Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-05-04
FROM WASHINGTON.
Major Lydecker Let Off with
a Light Sentence.
PAUNCEFOrE GETS PRESENTED.
Matters in a Satisfactory State ii
0klahOma-COmmander Book
Suspended.
Associated Press Dispatches to the HERALD

at the State Department this morning,
showing no traces of his recent illness
The British Minister, Pauncefote, pre-
sented himself, and was introduced to
Blaine, who st once conducted him to
the White House and presented him TO
the President. The usual compliments
were exchanged.
ST. Julian presented his credentials,
and, addressing the President, gave ex-
preston to feelings Of the utmost good
will and amity on the part of his Gov
eminent and himself personally toward
the United States, and expressed the
belief that this country fully reciprocated
the feeling, and that he would meet
with justice and a epirit of conciliati on.
President Harrison replied briefly, re-
the sentiments as to the good
will and amity expressed by the new
Minister, and especially expressing his
pleasure that the choice of the Queen for
Minister to this country had fallen upon
man so admirably suited to the place
as Sir Julian.
LYDECKEB's LIGHT SENTENCE.
The sentence OF the General Court
Martial in the case of Major Lydecker,
corps Of engineers, who was tried on
charges arising out of the Aqueduct Tun-
mel frsnd, was made public this after
moor, and is as follows: "To forfeit to
the United States 500 per month OF his
pay for nine months, and to be repri-
manded in ORDERS" The Court is thus
lenieIt in view OF the evidence before it
a. - Enn oS thnGn
above the arch in the tunnel, it was al
most impossible to secure thoroughly
good work under the contract system i'm
posed by law.
President Harrison, in approving the
sentence, says: The gravamen Of the
ofiense of this officer was neglect of
very high and important duty. 1t is not
very important, from military stand
point, whether pscuniary loss did, or did
not, result to the Government, but that
very great less and inconvenience have
been inflicted upon the community by
the delays, which have resulted from the
failure to discover the prominently faulty
and fraudulent character of the work, is
apparent. The suggestion that the
strietest and most faithful supervision of
the progress o. such work is powerless
to detect and correct the shams which
are pracliced by the contractors in this
case, is q discredit to the engineering
profession, and entirely inadmissible.
INVESTIGATING PASSES.
In response to summons of the Inter-
state Commerce Commission, representa-
tives of number OF Eastern roads ap-
peared before the Commission to-day,
aud explained the methods of giving
| passes and to whom they were given.
| The representatives. of most of the
roads submitted lists of the passes given
| by their roads. with the accompanying
information, and, in some cases, their
reasons fer granting the passes. The
Maine Central railroad representative
presented an argument taking exception
to the jurisdiction of the commission in
calling for specific classes of passes. The
representative OF the New York Central
road presented an argument setting forth
that his company does business in the
State Of New York alone, and has issued
many passes to persons in that State, but
has not issued any for the purpose of
securing business and submits that the
commission may not require any further
answer, Counsel for the Pennsylvania
railroad explained the lists of passes and
presented the circulars of the company
regulating the issuance of passes in con-
iormity with their understanding of the
Interstate Act. Technical points were
raised by several of the gentlemen repre-
senting the roads regarding the jurisdic-
ton OF the commission, etc., and the
commission will at some future time hear
arguments from them.
BOOKS SENTENCE APPROVED.
The Secretary OF the Treasury has ap-
proved the findings and sentence of the
court-martial in the case of Lieutenant
Commander George Book, who was
charged With absenting himself from his
command without leave. He command
ed the Piuta, and left her at Sitka,
ALASKA, and came to Washington to in
duce the Navy department to authorize
the repairs necessary to make the vessel
serviceable. The Court found him guilty
of the charges and, as approved. he
stands sentenced TO be suspended for two
years from his rank and duty, on furlough
pay, and to retain his present number on
the list of Lieutenant Commanders during
that time.
OKLAHOMA POSTAL AFFAIRS.
Postmaster General Wanamaker to-day
received telegram from Postmaster
Flynn, at Guthrie, Oklahoma, in which
he says that the daily sale of postage
stamps at his Office amounts to about
$50; that eleven clerks in the Office ale
kept busy from O'Clock A. NJ. until 7 at
night, and when the mail is ready for de.
livery there is usually line of men half
a mile long waiting for their mail. About
5000 letters and 1000 newspapers are
delivered daily. There are five banks
and six newspapers in operation in the
new town.
LAND ENTRIES AND CONTESTS.
Land Commissioner Stockslager TODAY
received report from Inspector Hobbs
at Guthrie, which shows that during the
first week 450 entries were made and AZ
notices of contest made.
PEACEFUL OKLAHOMA.
The following telegram has been re-
ceived by the Adult ant-General from
General Merritt, dated Yesterday.
Everything is quiet in Oklahoma Terri
tory. l anticipate no further trouble in
the country from any cause, but will in
the event Of any disturbance, return at
once to Oklahoma. l propose later to
withdraw part OF the troops in the Terri
tory"
THE SORGHUM EXPERIMENTS.
Experiments in growing and manu-.
featuring sorghum will be continued this
year under the auspices of the Agricul-
tural Departments. Portions of the
xrrsl L.