The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-10-07
FROM THE CAPITAL.
The Enormous Frauds in the
Acqueduct Work.
A SYSTEMATIC LADY" THIEF
vor OF Alamo-Colone Ferry
on Utah

WASHINGTON, D. c., October g.
Especial to The SALT LAKE HERALD.
The great sensation of the past week
at the Capital has been the
DISCOVERY OF FRAUD
| in the construction OF the great
acqueduct tunnel which was being BULL
to increase the city's water supply
Sub contractors and inspectors haye
apparently combined to chest the
government out of its money anG
they were succeeding admirably when
the local newspapers jumped on to
their schemes and commenced an in
vestigation. The tunnel is five miles
long and is to be arch above with
| brick for its entire length. Between
the top of the brick arch and the
natural rock there is always more or
less space, running from few inches
to ten or twelve feet. This space
the specifications say, should be
fillsd up with solid masonry i'm
bedded in the best quality OF
cement, but the investigation shows
that in most cases the space is still
there while the contractors have been
paid $27 per yard for putting in solid
packing, The work is in charge of a
couple of Army Engineer officers, one
of whom, at least, has tried to do his
duty, but he did not suspect any con-
spiracy or oollusion and was conse-
quently fooled. A Congressional inve.-
tigating committee will take charge of
the whole affair this week and a mass
of rottenness of the most astounding
description will then be exposed to the
gaze OF community which has thereby
been swindled out of about $1,000. 900.
ANOTHER SENSATION,
but of a lesser magnitude, developed in
the Treasury Depsrtm ent last week
| when Mrs. Becker, who has been a
"countess" therein since 1865, was dis
| charged for having stolen from IL e
public crib the sum of 1914. Mrs.
Becker's duties were to count and tie
up in packages, the notes returned to
| the Treasury for redemption and while
doing this II seems that she abstrac:ed
some of the notes and then marked the
package with sun. higher by the
amount she had taken, than the real
contents. How long this has been
going on nobody knows and it cannot
hn traced hoaK for hon
because the notes are destroyed monthly
and all the testimony which
could be accumulated by recountiBg
the contents of the packages has been
ground into pulp. Mrs. Becker's case
should have aroused suspicion long be-
fore it did. The Iady's real naue is
Studley, she having, as Widow B, cker
while in Office, married one SSudley,
then employed IN the Treasury. After
ward they separated, Studley leaving
the city and she retaining (as she hao
all the time) the name of Becker. When
Mrs. B. was first appointed she was 4
very poor woman, and her hu nble
abode was in rather squalid section
of the city. The frst lntiruat:on of
worldly success Mrs. Becker gave her
official intimates was some years ago
when she purched house
on N Street in fashionable
quarter. This was beautifully furnished
and as time rolled on the property was
improved in VARIOUS ways, the most i'm
portant Of which was the addition OF q
large greenhouse filed with the choicest
plants. A house on Twelfth Street was
the next purchase and tkat was rented
at high figure. Soon afterwards the
lady found that her ambition was not
satisfied with two houses in the city so
she built beautiful summer residence
at Hyattsville, out In the suburbs and
was to all appearances as happy as the
day is long. For the past few years
her own carriage and horse brought
her to work and called for
her in the afternoon, but in
extremely bad weather the team
and coachmen were spared and han
som cab called into service. Her seal
skin sacques and costly diamonds were
the envy of her roommates, who say
now that many and frequent were the
expressions by her fellow EMPLOYEES
who wondered (as everybody does not
now how SO much could be purchased
WITH SIS per month.
ANOTHER THEFT.
1t is more than probable that the de.
falcation of the late General Bacon, dis.
bursting officer of the Patent Office, will
soon be ventilated in the courts and a
mum Der of interesting exposures may be
looked for. Commissioner Hall.
of the Patent Office. has called
upon James l.. Norris and Jay A.
Hubbell, General BacoD's bondsmen,
to make good the $1,000 which
are missing The matter might have
been settled amicably had Mr.. Hubbell
complied with Mr.. Norris's telegram
asking him to come to this city and 90
to the interior Department. MIR. Hub
bells only recognition of these requests
was very curt reply saying that be
had referred the matter 10 his at
torneys, Messrs. ShelIaberger and
Wilson. Comm ;ssioner Hall was chat
ting about the matter to The HERALD
correspond ut last week and remarked
that something startling might be
looked for when the case reached the
courts. 1T is worthy of note" said
he, that among Mr.. Baoon's papers
was q roster of the employees
of the Interior Department with
various sums of money checked
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