Sacramento daily record-union., 1881-07-08


ined by Mr.. Overs. Never heard Warden
Ames say he would discharge anyG- d. man
who testified against him before the Commis-
sion was appointed through the influence of
Mr. Upham, of the firm of Payot, Upham
& Co. Upham was brother-in-lsw of wit.
ness, and friend of Director Neff.
THE DEPUTY WARDEN.
Captain Ed. Perkins, the Deputy Warder.
was sworn, and testified. He knew convict
benson /; on one occasion the night patrol ar
rested benson in an intoxicated condition;
the convict had been Co San Rafael, and re-
turned to the prison at II o'clock at night:
the night patrol saw him go into the War
denis Office, and reported it to witness the
next morning. Witness reported the case to
the Warden heard nothing further Of it;
did not know any instance of drunkenresso
the part of Warden Ames was Deputy
Warden had rever discharged the duties of
| Warden.
After long and searching examination, it
was shown that witness kept the time of the
| guard and detailed the guard to their various
posts.
Witness, continuing, said: Had never
signed any books or accounts; had not at
any time been instructed in his duties as
! Warden, although he was expected to act as
| Warden in the absence Of that officer Wit
ness said his duties, in the absence of the
=, Warden, did not differ from those discharged
by him when the Warden was at his post
| yV;.,ars s.;1 That tl,a UorJa- bos :.s,,aJ -,
order to each officer forbidding him to make
any report to any other officer Of the prison
as to the affairs in bis department. To Illus
trate-the clerk was forbidden to furnish any
information of any matter in his department
to the Commissary, wio was forbidden to
furnish sny information TO any other
officer concerning the sffairs in his depart
ment. The Deputy Warden was forbidden
to furnish any information to any Of the
guards, or guard himself to any other
officer, etc.
THE PRISON CARPENTER.
J. W. Pearce, the prison carpenter, testi-
| fed that he had seen Warden Ames frequent
| iy under the influence of liquor.
In answer to question as to whether his
intoxication was to the extent of incapaci-
tating him from business, witness replied
that the Warden would be much better off
without it. When under the Influence of
| liquor he was coarse, dictatorial and tyrauni-
cal. Witness had charge of the lumber
purchased for the use of the prison. On cne
occasion he laid out 1000 feet of redwood
L. Iora anl of Co.
of finishing house belonging to the State.
A stranger who came to the prison for the
purpose of building water-wheel took some
of the lumber away on a wagon, and said he
had an order from Warden Ames to take
that lumber Witness allowed him to take IT,
He subsequently saw the water wheel, which
had been built in the prison out of this
lumber, made up in packages for shipment.
did not know the name of the man who built
the wheel, or for whom it was built. Wit
ness knew that yacht had been constructed
for the Commissary. About 500 feet of floor
ing belonging to the State was used in the
construction of the yacht was not present
when the lumber was taken, and did not
measure it; was told that it would be taken
away; saw that it was missing from the lum-
Der piles, and subsequently, saw the same
/ flooring being used in the construction Of the
vessel. Witness had charge of the lumber.
Qaestion-Suppose 10000 feet of lumber
had been purchased for the use of the State
building, and suppose several jobs had been
completed with this lumber. could you tell
how much lumber had been used for each
job:
Answer-No.
Question-If part of this 10000 feet had
been used in the construction of the yacht.
would you know how much had been used by
measuring what remained and after counting
| off what had been used in the State work
| Answer-No.
CROSS EXAMINED BY WARDEN AMEs.
Witness stated that Warden Ames had not,
as be understood it, instructed him to keep
detailed account of the lumber used in any
particular job; did keep an account Of the
lumber used in the construction Of one house,
and as the other houses had been built Just
like that, supposed the same amount of lum-
Der was used on the other houses; but didn't
know Witness denied that he had received
instruction from Warden Ames to keep an
account of the lumber used in each particular
Job. Witness stated that he had received
the office of State carpenter through the re-
commendation of Deputy Warden Perkins.
LIEUTENANT OF THE GUARD.
| r. A. Marten, Lieutenant of the Guard,
| testified that he had seen the Warden un-
der the influence of liquor he never was in
toxicated at any time SO as to incapacitate
| him for business; merely showed that he had
been drinking little was little more en-
phatic under the influence of liquor than
when sober.
DEPUTY WARDEN PERKINS RECALLED.
Question-How many guards have you in
office?
Answer-Sixty-two.
Question by Commissioner Watt-How
many guards who had served under the last
! administration
| Auswer-Three.
| Warden Ames-There are more than three.
Question-How many more than three?
| Warden Ames-Five.
| Question-In what time were the changes in
which 81 were replaced effected:
Ames-In about two months.
| BY Mr. Watt-Why were the 81 men dis.
charged and 81 new men appointed?
Warden Ames-Well, some were discharged
for drunkenness, and others resigned.
Commissioner Mills-Did you say that in
two months 81 guards were discharged for
drunkenness. making it necessary to appoint
| 81 new men to FIJI their places?
Warden Ames-Some of them resigned.
| Commissioner Mills-Or were permitted to
resign. Drunkenness must have become
very epidemic.
| Warden Ames-I have in my possession
list handed to me by my predecessor in Office
Governor johnson, informing me of those
who were trustworthy and those who were
uutrustworthy. have discharged all those
| whom Governor johnson certified to be un-