The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-05-31


WASHINGTON, May 24.-The COM /
mittee to investigate the charges
against Hill, supervising architect of y
the treasury, met to-day. Murch was
prepared 20 go on, provided certain
privileges were accorded. He desired
full records to be made of all EVIL
dence and he be furnished copy.
Ex-Collector Thomas, Of Baltimore.
who appeared for Bartlett, Robbins
u Co., Baltimore, asked that he be
furnished copy. The committee !
acoeded, whereupon Murch desired to
take up charges seriatim, the first
matter to be the Dix Island granite
company. To facilitate the matter
he would call upon architects offices
for certain papers which he'en9inerr
ated. Thayer. OF the archit@eta
officer, who was present in, Hill'J in
terest, suggested it was due Hill be- (
tore requiring him to show
files OF his Office for ten years bast,
that he be informed for what specific
purpose the papers were to be USED,
and what specific charge against Hin
they were expected 10 substantiat&.
Murch replied that ne labore&
under disadWanta4H Deiag WithouN
counsel He hadS never before ap: y
peared in court, either as plaintiff, ]
defendant or attorney, but he exs
pected later on to have advice and
counsel. His object in asking for !
papers was to show. that great frauds .
had been perpetrated on the governs
lnent; that the cost Of public build,
Logs had bean increased far beyond
any necessity, and that contractors {,
had, in some instances, been paid ten
times over the value OF services REM
dered. After discussion as to the
mode of procedure, adjournment was
had till tomorrow, with the under
standing that Murch will be permit
ted to inspect files in the architects
office, and sign such letters and docu- =
ments as he may desire to have.
In the star route trial Ingersoll
took up Boone's testimony and ana
lyzed it, particularly that portion
tending to show conspiracy. He
claimed that the transactions fes
ferred to were partly honest and In
accordance with the habits of men
engaged in moral business. "a man."
said 1ngersoll, "who could make con- :
spiracy out of those things could do
anything. He could make cover
for Barnum's circus out of postage
stamp.
Ingersoli read from Bliss opening
speech: "But we will show to you
that at least one United States sena-
of these defendants" Where was
that evidence, he asked. =
Bliss-I said / would do it IL you
would put him on the stand. -
1ngers0n (sarcastically1H wed
xrynr1lA fr1rni0h no
could ] know the senator
Bliss-Was there more than onep
Ingersoll-I say there was not one,
say if you knew OF such person Ii
was your duty as United States atto,s
ney, to bring him to justice, and il !
you did not do it you neglected and,'
Shirked your duty.
Btss-"Whose name was on the
pencil memorandum 7"
lngersoll-tSome such remark was
made the other day, and striken out
of the records, that the pencil memG
randum bore the name of James Il;
Mitchell Qeelinglyl. ! would not for
the world stain the reputation of auc
other, when he was not present to de-
fend himself. 1t is as hard to kill the
honor OF a man as to put dagger to
his heart. He wanted every fact In
this ease to stand out as stars In
dark night, without a doubt TO cloud{
them. When the verdict was' giveH
ne wanted every juror to be able I'd
say, it was founded on the rock
Of truth; that it was
net tainted with misstatement
or falsehood. Maybe Bliss was right
in sneering and NJ king instnuati0ns :,
against everything good and phrE
bat his belief was that Justice set
eternal king, holding in his hands
scales to weigh the act of every man.
He tried to make the world better
and happiness for his fellow.
creatures He did not sneer at iuA-
tice and mercy. Was it possible that 7
Bliss had SO mean and small
opinion OF Christianity as To
ieve a Juror would swear 81
d man. liberty just to get even vi
infidel &c dngsrsoln lew -.sw tb
'. y. me jurors would allow II
to be prejudiced against his
because they did not agree on
ject OF which neither scarcely tt/,t
anything. Bliss made that rem
in the hopes of awakening in the jliry q
small prejudices. feelings that Iurked
unknown in many beasts
Judge Advocate Barry, who was
sent to Philadelphia by the war de-i
partment to make an examination of
judicial proceedings and all papers n
the Nickerson divorce case, has re
turned and will forthwith prepare 3 d
report to be submitted to the ad1utanf
general The Investigation, army
officers say, cannot fail to result In the
court martial OF Major Nickefson Tor
conduct unbecoming an officer and
gentleman,
The surgeon general of the marine
hospital service has established
quarantine station at Pensacola.
First Assistant Postmaster General
Hatton, acting postmaster general
issued an order to-day closing al
postoh1ces on decoration day betWeei
the hours of 1000 a. m. and 3 90 D. N
except in the larger cities, In thes
cities postmasters are to use the.
avn discretion as to hours of elosi5
Offices. -