The Mineral argus., 1884-06-12
WHAT THE GRANr'ssAY.
Interview Showing the Causes of the s.a
Failure.

az SduSGE OF the Eaa
Failure.
What is your opinion of Mr.. James D Fisb,s
statement regarding letters which passed he
tween the general and himself relating to soov
eminent contracts?'" asked a reporter of Col
Fred Grant.
1 never heard q such letters before I saw
Mr. Fish's statement"
HAS the general?"
to that 1 cannot say. know one thing
however, and that is that father is almost
broken down by the assertions made nv Mr.
rlsh. ms has come upon him like a thun-
oerelap, and 1t hnds him as much unprepared
as when the crash came. He was SO stunned
by the statement printed that it has almost
brought him to his bed again"
is 1t not true then that the general was in.
terested in Wards colossal government con
tracts and derived a colossal income from pro.
hts thus obtained!"
mo, sir; that is, father assures me that be
was never so interested"
mo, sir" chimed in Jesse as he knocked
the ashes from a fragrant Havana and twirled
anlfty bamboo. =" guess the reputation of nv
father for veracity will bear an exceedingly
favorable comparison with that of Mr.. Fish
among'al right-minded and unprejudiced peo-
pie. When he says that he was not interested
In this government contract business, / say he
wasn't His word is all l want, and l think it
enough to satisfy all. You remember, as it has
already been said, that when father ascertained
mat Ward had been trading on his name in his
alleged government contracts he became ex-
ceedlnely enraged and threatened to have moth
ing further to do with him. Ward assured him
mat II was all a mistake, n dfather, l suppose.
took his word for it."
why is itthat the general seems so unwill-
ing TO make a statement as to his side of the
case" asked tie reporter of the colonel.
AtSlmnlu hnaoTrGa Ia 20 ~ = 4 -
INTO print until he knows where he stands.
When Ward and Fish and the rest of them
have tired themselves with making afidavits
and statements for the newspapers then pos
sibly father may be induced to fire a 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 a firm
of which he is a partner from this Govern.
ment'"
PROBABLE 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.
'tAs to those photographed letters about
which there has been so much talk, l cannot
quite understand. The only solution 1 can see
to the problem is that some time ago the gener-
ais correspondence assumed such large pro-
that he was compelled to employ q
fellow as a private secretary. When in
to soldiers reunions, balls, etc, etc,
were showered upon him he would simply tell
the secretary to mark Upon the envelope two
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
when letters were addressedto 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
~ different impression of what he had really
said could be conveyed by the letter when
posted. Then, too, the general being 30 conid-
lng a 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 carelessness they dis
in leaving everything to these two men
and Fish. As to where these auto
graph or Photographic letters are l an unable
o say. | never knew of their existence until
recently"