The Portland daily press., 1878-06-25
THE INVESTIGATION.
Pr0fitless Characterization of
Mrs. jerks.
Gen. Butler RebuIxed by News.
paper Correspondent.
Attempt to Inquire into the DOipgs of
the McVeagh Commission.

WASHINGTON, June Alt is stated that the
epi .asy part Of the examination by the
Potter committee is yet to come. Mrs. jerks,
Lhellarbarger, Kellogg and Anderson all have
more letters to furnish. General Buffers
friends say he possesses documents to convict
Mrs. jerks of perjury. He was noticed
Saturday to have package of letters which he
jealousy guarded.
Cross-Examinntion of Mrs, jerks.
The Potter committee met at II O'Clock. Mr..
Potter resumed the chair.
Mrs. Agnes jerks was recalled. Mr.. Springer
commenced the cross-examination by referring
to statement of the witness on Saturday,
that no one exec uting herself knew
aught of the original document known as the
Sherman letter. sff
Off no one excepting yourself knew of the
original document, you mast have written it?
Al did not say SO.
Q.-Were you the author of the contents of
that letter?
Al dictated the contents of it.
Q.-Then the person to whom you dictated
the contents of the letter acted as amanuensis?
A.-Yes sir.amanuenss extraordinary.
Q-Who was the person to whom you
dictated the letter?
Al refuse to tell you.
Q.-Do you know the names of any of the
persons who were in the parlor at the time the
| letter was written?
Al may know the names of some of
| them.
Q-What nanaes do you remember?
Al will not tell you.
Mr.. Springer then questioned the witness as
to what sort Of paper the letter was written on.
She testified that it was written, as near as she
could recollect, on an ordinary sheet
of letter paper and medium sized envelope
| used, with no printing on it.
ON whose handwriting was the so called
| Sherman letter?
A-You asked me that before, and told
| you that would not answer.
Q.-I ask you again, was that letter in your
| handwriting?
Al again refuse to answer whether it was
in my handwriting or not. You must draw
| your own inferences in that case.
The witness then stated in reply to further
| queries that she alone now knew anything of
the original letter, adding, some one
| has died SINCE"
Weber has died SINCE"
Witness-Yes sir. 1t is great pity.
The letter was addressed on the face to
| Daniel Weber and James E. Anderson.
MT: Springer then requested the witness,
handing her sheet of paper, to write copy
from her memory as nearly as possible of the
contents OF the original documents. After
| some interchange of questions she declined to
writs copy, stating that if they desired to see
| her handwriting they had number of letters
written by her, to which they might refer.
Mrs. jerks was then interrogated with
| regard to the letter as handed her by Weber,
| and as to what the procedures were on entering
the hotel, to which she testified that she in
| quired of the usher if Mr.. Sherman was In,
he believed the gentleman was up stairs, and
| offered to present her card, but she did not
| desire him to do so. She unconscously read
the letter she had in her possession at the time.
After reading, she considered it was an insult
| to Mr.. Sherman and his friends, and upon
those grounds she thought it proper not to
deliver the document.
Q-But Madame you thought it Drop ar to
open letter written and addressed to Sher-
man?
Al did not say opened the letter, and
will not permit you to so state it.
The witness said she frequently visited Mr..
Kellogg at his office during the time the visit
ing statesmen were there, and she had seen
General Phil Sherman, Mr.. Stoughton. General
Garfield and others in government Office. She
could not recall distinctly who else she saw
without refreshing her memory with her
memorandum.
during your stay at Washington?
A-Oh, no sir. An ordinary Car would not
bring them they are so voluminous
Mr.. Springer-If you had notified US we
might have arranged for freight train to con-
vey them.
A. (sneeringly)-You are very kind.
The witness then, in reply to question, said
that she was on intimate terms with Anderson
and Weber, and Mr.. Springer desired to know
what her object was then in deceving her
friends in order to do favor for Mr.. Sherman
whom she did not know. At first she replied
ohav cuO O1O pT6S6TV6 Gu6 QOuOT OF Inc par
ty; afterwards that her idea was to prevent the
two gentlemen from going over to the Demo-
cratic party. desiring them to stand firm by the
Republican party until the returns were in, and
that she was self-a pointed agent of that par
ty.
Mr.. Springer again attempted to get the wit
ness to state In whose handwriting the Sher-
man letter was. but she declined most emphat-
ically to do so.
Ger. Batter then enquired if she had any
nd 5on5S 1atta
She replied, g! may have more, adding, 'by
the way, General, how did you get that letter
from Mrs. Weber," (Laughter)
Butler thereupon leaned carelessy back in
his chair and seemingly enjoyed the question
as much as the spectators, but he gave no re-
ply
Some little conversation then ensued between
Mrs. jerks and Mr.. Butler, during which the
witness told Butler that he was very blowing,
and offered to tell him more about her Ander.
son letters if he would give her the information
she required about how he obtained the Weber
letter, otherwise she should be compelled to re.
fuse the same as he did.
Mr.. Springer asked her about how long it
was from the time she left Weber until she re-
turned with the document.
she replied that it was in the neighborhood
OF three-quarters of an hour. She remained in
the reception parlor about five minutes, during
which time she unconsciously bit the end from
the note addressed to Mr.. Sherman, entrusted
to her for delivery.
Mr.. McMahon then referred to the CORES
pondence which existed between the witness
and Gov. Kellogg, and particularly desired to
know what letter she referred to 10 her letter
dated the 14th OF January, 1877, in which she
said, Eyes, refer to the letter you wrote of,
You will perceive by one of Andersons letters
which enclose that he values it very highly,
and also that he is not in possession OF the
document and you may be sure he shall never
get it or the oth,r papers which he deems of
value'
Mr.. Mcmahon endeavored to prove that the
letter referred to was the Sherman letter, but he
was unable to, witness evading direct ques-
tions and making various inquiries of Mona
hon. During the replies of witness she stated
that had there been $4,000 offered for the
Sherman letter and if it was in her possession
she would not have degraded her honor so
much as to have accepted the offer.
Sherman's writing?
A-NO, l did not.
Mcmahon referred to the letter bearing the
Signature of Thomas jerks, asking the witness
II II was the signature of her husband. But she
again evoded the direct question and said her
husband could identify his own signature, and
ne being present she referred the gentleman to
him. In reply to another question she stated
that her maiden name was Murdoch.
zen. Butler stated to Mrs jerks that he de-
sired to crafty her curiosity in regard to his
obtaining the letters from Mrs. Weber He
said that Gov. Kellogg handed him a bundle of
papers, and in it he found letter addressed to
Mrs. Weber.
Mrs: jerks Quickly did you not
hand it back to him?
NIB utler Every slowly)-Because 1 had |
use for it.
Mr.: Springer then. asked various questions
relating to certain claim in which her family
were interested. Nothing of public interest
was ELECTED, and at 1 o'clock Mr.. jerks was
excused until tomorrow and the committee
took recess.
Testimony of Newspaper Correspon-
dent.
The Committee reassembled when Mr.. Boyn-
ton, the correspondent of the Cincinnati Ga
zette, was Intercepted by M,Mahon.
Odd you call upon the President of the
nlted States in relation to the appointment of
Anderson?
=, Al did not call upon the President upon
that appointment especially. In conversation
l asked the President how it happened this
man charged as he was with being connected
with disreputable manipulations Of the vote of
Louisiana should be appointed. The President
replied that Anderson was appointed for eff
cient services rendered by him to the Repub.
oIl - L.