National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-10

y. " Jou Coustuer u petter nos 10 nave
written contract A. thought 1t equally as
good to have ysn~ award. l remarked to Mr..
hCnittenoen that II the Board Of Public Works
o. zoe city OF Washington felt at any time IKE
taxing away our work from us, We had nothing
70 show more than the award on the BOOKS,
and u Yves risky business to pay out great
deafof money until we had something definite
or positive in written contract. He insisted,
however, that the other was the best.
| @! Did Mr. Chittenden inform you at any
time what influence he could bring to bear
here for the purpose of controlling mstterss A.
Yes, sir; Mr.. Chittenden said he had influences
that he could bring to bear which would help
us, II we had any trouble during the progress
/ of our work.
10. Did he tell you whom he particularly re-
lied ont A. No, sir. ~ : ..
o. Did he use the name Of Governor Cooke
in connection with the mstteri A. Only in
respect to the board. He spoke of Governor
Cooke being warm friend of bis, or something
to that effect. -.'' -'-'
Q. Did he say anything TO you about his
being able to get the influence of Governor
Cooked A. No, sir; he never did, that know
of. r .-- O. ." "..
O.. Any other member of the boardi A. No,
sir; he did not. / have no recollection of his
ever saying that he could bring any influence to
bear in that way. have heard him say that
| Mr.. Alexander r. Shepherd was q very par
ticulsr man, and the work would have to be
done in an A No. 1 manner or we would have
difficulty.
Q. Why Vas it you did not put down the
whole Isl, 900 yardsi A. One Of the reasons
was going to say the greatest OF the two-l
have got one other-was that Mr.. Shepherd
said that he could not give us any more streets
to pave until the board took action on the mat
| ter, because there was so much complaint
about our pavement. He said that he could
not lay it on any more of the streets until the
board could take action on 1t.
Q. That reminds me of another thing. How
was this original award made to youf Was 1t
| an award made for paving some particular
street, or an award made simply of 1901
square yards Of paving, leaving 1t afterwsrd
to be settled as to what streetsl A. That was
my understanding, that the streets were to be
afterwards designated.
Q. Then were they to select the streets, or
were you'll A. We were subject to the order of
the Board of Public Works. That is what l
have always understood.
| Q. In other words, the award was to you for
so many square yards OF paving, with no desig-
nation of any streets; but they subsequently
designated to you what streets you were to lay
this pavement uponi
A. That was my understanding of it. have an
other reason why we did not put down any
more. Mr.. Shepherd never designated any
other streets the first season for US to put down.
| The epizootic came on the last of the season,
| in getting the work done. In fact, the cold
frosty weather came on before we got through.
The next reason that l did not insist on getting
more was the kind Of pay we got.
By Mr.. Wilson: Q. What kind of pay was
that A. We got certificates of the Board of
Public Works, and during my administration
and handling Of it we got certificates and had to
dispose of them to raise the cash to pay ex-
penses for material, &C., as we went along.
Q. At what discount did you dispose of those
certifcatesl A. disposed of some of them at
90 cents on the dollar at that time. The first
that was issued to me took to New York and
sold them for 90 cents on the dollar.
Q. To whom did you sell theml A. did not
sell them myself. A broker there sold them
to some bsnk| do not know what bank he
sold them to.
O. Were they sold to Jay Cooke & Coz A. I
do not know; but he went out, and was not
gone twenty minutes, whcn he came back and
| told me that he would take all had-some
sixty odd thousand dollars.
Q. Sixty odd thousand dollarsa A. Yes, sir;
l think 1t was upward OF that, sir.
Q. Did you sell any other than those in New
York; A. No, sir; did not sell any others In |
/ New York.
took the certificates to the city Of Chicago and
handed them over 10 party that owed bor-
rowed money, and he held them for some time,
and came here, or sent here, and the Board Of
Public Works paid those certificates in money
i think the full face of them.
