National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-05-25

as saying or implying That any uldos promi.
hence has been given to Your testimony IN any
other respect A. I had Just this point 10 view
/ do not say shether or not that 4 my view Of
other matters. 3 - d - -.
By Nc. Hubbsll:s O. L did not hear uhst you
said, sir. A. just had this point OF tagging
In view, Of which the counsel has made 90
much. Thought that In justice TO myself
the whole truth should be known. NY repu.
tation-for many 9ears is ct stake, and believe
the, technicslities of counsel yesterday tried Ia
take this lard earned reputation from me. !
BY Mr.. Mattingly: Q. When, as member
OF the Board OF Public Works, You took the
stand, and, under oath, made the statements
that you did, did you not naturally suppose
that prominence would be given to your testi.
mony in every particufarf Al did not thinll
much about that-yes or no.. &, ~ 49,
Q. You did not think much about it, A.
only knew SO much thst yesterday about thi:
case so much had been made of, and wanted
my position to be stated before the community
and tho country.
O. You have been neither blind nor deaf a.
to the prominence which this Investigation has
assumed, havg youi A. ] am not reading news
papers much. Tam professional man, and
attend to Iiy business. do not know much
Q. That lie the only answer that you have Il
make to that question, is iti A. Yes, sir
Q. Did you appreciate fully the position thai
you were taking when, as member of TIT
Board of Public Works, you made the state
mcnts which you did under oathi A. an
swered the questions under oath. i did moi
volunteer any Statements. 49, -. =
o. When You answered The Questions thai
you did under oathi A. dill answer them
eonscieutiously.
Oh AM not questioning You as to that.
ask you whether you did not fully appreciate
the importance of what you were doingi A
On that account answered 20 frankly, because
l fully appreciated the position. Z. 'T..r
Q. You did fully appreciate It, and on thai
account you answered SO frankly and so con
scientiouslyl A. So frankly, said.
Q. You did not say SO conscientiouslys A
No, sir: did not. -..Hl rg4ar 80. go
Q. Well, l misunderstood you on that point
thought you did. Fully approaching, as you
say, the importance of what You were doin2
and answering so frankly, were you careful
and particular in making the answers that yor
did, A. may have erred in forrnalitics, in
substance / am correct. 1t ia not worth while
TO repeat the question, believe yesterday
that stated that in full. Iwould not like tc
take the time Of the committee to repeat 1t.
By Mr.. Mattingly. offer in evidence the let
ter of Mr.. Shepherd which was alluded to in
reference to Mr.. Fletcher. 1t read as follows:
. . WASHINGTON. April %, 1874.
DEAR SIR: Mr.. Joseph II. Thatcher wants hi!
accounts settled. Please give his case the atten
ti0n II needs. -.. o.. 49,
Yours truly, ,.... .. A. r. SHEPHERD.
Hon. N. 4. willard, Vice President Of the Boarc
Of Pubic Works. ,.za.r. .s....ar
The Witness. There is another letter which
I have asked for, which is not forthcoming
the letter OF Governor Shepherd to Mr.. Oertly
fixing tho price of 81 cents for Tagging, which
was taken out of wind and jointed; that was
asked for long ago. ,..a- 81 -
By Mr.. Mattingly: Q. Have you copy o.
your testimony! A. l have not, SIR; havt
not been furnished with one.
Q. mean on the first day Of your examna
tioni A.. 1 have just asked for one, and have
It here. -.- 80 .. .-.-
o. Turn to page 9o55, II you please. This
testimony was given by you ..Li
@. Who measured the work ofthe Evans Con
crete Company A. Mr. William Forsyth.
O. Under whose direction was that donef A
Under the direction Of Mr.. Henry A. Willard
most likely, or on the order o. the Governor;
BY tho Chairman: Q. Did you object to hi
being fesignatedf A. / did not know he wa
designated. / only found the bills when the!
BY BY NJ. Wilson: q. Whom they were roturnst
TO the officer A.. Yes, sir. 3 =
BY the Chairman: q. Did yOu certify to them
q. Did you rsfuse TOT A. They were neye
presented to me. II they have been passed, Il
was without my notice. 500 .e.
