Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1864-12-06
LOCAL NEWS.

0
TRIAL OF COMMISSIONER F. W. BLACKPoRD.
| The trial CT +. w Blackford, Commissioner
| now suspended) Of the Board OF Enrolment
| of the District of Columbia, was commenced
| to-day by the csurt- martial OF which Brig
| Gen. Briggs is president, now in session over
| Buffers Restaurant, on lith street.
The officers of the court are: President, Brig.
Gen: H. = $ :. Briggs u "; Brig Gen Gen i D:
| Dol. J. II Wllets, 18th N. J. V; Col q. ].
Powers, 10sth n. Y. V; Col. T. G. Ellis, lith
Capt. g .Corts. A. A. q; 1t. Col, g. 5. En-
! erson, goth Maine Vols. Lit. Col H. B. Burn
| ham, Judge Advocate.
| AT II O'clock the court was called to order,
| and the charges and specifications were then
| read TO the accused:
Chargs.-Conduct prejudicial to good order
| and military discipline.
Specification first alleges that he, while act
| ing as Commissioner, and while in the office
I Of said Board of Enrolment and in the pres
| ence OF its clerks. on or about the 18TH day OF
! Aprii, 1864, purchased from a man a premium
| certificate. voucher, for money due TO him on
| account of his entering the military servise of
| the United States, of The value of Si5, for the
sum OF = III. he we'll knowing that said voucher
was of the full value Of SIS, and not paying its
| just and tull value, but dscrediIng the same
| by purchasing and receiving at less than its
real value.
Specification second alleges that he on or abont
| the 18th day OF Nov. 1868. claimed and received
from Augustus o. Ball, clerk of said Board.
| the sum OF Sl5, as his share of the amount paid
by the United States, to wit, $50 to him the
said Augustus o. Ball, for arresting and de-
| livering deserter to the authorities Of the
| United States.
Specification third alleges that on or about
| the 9th day OF November, 1863, he claimed
| and received from Augustus o. Ball, clerk
| OF said Board, the sum Of SIS, as his share of
| the m oney received by the said Bali, to- wit
| $50, for procuring Washington Short as
| substitute for Daniel Humphreys, drafted
man.
| Specification four alleges that he received
| from II. H. Dudley, on about the 18th day of
| July, 1861, the sum OF SIS, for making out
papers connected with and RESTING TO the buSi-
ness Of said Board.
| Specification fifth alleges that he procured
| substitute, named Henry job nson, tor drafted
| man named Washington Sseoney, receiving
| for said action and the procuring of said SUBJ
| stitute the sum of 500. from Col Mcclure.
To the charge and first specification the ac-
| cused plead not guilty, but to the ID, Sd, Attn,
| and 5th specifications he plead guilty.
| Mr.. Blackford signified his intention not to
| employ counsel, and in order to afford the Wit
nesses time to appear, the court took recess
| until one o'clock.
| The following witnesses have been sum-
| moned, and will be examined both for the pros
| ecution and defense:-Wm. A. Auble, Augustus
| 0. Ball, Washington Short, Daniel II unphreys,
! II. II. Dudley, Joseph Busher, Washington
Stebney, Henry Johnson, Col Mcclure.
| In addition to the above, the defense will
call Col. Poole, late acting Provost Marshal Of
| this District.
The Court having taken recess on reassem-
bling the accused withdrew The plea Of not gull
|
| OF guilty.
| Lieut. Col. Poole, 18th V. f. c., testified that
| in July and August last he was acting as Pro-
| vOst Marshal; that during the absence of Mr..
| Ball, zone of the clerks Mr.. Blackford yolun-
| teered his services in making out the enlistment
| papers. an that so far as witness knows they
| were made out by Mr. Blackboard In regular
order, and faIrly-in the order OF the certificates
| OF the surgeon.
Board) testified that there was an order in 1864,
| in the office against procuring substitutes or
| receiving money, bat there was no such rule or
| order in 1863.
| Captain ]. G. Putnam (the present Provost
| MarshaD testified to MIR. BIS being a hard
working, energetic, and honest man, and very
| The case was postponed until Tomorrow
| morning.
| ARKD.HRApRDG HosT.-For two weeks the
| vicinity of r and 7th streets has been greatly
| disturbed by mysterious individual, whose
| nightly acts were SO strange that the super
| stitious began to give out that ghost was
| haunting the neighborhood. About the same
| time various persons reported with cut heads
| to Sergeant johnson, of the second precinct
| and some of them had been relieved Of small
| sums Of money. The sergeant suspected that
| the ghost knew all about these cut heads and
| rObberies, and went to work to capture the
shade. The men Ii uniform tried for several
| days to discover the mysterious visitor, but
| failed. The sergeant then detailed three Of his
| men, ununiformed, and they succeeded in
| catching the ghostly visitor on Sunday night
| about o'clock. He was taken before Justice
| Thompson, and was charged with disorderly
| conduct. The Justice fined him Sc, which he
| paid promptly in mundane currency, and gave
| the unetheriaI name Of John Smith The po-
| lice examined him closely, and discovered that
his HAIR, naturally black, had been dyed red,
| and SO nicely done that the fact could only be
| discovered by lifting the hair, when the ORR
| ginal black was discovered growing out. He
| was held for the military detectives, who iden-
| titled him as John Smith, alias Harry Myer, OF
the I'd Maryland regiment. He was delivered
| to the military.
| A SOLDIER KILLED BY DRUGGED LIQUOR -
| This morning, Coz oner Wood ward held an in &.
| quest on the body of a soldier named Peter
| Collins, of the 18th company, I'd battalion OF
| The V. r. T., found this morning in the rear of
| a shanty kept by Bartholomew Murphy, on
| Second street, between and I. The deceased
| was about i3 years old, and hailed from Phil
| adelphia. 1t was in evidence that he had a
| sum Of money in his possession, but when the
| body was found there was nothing found on
| him excepting some little articles of no value.
A post mortem examination was held by DR..
| Chas. H. Osborne who made an analysis of
| some of the contents of the stomach and de-
| tected poison. The jury returned verdict
that he scame to his death from congestion of
| the brain caused by drugged liquor admins
! tered by some parties unknown"
| The contents OF the stomach, as we'll as a
| bottle with small quantity of the liquor, is in
| possession Of the Coroner, who will report the
| facts to the Department, who, il is to be hoped,
Will take prompt measures to ferret out the
parties who administered this poison.
| TRIAL BY MILITARY CoMMIssIoN.-To day
! in the case of Louis Heilbrun Il Brother and
| Cohn, Seventh street merchants, charged with
| selling goods to blockade runners TO be con-
veyed into tine rebel lines, the counsel for the
| defence and the Judge Advocate of the Com
mission read their summing up of the case and
submitted it to the Commission.
COURT MARTIAL TRIAL.-The case of DIR
| J. b. Keasby, late examining surgeon of the
| Board OF Enrolment Of this city, is set for to-
| morrow at 10 o'clock. The charge against
| him has not yet been made public.
| SOLDIERS Every officer and soldier should
| call at the Dollar Jewelry Store, No ABS Penn.
| sylvania avenue, near AZ street, and get one OF
| Newton's Gold Pens. Only One Dollar.
| d6.1W*
! On THE AVENUE, No. 43s, near 4 \ street, Is
| the Dollar Jewelry Store. See Special Mo-
| tees. dec l-1w*