Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1881-04-28
STAR ROUTE RING.
Senator Dorsey Accused OF Being In
pllcated In the Case.
The Development Causes Excitement
In Washington.

The New York Times of Sunday morn
ing, contained the following from q spe-
cial Washington correspondent:
Those who claim to know all the points
of the investigation which is being made
into the methods of the Star Route ring,
say that the half has not been made pub
| lie, and will not be until measures are
taken to bring Brady to justice and the
penitentiary if possible. The whole steal
is practically divided between what is
known as the dorsey gang" and the
"Gilmer and Salisbury party the latter
being by far the most extensive operators
in the swindle. The Dorsey gang" is
composed of j. w. Dorsey, j. NJ. Beck
and j. R. Miner, who acted as blinds for
Stephen w. Dorsey, Senator from Ar
kansas, and Secretary of the Republican
National Committee, bidding for and re-
ceiving contracts. J. w. Dorsey is a
brother of Stephen w. Dorsey. Only a
little over three years ago he was far
mer in Vermont, an ignorant stupid
| specimen of humanity. He was not so
stupid, however, that his more brilliant
brother could not use him as catspaw to
pull the gold from the public Treasury
and he was brought to Washington for
this purpose. j. NJ. Peck, the second
worthy of the trio, is brother-in-law OF
Stephen w. Dorsey, having married a
sister of the latter's wife, and j. r.
Miner is a partner of the great original
Dorsey himself. He was brought from
Sandusky, o., expressly for the star
route business. The amount known to
have been pocketed by the S. w. Dorsey
gang in excess of the amount called for
by their original bids is not less in round
numbers than $412,00 What percent.
age of this was transferred to Brady as
his share of the spoils, only Stephen w.
Dorsey and his partners can tell. The
firm of Gilmer, Salisbury & Co., which
did even more extensive business in the
swindles than the Dorsey crowd, is COM
posed of j. T. Gilmer, Monroe Salisbury,
and o. Y. Salisbury. A young brother
of Monroe,J. T. Gilmer, was formerly
stage driver over the Holiday Overland
route. from st. Joseph, Mo-, to Sacramen.
to, Cal. he was very ignorant and could
scacrely write his own name, but he had
a shrewd eye for business. In 1868 he
formed partnership with the two Sails
burys, and bought out stage line Of
Wells, Fargo & Co. over which most Of
the mails in the territories were at that
time carried. Since then the 6rm.has heer
engaged in the star route business, ano
has made large fortune. Among the
agents who have made straw bids in the
interest of this firm are V. w. Parker,
7. A. McDivott, A. S. Patrick, Luke
Voorhees,, Geo. II. Platt, O. Salisbury,
Patrick & Brown, A. FL. Brown, G. V.
Messerole, G. Cosgrove, w. W. Giddings,
G. ID. Seeley, +. w. w. Gilman, brother
of J. F. Gilman, w. D. Hill, Hugh White
Salisbury & Nichols, W. NJ. Hamilton,
NJ. V. Nichols and VIM. H. Force.
The excess of pay received by the Gil
mer and Salisbury combination over that
called for by their original contracts,
amounts to the neat little sum of $77S,-
sos, with some still to hear from. In
addition to the money given large con.
tractors, who made their bids through
straws, small fortunes have been divid
ed between Brady and smaller contract
ors, who made their bids on their own
account. In Louisiana DIR. Peterson
secured an excess of SAC, 1851 on route
OF 261 miles, DR.. Peterson was formerly
a member of the Yarmouth ring in Lou
isiana, but now lives in this city upon ar
income derived from his dealings with
Brady, Charles E, Andrews, who received
on two routes, each 20 miles long, an ex.
cess of $12,257 is "a Washington man. He
was formerly clerk in the postoffic,
department here but was removed by
Postmaster General Jewell for malfeas
ance in office. John A. Walsh, who Sc
cured an increase of $l1S,475 on route
from Prescott fto Santa Fe, Arizona, fol
which he originally contracted for $1S,-
500, is native of Louisiana. When the
war broke out he joined the rebel army
but after the reconstruction of Louisiana
he rejoined the ring. He was indicted
in New Orleans for making illicit whis
ky, and was saved from Imprisonment
by Brady, who was at that time supervi
sor of internal revenue at New Orleans
and refused to appear against him.