The witness, That is correct.
Q. Then further down: 81
@. They we're measured over--the final estImat
by Mr.. Forsyth A. Yes, sir. ls., = - .
q. Certified to by hlmH A. Yes. sir.
The Witness. That Is 80. This whole testi
mony has reference to this measurement upoi
which the settlement is being made now. TIL,
remeasurement Of Mr.. Forsyth of all preyiou
work, under special orders BY the vice presi
dent, in September last, for which 1 have tn,
voucher here. Work before, In some cases,
had signed; but In September Of last year Mr.
William Forsyth was directed, without m,
knowledge, 10 measure up and remeasure thi
whole work, and this Is the measurement upoI
which the settlement Is based. Therefore, o
course, In my Testimony have reference to thi
measurement of Mr., Forsyth, of which Their,
are twenty-three vouchers signed by Mr.. For
syth, upon which the final settlement Is based
and this Is mainly the work which Evans q
Co. have done. - -.-i-- -. L-+-
Q. Has there been any final settlement A
There are some more -..r g.
@. Has there been any final settlement A
Well, the workwas not acceptable, and so the.
kept about 500, 900 back. 49,
Q. Has there been any final settlements A
That is between the treasurer and the auditor
the vouchers have left my Office.
Q. Has there been any final settlements A
Ask the auditor,
Q. Do you not, as a member of the Board o
Public Works, know whether there has been Of
not 2 A. know that q final settlement ha
been made, or rather is being made-ls in pro
gress-upon these vouchers of Mr.. Forsyth
and not upon any signed by myself.
Q. Has any final settlement been made A
The final settlement has not been accomplished
yet for the reason that a good many of th,
roads of this Evans Concrete Company are GU
of order and want to be put in repair.
Q. State whether you ever received that let
teri referring TO the letter.l A. remem
Der to have received the letter; but this refer
ments. -..-..
Mr.. Mattingly. The letter reads as follows
(: lSGsrkrsply No. 7l27, vol. s, ls7s.l
WxsuIsoT0N, August ., Isrs.
SIR: am directed by the board to request yot
to at once make thoroug Oh inspection Of all worl
done by the EvanSDoncrete Company, and repor
Hhat ~ out vi order and what Is necessary to b
done In defective work for It TO accord with tn
specifications Of the contract Very respect
Assistant Secretary.
Hon. A. CIusS, Engineer in charge.
True copy. a-, ~0,
The Chairman. want to call the attention
of Mr.. Cluss, Mr.. Mattingly, to one matter
here. On the ed we received this telegram:
y NEW York. May 2. !s4.. tRseeiysa I;Oi NJ
Learning that your engineer has reported thai
In no case has he found the measurements OF the
board correct or less than they should be, would
respectfully ask. IL consistent, that you appoint
any competent engineer TO remeasure with me m J
entire work, at my expense, as want not one
cent that has not been honestly earned;
o. President Evans Concrete Company.
mention that--in Justice to Mr.. Evans-l
received that telegram three or four days ago
OF course he is In error In The first part of It al
to what has been testified to by our engineer
But you will see, Mr.. Cluss, that he proposes
to have any of his work measured at his owr
expense. ~ ~ ~. s.-t =.
The Witness. Oh, yes. In this whole CON
Germ of the measurements of Mr.. Evans have
not charged fraud. have charged irregulsrity
and the impossibility for an engineer to do hi:
full duty If those irregularities occur every
day. have not charged any fraud. In the
complicated business which we have here 1t II
impossible, unless the engineer in charge ID
posted about all the little details Of what Is
By Mr.. Mattingly. @. Do you not think that
the whole tenor of your direct examination wal
TO produce the impression that you were max,
ing serious charges of fraud A. In all the
facts speak about Irregularities. II anybody
implies-fraud 1t is the facts which bring It out
not by my humble person. have reported the
facts. ---
Q. Do you think the facts as stated by you
and as reported as testified to by you, would
naturally cause any one TO infer fraudl A. II