The Dickinson press., 1884-06-07
WHAT 3 aaANr,ssAY.
aterview Showing the Causes Of the SAD
Failure.


"What is your opinion of MI. James D. FISH
'tatement regarding letters which passed be
''~een the general and himself relating to gov
Hnment contracts?'" asked a reporter of Col
red Grant.
"Inever heard of such letters before I say
;r. tislis statement"
Has the general?"
CAS- to that l cannot say. l know ono thing
.owevcr, and that is that father is almos
'roken down 10y the assertions made by Mr.
glsh. This has come upon him like u thun
aerclap, and it finds him as much nnpreparcC
as when the crash came. He WAS so stunned
~ the statement printed that it has almost
brought him to his bed again"
els it not true then that the general was in.
terestea i'll Wards colossal government con,
tracts and derived a colossal income from pro.
fits thus obtaincd!"
$40, sir: that is. father assures mo that he
:.:as never so Interested"
mo, sir" chimed in Jesse as he knocked
the ashes from a fragrant Havana and twirled
a nifty bamboo. 81 guess the reputation of my
father for veracity will bear an exceedingly
favorable comparison with that of MI. Fish
;mong'all light-minded and unprecedented pco-
pic. When he says that he was not interested
n this government contract business 1 say he
wasn't. His word is all l want, and 1 think it
oaouSh to satisfy all. You remember, as it has
already been said, that when father ascertaincd
hat Ward had been trading on his name in his
alleged government contracts he became eX-
'eedinely cnrased and threatened to have moth
ng furtherto do with him. Ward assured him
saat it was all a mistake, and father, 1 suppose,
took his word for it,"
why is nthat the general seems so unwill-
Ing to make a statement as to his side of the
case?" asked tho 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 for the newspapers then pos
sibly father may be induced to fire Il boradsitle.
| 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 Tor a firm
OF which he is IL partner from this govern
mcnt.'n
A~pHoBABIE EXPLANATION. 6
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 lie possessed in
tho world.
'As to those photographed letters about
which there has been SO much talk, 1 cannot
quite understand. The only solution l can see
10 the problem is that some time ago the gener-
ais correspondence assumed such large pro
portions that he was compelled to employ a
young fellow as a private secretary. Wiicnin-
v%itations to soldiers reunions, balls, etc, etc,
were showcrcd 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 scribo'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 wlan letters were addressedto him
by either of the latter, he simply ordered his
clerk to reply to them, giving insubstanco only
what he wished to say. Tho scribe would en-
large upon what he said at Will, and al entirc-
ly different impression of what he had really
said could be conveyed by the letter when
posted. Then, too, the general being SO contid-
ing a man, could be induced by such a keen
ments of the true import of which he had but
little idea. | blame both the general and his
sons severely Tor the carelcssness they dis
played i'll leaving everything to these two men
Ward and Fish. As to whore these auto-
graph or photographic letters are I am unable
to say. [ never knew of their existence until
recently"