The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1884-06-05

interview showing the Causes OF the SAD
Failure.

i
'What is your opinion Of Mr.. James d. Fish's
statement regarding letters which passed be-
| tween the general and himself relating to gov.
ernmcnt contractss'" asked reporter of Col
Fred Grant
81 never heard Of such letters before saw
Mr.. Fish's statement"
'Has the general?"
| however, and that is that father is almos
broken down by the assertions made by Mr.
| Fish. This has come upon him like thun-
derclap, and it finds him as much unpreparcd
as when the crash came. He was 80 stunned
by the statement printed that it has almost
brought him to his bed again"
SIS it not true then that the general was in
terested in Wards colossal government con-
tracts and derived q colossal income from pro-
| fits thus obtained!"
| ssNo, sir; that is, father assures me that he
| was never SO interested"
"No, SIR" chimed in Jesse as he knocked
nifty bamboo " guess the reputation of my
father for veracity will bear an exceedingly
| favorable comparison with that of Mr.. Fish
among all rieht-f minded and unprecedented peo-
pl6 When he says that lie was not interested
in this government contract business, l say he
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-
ceedinely enraged and threatened to have moth
ing further to do with him. Ward assured him
that it was all a mistake, and father, l suppose,
| took his word for it..
s'Why is il that the general seems 80 unwill-
! ing to make a statement as to his side of the
case?n asked the reporter of the colonel
''siniply beeatse 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 affidavits
and Statements f8r the Newspapers then pos
| sibly father may be induced to fire boradside.
am confident that the 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 firm
of which he is a partner from this govern
| ment'"
/ ApRoBABLE EXPLANATION.
| An intimate friend of the Grant family said
| that he 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.
GAS to those photographed letters about
which there has been sd much talk, ! cannot
| to the problem is that some time ago the gener-
| k1s Correspondence Assumed SUCH large pro-
portions that he was compelled to employ a
young fellow as private secretary. When in
vitations 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
he must leave everything to their Judgment
Therefore when letters were addressed to him
by either of the latter, he simply ordered his
clerk to reply to them, giving in substance only
what 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, tcd, the general being 80 confid.
ing man, could be induced BY such keen
trickster as Ward to put his name to docuj
ments of the true import of which he had but
little idea. blame both the general and his
sons severely for the carelessness they DIS
played in leaving everything to these two men
Ward and Fish. As to where these auto
graph or Photographic letters are :! am unable
| to say 1 never knew of their existence until
| recently"