National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-20

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ni'sa .5..j assss 4 iEpsiz i:a.r.sa. 0A'. =
A. That d my istter.
@. Perhaps, after having heard that letter
read, you can now remember something. II 10
something about these peculiar circumstances
that we're SURROUNDING this matter, which you
have indicated IN that letter, and which you
can state TO the committee. A. think the
suggestion esme to me from some source that
Colonel Nlckerson was Interfering In some way
With the prosressof the negotiations, or was
istusdng ths eaoss which Ne Hers trying TO get
n q. And this was little Iegerdemain which
you rssorted 70 for the purpose Of eating Nick
erson out Of thewayf "A. Not much iereryie-
main. It IL pretty frank, I think.
Q. But you say, tour matter 70 I'm such q
shape That u D now best TO be exceeding cau-
tious - 10 what yo1 say or do,a end you have
Now, In what shape was It that made it sol A.
think come one Of my agents told me that
was the best ccurse 70 pursue. -.
n @. What shape was Il IN that made Il neces-
sary 70 exercise this remarkable cautiouf Al
do not know. 9 I suppose that soma one sug-
gested to me to write that letter.
Il Q. DID u get into any very extraordinary or
peculiar SHAPED A. The impressions reoeised, I
think ct the time that that letter Was written
were that Mr.. Hickerson In some way was be-
ing Identified with the Samueis process Of
curbing -waS taking an active part IN some Of
the matters against the Government, or some
thing of the sort, 7 DO not knoH.i-r -
| Q. And Mr.. Nickerson was trying hard to
get Interested In soms Of these caHtfacts. He
was taking some active part against the Dis
trict government A. I won't say Against the
District government; but he Was taking some
active part which was not calculated to make
frierds. IfW ta gsrsga wa n y slefII lSs.i ~
o. That d your explanation Of than A.
Yes, sir; that 70, TO tho best Of my recollection
@. Mr.. Hubbeu asked you while ago IN re-
gard to q certain memorandum. You wrote
this l>tter, which you made s part Of your writ
ten statement yesterday morning, from that
tnsmorandum, IS l understand yous A. Yes,
q, when did you write that letter. Al
wrote Il here, since have been here. ~ p - :
Q. You wrote your statement that you read
to the committee yesterday morningf A. Some
copyists. s,l i7s- '1s7a -. s..-s. -'-
q. Who were the copyistsf' A. i do not
know. --faHE --l.e iTaga- e7'Et.s
%. Where did you come across themf A. At
the Ebbitt House. se5o 81 1iiN O ial-l,J
q. Do YOU know where they came fromi A.
do not. .8sirU 5ss5 M ! lzltls7sa-sFle o.
@. Do ou know the gentlemen. who did that
copyingi A. I do not know. There were two
gentlemen. sas9 8 s--zir 80 8. sC-.s il-5t s1Is
Q. Was Il taken down in SHORTHAND in the
first PLACED A. No, sir; it was taken from the
3: Who dlc.sted ~ 4, They had the copies
Q. Who made ont the originali, A. I made
out the original, with my attorney.
@. Who drzughted III A.. He and draught-
ed 4 togsther; that is, In mutual consulta-
Q. Who else was PRESENT. A. No one but
= =. = q 70 "a
Q. AZ lifetime q was prepared A. No one
@. Where did you get these eopyistsi = g..
Mr. StoTs. Mayf be permitted to make q
statement as counsel herel1cll s.EIsly ~
Mr.. Wilson. / wonld rather that the witness
should answer. sE.r.-i GERS ..za7L- III 81.
The Witness. do not know. lrr tal,srzt 1s-
Mr.. Storrs. The witness does not know, and
I can explain that myself. i hired the copyists.
came here, spoke to the chairman of the
committee, and suggested how much we we're
hurried with the matter, merely. presented
the matter and, in order to comply with the
request which the committee made upon me
:. the time, had them hired in order to facili-
tate matters. -,
Mr. Wilson. Do you know the names of the
copyists! r4 s.s-t5 l-r1
The Witness do not myself. Mr.. storrs
By Mr.. wilson o. In some Of these letters
that you have wrtten-in one Of
aDo you think your figures wiii
be satisfactory to himf" or something to that
effect. What figures do you refer to therei
A.. win you allow me 10 look at that letter.