@. Did you sell any others at discount A.
I did not; my partners did-something less
than fifty cents on the dollar.
Q. What amount was sold at less than fifty
cents on the dollarf A. could not say.
@. Who can tell us that! Can Mr.. Cook, the |
bookkeeperl A. 1 presume he can tell you, sir. |
Q. Did your loss arise from an insdequacy of
price, or from the character of the pay that
To kha kIakrr INa
suffered more from that than anything else,
aud from other things that arose within the |
last year In the selling out Of our establish |
ment. We lost great deal Of money by that
sale. The pay was ample to make money on
it-make a fair margin on it.
Q. In your examination by Mr.. Stewart you
spoke about selling to Mr.. Ira Holmes, I be-
notes as part pay.
Q. If understand, the transaction was this: |
Mr.. Holmes held these notes, being the re-
puted owner of them, and you sold out your |
interest in this property to Mr.. Holmes and |
cancelled these. notes as part of his purchase |
monty to youa A. Yes, sir; Mr.. Holmes trans
acted the business; but It was another Mr..
Holmes, think, John Holmes, that was in
his bank; it was in his name, but Mr.. Ira
Holmes transacted the business.
z. Nj. John Holmes was the purchaser; but
Mr.. Ira Holmes was the man through whom
the purchase was madel A. Yes, sir.
g. Now, why did you not gss Up those notes
which you left in Mr.. Holmes handsi A. Mr.
Holmes said he wanted to retain those notes
for some purpose or other; he did not say what;
and he gave me q written document saying that
the notes were satisfied In payment, and that
they should never trouble me any more, or the
firm of DeGolyer & Mcclellan.
Q. Where is that written document A. l
have It in my Office in Chicago
Q. You have not 1t with your A. No, sir.
Q. When was this Holmes transaction A.
I guess about two months ago; I could not give
the date Just now.
By Mr.. Stewart: Q. Was there not q chat
on this property to secure the
payment Of the contract A. Yes, sir; there
was.
Q. This Is the property named in this chsttel- {
nortgagel A. Tais is q part of the property. {
L is on the machinery, not on the lumber; but
he machinery, with all its attachments for
curing the lumber.
Q. The chattel. mortgagc is not on the lum- j
BERT A. No, sir.
By Mr.. Bass: Q. Who were the makers of I
,hese notes; by whom were they signedl A. I
They were signed by DeGolyer d Mcclellan. t
Q. And at that time were you perfectly SOL
1ent and able to pay theml A. We consid- I
cred ourselves able to pay them. We were
solvent at that time.
Q. What amount did understand you those Q
notes Weref a. tnlnk they were In $lU,UOU.
g. In splitting them into SIC, 900 pieces of
paper was any reaGon given for that coursel
A. None in the world. He Just said be 9
wanted them in $40, 900 notes. t
Q. Did he say whyl 4. He did not. There
was one note given for s2,5OO, think, and the
BALANCE was in $40 900 notes.
Q. understand you to say that the S20, 900 !
Of drafts you provided for by giving your check t
on your own bank account, and you obtained I
the draft from that bank on the New York
bank without any exchange being charged; g
and those you turned over as casha A. Yes, 9
cir.
Q. 1 understand you to say that you have ]
since taken those drafts and got them In your
safel A. think they are there now. q
Q. Why did you, If that is the fact, take the '
drafts away from the bankl They are the I
banks vouchers and not yours. A. / do not '
positively. / really do not thiIk
they belonged to Us, come to think of IL.
Q. They are the banks vouchersi A. Yes, !
sir, that is true; they are the banks vouchers I
Q. What bank was thatl A. The Loan &
Trust Company's bank, Chicago. q
Q. You have no recollection as to your being
in possession of those draftsl A. do not c
think we are in possession of those drafts c
What has misled me is two notes that took
up, remember now, of $4,000 each, think 1
Il was. They were taken up in this way, by '
~ L.. 4,