Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1873-01-03
EXPLANATORY CARD.

EDtToR SENTINEL ALLOW me spaceinyour
paper to make explanation OF the s6lio wing T.
tract Of paragraph which appeared in the
SENTINEL in May last while was the editor aud
publisher. aud which was thoughtby Mr.. James
W Russ aud his friends to reflect, ar least by
inference, on the character Of that gentleman.
The following are the words referred to under
the caption " Dec lined {"
The communication sent us charging prom
inent citizen of the County with theft VI 81, 600
from the County Treasury a few years ago,
which had afterwards tu be paid from private
means { the "ilcer. anil cheating the widow Of
man wh0- had been killed on the railrnnd
while acting rs agent of the Company, and di-
vers nthcr mean acts which the writer or writer's
claimthev can snbstantiate, is declined Tho
publication, admitting that it is all true, can do
no good as we can perceive.
The presumption that Mr.. Ross was referred
to grew out of the fact that Mr.. Wooster, one
Of tho former County Treasurcr's, was or at
lcaSt thought he was, short of funds some 81 :,
5OO or $4,000 at the end Of his term of Office,
and that Mr.. Ross had assisted Mr.. Wooster in
making the tax collections for the first half year
in the fall Of lsG3 being in the Office about
ninety days all toll from the first of SEPT. to
Dee. lst.
Mr. Wooster settled this collection with the
Auditor aud Commissioners as appears by the
records in March following, who certified that
by actual count they found the funds all correct
Two settlements followed this one ht each Of
which no deficit was found and the deficiency
does not seem to have. occurred until the last
settlement.
As an evidence Of what Mr.. Wooster himself
thought Of the matter, | make an extract from
a letter before me written by him to MIR. Ross in
answer to one from that gentleman stating tina,
his name had been mentioned in connection with
tue Treasury deficit. The following is the eI-
tract which explains itself, and is certainly the
strongest vindicaton that could BE- furnished:
SoUTuFoRD, MASS, Jan. 18th, 1871.
JAMES W. Ross, ESQ.,,
Dear Sir Yours of 1st inst, came duly to
hand, and | must say that am surprised 10
learn thrnugh your letter that our old enemies
are still harpiug on that old Treasury deficiency,
and more so to learn that | charge you with
taking the funds Of the Lifce while assisting me-
To this l.say God forbid. Such a thought was
never harbnred in my mind aud say, fearless
of contradiction, that no pcrson ever heard me
intimate such thing. mach less make such
charge. am soTy ] could not have seen you
when was in Perrysburg this spring and
should, had | known that such a slanderOns
report was going the rounds. | was there but
one night and left the next morning at o'clock.
am sorry that YOU should be made to suffer
through my misfortune, as l have every assur-
ance that while you were assisting me in the
Treasurers Office you acted in good faith and
to nv interest. and | verify believe that when
you LEFT the Office thu funds were all right And
| will further state that do not believe had
person assisting ME in that office who would
take one dollar unaccOunted for. Hoping that
this statement may prove satisfactory 10 yon
and with Kind regards to Mrs. Ross.
| am ever truly yours,
JOuS C. WOOSTER.
That portion Of the article which refers to the
rubbing Of widow whose husband had been
killed on the railroad. originated in the fact lha.
Mr. Ross was employed to help adjus, the dam.
ages resulting from the death of two men by
an accident on the D. & NJ. railroad near East
Toledo in 1868, in which the Company did not
pay one of the women as much as some of her
ueigLbors thought, she ought to have.
In letter before me from NJ. r. Waite on the
subject, and who acted as attorney for the Com
pany, that gentleman says: "The Company
employed me to undertake a settlement with the
injured parties. l at once employed Mr.. Ross
to assist me. 1 paid the money agreed upon in
the settlement to the Administrators of the
parties, Walter Davidson aud William Davidson
myself. Not dollar Of it passed through Mr..
Ross hands. Those Administrators chosen by
the widows and their friends signed the receipts
and made the settlement themselves. The terms
we're explained to the Probate Judge who fully
approved of what had been DONE"
Mr.. Waite further states that the amounts
paid were we'll known at the time, and that
there was no concealmrnt nor attempt at con-
cealment; that every dollar agreed upon was
paid and that the parties were at the time all
satisfied with the amount paid them. so that
this matter IN itself is too trivial to merit any
serious notice.
! make these statements public after careful
and satisfactory investigation of all the facts
in the case, for the purpose Of correcting any
wrong impressions which the newspaper par
aGraph before referred TO may have created
detrimental to the character Of or to the injury
of Mr.. Ross, feeling that, under the circun,-
stances, injustice was done.
c. ". EYERS.
December %, 1872.
Q