, 1874-03-29
m Secured for q Considera.
ton by District Legis-
1ators.
l,a,naainu Testimony Given BY Suffer-
ING Taxpayers.
rhs Ganeya Award---A Decision Ad.
verse to Insurance Claimants.
rpE DISTRICT INVESTIGATION.
FAT CoETH4GTa.

~. ~
,stors tho District Investigating Committee to-day
w.. p,erspezsed with several dashes of sensational
t-, The frat witness examined was hne-looEn:3 )
"a n.,em:u uAtued Huestis, who haz been = resi-
-, of ths District for upwarB Of fifteen yearH. Tia
h,. p{ iuer1ogating tho wiueas, who Is contractor
d -mason by occupation, was to ascertain ~:tat
,,e1,,ble nrlce would ba Tor certatu descriptions o5
..rnst improvements, such Is clrbing grading, sod
a;nc 4c Hetesthed that work of this kind men-
b performed roaahly at Ia;e 100 por cent less than
xr1s ~ 1.id by ths Board OF Public Works.
BON. JOHN WILSON,
,,Hra nj the District and = reA!dent therein 8inco
80 rrcpt.n. for an interval OF fifteen years spent In
cn,ca7o nude statement regarding tha so called i'm
noTernent made In front Of property owned by him In
s1s assessed for improvements $751; while the actual
ro thereo{ Wis o,y $3GG. He complained, also that
dur;ng bis absence from horas enc day, Board Of
ID Of splendid brick sidewalk and replaced 1t with
another OF very inferior quaIty. This was
dane. Notwithstanding there WIS TO changs Of
ID. Il wls as Of the very best In the city. But
he xcrs feature Of the lob is a he sessed for
she cost Of tie new walk, Ind neseE reimbursed for
he cid material thus carried of. When he spoke ot
Ae nat.er to Gov. Shepherd the LITTER
pE.7oUSCED THE OUTRAGE,
md advised Mr.. Wilson to resist the assessment Mr.
ison testified further that the OWNERS of arse
r Of unoccupicd lots fronting on hia street had es
sned assessments for improvements, and their pro
nun Of the cost WEI added to the assessment against
H. occupants and owners OF improved rcsl estate,
Ma. GEORGE Y. RoBp,
MINER Of I18 fest Of ground testified that he was as
6esaed $500 for improvements which actually cost only
*ns HI raised row about 1t, and the Board cut
down thp assessment to S400. They charged him 50
he best quality culy cc. e5 caI.s and increased the
enosJ Of the outrage by removing bis geod cnrbnE,
Rns sth H. 1ad k0s bs h Pay
na1 hid in 'front.' of his property, and called asphalt,
nd for which ho contractor received it is Presumed
ts usual prics Of sa.20 yard the witness ayers is
d. to this point Of the afternoons work, nothing
rar:hng had occurred. Both the Committee and the
Esc;ators wese g,aEne sleepy. aud even Gov. Bhep-
asrdS6emta to te lo.ing interest in the p-oceednga
PETER MACNAAAEA's
ne Kx8 called, and iI owner prDvea to b. jolly
b. king 1rish1nan, with red checks and eyes ea1ning
NIB Intelligence. He resembles Mark Sheridan, OF
the Chicago Police Bosrd, enough. to 30 cousin.
Ae1ick took hum in hand. The first three
Ut four questions the witness answered in
The negative, but when The Judge asked him
hers of the District Legislature for their Influence in
p1pe,irfng him contract, hc wted completely, and
apxaaied to Senator Allison to know 4 be wss COM
ta1o assured him the question Waa proper one.
81 Neu,n said Macafa1nara, aft I.must, then must
I did agree to pay Jossrh Carroll and EF. Gulick
BEounE Me THE CONTRACT
for grading and macadamizing Pennsylvania avenue,
fora First to Eighth street. Witness then detailed the
circumstances Of the bargain. Alr. Quick il uow.
sud was at the Erne Of tue transaction. member Of
e CuEEciI Upper House of the District Assembly,
snd af. Carroll is nlenbe1 Of the Lower HOUSE:
Both gentlemen are well S@owu in Washington, whsze
they a:e Largo pTcfc1y~owners- The agreement BE-
s=een witness and the gentleman mentioned
oae oas made 3eusona On tue oiaSa paid down
10 Carroll. subsequently the Board Of Public Works
Their rniuds regarding the kind Of pavement
they would put the avenue, substituting wood for
and, as . consequence, MacNanara only
got tho contract for grndug. Tnereupon he refusod
pay the other s. o. aud Carroll threatened that he
you'd work against him with Shepherd. Fearing
carrr,u would carry ont hia threat, AacNamara vent
to GOV. Shepherd, who YVES also Vtce-President 4nd
Manager Of the ioa7d Of Public Works, 1nd relnted
3ulick.