Mr.. Wilson. Certainly If I have It here.
THE letter was handed to the witness, who
read as follows: "Figufes will be more salts
factory TO you and TO the District, and the
pavement more satisfactory to the people when
laid than one or all the other kinds Of pave
ment taken collectively."1 80 -
The Witness. That was my opinion at that
time. .eL ra--- -rslT ST. e. = -. 4 -s.. q
Q. What figures do you refer tot A. I re-
fer, think, to the cost of the pavement; that
Is, the number of dollars per square yard
Q. Do you mean the figures at which you
were proposing to lay the pavement, OF the cost
ofthe pavement 10 DeGolyer s. MeClellani A.
/ think this refers to the figures upon the cost
Of the pavement to the District. 2,
Q. That was the wood payemeuti A. That
was tae wood pavement, -ya ~.
Q. Were you, or moi. apprised of the fact
that ct that time the District government had
already established the price for wood pave
menti A, I was not. did not know any
thing about that.
o. What Is the date of that letter. A. This
Is dated February 8, 1879.
@. You say that you did not know at that
time that the board had already established 9
thati! A. No, sir; left this entirely In the
hands Of Mr.. Huntington. was not familiar
with that state of things. 81 gs
%. You were to get one-third of the profits
Of this contract for your services in getting that
contract A. Yes, sir. 81 n s7-jTr-gs - q
@. Did this bonus of fifty cents q square yard
enter into this account A. It did not.
Q. Then DeGolyer q Mcclellan agreed to
pay ffty cents o square yard as bonus for
getting the contract, and then outside Of all
that you were-to get one-third OF the profits of
laying the payement-actual proftsi A. Yes,
sir; that was the understanding. Is q & -
@. Had you ever done any figuring 30 as to
know what that pavement had cost A. No,
sir; could not tell what IL would cost. -.
/. q. Had you ever figured any on that subject
A. DeGolyer q Mcclellan stated that AFTER the
ffty cents were paid that there would be very
good margin TO divide between Us.
Q. You never made any figures on that sub
jecti A. No, sir; ] did not know what the
pavement cost. do not know to-day. am
not practical payer at all, / do not know
anything about paying except the general
merits OF the patents. , u. .s.i.s7.4, 81
Q. You were taking your chances on that en-
tirelyf A. No, sir; not 20. had paid for this
pavement in front Of some of my property on
Dearborn street, Chicago, and It seemed to me
to be q most excellent pavement. Therefore
was interested In the pavement, and believed
the people would be, as well satisfied as myself.
@. Your interest In having the pavement laid
In the city Of Washington was In getting
third Of the proftsf A. Certainly; came here
for that purpose-so get the contract for the
O. And you made no calculation or made no
inquiry as 70 what the profits would BET A.
Mr.. Mcclellan stated to me that he could not
-state exaetly what the profits would be; that
they would have TO bring machinery here
81, 900 worth Of mschinery-but there would
be good ldiyisionof the profits between Us
after ffty cents was paid. tl 90
Q. ind among the letters written by Mr..
Mcclellan to you, one dated on May "a, 1879,
which desire shall 60 IN evidence, or such por-
tor of u Is relates TO the mi.tter Of securing
the contracts here. In this letter Mr.. McCieE
Ian, among other things, says: "Mr. Chitten-'
den, / have been thinking good deal about
Washington contracts, and the more think
about it the more am inclined 70 advise You
to shake OF these go-between men, and make
your application directly at headquarters; II
you do so, am Of the opinion you will be
more successful than to depend on others,
as we have been doing. Please to think
this matter over we'll, and act accordingly.
know you are much annoyed ct the
shape things have taken in Washington. But
the quickest way tn my opinion to come TO any
thing different Is to go 10 headquarters and put
the question directly to the board. II Won can