The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1885-11-04

the county as are the other two gentle
men.
Mr.. Wylie says land we do not doubt
HIM that he has thoroughly examined
the accounts of Mr.. Blakelv for the two
years that he held the sheriff's Office.
His report is mostly made up of all
itemized statement of alleged illegal fees
collected by r.Blakely, the aggregate
of which is 81, 1892.
We have taken pains to examine Mr..
Wylie's report. And for the purpose OF
arriving at a fair conclusion we have
questioned on the subject a considerable
number of persons who may be presum-
ed to be able to render testimony as ex-
pert as that of Mr.. Wylie: Mr.. Elakely
has also been interviewed in the pre-
misses. With two exceptions the items
in the schudule are all small and will
strike the examiner as rldiculously friv-
ole us and even pecayunish. The two
exceptions we will refer to at once. On
a certain occasion William Kermode was
deputized to convey violently insane
person to the territorial asylum. His
itemized bill for the trip was $96.87, and
very moderate it was, too. This bill was
handed to Sheriff Blakely and entered,
mlnutely described, on his general ac-
count with the county-an account COM
prising several pages for that quarterly
meeting of the commissioners. A page
or two farther along and near the end of
account, when Mr.. Kermode probably
again called Mr. Blakely's attention to
his bill the description and amount OF
that deputy's bill were again entered.
District Attorney Burleigh said he had
not time to examine Mr. Blakely's bill
for that quarter but recommended the
county commissioners to examine for
themselves. and cited certain sections of
the statutes for their guidance; this was
endorsed on the bill. The county COM
missioners allowed the bill in full, in
Guiding the duplication to Kermode
The whole affair WAS so palpable as -
render absurd the charge Of fraud. Again
DEPUTY q. w Metcalf made a trip to
Helena on official business and put in
his bill for the same to the amount Of
over $3.50, when it was readily apparent
that he had charged S100 at least too
much. The county commissioners paid
the amount. Mr.. Wylie admits in his
report the self-evident fact that this
overcharge was clerical error, but he
charges the extra 500 to Mr.. Blakely in
the amour for which that officer is al
legged to be "criminaily" responsible.
Mr.. Metcalf stands ready to refund the
money.
Outside of these two items almost
every cent of the amount charged to
have been illegally and criminally col
lected by Mr.. Blakely is made up of the
following charges, namely: Returns on
papers served, so cents each; taking
prisoners into court, so each COM
hitting prisoners, so cents each, and ex-
ira mileage. The charge of 50 cents for
a return ON a court paper may or may
not be warranted by the statute-it is
disputed point; it has always been
charged for and collected by officers in
Gallatin county, and is being charged by
the present sheriff of this county and,
presumably, has been collected for by
him. The charge of so cents for taking
a prisoner into court and returning him
tojail has also been the invariable practice
it has been decided to be proper by dis
/ let attorneys of this district and Mr..
Blakely was himself counselled of its
correctness by that authority; officers
had to be detailed and paid for that pur-
pose during court terms, and it was con-
sidered not only legal but right and
equitable that the county should pay
them for such county business.
The alleged overcharges for mileage
are mostly to be interpreted on the
basis of difference in calculation. Mr..
Wylie says it is % miles from Bozeman
to Livingston. II any of our readers
have mileage ticket on the railroad
they will lind that the conductor will
tear out 20 niles between the two sta
tions. Add to this one mile from the
court house at Bozeman to the depot
and you have 81 miles, the exact mileage
charged in the bills of Mr.. Blakely and
his deputies, when they travelled be-
tween the-two towns by railroad. But
Mr.. WyIie has held Mr. Blakely "crim-
inally" responsible for great many dol
lars on account of the excess of q over
% miles. And the same between Boze.
man and Helena-by railroad SO miles,
which Mr. Wylie says is the distance
He makes no account of the distance
from town to Bozeman depot or of the
greater distance from Helena depot to
Helena court house. He also. by infer
ence, hints that the officer with his yio-
lent lunatic or dangerous prisoner should
on the way to Deer Lodge or Warn
Springs, save his fare by stsy ng over
niyht at Garrison, where there Is no Jail
or local police force instead of at Helena.
where there are both. He objects to
1874 miles from Bozeman to
Cooke and makes large deductions Oh
that account. The distance is nearer
lao than l34 miles. Before the railroad
was built and the trail over the noun
tains between Bozeman and Livingston |
was followed the distance was always |
allied 30 miles and 80 paid for. But to
his Mir Wylie objects 70 the extent of |