Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-10-04
LIARS,


LIARS.
The ftiost colossa, and stupcndou.
liars yet developed during this some
what extraordinary political cam
palgn, are the scuryy whelps sen
forth by the Chicago Times to black
en- the reputation of Governor Hayes
II is fresh in the minds of the read
ing public how one of these talented
liars went to Governor Hayes hom,
and concocted an infamous lie abou
his sworn assessment, and how Gov
crnor Hayes Immediately sat dowi
upon that lie so hard that it has new
or been heard from in respectabl,
quarters since. The latest story from
this source is to the effect that on,
James Leroy. Of Wisconsin, had
son, Nelson, in Hayes brigade, ant
that Nelson, according to his owr
fathers statement, was q successful
poker player, and that just before tn,
battle of Winchester he put thous
and dollars, all an .ffty and one hun
dred dollar bills, into General Hayes
hands for safe keeping, and that tn,
young man was killed in that action
and hence Hayes kept the money.
Old Leroy found out by accident
in 1869, that his SON was possessed O.
this somewhat extraordinary amour
Of money in 1864, in the somewha
more extraordinarily large bills fol
the circumstances, and for an ordin.
airy poker player, but for the life Of
him he can't tell exactly who frs,
called his attention to it.
He furnishes the Times man with
certain copies of his own letters to
Gov. Hayes, in 1869. in which he de.
mands this money, or else he will
blow on him, and furnishes what he
claims from memory to be copies of
letters received from Hayes, to him.
the originals, for some inexplicablc
reason, being lost.
The reporter asked him why he
didn't prosecute Hayes st the time of
the discovery, to which he replied:
."For two reasons. In the first
place, for long time Twas very busy
with some litigation. It consumed
all my time. But the chief reason
was that | saw by Hayes letter that
he intended to swear out of it,
Though he had denied at first that he
had ever known the boy, then affirm.
ed that he knew him, but had received
none of his money, still though l
brought a hundred Trustworthy wit
nesses that my son gave Gov. HAYES
money for safc-keeping, and he swore
he returned it, he would certainly
carry the day in court of law. This
was the opinion of all the attorneys
l consulted regarding the matter, and
so was forced to drop it,
The Times sums up its cock-and.
bull story as follows:
"The above is a plain statement O
facts, and speaks for itself. 1t could
hardly be any stronger if the origina
letters were still in existence, becaus.
that they have been in existence. i!
beyond denial. Every effort has beer
made to recover the originals, but 81
far without avail. Mr.. Leroy beliey
eel at one time that they would b,
found among some papers he left fol
safekceping about a year ago with
brother in Milwaukee, but a recen
search among those papers has failed
in turning them up. They might still
be found if some one could give proper
attention to the matter, but Mr.. L.
toy's circumstances are such that h,
cannot very well afford either to Civ,
much time or incur any large expens,
to accomplish such an object
Does any one suppose that Nclso,
Lelsoy, a private soldier. in the %,
Ohio and an admitted GAMBLER, ha,
$1,000 all in 90 and 500 bills, in 1864
And sapposing that he was shrew,
enough, to win such an amount, wher
did the men get such large bills il
the front?
And admitting that he was smar
enough to win and have such al
amount, why didn't he take receip
from Governor Hayes, or have som
one witness the deposit?
i Why should he have put the money
in General Hayes hands for SAT
keeping, anyway, when it was motto
rious that General Hayes was in tn
habit of leading his brigade in per
son, as he did at Winchester, where b
f was more likely to be killed an
: robbed than Nelson Leroy himself
There was abont that command. .
there was with all others, chaplain
: suffers, quartermasters, surgeons an
} ther non-combatants enough to hay
aiken care of LeRoy's money, and W
n ventaafe the assertion that it was nt
: the habit in that army or, an
! other, for that matter, for its privat
soldiers to put their money for sal
keeping in advance of battle int
the hands of its most noted fighin
: officers.
:. If Leroy received replies to h
! blackmailing letters from Hayes, j
: which, as he claims, Hayes to ccrtai
8 extent admitted that he had had at or
time money belonging to the soldit
Leroy, but that he had returned ii
same, why didn't Leroy Senior brin
= suit long ago? Above all, why shoul
he have been so careless of these a
: legged damaging letters from Hay,
as to have lost them and now COM
to the front to accuse Hayes on VIII
he alleges to have been the conten
. of those letters from Hayes to him
Leroy is q lawyer, and therefor
knew the value of such docnmental
evidence, provided he ever had an
such.
= The whole story carries with it i
n own refutation when read in full
: tho Times. 1t is miserable, stupi,
: baselcss, improbable fabrication
trumped up by the Chicago Time
without the slightest evidence of re,
son or probability from beginning {
0 end. Its object is to divert the after
: ton of the public from the gigant
crimes which are being develope
against Sam'l j. Tilden, and whie
. are much more likely to send him
the State prison than to the Whit
House. sb
I FooLIsHNEss.
Republicans who have a penchal
for the soft money theory, should n
member that they are dividing II
publican strength when they run o
after this one idea, and so will hel
the solid south, who say give us any
hn6ry tha{ cor, IN v,,,1, un., Mar h.