The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-06-27
THE INVESTIGATION.
Mrs. jerks Again on the Stand.
A Feeble Attempt to Impeach Her
Testimony.

could now furnish the letters required by the
committee. She replied that the letters had
not yet arrived.
Potter asked her if she had any letters from
Kellogg which were not yet laid before the
committee. She replied. II may have
OWL you produce them?
Al must decline to do so without the per-
mission of Kellogg.
All this point Cox announced that Kellogg
| had given Shellabarger authority to inform the
| committee that he was DESTROYS of having any
| aud all correspondence between himself and
| Mrs. jerks laid before the committee, where
| upon Mrs. jerks said the letters were at her
| home in New Orleans aud she would produce
| them as soon as possible.
In reply to a question regarding the so-called
| Sherman letter, witness said she dictated the
letter to another party and she wished the com.
| mittee te distinctly understand that she herself
| did not aorite the letter.
Q-Who was the person to whom you di;tat-
| ed the letter?
Al must decline to tell. It would not be
| honorable. 1t was person prominent In Lou
isiana politics. 1 saw him probably six months
| ago. He may be dead now for what know.
Q-Whet was his politics?
Ale was a kind of a Republican.
She testified that the first daft of the letter
| was too elaborate for her taste, but the second
| draft suited her better.
She did not show either of the drafts of the
document to Weber and left him and his wife
to think II was genuine.
| @-DAu JOu ouOW yUuI uuSuduu tuo ursb
| draft?
| A-No sir, never mentioned it to any one
| until mentioned it in this room.
Witness asked McMahon with an air of dig
| who are expected as witnesses in her case, if
| so he had better go out npon the highway aud
| bring them in
| Mcmahon sald-You know Mrs jerks there
are none so blind as those that will not see..
snels were Two letters in the House postoffi:e
| addressed to Mrs. jerks aud che was excused
| to peruse them.
| Testimony of A. G. Haley.
A. G. Haley testified that he had several
| conversations in January and February last
with Mrs. jerks in the parlor on Ninth street
| regarding the Sherman letter. During the sou.
| versation it transpired that she was here in be-
half of Packard in his race for the collector
ship, and she had approached Sherman about
the matter. She said she knew of the wherea-
bonts OF the Sherman letter and she had been
offered $4,000 for it. Witness advised her that
the letter was worth at least $4,000 to Secretary
Sherman, and witness proposed she make him
her agent to place the letter where it would do
the most good.
| Mrs. j. gave witness to understand she would
| visit Louisiana and bring the letter with her on
her return. Sha had read a letter to witness
| during their conversation, purp0rting to bs
from her husband, which referred to the Sher-
| man letter. The letter was very affectionate
| and contained much poetry, and he being very
fond OF poetry the reading was greatly enjoyed
by him.
On cross-examinaton BY Mr. Cox witness
said his acquaintance with Mrs jerks amount
| ed to great deal more than mere boarding
house acquaintance. As near as he could re-.
member the quotation referring to the Sher-
man letter was read from letter purporsing to
| be from her husband, about as follows: "You
have committed the blunder of permitting these
| documents to leave your hands" Owing to
the deafness of the witness Cox asked if he did
not experience great difficulty in hearing Mrs.
Jen ks in c9aysrs sn He replied, ooh none
can always understand a lady better than a
| man. Laughter.)
During the cross-examination of HALEY Mrs.
jerks occupied chair in the corner Of the
| room in the rear of witness, and was seemingly
very much amused by proceedings.
Q-(by Cox)-Did Mrs. jerks ever say she
had actual p0ssion of the Sherman letter?
Ayes sir. She undoubtedly did, and that
1t was in some safe in New Orleans subject to
| her command.
Care you willing to testify that Mr. jerks
had made any attempt to sell the letter?
A--No sir. Mrs. j. told me she had been Of
fered $4,000 for the letser, and l advised her to
appoint me agent with view to selling it, that
thought it worth at least $4,000.
At the conclusion of Haley's examination at
| IL. 40 the committee took recess till 2.
Potter announced he desired brief execu-
tive session and the doors were Immediately
closed.
| Testimony of Jadge Campbell
Inc committee reassembled at 2.30 o'clock,
when Judge Hugh J. Campbell, at present of
Dakotan territory and formerly of New Or
terview he ever had with Anderson was in
| Marshal PiLkin's Office. The protest of Ander-
son was referred to him and he gave his decision
| that the statement was not according to law
and ne (Campbel) had the statement drawn mp
according to the requirements or the Revised
Statutes. He did not remember having had
| the oath administered to Anderson.
| Q-To the best of your knowledge and be-
LET did you ever atfix your signature to any
affidavit when the party making the same was
not present?
Al can swear positively that never did so.
| Ut Will be remembered that Anderson testified
thst 1t was no uncommon thing for proper sig
natures to be affixed to affidavats without the
persons being present at che time to take the
oath
On cross-examination by chairman Potter,
witness testified that there were probably GER
tain BLANKS (mentioning the occasion for their
existence Yin the form of afldavts which were
drawn up under his supervision, but he could
not state pOsitvely!as to that
| A-fhe protest OF Anderson was prepared
ish?
Ayes sir. He did not have the returns of
the parish, a sufficient reason for not comply
ing with the law in that respect.
Odd you advise that it should constitute
part OF the returns?
A-The question was submitted to me but it
was impossible then to do so because I then
understood all the returns had been fled The
information that came to me was that the rea-
sons why the protests of the supervisors had
not been attached to the returns sent by mail
was because it was not safe to do SO. 1t was
very clear in my opinion that if such fact
appeared it would be present at the time. The
protest was presented and sworn to as a dis
tiDct paper.
By Hunton-Were you there during the
Presidential election?
| Ayes sir.
Odd you see Mr.. Sherman there?
Ayes sir.
Odd you have any talk with him?
Abby general talk. saw him but once
Oh twice during that time to speak to him. The
only time that had a conversation with him
that remember was when l was introduced
on the floor of the custom house to him and
Mr.. Laughton. l think that was not very
long oetore the meeting OF the Returning
| Board.
Q,-What was the subject mat ter of the con-
versation?
Alt was only an introduction and the
| passing of few formal remarks
Q-Was this protest of Anderson a matter of
conversation between you and him at any
time?
A.-No sir, at no time
By the Chairman-Wben do you next remem-
Der of meeting Sherman?
Al think the next occasion l saw Sher-
man was in Washington about the time of the
electoral commission. I was here during a
part of the time.
By Hunton-You were an active Republican
politician in New Orleans, and of course ha d
good deal of talk with those visiting states
men about the result of the election in Louis
lana?
A.-Not so much as might have had, I
was not regarded perhaps as of sufficient
magnitude in the political world to have many
| consultations with them about it,
Q-DidH't you talk with the visiting states.
men about the election in Louisiana?
A.-Most Of the conversations were with
field.
Q-Was this protest of Anderson subject
conversation between Stoughton and White or
Garfield and yourself?
Al don't remember ever having discussed
the protest with him.
Q-Was it not something of matter of anx-
iety in New Orleans whether Anderson would
| allow the protest to stand?
| Al cannot saw