Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-02-14
CLOSING OUT.
Continuation. of the investigation
OF the Penitentiary.
Testimony of Warden Smith, Directors
Hiatt and Other Omcers-The Work
Of the Special Committee About ! {
Concluded. 1ssx ;.


| sfsstst- tsfs-ysafs
Fourth Day. Hess teas
LEAvENwoRTH Kan, Feb. o-The Peni-
Tertiary Committee continued it's work
yesterday morning, the first witness being
Chief Clerk Jones. he gave various items
OF accounts with Lowry, Richter and
Hiatt Deputy Warden Higgins was
In debt for convict work ON his house. !, DR..
Neatly also had not settled for the labor
and material on his house. The latter
| claimed that he was entitled to a house at
the expense of the State. and the
matter has been long awaiting adj
justment = since October, 1856 DR..
Neatly built this house because there
was no building for him within the prison
| walls. Books showed charges against
/ Neatly for shoes. etc, which had not been
paid for. Bills have been presented, but
never paid. Called attention of the war;
den to this matter. Others connected with
the penitentiary also owed small amounts
Twelve O'Clock having arrived, the COM
mlttee adjourned until three p. m and
made trip through the prison shops, in
Guiding visit to the coal pit, TO feet be-
low the surface of the earth.
At the conclusion of the visit to the coal
! shaft the committee convened at $3.50
p. m. and William Parshall, super
;intendent OF the carpenter shop, was ex-
amined. He testified that he had made
various small articles for Higgins. excl
Ter and Thurston te!egraphed for me to come
| to Leavenworth and did so. They pre-
tended to be great friends OF mine and
| wanted me to make out a statement charg-
ing fraud on the part of the prison officials
| made out a list purporting to give names
| and value OF certain articles I had made
for them. This list was not, correct. 1
simply made it out to test these
| men, as they promised not to use
what they told ne I saw they were try
ing to fool me and gave them taffy.
l made Hiatt two ladies' work boxes.
| made Richter similar boxes and some foot
! stools. No charge was made for this, but
it was done when there was no State work
and the men would beg for an opportunity
| to work. Never made any thing for War
den Smith. The warden gave me orders
to charge for every thing made. Hiatt
and Richter furnished all the material for
their articles, except the wood. Do not
know that Warden Smith or any of the
directors or officials of the pen ever got
any thing from the shops other than have
stated" -ts
The next witness was William IPatter-
son, superintendent of construction at the
''pen." He confirmed the testimony re-
garding the building of DIR. Neally's
house. An adjournment was then had to
eight p. M.
On reassembling 81. L. Partridge, shop
officer, was put on the stand "When
annual bids were received and sam
pies sent to the tailoring department
received them: looked over the supplies
and saw the officers UNI rorm cloth marked
50. % per yard. 1t frequently occurred to
me that in buying supplies good prices
we've paid for inferior articles"
w. j. Morris, superintendent of the
tailoring department., was next called
After giving his evidence he said he knew
of no Irregularities ON the part of the
warden or directors. ~
Deputy Warden Higgins said two little
boxes had been made for his children and
work box for his children. Other trifiing
articles had been made. He had furnished
part of the material. Had a harness
made, which is charged to me. The con-
vict work done on my house is charged to
me. The wardrobe was made for me by
authority of the warden. 1t is State prop
erty and was SO understood when I had it
made. Mr.. Lamm told me Barnes had
offered him bride of $25 per month"
Mr. Jones was then called. Two years
ago d. N. Barnes spoke about Weight
Clerk Leland and said he had heard it in
timated that some parties had to pay him
something. "My impression was that he
referred to the Lopez contract. Never saw
any thing that would lead me to believe
| that Leland was not an honorable gentle
man."
The committee adjourned to meet at
Topeka Monday night
The Inquiry Resumed.
Topeka, Kan, Feb. 6-The Penitentiary
Investigating committee did not meet un-
til eight O'Clock last night. j. R. Braid
wood of the Riverside Coal Company of
Leavenworth was the first witness. He
testified that the screens at the peuiten-
ha
ones used by his company were one
inch. This gave the spen" contractor
a better quality of COAL The witness
| then explained in detail the process of
mining by his company, showing that it
could not compete with the con let mined
coal He considered that the way coal
was handled at the penitentiary by the
present management had an Injurious
effect on the coal companies operated by
free labor. The method of screening at
| the penitentiary was to. the advantage of
the contractor.
r. Ensley Jones, chief clerk of the peni-
Tertiary, who was on the stand at Lans-
ing, was recalled. He produced contracts
with Barnes in 1885 and 1887, with Lopez
in 1885 and Thomas in 1885. He said he
had orgotten the Barnes contract of 1886.
ssHave you any written bids on which
the last contract was let?' was asked.
Witness produced one bid from Barnes
for 80, OC0 bushels month. at six cents for
lump and CRATE coal four cents for nut,
| two cents for pea and one cent for slack.
The witness said there were no other bids.
No advertisement was issued, but
it was q matter OF general knowl-
edge. The bid was dated June Z, 1888
while the contract was dated June 5, 1887.
On further questions it was discovered
that no bid for the year 1887 had ever been
in possession of the witness and he knew
nothing about it. 1t was also developed that
| the contract did not follow the bid. Witness
| stated that under the Jones administra-
ton eighty-five pounds to the bushel had
been given the contractor and director.
| The minutes OF the meeting at which the
Lopez contract was annulled were read.