The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-04-07
DETECTIVE BELLS STORY.
WHAT PTERREPOST. GEN. BibCoCh,
AND LUCKEf SAY ABOJT IL

Evidence Against bnDcOch t"' ,""".
MANY Important ParticuIars-Ihe Se.'
, 3 ,h., neiI Rendered TO Gen. Babcock'
w.sutNoros. April 6.-The other sldo Oh
"a IN u.hoocr scsndaI was heard to-day by
g. w., R.pendituros Committee. Attorney
tIope,aI pierrepont was the 1rst witness eA-
amined, and then came Bradley, Luckey AM
Dabcock, 10 the order named. The testimony
of,bcas oentIems On contradcts In some impor-
tant particulars the story told by Bell ana con-
arm many OF his statements. To take the tesi-
r,ony Of each OF these Witnesses In their proper
order a. they came in contact with BELL II Is
necessary to deal first with that of Mr.. Luckey.
lie read a carefully prep red statement in which
he n,rratod fully and perhaps accurately the
,ubstance Of the different interviews he had with
petiip ST. Louis aud afterward In Washington.
The cssence Of his statement was as follows;
While he was In st. Louis as witness for
Avery, He'll came to see him at the LlndeH Hoo
tel. and told him story about conspiracy that
existed to implicate the President In the Wills
key frauds there aud smirch his character. This
was to be done 10y dragging In Gen. Babcock,
and nell asserted that Gen. Henderson. Col.
Dyer, Secretary Bristow, and Solicitor Wilson
were all concerned In this conspiracy. lie pre-
teod d 10 detail conversations he had ard
In Dyer's otice, and gave the substance OF GER
tain letters. kilograms md other documentary
,vidsnce which he had seon and read In tho
District Attorneys ONCE. The story whioh
Bell told agreed with tho bias Of Luckey's
mind. and he accordingly gave |; cfedeDce.
lie was led to believe from all he saw
and heard in st. Louis that thee was con
,piracy to blacken the character OF the Presi-
dent ard to destroy Babcock; hence he gave
greater weight to Bell's story, which chimed In
10 well with hts own belief. lie thought Il was
bis duty, as the private secretary OF the Ptesi-
and solely with that view he entertained Bell,
and TO a certain extent was willing To make use
OF him. SO far IA his story related to Dabcock,
he turned IL and tue au' hor OF II ovsr TO A.r.
Bradley, who had been seat there BY B-ocock
TO look after hts interests
Mr bradley Is young attorney Of this city,
ana brother in-law OF Boss Shepherd. lie tes
tihed that Baocock came 10 him whils the Nc
Donald or Avery irnl was In progress. and re-
quested him t. g. to st. Louis and !, ara all he
could aDOut the case enemies were trying to
mako up against hlm. In order TO give a clear
idea Of their side VI the Bell story briefly. II Is
necessary to carry hoth LIckeys and Bradleys
statements togct her. l. appears that Luckey
had been in st. Louis few days before
Bradley arrived, oueh this was not
made very clear by the examination. At
any rate. Luckey testines that he bad
him to ma out all he could and report as early
- possible, and that when Bell came back Brad
ley was IN the room; ; that He'll at nrst refused to
talk before Bradley, out was assured that Il was
necessary for iUcOcks counsel 10 be present
and hear his statement. Bell told his story,
which neither Luckev nor Bradley gave very
intelligent account Of but IL was doubtless sub
stantaily the same statement he afterward re.
duced &C. writing, and swore to al the reqdest Of
Bahcnck's counsel. Mr. Sforrs.
After hearing Bells story, both Bradley and
Luckey appear to have been convinced that they
had iound man VINO could render them very
valuable assistance. lie was in the confidence
Of District Attorney Dyer, had access TO all the
papers In his Office, and was permitted to be
present duriDg consultations and confidential
,bt os ne mo
He had served under Gen Grant and had been
trusted by MIN IN conhdentin missions, aud had
proved faithful. and they thought he could
surely be depended upon. Accordingly they
maize terms with HIM. lie It'd them ne
bingham case at Evansville, IN which Reve.
nuo Agent Hoeue mad ngured so largely, and
grams, signed Bixby" and addressed TO hing
ham. was his theory that Hogue w4s the man
who had furnished the King in 81 Louis and
elsewhere with information OF intended raids,
and he proposed to get them COPIES of these
linnortant papers. This Bradley and Luckey
thought would he a good test. and they instruct,
ed him to q 0 this. lie went to lndianapoiis and
got sas 19plTs "a ana n[Sygn Braaey LOUIS
And just here want To cali attention To the
most important fact vet developed 10 this o'se.
