National Republican., 1874-05-19
DISTRICT INVESTIGATION
CONCLUsIoN OF THE TESTIMONY
TAKEN ON FRIDAY.

BoTToMLEss GULF-cLAINs FOR DAM
AGES AND WHAT CAME OF THEM-J
BLICKEEsDERFER RECALLED-HE COR
RECTs HIS TESTIMONY IN REFERENCE
TO RAwLINs SQUARE.
CONCLUSION OF THE TESTIMONY OF HON
THOMAS p. BAYARD.
saw the gas-pipes were put up in tempo
rary way, and the water was joined again, ant
the sewer, but It had all been done In my alb
sence. had never been consulted about It
and, Of course, I could not but have disap
proved It In every way; it was injurious to me
exceedingly damaging 10 me, and could no
see where It benefited anybody else. In othel
words, from the first day saw this until thi
day It seems to have been a most wanton ani
useless expenditure of money. Had It occurred
in my city. end simply been a private citizeI
there, should certainly have enjoined the
prosecution of the work, and / think any
court of equity would have sustained my ap
plication, because believe there is no law Il
empower such an act, and l believe they
would have been restrained. The whole winter
of 1Sz2-'73 was uncomfortable and inconye
nient to my family beyond description. Almost
the whole Of that time, when any member oi
my family desired to use the carriage, they
were compelled to walk on q board. Mr.. Ed
munds has described all the inconveniences oi
that. hear in the spring of 1871 under
stood, believe, from Mr.. Edmunds, he gave
me blank petition, and we talked it over. He
mentioned the fact that he has stated to you,
that he did not desire to submit himself to the
jurisdiction of this Board of Public Works
without q reservation of HIS legal rights else
where; to be tried elsewhere; and be drew-I
believe ] made one or two verbal alterations,
and think he filed up the petition which he
has read to you, and / filed up one in the
words themselves like it. It is fac sinlilie,
or intended to be so, filed up by my secretary,
nay eye-sight being very much disordered at
that time. / made oath to it on the 10th of
of March, 1873, to the effect that had been
damnified to the amount of So, 900 in my prop
erty-a thirty-foot lot with house on It in
this locality-by the action of this Board of
Public Works. This is the petition.
By the Chairman: Q. 1t is in all respects
like Judge Edmunds'7 A. 1t is q fac smile
Only In this respect, that Mr.. Edmunds claimed
81, 500 and claimed S., 900, for the reason that
the slope of the hill placed me q little above
him, and / wac rather more inconvenienced
than he by this cutting down, and thrown more
remotely from the street; and the same reason
ing presume actusted my neighbor, Admiral
Almy, of the navy, who claimed, find by his
petition, 81 600. gave Admiral Almy blank
petition, and informed him of the action Mr.
Edmunds and had agreed to take, and think
1t will be found that Mr.. Almy has followed
the exact wording of my petition in his. That
petition upon the back appears to have been
filed upon the day executed it. know sent
it at once to the Board of Public Works. I
then went home TO Delaware shortly after that
petition was filed. The session Of Congress
had ended and went home, l suppose, in the
month of April. After that and in the fall of
1873 there was sent to me two bills from the
Board of Public Works, from the assessors
office, amounting to S425 GA for these improve
was sewer service; part carriage
way and footway, so-called-but here they are,
and will state the reason, think,
why they sent me two bills. My lot Of
Of an original division in the square.
The square was laid off in lots; my thirty-foot
lot lies partly upon two, and therefore they
made their assessment according to the city
plat, and the lot being lot-these are
both for lot 81. But it makes no difference
about that; this is my bill. ! then wrote to
Washington to a gentleman who had attended
to matters for me of this kind here-my pri-
vate affairs-Mr. Anize Smith, who is en-
ployed now as q clerk in one of the document
inclosed to him these bills and
asked him to 60 down to the Board of Public
Works and inquire what had become of my
claim for damages-my s., 600 claim. l pro
posed, in my mind, to use one as a set-of for
The other. He wrote to me. i think may
read this letter, because acted on information
from him.
