Vicksburg weekly herald., 1877-07-20
Our DERRICK Heard From.

Our Dedrick Heard From.
ALAS THE PooR NEGRO! so ONE CAN
TELL or HOW MUCH He HAS BEEN
ROBBED.
We clip the following from the New
Orleans Times OF Sunday:
One Hurley, a New Orleans man, is
stirring up little breeze in the PEN
sion Office at Washington. A Wash.
ington dispatch to the Baltimore Amer
lean gives a part OF the story, but fills
IL with good many errors TIE cor
rect version Is about this:
Shortly after the close of the war,
aud until some tine in 1871, all pay
ments on pensions we're made from the
district agency at Washington. During
those years there fourished In Wash.
ington a pension firm by the name Of
Meyers & Dedrick, with branch offices
in Memphis, Tenn, and Vicksburg,
Miss.
They secured on their rolls thou.
sands OF colored widows, who made
Affidavils TO their identity and COM
piled otherwise with the requirements
Of the law under the direction of their
energetic agents. OF course all pay
ments were made through the agents
TO the pensioners.
From the nature OF the case, II will
be seen that the Memphis and Vicks-
burg establishments were the most i'm
portant, as they were the big receiving
shops, and the Washington Office was
only formality. Therefore, IS soon as
the manner Of making syments was
changed, aud pension agencies were
established over the country, the Wash
ington Office was closed, aud Meyers
q Dedrick continued business at Mem
phis aud Vicksburg
They had In their employ q yonRg
man by the name of Hurley, who was
we'll acquainted with the inside work.
ings Of their offices. All went along
smoothly until March 18th, 1875, when
W. W. Dedrick, the junior member Of
the firm, had himself appointed United
States Attorney for the Southern Dis
trict of Mississippi, with headquarters
at Jackson, an Office from which he
was removed about a year ago.
When the firm OF Meyers & Dedrick
was dissolved, In consequence Of Ded-
rick's promotion, Hurley demanded q
settlement from the concern. Failing
TO get satisfaction, he came on to New
Orleans, bringing with him three very
important aud tell-tale books belong.
ing to the concern. They consisted Of
q day.book, journal snd ledger.
O1 reaching New Orleans, he wrote
to Washington In May, 1875, stating
that he had these books In his posses
sion. and proposed to forward them for
inspection. He received q favorable
reply from Commissioner Bentley, and
the books were soon under the official
microscope. Investigation showed they
were full OF illegal entries. Accounts
were kept with each pensioner on the
rolls OF The firm. The law provides
especially thai all checks sent from the
Government shall be paid direct to the
pensioner. The books of Meyers e.
Dedrick showed that after receiving
the checks for the various parties, they
had opened q running account with
them, and the pensioners got their
money in homeopathic doses, all the
\ way up from fifty cents to few dol
lars, and frequently the debts were In
the shape OF orders on grocery stores
for small lots OF provisions. As the
negro customers, in most cases, could
neither read nor write, the firm evi.
IDENTIFY enjoyed opportunities for drv.
ing a thrifty business.
The system practised by those attor-
neys, by which pensioners were being
quarterly defrauded of thousands Of
dollars, has continued up to the present
time, the Commissioner having only
lately consented to send an agent to
look into the matter. What has become
of Meyers is not known, but Dedrick
still resides either at Vicksburg or
Jackson, In both Of which places he has
considerably property.