The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-07-09


out any authority. but resulted from misunder-
| standing Of what was said. Lower down on the
same column there Is an entire paragraph toat
| the editor. Mr. Hartridge. assumes the RESPONSE
bllity for making, aud admits under oath (see his
evidence 10 app. s. that h knew uotnlng that
would 20 to support an accusation OF dishonesty
or corrupt practices on the part OF the nrm Oh
Greene Gaynor. Bangs & Co in their work In
this engineering district or in any way.
IL is also noticed that Mr.. Curtis excerpts
| from bis responsibility sentence IN the nrst
column Of page !, TO wit; capt, Greene nad
told me that he did not care whether ali of MS
work was passed. or not, that he could get
his pay for it and had received pay for stone
that had been rejected by aninspecior.'
WHAT CURTIS IS RESPONSIBLE FOR.
With these exceptions Mr.. w. r. Curtis, G. E,
is responsible for all the accusations made IN
the non editorial clippings which were submit
ted to me for investigation. an the gravamen
Of these accusations can be briefed as follows:
/. Permitting contractors to throw stone on
the cross tides dam, where it was of no benefit,
in order to save demurrage.
Z. That dreene and GaYnor went 10 Wasnlng
ton and effected the relettng Of contract in
order that they might secure it
3. That on this coast, the South Atlantic bids
are not numerous, and many Of them are bogus,
straw bids
4 That the advertising for contracts is done
in such way that few contractors know ab out
them.
5. But money Is wasted l am satisfied from
what | have noted and what Greene has told
me-"
6. That a contractor by the name of John NJ
tF.l Gaynor minated that it would be TO the
'pecuniary advantage of W. R. Curtis to ac-
cept the position of engineer or inspector
the coming winter.
z. That B. D. Greene, a partner of Gaynor,
rent" the above proposition of Haynor stat
ing thst he would add TO my salary $500
month and would get Lieut.. Carter TO increase
said salary
;. Multiplication of public money at the
crO9S-tIdHS dam lnpOnDetnnt engineering
We will now take the accusations up in Sc
quence.
/. Work on the cross-tdes dam was done
uGaer contract The Specifications setting
forth what was to be done, and the plans and
contract are approved by the chief of engineers
The stone required by the terms of the contract
TO be used at tae Jet,ies and the cross-tides dam
was OF exactly the same character, a nd all the
sto re that went into that work under the Greene
GaynOr contract seems to have been in
pected by competent emplOYe of the gov
ernment as it was placed. Mr. Curtis, who
makes the assertion. knows nothing about the
matter OF his own knowledge. If the contractor
was able to save demurrage by applying stone
that came from New York at any one OF the
works on which he was a contractor he had
perfect right to do so, provided it was not to
the prejudice of the United States or to the
work, and no such prejudice has been shown
2 The statement that Hessrs. Greene & GaynOr
went To Washington and effected the relettng
of a contract is false. Neither of these gentle.
ulen was in Washington when the proposals of
tbs 25th of October were all set aside, and when
| the Chief of Engineers directed Lieut.. Col. Gill
more 1St of November) to invite new proposals
That result seems to have been brought about,
at least in manner, by the protests of Me3srS
Newton & EckSrein and of Mr. AmeS Hewlett
g. submitted abstracts of all the proposals re-
ceived in this district in the past ten years and
requested that Mr.. Curtis would point me out
Que bogus or straw bid. After examining them
he stated that none of them were either bogus
or straw bids.
The adv .rtisi0p NJ this an0inaariup district
is done as 1t is done in other districts and in
other branches of our military hierarchy. 1t is
not left to the local engineer to determine when,
in what papers, and how he will advertise for
proposals for government work. Tae final de-
cslon is left to the war department, and q
careful examination SHOWS that the usual
course has been invariably followed (see appen-
dix W, which nave been verified by referring to
the advertisements themselves.
8. The assertion that money is wasted. - when
hunted down, is based solely on the work done
on the crosstideS dam, and that will be dis
cussed under the Sth section.
6 aud z. The 9Th aud 9TH counts are found in
an affidavit made by Mr.. W. r. Curtis In the
first he accuses Mr.. John NJ (Fl Gaynor of
having made corrupt proposition, and in the
second the same accusation is made against
B. ID. Greene contractor. | have not been able
to find any corroboratiYe evidence. Both accu-
sations are alleged TO have been made at times
when no persons We're present but the affiant
and the accused. MeSsrs Gaynor and Gre 3ne
both declare under oath that they never made
any such roposition to Mr.. Curtis. Under such
state of facts, it becomes necessary 10 consider
the situation and circumstances under which
these propositions or offers are alleged to have
been male, and the credibility of the witness
Mr. Gaynor is alleged to have made his cor upt
proposition on or about the 18th of July, 1883
The proposition referred to work to be
done at Fernandina, Fla. By referring to the
acts of congress it will be seen that the river
and hsrbor appropriation bill had not passed at
that time. No contract existed at Fernandina
q lfNY1aU U4f rintz a L.
pended there. No proposals had been called
for, and if Mr.. Gaynor made any corrupt propo-
Siti0n concerning a contract at Fernan Ina he
was Certainly very premature, for he had not
yet submitted proposal for work there The
appropriation for the Improvements at Feruan-
dina did not become available until August
1888
THE CHARGE AGAINST GREENE.
The corrupt proposition or attempt to bribe
of d. d. Greene is stated IN the affidavit to have
occurred in February of this year. In my first
interview with Mr.. Curtis he stated that the date
should be changed to January, and when he
came to be sworn as to the d te he fixed it as
the evening of Greene's arrival in Savannah last
winter which was fixed by referring to the hotel
register to have been on the 21st day of Gem
Der, 1888. Now, at that time the proposals for
tie work at Fernandina had been invited but
they had not been opened, and Greene did not
KIN w, and it was not possible for him
to know, on the 21st day of December,
that he was going to secure a contract
authority given for making until the 9tn day Of
January, 1889. In this clause of Mr.. Curtis
affidavit he states that Greene said it was in
his power to secure my appointment" If this
conversation was in February, as given, | could
unde stand it; but if in December Mr. Curtis
was already employed by Lieut.. Garter. So
much as relat S to the removal of Mr.. G.. w.
Brown from the Savannah river and harbor
work to the work on Cumberland sound, it is
only necessary to invite attention to the evil
donce and to the patent fact that Mr. B d.
Greene was in England or on the high seas when
that change of station was made.
THE ANIaUs OF CURTIS
The animus Of Mr.. Curtis is distinctly set
forth by him in his statements under oath Mr..
Curtis admits that he has been silent partner
in one contract in this district although by
did not come under his charge He has stated
heretofore TO Ii ut Carter that he charged a
contractor a large fee for information given
him that he Curtis acquired in the office; and
in my opinion the charge was nothing short of
eXtortion He has stated to mis- fellow en- Il
neers, Messrs. Cooper and Brown, whose
affidavits are hereto attached and marked
W and X, that he cooked up set
OF specifications for work to be
done at Beattyville, KY, so that, when pro
poSalS were invited, he (Curtis) was the only
bidder, and the facts show that his bid was so
hi h that IL was rejected. The records in the
war department cOrroborate this statement in
so far as it concerns mis- being the only bidder
and That the d was too high. See appendices
"HH" and III" In the list of contractors of
this coast there is firm known as Lara & Ross.
4 letter of Mr.. r. G. Ross is attached and
marked Y. This is evidently an honest letter.
II this matter were brought before the courts l
have no doubt, from Information given me
mere, that Mr., E. H. Gaynor (who declined to
rxnrsar t,sayo 20 lltaIa