The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1878-06-27
POTTER INVESTIGATION.
MRS. JENKs UNDER CRoss-EXAM.
NATION.
A Sharp Woman with Sharp TOnguo-The Pot
ter COmmlttee-The "Queenly Witness"
Undor Cross .Exrmlnatiou.

Washington, June 24-The Potter InvestIgat
Ing Committee resumed its session to-day, POttel
presiding Mrs. jerks, on entering the room
made very digniaed bow to the members Of the
committee and took seat in the witness chair.
Mr.. Springer commenced the cross examina
tlon by referring to q statement Of the witness
Saturday that no one except herself knew
eught Of tho original document known as the
Sherman letter.
Q.-Irno one excepting yourself knows augh
OF ihe original document you must have written
IT. Al did not say so,
O.-Were YOU author OF the contents OF that let
terri Al dictated the contents OF the letter.
o.-Then the person to whom you dictated the
contents of the letter merely acted as an amauu'
ensisF Ayes, sir, amanuensis extraordinary.
O. Who was the person to whom you distated
the letterY Al refuse to tell you, hir,
Q.-Do you know the namts Of any persons
who were in the parlor al the time the letter was
written I Al may know the names Of some oi
them.
Q-What names do you rememberH Al Will
not tell you.
The witness, in reply to interrogatories, said
the letter was written as near as she can recolecl
upon one page Of an ordinary sheet Of letter pa
per; she used medium-siZed envelope, with no
printing on 1t.
Q.-In whose handwriting was the so-called
Sherman letter. A.--You asked me that before
and / told you would not answer the question,
OIL ask you again, is that letter In your hand
wrlhngi A.-And l again refuse to answer
whether II was in my handwriting or not you
must draw your own inference In that case.
The witness then stated that she alone now
knew anything of the original letter, adding,
tparhan ma anna has died since"
Springer-Yes, Mr.. Weber has died since. Wit
ness-YeB, sir, 1t is a great pity.
Continuing, the witness said the letter was ad-
dressed on It's face, "Daniel Weber and James E.
Anderson"
Springer requested the witness, hand In her q
pen and sheet Of paper, to write q copy from
her memory as near as possible to the contents Of
the original document but she declined to write
copy, stating that Il they desired to see her
handwriting they had number Of letters writ
ten by her to which they might refer.
Being interrogated regarding the letters handed
her by Weber and her movements after entering
the hotel, the witness said she inquired Of the
usher II Mr.. Sherman was in /; the usher said he
believed the gentleman was up stairs and offer
cd 10 present her card but she did not desire him
10 do so; she unconsciOusly read the letter and
after reading 1t considered 1t was an Insult TO
Sherman and his friends, and upon those grounds
NNN@
ment
Q.-But, madam, you thought proper to open a
letter written and addressed to Sherman. Al
did not say opened the letter, and will not per.
NIT you 10 90 state 1t.
Continuing, the witness said she frequently
visited Governor Kellogg at his office during the
time the visiting statesmen were there, and she
had seen General Phil Sheridan, Mr.. Sherman,
Mr.. stOughton, General Garfield and others In the
Governors office during her visits there. She did
not recall distinctly who else she saw without re-
freshing her memory with her memorandum
springer-Have you your memorandums dur
ing you stay in Washington Mrs. jerks Oh
no, sir, an ordinary car would not bring them,
they are 30 vOluminOus,
springer-If you had notified us we might have
Sranged for q freight train to convey them
Witness (sneeringly)-Yo are very kind.
Renewing her testimony the witness said she
was on intimate terms with Anderson and We.
Der.
Springer then desired to know what her object
was in deceiving her friends in order to do ia
vor for Sherman, whom she did not know. She
replied that al first she did 1t to preserve the hon
or of the party, afterwards that her idea was to
prevent the Two gentlemen from going over to
the Democratic party, desiring them TO stand firm
by the Republican party until the returns were
In, and that she was selfappointed agent Of
that party.
Springer again attempted to get the witness to
state in whose handwriting the Sherman letter
was, but she declined most emphaucally to
do so.
Butler inquired Of the witness II she had any
more Of AnderSOR'S letters and she replied-"I
may have some more" adding by the way,
General how did you get that letter from Mrs.
Weber," [Laughter.l
Butler, leaning carelessly back in his chair,
seemingly enjoying the question as much as the
spectators, but gave no reply.
In the dialogue between Mrs. Jenks and Gener.
al Butler, the witness told Butler he was very
howery, and offered TO tell him more about her
Anderson letters II he would give her the infor-
nation hhe required regarding the course puTsu.
ed by him to obtain the Mrs Weber letter. other.
wise she should be compelled to refuse the Eame
as he did.
Springer again took the witness, asking her
about how long It was from the time she left We.
Der until she returned with the document She
thought 1t was in the neighborhood of three.
quarters Of an hour she remained In the recep-
ton parler but about five minutes, during which
time she unCOnsci0usly bit the end from note
addressed to Sherman, entrusted 10 her for deliv-
cry.
Mcmahon referred to the correspondence which
had existed between the witness and Governor
Kellogg, and particularly desired to know what
letter she referred to in her letter dated NoVem
Der 14th, 1867 in which she said "Yes, refer to
the letter you wrote of; you will perceive by one
Of AnderEon's 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 1t or the other papers he deems
Of value.
During the questioning of Mcmahon, with view
to having the witness state II the letter referred
10 was the Sherman letter, the witness eyaded
the questions and made various inquiries Of Nc.
AahOn. She, however, stated that had there
been $4,000 offered for the sherman letter and
u had been In her possession she would not
have degraded her honor gO much as to have 40.
oapted the offer.
Potter-Did you ever see any Of sherman's
Writingf A.-NO, sir, did not.
Mcmahon referred to the letter bearing the Rip-
nature OF Thomas jerks, asking the witness II It
was the signature Of her husband The direct
question was again evaded, and the witness said
her husband could identify his own signature.
and he being present she referred the gentleman
to him for the information desired.
In reply TO further interrogation by Chairman
Potter, the witness stated that her maiden name
was MurdOCk.
General Butler stated to Mrs. Jenks that he de.
sired to satisfy her curiosity in regard to obtain
Ing the letter from Mrs. Weber. He said Gov. |
ern0r Kellogg handed him bundle of papers |
and In 1t he found the letter addressed 70 Mrs |
Weber. .t.
Mrs. Jenks-(quickly)-Why did you not hand |
i back to himH Buuer-(Very ilowly)-Because |
had use for It,
Springer asked the witness regarding certain |
claim In which her family had been interested, |
but the subject proved uninteTeSting.
Mrs. jerks was then excused until tomorrow |
forenoon, and the committee took q recess.
T,v.
lean allies on the Potter Investigating Commit.
tee showed their eloven font to.dav AVA tndinot