bad ten dollars each added to their price be.
fore the Government got tbem-uot for the
benefit of the house by which they were made,
but for the profit OF the cobfederates, into
whose hands they went, and by whom they
were sold to Uncle Sam. In every thing that
the Committee investigated his dishonesty
and robbery were discovered We coul pile
incident upon incident, proof upon proof, fact
upon .act, but the above will suffice. In the
opinion Of the Committee, not half Of the
many millions spent by Fremont has enurei,
to the benefit of the Government-the bal
ance has gone into the pockets of the gang by
whom be is surrounded. Que house alone in
St. Louis whose service they have had occa
sion o use, has had dealings with Fremont
sn1 tho Quarternaser to the amount of near
ly one million Of dollars. the profits on which
were full 100000. A fair BUSINESS for three
months
THE PURCHASE OF ARMS.
Our readers have all heard of the generosi.
ty, foresight and patriotism of Gen. Fremont
in the purchase OF arms 10 Europe, where he
was when the war broke out. He never bought
a gun as far rs the Committee can ascertain.
When he got to St. Louis lot Of rejected
Austrian muskets, (needle primers unknown
to our service) followed him. They were thir
ty thousand in number, aud were imported at
a cost Of $a,o5 or $2,75. They fell into the
hands Of one Of the ''gang," and we're sold to
our General at $3.50. Sent to Cincinnati t.
to be riAed and altered to percussion caps, at
81 ,65 each, they are uow worth j ,st $3.50
per cord, or the price Of old iron. Thousands
Of them are lying about 81. Louis worthless,
aud at Cairo, in the boxes in which they were
packed-,he soldiers refusing TO use them.
A lot Of rejected Halls carbines, sold by
our Government as unfit for use, were bought
by Gen. Fremont from one of the lang" at
$2s esch--a transaction that afforded profit
it is said Of 100000 nett The rule Of action
in these two cases, has extended to all other
arms and equipments furnished the depart.
ment. An agent OF a N. Y. house dealing in
arms, though two months in ST. Louis. aud
and having the most approved guns, has been
unable to sell one. He would not submit TO
the extortion and rascalty Of the gang, aud
Of course be could do nothing.
NOT .ccnpatSa 10 ,.u