suEcuERp BECAME As0n4,
md told MacNanara that il he heard again OF his
paying money to parties for their influence in securing
contracts, he would Annul every contract he {1it-
ness} had with the Board and disiBsed him with the
tduts to n,ake Carroll ray back the $1,000. II uas
.howa, further, On MAcNh1uarns testimony, that he
bad attempted to bribc OF the
Board Of Public Works, and that Cor. Shepherd, get
ting v1nd Of It, gave him back the money, and had
rHE NEXT SENSATIONAL FxArunx
Of tho proceedings it Is necessary to go outside the
conr: :ntee-roo1u. In 1872 the Republican party had
lhe1 National Convention III the City Of Philadelphia
Mt. H. II. Bingham, the Postmaster, occupied thu
Eponsible position OF Chairman Of the Ci1ens' Com
taitieo Of Arrangements. To suitably eotertain tho
leaders OF the party required the expenditure OF
asgt sum Of 1noney,-so:ue.h1ng Ike <40,o GOO. This
ea.ouat was advanced By The local Postmaster. When
kae Convention finished i2 work, and adjourned, Mr.
Bingham began looking about for some to rei11i-
Lurse him Tor his expenditure. Tho moro hs looked
ths Ee TO the conclusion thst his chances
:e1 gattlng his money back wern very poor: ae
t7aly Lid his before Influential parties st Wash
tlgto, aad come ono suggested tho capital idea pt
E!Ting him
CONTACT u,:pEa TEE DISTRICT GOVERNMENT.
xas aeled upon, nnd It appears by the evidence
s4ldut I'd to-day Mr. Bingnam AWARDED the job Of
a curling tewesng "ad q espa Yay1g street
ssaes h subet to genuine contractor named Moore,
sho did ths work. The p7oliss on tho job amounted
10 $4,000. Or this sum Bingham pocketed $1,000.
tht1a xas any sind]1ng done under the contract but
tic aiore statement Of facts IL given simply to show
cox eone thtnga are done.
w4soros, B. c. 4',1:ha nsrh asat the session Of
he District Of Columbia Investigating COMMITTEES to
Gay. Mr. Harrington tiled the answer Of the Board Of
puhs works to he liz: two charges of tls memorial
fh. a contractor sid The curb around "P>' circle,
tos { Which ths Bo2rd Of Public Works ps!d A1o Per
ooe rroperty-owucr testified that he
HAD BEEN ovERAssEasEp
!cf Improvements OIL New York aveuue, and charged
vce-P7estdet Of The Bosrd sisted tai he law q
oonerees authorizing the assassmcnt Of ta1 for tho
tNc II improvements under which the lstter assess-
"Ae AaNH H28 1QOst u1W43U1E MIA oppAeSeAset
Injustice.
Psss McSxmara, contractor, testified that hs paid
am A. Cook for legal services, but never for 20
s;s influence. Being required to ANSWER Aites de-
IN ne' whether he gavs or offered o give money 10
ss.osepa Carroll or Gtorge GuNcE, monbe11 oS thu
'ae Legislature, witness said he
GAVE CARROLL s, pD
~ oo&an TOT him the contract for PennsylT2n1 ~
saas esst Ct the Capitol He offered to give the
Eos.e5 % Guhek. Tnere was 5000 to be
Even 70 G1hck and C11ro1l, but tha eon-
-. tNs HEe ehnDged, that witness did not feel
- nl'eas that they could procure ths contract but
rsaess ryess Afterwards found such w1s nos tue case
gave Mr Barney, Assistant EnGinee $3.50 and
~ gase It bsck aeaiu lpaned him moaey: didn't
~ u tEihe, regard 1t tns such. Barney subse-
1s-Au5 measured work for witness, and VII
81 ~ = scrry for it, Lecause Barney. didn't
o~ T..e *ane*t this amour: Of grading he claimed
8 facts came to the knowedga Of 1oF.
tsspoefd, WHO Was very angry, md ==ia theaa men
wv oeen o1 any assistance whatever in obtaining
zss.seA and II he ever heard Of witntss giving
@'@'>''ss contract Barry testified that HcSanars
h GAVE E1N An ENVELOPE ...
r. street. and he supposed 1t wss in reference to
~. meaaurEEent MCNAMARA wanted done. Tbs
on looking II It, witncsa that 1t bore ~
,4 s='nent ~ t.o effect that NcNa-n.-a had loaned
H. siao for sixty days- Witness = o1ce carried
ss4ope TO the Governor, requesting thst It be
ehTt 90 % AcSanhra, which the Governor did. HI.
- returning h. money the Governor WE to
"~4' "as contractors seres:lng the sct.
NOTES AND NEWS.
pr. y: ssee'oi niE7aaseh to 1Ae Chie,.4o tr:bsns: