The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1871-09-01
THE ROTTEN NAILS EXAMINED AND
BROKEN.

The abusive article orc. v, Eskridge, IL tn
Emporia Ledger OF the 18th ult., IN which h.
80 triumphantly claims TO have proven myself
as well several other citizens OF the place
70 be guilty OF faisehood, is characteristic Of 1t
author.
1t will be remembered that he made an OpeI
attack upon me last spring through the col
umns of the Emporia Tribune, without any
provocation whatever on my part. And now
after waiting till his first lengthy slang Is for
gotten by many who may have read il, and
till, in the influx OF population, some eyes
perhaps, may fall upon what he now publish.
es, who know nothing OF the origin and ante
cedents Of this controversy, under these cir.
| cumstances, and at this late date. he seizeG
upon a single paragraph, garbled from my
hasty reply to his first attack, and against this
he pits the result OF five months industry and
| intrigue.
One other fact is to be remembered, also, viz
that his nrst labored effort was TO prove me,
! as well as everybody else who had anything
| TO do with public matters, except C.. !. Esk-
ridge, total failure. Hence, in my reply, as
was perfectly natural, took a slight glimpse
| In passing at that little piece of work, !" the
Normal school fence, this was the last and
the only thing for long time the Governor
had manipulated, of strictly public charac-
ter. This accounts for such small matter
being noticed at all. l had TO deal with the
things which do remain of his public life.
And now from the extravagant dimensions Of
his last article, ''behold how great matter n
little fire kindleth."
With this, we are prepared TO examine the
masked batteries Of this beastful hero of q
hundred battles, who yields, with such ire
mendous display, cotton balls and soap bub-
bles.
BY his own showing in the Ledger, stand
charged with saying, according to the work
mans account the fence cost just so much,
viz: 1851 20. But Mr.. Eskridge drew 50
much, viz: $4,000. Now let it be observed,
he does not deny drawing the amount as
above, but in the use of ambiguous language,
he virtually acknowledge, by his published
duebiil, that he drew even $22.D more. His
proof, then, only makes my statement the
stronger. The more he runs up his account,
the greater the difference between him and
the estimate the Of wOrkmen who did the work
the Gerry point ! made upon him. Where
then Is "falsehood nailed upon me, except It
be that had no authority from the workmen
for saying what did about their estimate Of
the work? Mr. f. n. Fl. Adams afidavit,
this point, and some others yet TO be noticed:
~ bulk the fence around the Normal School
grounds north Of the buildings, which was
put up last season. In the work was assist
ed by f. i. Par. After seeing the published
report of the executive committee last fall,
putting the expense OF the fence at $3.50, we
made out as near as possible the exact cost of
the fence, including all the material and work,
which handed to r. III. Overstreet last JAM
uary, and is as follows:
lak
Nails (not over two keggs). IL 90
rosIs observation-disclosures. lou "
Lumber. ......................... 401 90
Total ................ ........... $05l 20
In this estimate we put all the lumber that
went into the fence at $40 per thousand feet.
This included some three or four hundred feet
OF old lumber and some old posts, which we
found upon the ground. There were about
eight cords OF rock quarried out Of the ground
along the line to make way for the fence, some
Of which we quarried. paid MIR. G. V. Esk-
ridge one dollar for n cord which had taken
out of the way of the fence. When went to
get my rock they were gone. 1 then asked
MIR. Eskridge about 1t, and who had hauled
away the rock, which had been taken out of
the way of the fence. He told me Mr.. +. It.
Nichols, and that he had taken mine, he sup
posed. He then agreed to pay me back the
dollar had given him for the rock, but 1 told
him no, rs had quarried the rock and corded
them up must have five dollars. He then
told me cold go and take the worth of il OF
the upper end Of the Normal School grounds.
T.. n. II. ADAMS.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this nth
E. W. CUNNINGHAM,
Notary Public
The workmen may be mistaken In their fig
ures, but to confederate their statement, the
fence stands and speaks for itself, and the
passer-by, knowing the cost OF the work, can
estimate very nearly, in IN hour, what it took
to put 1t there.
As to the rock, all mean to say about it, is
that there were rock taken out of the way OF
the fence. And plenty of men could be found
at an hours notice to remove them, giving at
least one dollar per cord for every cord taken
away. AS to the disposition OF the rock, 1
frankly acknowledge do not know anything
about it only as hear. But as Mr.. E. had the
sole control OF the matter, it is for him, most
assuredly, to tell what became OF them. This
much, apprehend, is clear and undisputed
upon Mr.. Adams testimony. Mr.. E, how
ever, only shows by the testimony which he
adduces. that the rock did not go into the
foundation OF his brick building on the corner
of Sixth avenue and Commercial street. A
nice dodge, indeed, which receives some
shadow Of FEASIBILITY from n strained inter-
probation Of my language. Now, il my state
ment on this subject (Which Mr.. +. pronOun-
ces jHmJled,) is so interpreted as to charge
him with putting the rock into his building
without noting the same In his itemized ae-
count OF the fence, nothing could be farther
from my meaning. l distinctly said, that the
exact cost OF the fence 20 the State Will better
appear when all these various items are
brought In. He tries very hard 10 make IL APP
pear that i accuse him or stealing, and then,
unless my proof is strong enough TO send him
to the penitentiary, am liar. 1 make no
such charge, and he knows 1t. IL is a wide
margin OF his own coming. on which he en-
deavors TO nail folsehOod.
But found a mares nest, he says, in the
rock. Call it what you please, have gwen
one OF the eggs which was discovered in that
nest in Mr.. Adams statement. Herewith l
submit the nest-egg IN a written statement of
Mr.. Chadwick, of rock taken on the Normal
School grounds about the same time, which
he handed to me last April. and is now In my
possession:
AT bought and paid G. v. Eskridge for rock
which / quarried on the Normal School
ground:
At one time ..,...-.. $40 %
Another time -........-.. 90
.-............ .-.... 3 90
Total. ....-.............. ..,.......-. sls 90
Subscri ped and sworn to before me at Mn
nescah, Eowley county, Kansas, this 18th day
of August, 1871. l.. B. GOODRICH,
Notary Public.
What became OF the above $1s? What
right had c. v. Eskridge TO sell or eren giee
d,cdy rock OF the land belonging to the State
are questions which leave the gentleman to
answer In his next effusion.
Now If there is any analogy between his
care of the Normal School affairs while a
member OF the Board, and especially OF the
rock MpOn the premises, and Mary's visit to
the Sayiour's toomb, as he would seem to in
innate, fail to see IT.
With reference to the partition fence Mr.. E.