National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-16
TWENTY-FIVE DAY.

klALlSLS.
TwESTT-FIETH DAT.
wEDNEsDAY, April rs, 1S;4.
TIE committee met At 10 a. M, pursuant I
adjournment. ---
The Journal Of the proceedings of the proceed
ing meeting we're read and approved.
\ TESTIMONY OF CHAs. z. 5ENKISs.
Charles E.Jenkius having been duly sworn
was examined at the instance of the memorial
lists, as follows;
By the Chairman: Q. What is your business
A. am q contractor. ...
Q. you ever hear Of DeGolyer & McClel
Liant A. I knew the firm very well.
o. Did they ever have any contract in hi
cltyl A. Yes, sir.
Q. Were you interested in them in any way
A. became interested in them on the 3lst @
March, 1873. The award was made to ther
ON the 18th of June, 1872. 70 cd. .-.-
Q. Do you know anything about the oircum
stances attending the award ofthat contract t
them' A. Nothing, except by hearsay.
Q. Have you no papers in your possession
showing the circumstances connected with tn
.slet.ing of that contract A. have the award
and that is all.
Q. Have you no letters, or books, or papers
a. No letters; no papers. Whatever there ma.
be upon the books remains onthem. But therI
is nothing which is on the books that shows
Q. think that Mr.. Mcclellan said some pa
pers connected with the case were transferred
to youi A. There were a number of letter
written by Mr.. George R. Chittenden.
@. To the firm! Yes, sir; they came int
my possession last August
Q. Who was Mr.. Chittendenl A. He is tn
gentleman whose name was mentioned here by
Mr. Mcclellan as their agent in obtaining thi.
contract.
Q. The agent of DeGolyer & Mcclellan A
Yes, sir; those letters remained in my posses
sion until some time ago, when destroyed
them.
@. You destroyed themf A. Yes, sir.
Q. Were they letters from Mr.. Chittenden tc
the irmi A. Some were address sed to the
firm, some to Mr.. DeGolyer Individually, and
some to Mr.. Mcclellan individually.
Mr.. Christy. That would lay the foundation
for proving the contents of these letters. They
having been destroyed and the best evidence
now being within reach of the committee, this
is proper secondary evidence.
q. By the Chairman: Q. We will see about that
y(To the witness.) Did any of these letters re-
late to the amount paid by DeGolyer & Nc
Clellan for the procurement of this contract!
A. No, sir.
Q. Mr.. Mcclellan stated here that S97 COO in
notes and money had BEEN paid by DeGolyer &
Mcclellan for being in some way connected
with this contract. A. Nothing whatever, that
remember, was said in those letters about
any amount having been paid to secure the
contract, or for any other purpose.
O. Did these letters relate TO the contract
A These lptfers related IN VariOuS thiDpS hot
he was endeavoring TO accomplish; various in
fuencCs that he was trying to bring to bear,
some of which he at the time thought he had
secured and some Of which he thought he had
not. Sometimes he wrote, apparently, in very
high spirits, and sometimes he was in very low
spirits. He remained here in Washington about
five months, should Judge from the letters
until the award was made. But there was
nothing in them that would throw any light
upon that question, and that state positively,
as to what became of that amount Of money
and notes.
Q. Speaking of these influences, did he make
any ailusiOn 20 the Board of Public Works, or
any gentlemen connected with the board9 A
In one OF the letters there was an allusion to
Governor Cooke, hut a mere allusiOn to him.
don't know that | could repeat the words. !
don't know that ought to, or attempt to do
go. II might create wrong impression.
By Mr.. MeTrick: Q. Can you state the sub
stance OF itl \. have no objection to state
the substance of it according to nv remem-
brance. Mr.. Chittenden was the chief man on
whom he seemed to rely after Mr.. Huntington
had died, and Mr.. Chittenden was very low
spirited about it; but after the lapse of a week
or t"o he writes in good spirits, and says that
Governor Cooke, he thinks, will fill the place
OF Mr.. Huntington, or something to that effect.
may be wrong in the impression, but from it
/ gathered the idea that he had got friend in
Governor Cooke to supply the place of Hun
tington; and with that exception there is not a
word in the letters that would affect the men,
bers of the Board of Public Works then or now
Q. No allusion in the letter to Governor
Cooke! A. Not one, sir; Mr.. Shepherd was
then vice president.
Q. Or any other member of the board! A.
No member of the board.
Q. When they purchased from DeGolyer &
Mcclellan, was there any account taken of
this S97 900! A. Yes, sir; before purchased,
afr. Mcclellan showed me his books and gave
me an exhibit of the condition of the firm, both
here and in Chicago, and saw that their as
sets largely exceeded their liabilities, and that
with a little money and skill a good deal of
money might be made here in Washington and
in Chicago, and / went in. 1t appeared at that
slime that they had paid s27, 500 in cash and
had paid one Of the notes of 81, 500, making
S27 500, and they had still outstanding s69,-
newed BY DeGolyef & Mcclellan, not paid
but renewed at bank in Chicago. after
ward renewed myself $4,000 of other notes
and paid them.
Q.70f these same hottest A Yes, sir.
Q. To whom did you renew them! A. Ira
Holmes, of the Manufacturers National Bank,
Chicago:
Q. They were in possession of whom7 A.
They were IN his possession, or the possession
n EDaJr wi he
me contradictory stories. But Mcclellan and
l renewed S15eOO Of those notes and paid
them.
Q. Do know from any source who were the
owners of those hottest A. only know what /
have heard from George r. Chittenden in a
recent conversation with him in Chicago; say
recently. It was in the earl5 part of February.
Q. Do you know any other matter or thing
connected with this transaction If so, state 1t
without your attention being particularly di-
rected to It. A. / do not now think of any,
thing, Mr.. Chairman. I took Mr.. DeGolyer's
interest. II was half interest in the property
of the firm here, consisting of this award and
an incompleted award of 146, 1000 square yards
of pavement at 80 80 per square yard; ,250 ,00o
feet of lumber on the bank OF the river. The
lumber was estimated to be. worth about
SIS, 900 or S75 600; it had cost in that vicinity.
Also come curbing work. which had cost
$23, 900. ! assumed my share of the liabilities.
Q. Are you going on with this pavement A.
No, sir; we laid last year q, 645A yards; that
is all that has been done.
Q. How many yards are yet to lay under the
contract A. Well, don't intend to lay an
other yard. Subtract that from 146 900, how
ever, and you would get the amount; say l20,
900 yards.
Q. You do not intend to lay any morel A.
No, sir; that is nv present intention. We have
scld out, Mr.. Mcclellan and /, to Mr.. Holmes,
of Chicago, our interest here in the award, in
the lumber, and in the work, for a very small
sum compared with what they cost Us.
By Mr.. Stewart: Q. State that transaction
exactly of the sale to Mr.. Holmes. A. Mr..
Holmes held against US these notes. We
thought we might make a successful defense
10 portion of them, If not all.
@. You had paid one Of the notes by renewal
A. Twenty thousand dollars of them had been
renewed, and $4,000 paid. They left about
S34, 800.
6 O. That would be s44 ,5OOl A. Well, what
ever that amount was. We were dissatisfied
at the state Ct affairs here. We didn't think
that we would ever do much more, not getting
any pay for that we had done, and not being
willing to.take auditors certificates or these
bonds. 1t was quite evident to me that Con-
gress would have a long investigation, and II
an appropriation were made 1t would take until
the summer time, and perhaps go over until
another year, and We thought we had better
sell out. They made us proposition, and we
accepted It. Mr.. Holmes made proposition.