New-York tribune., 1886-03-18
DR. ROGERS'5 TESTIMONY.
TRACING PAY-ELECTRIC HISTORY,
TURNING Ills ATTENTION TO MEN OF INFLUENCE
Mn. GArLANp's Part.
fRY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE

w AsHiNUION. March ! l'.-iEe leiepn'he l'Ne9''
ration Committee listened for nearly tour hours to-day
,o the testimony of lr j. W. Rogers senator h'rn'
,rd Casev Yonng were on hand early he to'mcr
called on the President before going TO the committee
room Dr. Rogers gave his testimony in q clear frank,
straightforward manner which pFcduced a favorable
impression cpou' the members OF the committee hi'
.ccornt Of tie formation Of the original Pan h., ctrc
Association was more con petc than that given by D.
Harris Roosrs but agreed with ii in all essential par
,ieuars lie brought clearly the fact that senator
Harris and the other benehciaIies heitated 10
IA The enterprise when he offered HlooO"O oa'u i"
stock but that then hesitation disappeared "hen "'
increased his offer 70 $500 0CO each II occurren !"
him that they might regardt improper for th'h 10
90 in hut ne received etter from Senator h"iI'9 "
the contrary Hence il is fair to luier that nc coN
federgtes had struck Tor bigger share ol 'Ne
pective boode.'
The witness criticised Mr. Beach IN manner WHO"
rrovoked great merriment. In fact his quaint coin-
ment. upon some Of the transactions ana In' 'n 0'
cerned in them caused frequent bursts oI '""s"''''
5.s,ita nj. appareut gravity and earnestnes-.
" Racers testified that the Pau-Elcct1c Company
,-,s sr,oested 4, him and his son by /. II. hine III
1881 or l-s2 In January, 1883, they bought /"
bouse in Fourand-a h1lt-st. for SlOUuO, but iouhu
that il cost great deal of money to hire skleu eec'r
clans and buy materials. stock company was Sus-
oted ana naturally ;hcy turned their attention 10
the subject OF great pames-ot men OF influence. III
that view the witness wrote 20 o. called uion "eher"
Atkins. len chairman Of the Appropriations com
mittee VINO seemed pleased with ihe idea =" u"ls
, witness saw senator harris who had already
talked with General Atkins on the 7uoJ'c| lucy
came ro the witness's house with Casey Young ana
tbe witness offered to each oue something IKE Flo"'
ono Of the .toch on basis of Sj.O0O00o. They he7l-
Iiqrr "a
hcsitated about gong into itand nothing was done at
that meeting.
Mr. Bo,Ie-Did he give reasons! Any reason
Dr. Rogers-Nc SIT; but suspect
Objection was made to the witness stating his sus-
picions.
DR. Roscrs-It occurred to me that Senator Harris
o,bt be sppreheusive that there might he some I'M
propriety in his advancing the enterprise and had
written to Senator Harms inquire whether he cutter
tanned any feeling OF that kind. Tie had replied III
letter very frankly that he did
The witness was az ain stopped while an unava'I'hs
se,rcb wa. made tor the letter Iheu he continued,
saving that Senator Harris in his letter mad r'pneu
that he had duly considered the matter and saw no nn-
rropriev p persons situated Ike himself and General
Atk,p. taking part m scieutiic enterprise such a.
