Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1886-07-09
(From the Daily Telegram, Of Washing
ton II 4 IF date January L. 1s1QO

(From the Daily Telegram, Of Washing
ton, d. C., of date January -, ls79)
One Stilson Hutchins who left
the State of Missouri, as one Of the
papers of that State says. amid the
sincere hopes of its people that he
would never return, and who has
of late afflicted Washington and
the country by the publication of
a pretendedly Democratic but real
ly Ring and blackmail sheet called
the Post, is plotting to take advant-
age of Mr.. Findley's investigation
of the public printers Office by in
duclng the coming Democratic Con
gress to revive the office Of Con-
gressiOnal Printer which was abOl-
ished to get rid OF Clapp and have
the Democratic Senate to elect him
(Hutchins) to that Office that he
may repeat on n worse scale the
rogueries whereof investigation
convicted Clapp. To the disgust
of the honest people Of Missouri he
is now meddling in the pending
election OF Senator, secretly aiming
to elect himself to that position, and
failing thus to sell his influence TO
whatever candidate will, if elected,
work to make him printer, the i'm.
pudence OF this man in aspiring to
reach by intrigue places he could
never gain by merit, and In claim
ing that his corrupt and wholly I'M
trustworthy sheet represents the
honest Democratic masses Of the
country is only equalled by his in
fanny as disclosed by the records Of
the courts OF st. Louis. The fol-
lowing is a summary Of facts there
found:
In 1878 the Grand Opera House,
in st. Louis, was sold at public
auction with all It's appurtenances
and properties and passed from the
possession of StilsOn Ilutchins and
others into that of Benedict DeBar.
After being paid for it llutchins
fraudulently sued DeBar and tried
to get it back. The court threw out
$500 of Hutchins' claim as Who'll
" groundless and confined the suit
to the question of some small prop
critics which Notwithstanding were
not included in the sale. I'm this
suit which was thus really for the
miserable sum of 500, Hutchins
showed himself a gambler, a spy
and a perjurer. 1t was shown and
may be seen by the records that
this man who has the amazing i'm
pudence to make himself a candi-
date was guilty of false swearing,
not once, but many times ; that,
when Police Commissioner of st.
Louis, he was the paid spy of the
gamblers of that town, receiving a
salary from them TO keep them IN.
formed of projected raids on their
places, and that his blackmail on
one of them, accordingtO the sworn
statement Of the payer, and accord.
ing to the entries made by himself
in small book separate from his
business records, which book was
produced and explained in court,
amounted to nearly $4,000 a year.
The court records farther show
that the witness who paid the mon
ey-Alanson b. Wakeiield-went
on the stand under threats that he
would be killed if he ventured TO
testify against Hutchins. The man
ner in which this salary was paid
was peculiar to bribery and black
mailing. In one instance the agent
of the gamblers tells our "model
statesman" and wOuld-be Senator
or Congressional Printer that the
money is in his great coat pocket
and that he may take it out him
self. and Hutchins thus puts him
self in possession of his salary as
the paid spy of the st. Louis gam
blers ring. Again, when he re-
ceives his stipend theagent is heard
to say, "there is the divide" Hutch
ms made frantic efforts to swear
himself clear, but the records show
it to have been proved against
him, and exhibit him as periurer
over and over. This $4,000 suit
was cut down to trivial matter Of
about 800, the value of some furn-
iture and odds and ends belonging
to the Opera House, but its trial
served to show Hutchins in true
light and put him on record so that
the truth stands against him and
fixes him not IN the odOr Of sancti
tv. but in the foetid stencil Of a
blasted reputation far worse than
the efiiuvia of the portable altar Of
cloacinae, which was one of the
things he sued for. During this
trial he attempted in open court to
bully the opposing counsel by max
ing show Of drawing pistol on
him while a pal advanced on him
with a knife. The counsel, how
ever, stood firm and as he said to
the Jury at the time
clutch sneaked away
Like a wolf from light Of day
But the facts brought out by this
trial his attending national con-
vention on funds furnished by gam.
blers; his receiving moneys as
treasurer and failing to account for
tham and his conviction of Dcriury