National Republican., 1883-07-23
THE NORFOLK NAVY YARD.
Mr. DezendOrf Declines To Go Before a Board
Appointed by Commodore Mayo.
The Difficulty Between tho Commodore
and Commander McGlensey.
special Letter.

SDecidl Letter.
NORFOLK, VA, July 2l.-For some days
past the evidence adduced before the court Of
inquiry, which is examining into the diff
Guilty between Commodore w. X. Mayo, COM
mandant, and Comdr John f. McGlensey,
equipment officer of the Norfolk navy yard,
has taken up, to considerable degree, the
attention of the public. Tho court is in ses-
sion at the navy yard. II consists of Commo-
dore J. G. P, DeKraTt, president; Commodore
w. T. Truxton, Capt. Philip G. Johnson,with
Lieut.. Samuel G. Lemey, U. S. N, AZ judge
advocate Mr.. r. Dorsey Mohun, Of Wash
ington, is clerk to the judge advocate.
Tho court is being held with open doors,
and its proceedings are reported in full by
members of the Norfolk and Portsmouth
press your correspondent having been pres
ent for the past three days.
The charges of Commodore Mayo against
Comdr McGlensey are that ho approved an
application of Mr.. l. N. O.. Cole for two days
pay, said application being signed "Cler k"
when in fact Mr.. Cole by order ofthe bureau
of equipment, was only "writer," and that
in letter of complaint to the bureau of
equipment of Commodore Mayo's discrimina-
tion against an employe of his office, Comdr.
McGlensey attempted TO get the two days
pay Commodore Mayo having approved tho
leave without pay by representing Cole first
as "olefk," and again as n writer" in tho
same letter. He also charges Comdr. McGlen-
sey with disobedience of orders, first in not
delivering to him Commodore Mayo) the
original of Coles leave, when ordered so to
do, and again in not going to his quarters
when ordered so to do.
Comd'r McGlensey charges Commodore
Mayo with abuse of his authority and tyran-
nical conduct toward him (McGlensey) in
that he demanded of him private paper,
ordered him under arrest for not delivering
the private paper and for threatening to
break open his private desk to take there
from private paper.
Commodore Mayo's counsel is his official
secretary, Mr.. John ]. Campbell. Comdr
McGlenseys counsel is Mr.. John A. Gayle, a
prominent lawyer of Portsmouth, who was at
one time state senator from the district, COM
posed of the city of Portsmouth and county
of Norfolk.
The order of proceedings is to first examine
into Commodore Mayo's charges against
Comdr McGlensey and then into Comd'r
McGlensey's charges against Commodore
Mayo.
The first witness put upon the stand to sup
port Commodore Mayo's allegations was him
self. His view of the case is that he received
an application for two days leave, for June
81 and %, 1888, signed, l. n. G. Cole, clerk" !"
approved by Comdr. McGlensey, rs equip
ment officer; that, knowing Cole to be a writer
on per diem pay (by order of the bureau of
equipment) from May 10, 1883, to the end of
the fiscal year, 1883, he Commodore Mayo)
returned the paper to Comdr. McGlensey for
explanation; that he received in reply the ap-
plicatiou, accompanied by confused state
ment in writing about Cole being writer;
that he Commodore Mayo) then approved the
application, without pay, with the explana-
tion that there was no authority for allowing
leave on pay to per diem clerk" He
then holds that he heard no more of the
matter until he received, about July Ito be
forwarded by him), complaint from Comdr.
McGlensey to the bureau of equipment of
his (Mayo's) discrimination in the matter of
pay against an employe of his (McGlensey's)
Office that said letter was an effort to get
the pay for two days from this fiscal year
to satisfy demand for two days pay
which he (McGlensey) claimed was due
Cole in the last fiscal year. that in that
letter to secure the pay McGlensey first
represented Cole as a clerk directly, and
again as writer" that, not being able " to
conceive how commander in the United
States navy could misrepresent a person as
the basis of a claim for money from the
public treasury, he Mayo sent to him
(McGlensey) for tho original leave to clear
away the fog, and by a friendly interview
with him (McGlensey) save himself (Mayo)
from the torture of representing to the bu
reau of equipment his view of the paper
of complaint which McCilensey had addressed
to the chief of the bureau of equipment He
further holds that McGlensey refused to send
the original, claiming it as q private paper,
but agreed to give him certified copy of il {;
that he sent for McGlensey and asked him
it it was possible that he refused to give him
public record on file in his (McGlensey's)
Office and that McGlensy replied "Yes, sir
you can have a certified copy of it :" that he
suspended McGlensey from duty and ordered
him to his quarters; that instead of going to
his quarters he went in an opposite direc-
tion to his Office, and that he Mayo, with u
writer and his orderly, a sergeant, followed
McGlensey to the equipment office; that Nc
Glensey set down at his desk and wrote upon
paper of official aspect; that he admonished
McGlensey that he was under suspension, and
then demanded of McGlensey Coles leave that
AIctilensey placed his body $50 pounds dead
weight Commodore Mayo's estimate), in a
chair in front of the keyhole of his desk, as
If in resistance to his authority and as an i'm
pediment to his (Mayo's) getting into the
desk; that McCilensey asked him if he was
going to break open his private desk that he
told McGlensey he would break open that +"
desk to get public record that he ordered
the sergeant to accompany McGlensey to his
quarters; that he (NIayorj sent for the com
mandant of marines, intending to have him
break open the desk that McGlensey finally
opened the desk and gave him the "original
leave" and that he Mayo then left the
equipment office.
The next witness called was /. N. C. Cole,
who corroborated what Commodore Mayo
said, except that tho sergeant took hold of
McGlensey's arm and the lapel of his coat.
Commodore Mayo will fail no doubt to
prove that Comdr, Mcilensey intended any
fraud by calling Cole clerk, for Commodore
Mayo himself approved the request signed
Clerk" the approving of which by McGlen-
sey, the commodore's claims was wrong. If
McGlensey was wrong, Mayo was wrong.
The gist of the thing is that Cole was tempo
rarily reduced from clerk" to "writer," and
continued to sign official papers as clerk.
Commodore Mayo will, think sustain his
| claim, that leave of absence ore matters of
public records, and that McCilensey had
no right to withhold il from him.
To prove it a public record Mayo makes a
good point with supposabe case of "time
| clerk with no voucher for docking a man for
two days." said man having kept his "leave
without pay" in his possession as private
paper Your reader will readily see that il
that "private paper" could not be produced
when the question of the time clerk 8
| voucher" was raised the time clerk would be
| in n box, A "leaVe" to a per diem man is