Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-12-03
DELEGATE j. R. JONES
BEFoREA COMMISSIONER.

Examined on the Charge or Abstrset'nx asd
Dr,aining a Letter while Postmaster ~
Boydton-Aeensed Discharged.
United States Deputy-Marshal Over
hey returned to Richmond on the Dam
vile train yesterday afternoon, having
under arrest j. r. Jones, colored Re-
publican member of the House Of Dele
gates from Mecklenburg, upon q war
rant sworn out on Monday before
United States Commissioner Peasants.
charging him with stealing registered
letter while postmaster at Boydton in
1888. Mr.. r. A. Parke testified that
he is now, and was in 1888, the post
master at Terry's Mill post-oflice that
on the 9th Of July, 1888, Mr.. r. z. L.
Moss registered letter at his office to
NJ. A. Dauphin, New Orleans. Ina month
orso afterwards he received from the New
Orleans post office an inquiry saying that
said letter had been registered back to
Terry's Mill and wanting to know If it
had been received at his office. This
letter was registered back to Terry's
Mill because the Posto6ice Department
had about that time forbidden the de-
livery of lottery mail matter. He re-
piled that it had not been received. In
a short time he got tracer from the
New Orleans post-ofice, upon which
there was an endorsement signed by
the postmaster at Chase City to the eff
feet that said letter had been received
at that office, sent to Boydton. and that
he had a receipt from j. Il, Jones,
the postmaster at Boydton and then
endorsement by j. r. Jones, postmas-
ter at Boydton, to the effect that the
letter had been received at his office,
and that he had sent the same to Gus
cowilla, but had never gotten a receipt
therefor that CuscowilIa is between
Boydton and Terry's Mill, and that, in
due course of mail, this tracer should
have been sent directly to Cuscowilla,
which is on the mail route from Boyd
ton to Terry's Mill that said tracer
was, however, enclosed in an official
envelope sealed and directed to Terry's
Mill, skipping Cuscowilla. On seeing
that Cuscowilla had been skipped, he
showed the tracer to the postmaster
at that place before making any
report. lie said na such letter had
ever been received at hisi Office, and so
endorsed upon the tracer. The post
master at Terry's Mill thea endorsed
that it had never been received at his
office, and that the tracer, instead of
being sent to Cuscowilla, had skipped
that Office and been sent by the post
master at Boydton direct to Terry's
Mill.
Mr.. II. +. Jeter, who was the post
master at Cuscowilla in 1888, confirm.
ed Mr.. Parks as to the endorsements on
the tracer. Jones has never up to this
time applied to Mr.. Jeter for any re-
ceipt.
Mr.. r. f. l.. Moss testified that he
enclosed 81 in the letter when he eIiS-
tered it to New Orleans.
Mr.. j. W. Huston, the postmaster at
Chase City, said in substance, that the
whole of his recollection in regard to
the matter was that the post-otfice in
spector had taken the leaf containing
the entry in regard to that letter out OF
lis transit-book and that it had never
| Teen returned.
Mr.. 7. Spicer Curlett substantially y
testified that as post-oiice inspector he
was sent down the line to look up this
letter in May, 1884; found that the
postmaster at Chase City had Jones's
receipt for the letter; saw Jones at
Boydton and conyersed with him. He
| (Jones) prided himself upon the fact of
his books being well kept; that he
! (Curlett found them so, except that on
the transit book, in an entry of letter
from New York to Lombardy Grove
the word York" had been erased
and the word" " Orleans" inserted in its
place, and the words LOmbdrdy GrOre
scratched out and the word CHscowitta
inserted instead; that the date and
number of this entry had also been
changed to correspond with the lost
letter. The erasure appeared to have
been nervously done, and in places the
paper was scratched through. Jones
admitted to Cnrlett that he had made
the erasure. This leaf was taken out
by Curlett and carried to Washington
and delivered to the proper post-oilice
official there, he at the time making a
verbal report.
j. X. Jones in his testimony yester-
dry denied that he had ever admitted
to Curlett that he made the eraSure,
and claimed that when he received the
letter he receipted to the postmaster at
Chase City for it, left it in the hands
of his deputy, Hayes, and came off to
Richmond, and that if there was any
theft not he but some other person was
the guilty party. Jones admitted
that the tracer was endorsed by him,
but claimed that it was by mistake
sent to Terry's Mill instead Of to Gus
cowilla.
Jones was represented by Messrs.
John s. Wise and R. I. Thorp; Mr.
James Lyons, Jr., represented the
Government. The defence insisted upon
a dismissal Of the warrant; the district
attorney fought against it, and claim
ed that at least an adjournment o.
the case should be granted to al
low time to get records from
Washington. Commissioner Peasants
however, dismissed the warrant and
discharged the prisoner. The Commis-
sionsr said to Mr.. Lyons after the case
had been dismissed that his action did
not prevent the Government from taking
the case before the grand jury.
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