The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-18
In AND ABOUT THE CITY.
AFTER THE TANNER FUND.
A Rush of Applicants for Pension
Papers.

E6pCE5-
There seems TO have been quite an in
crease in the distribution of pension money
among the colored people under Corporal
Tanners administration Of the pension
bureau, and there has been a rush upon the
notaries public to ackno Wedge affidavits
applying for certificates of discharge-the
preliminary step to applying for pension.
The most suspicious part of it is that most
OF the applicants hail from South Carolina,
between Beaufort and Savannah, but they
seek to conceal the object of the application
for certificates of discharge by claiming
that they want to get them so they can join
the colored grand army post at Beaufort
the possession of a discharge being pre-
requisite to membership.
A large number of colored people have
been recently granted arrears of pensions,
and one of the banks Of this city has for
some time been paying out large sums of
money on pension checks, some OF which
range from 81, 600 to $1,000. Some of those
who have obtained back pensions are resi-
dents of Chatham county, but the larger
proportion comes from the seacoast district
of South Carolina, and who live at Beau
fort, Bluffton, Hilton Head, and other
islands along the coast. They are said to be
negroes who enlisted near the close of the
war, and many of them were substitutes for
the northern states.
A notary public said yesterday that he
has witnessed a dozen of these attidavits by
pension seekers to the loss of their discharge
papers, and ten of the twelve were from
South Carolina. He has never known such
an influx of applicants as have been pour
ing in. The notary began charging so
cents for witnessing the affidavits. and as
the applicants began to crowd in and de-
pend on him to fill out the blanks, he raised
the fee to 81, when they quit coming to
him. Within very recent period no less
than twenty-five or thirty South Carolina
negroes have suddenly discovered that they
had lost their army discharges.
1t is understood that agents have been
canvassing the county hunting up all
colored soldiers and inducing them to apply
for pensions, and they all want to go on the
pension roll One colored woman on the
Ogeechee road recently received between
IS, 900 and $4,000 of arrearages of pensions,
although she had remarked since the death
of her husband.
A MORNING NEWS reporter who was in
vestigating the pension matter yesterday
had case cited to him where a colored
married woman, whose father did a short
service in the army, but who recently died,
as did his wife, applied for pension as
"poor orphan of a soldier"
During the closing days of President
Cleveland's administration a detective of
the pension bureau came down in this sec
ton to investigate fraudulent pensions He
detected one gross fraud which had been
practiced on the government for nine years
and arrested three of the principals, two of
whom gave bond and the third is now in
jail, having been committed by United
States Commissioner Lamar to await
the action of the United States grand
jury at the November term of the
court. The detective said that there were
plenty more Of such cases. and he predicted
that they would be worked up, as he had
been collecting data to bring the fraudulent
pensioners to justice, but since the pension
bureau changed hands nothing has been
heard from them.
1t was by the purest accident that the
fraud alluded to was discovered. The cir
cumstances were about as follows: Solomon
Washington (colored), who married the
daughter of colored soldier named Glover
of Beaufort, who had since died. conceived
the name of his widow, although
the latter had remarked. Washington
got up the papers in due form
using another colored woman as substitute
for Kate Glover, who signed the Glover
| woman'S name, and David Wright, q col
| ored preacher, certified to her signature
In time the pension was allowed, and for
nine years Washington drew it right along,
| giving none Of the money to his mother
in-law, who was ignorant of the whole
matter, and giving none of money to the
counterfeit Kate Glover, who says that she
| did not receive any of the money, and did
not understand the papers, but that the
preacher Wright said it was all right, and
| Washington's wife gave her some presents
| 1t appears however, that the cabin, where
| the pension papers were kept took fire and
| the papers we're burned.
| Washington and Wright then went to
| work, got the woman's affidavit to the fact
and applied for new papers, whereupon the
| pension bureau sent an agent to Beaufort
to look into the case. He found the original
Kate Glover after some difficulty, as she
had married a second husband, and learned
from her that she had never applied for a
pension and had never received a dollar.
The agent then came on to Savannah,
worked up the case and arrested the parties.
| A MORNING NEWS reporter was shown
the papers yesterday where white man in
this city made affidavit to the loss of his
| discharge in a name other than that by
| which he is known here A firm of war claim
attorneys in Washington obtained a copy
of the discharge and forwarded it with a
bill for collection of the fee on the note
| given in the name by which the applicant
is known here. The applicant evidently en-
listed in another name, and for what reason
the papers and correspondence with the
attorneys do not show.
1t is believed that there are great num-
Der of fraudulent pensioners on the rolls
among the colored ex-soldiers who have
been drawing pensions for years. Some of
| them are the widows of soldiers who have
remarked, and by that act cannot legally
| draw pension.