1t Is that up to TINS time the Babcock party
knew nothing OF these interesting and TO tnem
very imp mportant oommuncstions between Hogue
telegrams furnished BaDcock with the only de-
fence he had. Those VINO are familiar with
Ihe arguments Of hls counsel, will remem-
Der that particular stress was laid upon
these communications. IL was bufl
neither BaOcock nor Avery was necessary to
mike tho Nhiskey Ring conspiracy complete,
because HOgue was evidently the one VINO gave
the Klng the Washington news he was the fell
dow who looked out for the Washington end OF
tbs line and kept the distillers and dishonest
tsyeaue Metals posted he had the means VI
obtaining tue Information, because he was a
trl,ted revenue agent, ard was always ADVISED
Of what was going on. For this much Babcock
aud hi- friends ought certainly 10 be grateful TO
BELL. lie reudered them great service, and
accordine TO their own account, was very poorly
nal a
Dabcock and Bradley, and an onos which he
te1 about mouth. - .
copies OF Hogues letters ana teegranN they
seemed to be satisfied tnat the man was acting
square with them, ana tney directed him TO get
everything he could out OF the District At
torueys Office and prng IL to them at the Lin
Gel Hotel. They DENY, however, most emphat-
lcall> that they said to him that they wanted TO
destroy the evidence, or that he must destroy
H. u tn Luckev and Bradley weaken their case
ty cIaiuing that Bell is a great liaT and fraud.
lheY establish by their own confessions that
te supplied Baocock with what ms lawyers
clam, VISA comple explanation OF tue lea
hOm Washington whereby the Ring rogues in
q Louis were always fOrewarned. nthetr anx-
fellow nerally, they oyerdo the thing, aud thus
tlrhlsu good grounds Tor suspectlDz that they
themselves DO not tell the whole truth about
After Lucksy and bradley left St. Louis they
cohtnned 70 Iepose tait in Bell. Luckey ad-
ulss That he did not lose confidence Ia bin
thH lNn- after this. Bradley also admits H. at
Le rebprted 10 liabcOck the substance OF Bells
~ Nv ~ nun ON MS return 10 hdsnluRtOn.
Hence Tho matter stands In this way bradley
.cT us client, BabcOck, and Luckay for the
PRESIDENT, took Bell into their employ;
use Of him, promising TO take care OF
hm II he got into trouble thereby. Not
lohg ti,er their return to Washington, Bell
mIoie to bradley telling him great many
tLlng' that he had, as he alleged, found out in
Dyer, onice, and adding that he knew many
othets which he could not trust to the mails ;
nhereupon bradley, a. he admits, called Luckey
mo council, B Jcock being absent, and they
agreed u tend for Bell and to promise MIN that
90 shDuld DO taken care OF.
ihu, lar there Is no material difference In tho
Ntpuht OF their transactions, as given by BELL
Ahu as tod by themselves, save In regard TO the
Proposition which Bell says they made 20 him,
o. gci possession Of and destroy the evidence In
cock, lnueed, Bells story outside Of this one
goint Is corroborlted Ia every particular by both
biad!cV and Luckey. Ii is Que to Luckey to say
.hal he appeared TO give his testimony with great
uanAness, ana did not always agree with Brad
.eyln his recOectlops OF occurrences at StLouis;
olt when the scene changes to Washington,
3oth Luckey and Bradley appear 10 be a gre AZ
peal ulurs indefinite in their statements. Brad
10y Mas not closely and thoroughly cross-cxAm-
med II he had been he could have been made
70 appear In very pad light In more than one
"ai' lie played the role OF a smart witness, and
constantly avoided details. For instance, when
hhe was asked 70 explain his letter TO Bell,in which
Nrad, " ! am authorized to say that II YOU come
ss usts you wll be taken care Of" be showed him
sell very artful dodger. He equiyocated more
man once, but at length he had to admit that
ue consulted Llckey in regard TO Bells letter
eNu was assured bV him that ~ He'll came here