The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-06-13
WHAT TEE aRAur,ssAY.
,~atsrview Showing the Causes Of the b
Yailure.

rr HAl.fEa tH4- ----- h=lEHE .Ei+-lL-
,atsrvtew Showing the Causes Of the Sad
Failure.
What is your opinion of Mr.. James D. Fish's
tatement regarding letters which passed be-
-xeen the general and himself relating to gov
'rnnient contracts?'" asked a reporter of Col
red Grant.
Il never heard of such letters before 1 saw
II. Fish's statement"
Has the general?"
AS to that / cannot say. I know one thing,
'oweyer, and that is that father is almost
'roken down by the assertions made by Mr..
Fish. This has come upon him like a thun-
derclap, and it finds him as much unprepared
;s when the crash came. He was SO stunned
" the statement printed that it has almost
brought him to his bed again"
'Is it not true then that the general was in
terested in Wards colossal government con-
tracts and derived a colossal income from pro-
fits thus obtained!p
sNo, sir; that is, father assures mo that he
Sas never so interested"
No, sir,n chimed in Jesse as no knocked
the ashes from q fragrant Havana end twirled
q nifty bamboo. 81 guess the reputation of my
father for veracity will bear an exceedingly
favorable comparison with that of Mr.. Fish
amIong.al right-minded and unprecedented reo-
- NAiS Nv u t1lak AS Was llOS luttc e.
n this government contract business l say he
wasn't. His word is all l want, and / think it
enough to satisfy all. You remember, as it has
already been said, that when father ascertained
that Ward had been trading on his name in his
alleged government contracts, he became ex-
eeedinely enraged and threatened to have moth
ing further TO do with him. Ward assured him
taat IT was all q mistake, and father, l suppose,
took bis word for it,"
why is itthat the general seems so unwill-
inn IN NJ LA q \ ntap,,arf u 4, his cfIn 80 Al,
easeS" asked the reporter of the colonel.
simply because he is not anxious to rush
INTO print until he knows where he stands.
When Ward and Fish and the rest of them
have tired themselves with making atiidavits
and statements forthe newspapers then pos
sibly father may be induced to fire a boradside.
| am confident that tho public believes general
ly that father is Innocent of all wrong, in this
matter, and that he would not permit his
name to be used to secure business for n firm
OF which he Is q partner from this govern
ment'"
A PRoBABLEE EXPLANATION.
An intimate friend Of the Grant family said
that no had just spoken with Col. Fred Grant.
He had in confidence informed him that the few
dollars in his pocket was all he possessed in
the world.
'As to those photographed letters about
which there has been SO much talk, | cannot
quite understand. The only solution l can see
to the problem is that some time ago the gener-
ais correspondence assumed such large pro-
portions that he was compelled to employ q
young fellow as a private secretary. Whenin-
y%itations to soldiers reunions, balls, etc, etc.
were showered upon him he would simply tell
the secretary to mark upon the envelope two
or three words of acceptance. or more frequent
ly regret, and leave the rest
to his scribe's Judgment. Trust
ing everything connected with his business to
his sons, Ward or Fish, he came to think that
be must leave everything to their Judgment.
Therefore when letters were adtrcssedto him
by either of the latter, he simply ordered his
clerk to reply to thom, giving in Substance only
wha. he wished to say. The scribe would en-
large upon what he said at will, and an entire
ly different impression of what he had really
said could be conveyed by the letter when
posted. Then, too, the general being 80 confid-
ing q man, could be induced by such a keen
trickster as Ward to put his name to docu-
ments of the true import of which he had but
little idea. l blame both the general and his
sons severely. for the careiessless they DIS
played Lin leaving everything to these two men
Ward and Fish. As to where these AUTO
graph or Photographic letters are l am unable
to say. | never knew of their existence until
recently"