, 1876-08-13

! dent duplicating Babcock. The witness further
! stated that the President intimated to him that
| nothing whatever had come to his knowledge
which implicated Babcock, directly or indirectly,
or in any manner, with "Black Friday" specu-
| lations.
In reply to question as to what explana-
tlon Gen. Babcock gave to the President
| and Attorney General Pierrepont about the
| ssylph'' dispatch, the witness said that be
did not attach much significance to it: H
| was not present with the President and Mr..
| Pierrepont when the explanation WIS made. He
knew, however, that Babcock gave to them the
origin Of the term 'sSylph," as was done during
bis trial at st. Louis: He did not know that
the explanation made to the President and that
| Wilson that tsSylph" was lerd woman,
and had given the President much trouble, etc.
Wilson, however, did ask him what the explana-
tion Of ''Sylph " was, and he told Wilson what
I he had heard from others, although, as he had
! before said, he did not attach much significance
| to it.
Ihe question was asked whether the President
| at any time said anything to him about that
matter, and the witness replied that
NOTHING WAS sA1p ny THE PRESIDENT,
| in his presence or hearing. aud anything he may
have heard as coming from tue President he de-
clincd to state. Subsequently, however, the
witness said he heard from Storrs that the
PRESIDENT said that the statement made by Maj.
Wilson before this Committee was incorrect;
slander to him; that Wilsun CON
nlcnced saying something about An i'm
proper woman, when the President stopped
min instantly, aud that he did not permit the
recital and discussion OF the matter. The
President never, either directly or Indirectly,
spoke to the witness OH the subject nor did tho
witness ever couple tho term ''lcwd woman !"
With the ''Sylph'' dispatch.
The witness explained
Ills CONVERSATION WITH BABCOCE.
The substance Of his language was that Bab~
cock was distinguished officer of the army,
and was graduate OF West Point, and there
lore every officer in the army felt an interest in
the matter; that the President believed Babcock
to bc innocent, but TINT II guilty he ought to
b. punished. Wilson did say to him, in the
course Of conversation, that Babcoch should
DC fairly dealt with, ana no injustice done to
him; but farther thau that be could not 70.
The witness did not assist Babcock III getting
up bis defense. He had not, since he had been
summoned ns witness, been to sec the Prcsi-
dent, but had pu1poecly avoided calling on him
at present, nor bud be consulted with anybody,
but had read some OF the evidence; aud had q
general idea OF it.
Gen. Porter being asked to state what occur
red in the interview which he had with Bluford
Wilson,
TOUCHING CERTAIN LETTERS
written by the latter to Mr.. Henderson in St.
Louis, said that the interview occurred in a
purely accidental manner. l will state just
how it occurred, as it has been quoted erroneous
y in the testimony Of Mr. Wilson. In Novem-
ber, l spent day in Washington. / called at
the Executive Mansion to pay my respects to
the President and his family. In passing
through Gen. Babcocks room, fell into con
versallon with him and one or two others who
were present, in the course OF which
he. said be had received, through
IN anonymous source, very extraordinary
letter, which he handed me to read. It was CON
taincd in an envelope postmarked St. Louis,
bearing recent date 1tappeared to be copy
Mr.. Henderson 1t was the bottom and top
letter which the Committee has had before it,
aud it was headed at the top, "A true copy"
Then followed what .purported to be the
copy Of letter from Wilson to Henderson, It
was not the original letter. and did not
l understood neither Babcock nor any Of bis
assistants recognized the handwriting Of the
anonymous sender. After reading the letter,
stated did not believe Mr.. Wilson had been
guilty Of writing q letter Of that character, and
that it was my practice in business not to pay
any attention to anonymous letters.
Gen. Babcock stated that was the course he
always pursued, and that he did not think 1t
worth while to
SHOW THIS LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT.
uH4clbtUU0 Al1 ~ Ely buaL IL A<1t4 RCGA
shown to Picrrepont and Mr.. Bristow. I told
him that thought it would be al act Of j.istica
to Wilson to send the letter to him, and /
thought the best way to treat the subject was
with entire frankness: He said MIR. Wilson had
been absent from the city, and that he had not
yet had an opportunity to bring tho letter to his
notice. l arl not SO positive about this state-
mcnt. said If the letter were given l would
volunteer to take it to Wilson, and do him the
justice to show it to him. The letter was hand
t6f n in thh 1f ~ 6ov I Vva n
CALL ON WILSON.
think I met him on the street, or at his hotel,
and walked with him to his Office in the Treas
ury Department.. / told him that such letter
appeared to know all about it., and said be was
not surprised, as he hud learned that the letter
had been lost or stolen in the Bourt-Housein St.
Louis. He said it was not correct copy OF his
letter, and, after while, he brought out his let
ter-prcss copy book and turned to the press
copy Of his original letter, one OF us reading
this press copy while the other. read the copy
which had brought. Ny recollection is that
they were identical, except as to the letters
" ". H." which, in an anonymous copy, we're
inserted in parenthesis after the word "ToP."'
once that the letters ss II. H. had been inter-
polated, and l told Wilson that was perfectly |
satisfied of that fact. He then went on to make
AN EXPLANATION
in regard to the letter. He stated very posi- |
to the President or Gen. Babcock, and that it |!
had no reference whatever to the visit OF the |
Presidents party to St. Louis in the previous |
fall, but that it related entirely to whisky |
thieves in St. Louis. I think he said there was
L motion pending to quash the indict- |
ments against some Of them, and he !
thought it was necessary to have |
Increased watchfulncss during the next ten |
lays after tile writing Of the letter to prevent |
their escape, but he said he meant to stand or
tnll by that letter. He only wanted the truth |
in regard TO it to be understood. I told him |
that, according to INF understanding, the letter
md not been shown to the President, and that |
saw no necessity Of its being. shown him. He |
hen asked me- personally to show this letter to |
he President, and to state to him the j" ". H.''
vas interpolated in the copy, and also to make
o the President
THE SAME EXPLANATION
which he had made to lnt. You will observe |
hat l had copy Of the letter with me, not an
original letter, md that the letters "W. E."
we're not inserted in the original letter, and in
iifItrent handwriting, us has been inserted, so
hat could not have said saw this forgery in |
lie original letter.
Mr.. Flaisted-Was it ali in the same hand |
writing, the "W H.' and the rest of it!
Wituess-It was all in the same handwriting.
'tSYLPM" AGAIN.
Mr.. Plaistcd-Go on and give sueciDct his
,0ry of the whole affair in YOUR O1F-jl way,