The witness then read as follows:
s.,. SENATE DOCUMENT ROOM, Nov. u, lS7s
I called to-day at the Board of Public Works and
was there informed by Mr.. Howe, chief clerk, who
said he was the proper person to give the informa
lion wanted, tnat your claim for 5000 damage
dana tn rfv Mas
had been received, and duly referred to the CON-
mission on damages; that said commission had
taken up the matter, examined the property, and
made their report or award thereon, but posi-
lively refused to inform me Of the nature Of the
report or OF the amount Of award, IL any-stnting
hat the reports Of the commissions on claims for
manages would not be made public until the
meeting Of the Legislature OF the District when
he reports would be sent to them with the recon-
nendation that appropriations be made to pay
be In April next, unless special session is called
.ooner which Is thought by many will be the case.
The above, which know Is not very satisfactory,
5 al the Information could get from the board
Very respectfully yours, ANIzE SMITH.
That remained so until came here in De-
,ember. When / came in December, think,
was first informed by Miss Gardrer, the sis
,er-in-law of Commodore Almy, who was left
n charge Of his property, my next neighbor.
She spoke of this affair, which need not say
% you had given the greatest dissatisfaction to
III the property holders of that square. Ad-
niral Afmy had been peculiarly exasperated.
He had been here all the summer, and had
been an eyewitness, as he told me, to this con-
inued and increasing excavation. Instead of
leing ofthree or four feet, ofwhich Mr. .Edmunds
las spoken, they went down and down until
he gulf seemed almost bottomless that they
we're going to make there. He was in utter
despair, and he wrote me several times about
t when / was in Delaware, but felt quite
hopeless. felt as If / had no right that the
Board of Public Works in Washington were
)ound to respect, but did not dream of in
erposing anything to check their will
1t that time. So Admiral Almy asked me
lbout this award, and told me that Mr.. Ed
nunds had settled by offering them from the
lain Of damages, and having no charge made
Iim for the special tax. think at that mo-
nent ! turned around and saw my neighbor in
lis yard, and went over and l greeted him
had not seen him in the vacation-and he
her told me Of the settlement he had made.
And may also say the object of Judge Ed
nuuds and myself expressed to him and he
% me-was that being in the Senate, and hav-
ng votes which might possibly touch the
Measure or measures which might affect the
Board of Public Works, we concluded it was
oest, even at a sacrifice, to get In every way
id of transactions with them. 1t was q
matter of necessity to US both, somewhat, to
OWN these houses, where we had any; we
,ould not help that. And It was ouly feel
ng of embarrassment to have anything to do
with them or any outstanding unsettled trans
actions, that he told me Influenced him, as
believe It did, and know it controlled me, and
determined to arrange on some such settle
nent as he did, If i got the chance.
On the Sth of January Mr.. Magruder, the
treasurer of the Board of Public Works, came
% the Senate and sent for me. / went out,
Ind he told me that he understood / would
make settlement. / told him would do so.
Nothing was said as to the amount of that
award. He knew that my claim was So, 900,
and told him ] would give that up for the
purpose of squaring the matte, and that We
" ould have nothing more to do with each other
the Board of Public Works andI-and so we
settled, and here the documents appear. hsd
seen Mr.. Edmunds' receipt, and having conf
ience In his sagacity and his character, always,
exactly followed the language that he had
used In giving the receipt to Mr.. Magruder for
s425, stating that It was an adjustment of any
controversy with the Board of Public Works In
respect of certain claims filed heretofore by me
for damages to my house and lot on Massa-
.husetts avenue. These are all the facts or
certain Of the material facts. Twill only say
my attention was drawn by something in the
Something was said about Mr..
Edmunds and myself, TO the effect that we had
been dealt with more fayorably than our fel-
low property holders along that line of the
street. ! do not know how anybody has been
dealt with, except Mr.. Edmunds and myself.
only know that ! acted with Mr.. Almy, my