The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1876-03-09

( War to agree 10 giVeIt 70 me- Al 81
events, / called upon the Secretary oi
War, and as near as I can remember,
made an applics ton for this position
lin the regular printed form. The
Secretary said he wOull appoint me
If / could bring the proper letters and
recommendations, and this j said j
could do. Either Mrs. Bs.knap or
the Secretary told me that the present
trader at the post, John s. EVaBsi
was a candidate for reapp1intnent,
ard that I had better see him, he b.
ing in the city, as It would not BE- fair
to turn him out of office without
some notice, as he depended largely
OF his blddings, merchandise, &c, y
the Office was taken from hin, ana
THAT it would be proper and just foI
me to make some arrangement with
him for their purchase. IL wished to
! run the post.
1 Isaw Evans, and fund him alarm
ed at the prospect of losing the place.
remember he said firm of western
post traders, wh) claimed q good deal
of influence with the Secretary OF
War, promised to have him appoint
ed, but he found, on coming to Wash
I AukEguf LUIS ~ OC CANAACly
| out influence. Evans first proposed q
partnership, which l declined, and
then offered certain portion OF the
profits II / would allow him to hold
the position and continue the busi-
ness. We finally agreed upon Sl5, ,O00.
Evans and myself went on to New
York together, where the contract
was % ade aud executed, which is
herewith submitted in the paper
marked "a" During our trip over,
Mr.. Evans saw something in the
Army and Navy Journal which led
him 70 think that some OF the troops
were to be removed from the fort,
and that he had offered too large a
sum, and before that contract was
drawn it was reduced to $4,000, be-
inR payable quarterly in advance.
| When the first installmsnt came TO
me sent half to Mrs. B B9lknap, eth
er, l presume, by certificate or ex'
press, being in Washington at fuuer-
al. Some weeks after this / had
! conversation with Mrs. Bowers to the
following purport, as far as l can now
remember. i must say just here that
my memory is exceedingly indistinet,
and 1 judge in part perhaps from
what followed as to the details OF the
conversation. I went up stairs in
the nursery with Mr.. Bowers to sea
the baby. I said to her, This child
will have money coming to it before
great WHILE" She said. "Yes, the
mother gave the child to me, and
told me that money was coming from
you which she must take and keep
for it." ,....s .vs -,
said GALL right" aud it seems to
me / said that perhaps the father
ought to be consulted. l said 1t seems
so, and yet can give no reason for II,
for as 1 know tue father knew moth
ing of any money transactions be-
tween the mother and myself. / have
faint recollection of remark Of
Mrs. Bowers that il / sent money to
the father, that it belonged to her,
and that she would get it anyway.
certainly had some understanding
subsequently with her or him, for
when the next payment came due
and was paid, / sent One-half to the
Secretary of War, and have continued
substantially from that day forward
to the present time to do the same.
About, / should say, one aud one-half
to two years after che commencement
fthis payment reduced the amount
10 S6, 900 per annum. The reason of
this reduction was partly because of
combined complaints on the part Of
Evans and his partner, and partly, so
far as l now remember, In c0nse-
aueuce of an article 10 the newspapers
about that time, rehseting on the in
Justice done to soldiers, charges made
necessary on the part Of traders by
reason of the payment. To the best
of my knowledge and belief this Is
statement of all the facts in the case,
and as complete as can remember
the occurrences ofso many years
By Chairman-State how many
payments were made to the Secretary
of War, subsequently to the funeral
of his then wife, and which you at
tended in Washington in December,
whether Ia cash, by check, draft, eer-
tificAte Of deposit, bond, or by express
or otherwise. aaa 49, .ss--.-s-aas. ,s-
Auswer-The money WAS sent ac-
cordiDg to the instructions Of the
Secretary of War, sometimes in bonds
or notes by Adams Express. / think
on one or more occasions by certifi-
Gates of deposit on the National Bank
OF America in New York. Som etimes
I nave paid him in New York 10 per-
son, except the first payment in the
faIl of 1870, and the last in December,
1872, all to be made to the Secretary
in the modes / have stated /; unless
perhaps on one or two occasions, st
his instance, 1 bought goVernmsnt
bonds with moneys in my hand aris-
ing from the contract with Evans,
which 1 either sent or handed to
him.
Question by Mr.. Blackhurn-CAn
you state the SUN in the aggregate
| received by you under the contract
with Evans, and what portion there
of you have paid to the Secretary Of
War, including the first payments,
which you have stated were not paid
to him Eas
Answer-I have no memorandum
whatever on which to make answer.
It is q very simple calculation. The
first payment to me oy Evans was
made in the fail OF 1870, at the rate of
So, 900 a year. he paid at that rate
about year and q half or two years,
and since then at the rate of s., 900 q
year. 1t would aggregate about $40,-
900, one-hslf of which l have disposed
of as above stated. ar
Question by the Chairman-Did
you receive letters from the Secretary
OF War acknowledging the receipt OF
the sums forwarded to him in the
manner you have stated, or did he ac-
knowledge the receipt of the same in
any way? - q.
Ans Eer-Usually when sent him
money by express would send him a
receipt Of the company, which he
would either return marked 10 K"
or otherwise acknowledge the receipt
of the same. Sometimes paid 1t to
him in person in New York, when no
receipt was necessary. l have not
preserved any receipts or letters.
When I sent by express, always de-
posted the money personally and
took a receipt for it.
By the Chairman-H3ve you at any
time had any conversation with the
Secretary of War regarding a post
leadership at Fort sill, or have you
corresponded witn him regarding the
same?
Answer-Oa, frequently. L have
| forwarded requests TO the Secretary,
made to me by Mr.. Evans wishing
privileges about the Fort, such as to
sell liquors, &c. / don't remember
what action was taken upon them.
They were not returned so far as l
know. Evans correspoaded regard
ing affairs at Fort Sill, through me,
with the Secretary of War. I never
heard of any other way.
By the CnairmaD-Was the contract
between you and Evans ever the sub
ject OF conversation between you and
the Secretary of War
Answer-It never was, as remem-
Der. The next time / saw the Secre.
tary OF War be asked me If had g
contract with Evans. L told him
had. never showed it to him or any
one else, until produced it here.
By the ChairmRn-After receiving
by telegraph subpoena from the
Sergeant-at-arms to appear before
this committee, which was on Mon
day, 2lst of this month, did You come
to Washington, and II so, had you au
interview with the Secretary of War,
and when aud where :?
AnsEer-I came to Washington OF
Wednesday, the 25i OF this month. ]
went to the Secretary of War Wed
Aesday night, aud resarned on Thurs.
day morning. showed him q tele
grapic subpoena, and asked him wha