St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-07-15
THREATENED THE ALDERMAN
If HE Pushed the anvestig atiOn.-The
Case OF LynOIs.

FL EHc RGShe0 the VeSI1SatIOnssEh
Case OF LynOtt.
The little conflict which is being waged
by Aid. L'Herault against the alleged dere-
lict and irregular street commissioner of the
First ward is becoming interesting. Aid.
LHerault's charges were:
First-That the street commissioner after
having been notified so to do by the city clerk,
peremptorily refused to submit to the city
council an itemized report of moneys re-
ceived and moneys expended during his term
of office.
Second-That the street commissioner has
collected moneys for dirt sold to private citi-
zens of which he never nude any report to
the city comptroller, and never accounted for
in any way.
1t was charged that the warfare was
purely personal matter between the alder
mensand the street commissioner. and wholly
without reason, but the letter just received
by Aid L'Herault indicates quite conclu-
sively that the street commissioners friends
at least are thoroughly alarmed. The letter
is one of the genuine intimidation sort. 1t
threatens the alderman with personal vio-
lence. 1t warns him that if he persists he
may expect to be taken at '.any hour of the
night TO stand the penalty of being too busy
and void of manly principle, to try so hard
to hurt your fellow man." AS matter of
course, this letter which menaces Aid.
L'Herault with sanguinary assaults was
anonymous. The writer never affiXeS his
right name to such epistIes. Aid. LHerault
manifeStS no alarm and proceeds uninter-
rupted with the investigation.
THE INVESTIGATION.
Last night the special council committee
composed of aldermen one from each OF the
eight wards, resumed the work of investi-
CATION. Judson n. Cross appeared for the
city and r. l.. Penny was Lynott's counsel.
n. p. Peterson was sworn on the part of
the city and testified that he had bought
dirt from Lynott in 1885, paying therefor
$3.50. and during the present year paying
S12. The S1.50 was paid to the foreman.
John Bray had also bought dirt. He paid
Lynott personally, $50 for 100 loads in
1885. Leo Fabre next testified that he had
paid S15.5O in May for dirt.
Il sold the dirt" interrupted Aid. Fleet
ham.
did you receive the money for it?'' spoke
up Aid. L'Herauit with evident surprise.
NO sir; not a cent
''That is just what we are trying to get at"
At this point the city rested and Lynott
introduced a written statement of moneys
received by him and paid out. The state
ment showed that a large per cent. of the
money received had never been reported to
the comptroller. but claimed that the
amounts specified had never been paid over
directly to the employees of the commission.
Lynott said he had paid the money to the
men at the direction of Aid. Comstock
One item showed that S10S50 had been
paid TO three men, and Aid. L'Herault
thought it strange that three men should
get this money and that no report should
have been made to the city comptroller.
and he laid considerable stress on this
7 f,oI
question that he did not understand the
request for an itemized report. He thought
perhaps it was to show just what had been
the expense OF making street improve
mentS, such as filling up mudholes and the
like
Aid. M9reck-I told you just what we
wanted, and explained specifically.
81 did not understand that he had col,
lGct5d money from the sale of dirt which
money had never been accounted for by
the commissioner"
The commissioner, on redirect eXamina-
ton. testified that the city had not been de-
fraude6; that all the money had been paid
on pay roll. He never kept an itemzed ac-
count of his transactions. often times he
put it down as cash without specifying
what for or who from. He could not say
that his foreman or teamSterS had not held
out moneys. The reason he did not turn
over money before election was that the
aldermen told him to keep it until later and
turn over all the money at once. He testi-
fed that the balance sheet exhibited showed
all the money that to his own knowledge,
although it may not. Aid. Sly thought the
commissioner was very loose in his way of
conducting business, if nothing more. The
foreman in the employ of the street COM
missioner testified that he had invariably
turned over to Synott every cent collected
by him, and the committee went into ex-
ecutiYe session, adjourning shortly after.