had pcen p1oposed But still be did not 90 IN. there
WA nothing IN his letter indicate any such Iuten-
tioD Subsequently a meeting held al which there
were present Senator Harris General ATKINS ana
Casey Young Witness proposed that each take
500 600 III stock They agreed and entered the en-
te-prise With, had gIcsed to the gentlemen that
several other gentlemen had previously consented To
act a. directors bat he elt chiefly with ihem o -eec'
their asso,iatc- None OF the other persons had been
1,c,ter of Congress- One of the persons was Father
Kochetort. h~ sons patron, another General Marcus
Wright: another Richard Nutcrsmilb. There was
,I.lT lf his o. . . 1
Basil Duke. OF Keltucky: Nichols Shea, Of
tins civ those gentlemen had allowed
their names 70 be used and Tor them he had re-
served the $40 600 stock 20 be put 10 tneI credit II
WI. understood mat these gentlemen were parties To
TIE concern ana they talked 1t over just as partners
woJid
Mr. Boglr-Aul yet YOU do not recall word or th"
substance OF the conversation upon when tLaJ uAuei
staining was founded
Dr Rae,r--I io not recall single word. Senator
Harris sail taat they would come in and they seemed
by their coming to Jcque-cc. Wuon proposed 10 give
100000 III stock to each gentleman, Senator Harris
sJd it 81. med to be a little too generous, hut
As they expected 10 make money enough
for every body they would accept the stock. /
had written To senator Wnlom. Benjamin Lefevre and
Architect Clark fhai have small amount OF stock To
their credit, bat tAry lad AL declined Iue gentlemen
associated with mc iu the company were C." pay Lolh"S
for their interest wished TO secure the cooperation Of
Integrity ana Oh Nt'i4a4 'Fl''1't''H' ''''''
the oil such men the STOCK could not be @od.
General johnston dd not uot pubic Office at the time
hr associated himself with me-.
Mr. Boyc- VA, anything sui by any Of the gentlemen
with reference the company deriving any advantage
fr,m any oni IA. position ArI oy any one OF them
Dr. Rogers Nerera whisper; never "a breath. Tie
object VS. baus their names aud regulations ana
OF NY sons EeHius
After s-uIug the agreement % New-Iork the witness
continued, the company appointed u7 son electrician
and te.rpuouIc experiments We're mHde with wire be-
tween Now-l lori and Wa-nutou tha Aai resulted saus
f,ctor.v The Original Pdu-Erctrc Company was never
chartered l,nouLn the contract provided log charter
Aftera year two 1t agreed To take out charter
in Veuurs-e for trlrpu0u, CON pau} LoDuey aud Bow
AaI joined Or.ua. membership HnI wtue-, Lad ac-
ouescrI u tue agreement because there wa 50 much
dicu ty iu getting the biz cutrtcr,' ana he believed
20 best 10 -o smaller Two meetings were held
la the room OF the senate u.ir Committee for the
gauz3u Yf the telephone company There were present
Iuuury j. Harris Rogers II trcls and Garland,
and General Johnston. General Atkins was not there.
AT the meeting general agreement was reached
Senator Garland prepared the papers and submitted
them ai the second meeting. charter FOR telephone
company obtained DO Tennessee and one for tc r
grsp. company obtained iu New-l ok. senator
Gtl.ud lad prepared both charters for Ncw-
Jersey 0ut w.tue-, fond THAT the state charge
was 100 high. the foundation for the telephone
company VA, several rntiou- OF the wituesss son iu
t.- rt ~ telephony and for rue telegraph company,
patent tol an embossed metallic tape. There never vas
any PaE ectrc stock issued; out The secretary
pen staeU"nts 20 the ehct that the party
,l SO much stock the company. Grea, difficulty VAS
czlerece on account OF the of stock, aud
was constant source OF irritation among the members
o. the company The certificates were about as follows:
t. w. Ro,rr- 10 entitled % 100000 90 the Ptu-E'ec-
tnc Telephone Company. CASEY loIN". Secretary
FiARI>G TO BE THOUGHT oCouNDEELS.
Harris Ro,er. and Loouey were chiefly desirous OF
having tie stock issued. while senator Harris opposed
i believe lie vas the head OF the whole business
said the witness that is the opposition. lie had great
Ind encc over the rest of them Dr Rogers had com
planned about the delay the issue Of stock Senator
Harris 44d.uereupOu visited witness at his house aud
s that Tie demand had been considered by the board
uu! 10 for Iu.ef senator Harris uc had made up his