New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-10-26
SOME AMAZING STEALS.
THE ST. JoHNLAND FARM FRAUDS.
BONANZA FOR DEMOCRATIC ooRRUpToN1srs

SOME TELLING FIGURES.
1t is old saying that charity a multitude
of SINS but there is limit the shelter which
that cloak can give TO miquity, and the wholesale
hieving OF the Democratic ring Of Brooklyn carried
on In the sweet name of charity is not hidden The
fact that the Kings County Farm st. Johnland Is
sink OF corruption Is we'll known to every resident
OF Brooklyn that he accepts II among the things
Inevitable Death, taxes and official robbery he al
most ceases to lament and to the dctum We must oil
de- he has added a natural law, ave must all
be robbed Grand turies after grand jues have made
scathng presentments upon the at st. Johnland
and criminal indictments have been found against
officials for corruption. The most that any worker
for honest government do is to lay before the
people the facts and leave themtO remedy the evils if
they Will. Perhaps time the fact will come
home TO them with the force OF conviction that they
have been paying out millions for their poor sick and
insane fellows which have been going Into the pockets
OF politicians while the unfortunacs have been living
crowded together, sleeping on stair landings and In
illventilated rooms at Flabush, and benumbed with
cold have been rowing around vast unfinished barns
at ST. Johnland. In five years 30, 800 900 has
been spent there for the sake of keeping 700 insane
paupers in such condition OF misery that shortly
before His death last spring SIpervlsor-at-I4arge
Kret2scllmar, visiting them, was fired with indig
nation and returning to Brooklyn, sent scathing re-
Dukes 70 his fellow office holders who were directly
responsible for the outrages stirred them up to
stop their stealing long enough to get the temperature
of the where these 700 lived little above the
freezing point
The Kings County Farm at st. Johnland started
in 1887 relieve crowded condition of the
Insane Asylum. The county purchased s2s acres OF
land for Se7 800 Samuel McElrOy had been employed
engineer and in February, 1885, had filed plans pro
vidng in detail for the complete equipment OF the in
sttuton They were intelligent and far-rcachlng His
plans called for the erection of sixty nlne cottages
eight dining halls and twenty other buildings, having
| al malta ofh
employees and full medical staff. Everything
provided for in minute detail, and careful estimates
put the total Of the enterprise, including site and
10 cent for engineering and contingent expenses
at 81 ,242 460 "a. Before long the politicians for
revenue only in it opportunity to carry ont
their own ideas. They have far done TINS that up
to February last 81 1921 81 had been spent for the
sake OF accommodating about 700 patients doing less
than onethd of the work projected at twice the
cost FOR the whole. Besides this there sickening
array Of contracts for repairs and Improvements yet
| unperformed
Mr.. McElroys original plans provided for a number
Of small cottages holding from twenty to fifty patients
| in each. They would have cost about $4,000 each
| Eighteen OF these were built and then the Ring
that they did give sufficient opportunity for stealing
and il was decided to build four large buildings to
| hold 400 persons each. There numerous good
sites for these buildings but decided TO place
| on a bluff partly above and partly below grade.
of earth had be dug out for the founda
ton side and the other foundations had TO
be built up for thirty feet ten feet In excess
OF the height of the building above grade. Into the
foundation Of OF these buildings, which PIG by
300 feet the ground 10000, 900 brick said
to have been put-at least they paid for. over
370H0 cubic feet of masonry put under that cot
tage, enough brick to build wall feet high and
| feet thick and 7 miles long.
| The February Grand Jury said Of these cottages
"Two of the four large buildings costing S627 900,
were located with the apparent object Of giving OPP
portunity for extras, which already amount 10 $400,
| 0Oo."
Out of the building of these cottages grew several
| court cases r. B. Eastman the architect, drew
plan for all four buildings and charged for four In
bill for Sl5,675, which audited by the committee
of the Board of Supervisors John A. Quntard, then
Supervisor atLarge, vetoed the bill, and out OF his
veto came libel suit, brought by Eastman. Then
in his answer Quinard boldly charged that Eastman
was only the tool of the ring in the Board Of super
vsors, who were to audit claims and get part of the
proceeds. lie charged that supervisor Thomas Z.
O'Brien told him OF IT, and offered him $4,000 if
he vetoing their bills for the rest of his
| term, aud said: Do you suppose allow those
two stuhs Eastman the architect, and Corey, the
| engineer) to keep all the money they get out OF
the works at ST. Johnland We have got an
rangemcnt with Eastman and Corey" That libel
| suit tried.
Supervisor O'Brien chairman Of the County
| Farm Committee. lie brought suit for libel. The
| defendant Was contractor named McOdUn, WHO
had said that O'Brien told him that if he expected
| TO get a bid accepted he must put in something for
| the boys. That case tried and O'Bren was non
| suited.
Eastman indicted for presenting fraudulent
claim on February % 1890. Indictments for passing
| the claim were found against Thomas f. O'Brleh
William E. French Thomas NJ. Nolan, and Robert
O'Donnell the Democratic members of the committee
DIN b. Lockwood the sole representative OF the minor
| ity allowed upon the committee, was also hcIuueu
in the Indictment Eastman was tried In March, 1870
| and the jury disagreed, standing : to Tor cohVlc
| ton. The other indictments were pieeonnViou ~Nu
never brought to tr.ai
| IL womb be a great task enumerate all the
Grand Jures which had condemned the management Oh
| St Jobnland. Since 1883 almost every one has sad
its word On the subject The Grand Jury Of February
! 1900 found that according TO the present plans II
| would cost S3, 100000 to accommodate the 21Oo
patients provided for by Mr.. McErOy at an estimated
cost Of 81 242 GO a. and added that the Board Of
Charities had largely ignored the plans of Mr. McElroy
For instance Mr. Carey, the engineer. said that there
| were no specifications made by Mr.. McEroy Tor
distributing reservoir. Nevertheless his map IN
dcated its site and bis Specifications called for prop
erIy constructed basin puddled with clay and lined with
eight inches Of laid in cement instead OF the one
mt In with its honeycombed and insufficient lining Of
cobbestone brushed over with cement
The original plan provided for road from the
,ailroad station to the bay following the Topography OF
the land and it expected that the patients wouiu
build it, Instead, there Is boulevard 100 feet wide
graded like a city street. which in its present un
finished condition has with side roads cost $4,000
Instead Of following the surface Of the country depres
sions were filled and hills cut down. Where the
reservoir stood the hill cut out for the road. so
that it could not support the reservoir, and granite
retaining wall, costing $4,000 had to be put up TO
take the place of the earth caIted away.
The presentment says. We also find that the
In tba uIanS ~ constructing the distributing
reservoir from that intended by the first engineer have
been the cause Of large and wastefu expenditures
that the people have thereby been defrauded and the
public money wasted, and that still an additional sum