The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1876-03-08

a faint recollection of remark of Mrs.
Bowers, that II / sent the money to the
father, that IL belong ed to her, aud that
she would get 1t any way. certainly had
some understanding then or subsequently
with her or him, TOR, when the next pay
ment came due End was paid, sent one
half thereof TO the secretary OF war and
have continu ed substantially from that
day forward 20 the present time to do the
same thing. About, / should say, from
one and halt to two years after the COM
menceme OF OF these payments, L reduced
the amount to &, 600 per annum. The reason
of this reduction was partly because of
combined complications on the part OF
Evans and his partner, and partly, so far
SIS row remember, ia conss quence OF an
article in tae newspapers about that time,
rejecting on the Injustice done to soldiers
st this fort, caused by the exorbitant
charges made necessary on the part
of the traders by reason of the payment
of this bonus. To the best of my knowl-
edge and belief, the above is a
true statement of all the facts In the case,
and as complete as can remember of oo-
currences OF so many years ago. Estate
how the payments were made 70 % secTe-
tsry of war subsequent to the funeral OF
his then wife, which you attended in
Washington in December, 1870, whether
in cash, by check, draft, certificate of de-
posi-, OODuS OF w 64pFtSr, Ut OtncEWISo.
A-The money was sent according to the
INSTRUCTIONS OF THE SECRETARY
of war, sometimes in bank notes by the
Adams express. Think on one or more
occasions by certificate of deposit on the
National Bank of America, in New York
Sometimes 1 hays paid him In New York
in person. Except the first payment, In
the fall of 1870 and tAe last, in December,
1872, sill were made to the secretary In the
modes L have stated, unless, perhaps, on
one or two occasions, at his instance,
bought a government bond with the
moneys in my hand arising from the con-
tract with Evans, which either sent or
handed to him. Question by Black burn
Can you state the sum in the aggregate re-
ceived bv you under the coz
tract with Evans and what portion thereof
war, including the first and last payments,
which you have stated were not paid to
him. Al have no memorandum what
ever on which to make an answer. 1t is
very simple calculation. The first pay
ment to me by Evans was made In the
Tell of 1870 at the rate of $4,000 year.
He paid at that rate about year and a
halt CT three years, and since then at the
rats OF $4,000 year. 1t would aggregate
at about SAC, coo, one halt of which have
disposed OF as above stated. Question by
the chsirmsn-Did you receive letters
from the secretary of war ging
the receipt of the sums forwarded to
him in the manner you have ststsd,
or did he acknowledge the receipt of the
same in any wsy7 A-Usually when /
sent money by express / would send him
the receipt OF the company, which he
would either return, marked 20. H." or
otherwise acknowledge the receipt of the
same. Sometimes p aid It to him in New
York, when no receipt was necessary. l
have not preserved any receipts or letters.
When sent by express, L always deposited
the money personally aud took a receipt
for it. Q-Have you at any time had any
CONVERSATION WITH THE SECRETARY
of war regarding the post leadership at
Fort Sin, or have you corresponded with
him regarding the same. A-Ab, fire.
quently have forwarded requests to the
secretary made to me by Evans. wishing
privileges about the fort, such as to sell
liquors, etc. don't remember what ac-
tiOn was taken upon them. They were
not returned to me as far as / know.
Evans correspondent regarding affairs at
Fort Sill through me with the secretary
of war-I never heard from him
in any other way. Q-Was
the contract between you and Evans
ever the subject of conversation between
you and the secretary of war? Alt
never was, as 1 remember. Yet it seems
to me that when the article appeared in
the newspapers regarding affairs at Fort
Sill, probably in 1872, about the time the
reduction was made in the payments from
Sl2, 600 to $1,000, the next time saw the
secretary or wsr, he asked me If
had contract with Evans. told him 1
had. l never showed IL to him or any one
else until 1 produced it here. Q-After
receiving the telegrsphic subpoena from
the sergeant-at arms to appear before this
committee, which was on Monday, the 2lst
of this month, did you come to Washing
ton, and, If so, had you an interview with
the secretary or war, and when aud where?
Al came to Washington on Wednesday,
the 23d of this month. went to the house of
the secretary OF war, stayed Wednesday
night and returned on Thursday morning.
1 showed him the telegram subpoena,
aud asked him what IL meant. He SAID
that he supposed it was TO state before the
committee Whist knew about our trans-
actions together. said did not like to
appsar, because l thought my ties imony
would be damaging to, or would Imph-
cate him, or give him trouble. He said
to stsy and meet the committee.
During that evening, my converse
ton was chiefly with his wife, she
being present part OF the time,
and understanding the general
TENOR OF OUR CONVERSATION,
she suggested that 1 could make state
ment which would satisfy the committee
and exculpate the secretary. She wanted
me to go before toe committee and repre-
sent that she and / had business transac-
lions together for many years, and that all
this money / had sent the secrstsrg was
money that she had from to time depos ted
with me, as kind of a banker,
and that she had instructed me
to send it to the secreta y for her. dined
there and spent the evening and stayed all
night, retiring about II o'clock. The
evening was devoted to discussing this
matter. / told her the statement would
not hold water before the committee and
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