Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-08
OF One of the Congressman Who Is Now
Investigating Him.
LINEwEAvER's ABSENCE EXPLAINED

| 1000 of Mr.. Lemons cases, and in that wa,
put $3.50, 900 of fees in Mr.. Lemons pock
cts within eight months. Mr.. Enloe asked
| If Mr.. Lemon had not left Washington fol
Europe Immediately after this investiga
tion was ordered.
Mr. Raum said he hao no personal knowl
| edge as to when Mr.. Lemon went abroad
but had heard that since the Investigation
he and party had gone to Europe.
Mr. Enloe asked if Mr.. Lemon had moi
gone without any other notice to his en-
ployes than note announcing that he was
going to Europe.
Mr. Raum replied that he knew nothing
about the matter.
Mr.. Enloe next asked if Raum had yei
paid the note indorsed by Mr.. Lemon.
) The Commissioner said that was private
business and declined to answer.
Raum Springs q Big Sensation.
A decided sensation was sprung when
Mr.. Enloe asked if the secretaries of Con.
gressmen ever sold information of the status
Of claims to pension attorneys.
Mr.. Raum had a big bundle of papers and
was evidently prepared for just this sort of
question, for he produced them and read
letters in which the charge was made that
Samuel r. Hersey, private secretary OF
Representative Cooper, of Indiana, had
through Ragan & Co, of Kenton, O., and
H. c. Peet, of Columbus, Ind, carried on
quite business of this sort, charging So to
each claimant for status It was then
shown that Hersey had called up these
cases on Congressional slips signed by Rep
resentative Cooper, one of the prosecutors
in the Raum case. Hersey also worked for
Mr.. Brookshire. of Indiana, and Mr.. Gantz,
of Ohio, but it was not shown that Hersey's
connection with them had been the same as
with Cooper, the investigation Gas developed
by Mr.. Enloe) directed by the Commits
sioner having related solely to Mr.. Cooper.
There were, the Commissioner said, q
thousand pension cases all over the North
west In which Hersey was involved. It was
on this matter that Mr.. Lineweaver, whose
absence has been frequently inquired about,
had been engaged.
Gist Of the Papers Submitted.
The papers relating to the affair were Of
fered in evidence by Mr.. Raum, but have
not yet been admitted in evidence, the COM
mittee desiring to examine them and pass
upon the matter. The substance of them is
covered in letter from the Commissioner
to the Secretary of the Interior, dated April
5, recommending Hersey's disbarment In
effect, the letter shows that On February 25
last report was received from j. G. Green
walt, Supervising Special Examiner of
the Pension Office, with reference to COM
plant received from John R. Whittinghill,
of Crothersville, Ind. and formerly in the
Ninth Kentucky Volunteers. In this COM
plant Whittfnghill said that he had re-
ceived letter from G. L. Ragan & Co., of
Kenton, O., saying that for So he would
furnish Whittfnghill the exact status of his
claim and the testimony necessary to it.
Whittinghill asked if it was a fraud, and if
Ragan could furnish the information why
couldn't he (WhittinghilD get it from the
Pension Office without expense.
The papers show that on September 16 Of
last year the Commissioner wrote Whit
tinghill saying that he was not advised upon
what method Ragan & Co. were working
ward So to the firm, for which the Pension
Office would reimburse him and request
status This was done, and on November
10 Whittinghill received reply, giving
him as full and accurate statement of his
claim as if the man had the papers before
him.
Hersey Caught in the Act.
Meanwhile the case had been put aside to
what would come Of it, and it
turned out that on November II the papers
in the case were called for by Hersey upon
a Congressional slip of Representative
Cooper, of Indiana The Commissioners
letter said that he couldn't know that this
was any more than coincidence, and could
not determine whether there was any con-
nection between Ragan & Co. and the
Cooper slip. So on November % Whit
tinghill was requested to correspond with
Ragan & Co. relative to the claim of Henry
of the Ninth Ohio Infantry, the
been selected at random. On
December % the claim was called up by
Hersey on q Congressional slip of Mr..
Cooper, and was carefully examined. Feb
ruary 6, 1892, Ragan, writing from Chicago,
forwarded "status" of the claim.
In the meantime the Commissioner had
received letter dated December %, 1891,
from ex- x-Representative Williams, of Ohio,
calling attention to the fact that certain
Ohio pension attorneys were having their
cases called up for status and reported upon
by Hersey on Mr.. Cooper's Congressional
slips The matter was placed in Greenwalt's
hands, and he obtained from the office in
which Ragan had formerly worked a letter.
press book containing 13 copies of letters
relating to claims. One letter gave a COM
olete status of the claim of Mrs. Elizabeth
Moffatt, Of Elizabethtown, Ind, called up
October Z, 1891, on Mr.. Cooper's Congress
'ional slip.
Lineweaver as Detective.
At Greenwalt's request Lineweaver was
assigned to assist him. In Ohio he took the
lepositions of f. P. Cunningham, George |
g. Garfield, John F. Armstrong and D. F.
Farsi. He also took those Of John f. Nor |
gan, of Bloomington, Ind. These papers,
he Commissioners letter said, showed that |
Hersey secured information on pension |
claims through Mr.. Peet, and then Peet |
Ind Hersey were brought together by |
Cooper, Peet having been a clerk under Mr.. |
Cooper when the latter was postmaster of |
Columbus Peet was related to Cooper by
and was the confidential man and |
,hief clerk of Marring & Slusher, pension
attorneys Peet furnished Greenwalt with |
several original letters received from Her |
'ey, giving reports Of the status of cases.
rhe plan was, the Commissioners letter
aid, that Ragan wrote to pension attorneys
md claimants and secured the business and
orwarded it to Peet, who in turn cor
esponded with Hersey, who used the slips
II Cooper and other members of Congress
whom he represented as their clerk. Hersey
lrew the cases and ascertained their status
md the fees were divided between Hersey,
oeet and Ragan.
The deposition of James p Morgan, Of
bloomington, 1uu., SHOWS tuat ne was taken
0 Hersey's Office by Mr.. Cooper and intro
uced to Hersey, and informed that If he
ad anything worth paying for Hersey will
ttend to 1t for you" Morgan testified that
fter his return home he wrote to Mr.. Coop
+, forwarding list of 25 cases in which he
esired their status, the letter closing: "I
Iin pay such compensation as is proper for
he status of these claims. have written
0 Hersey. but did not get his address"
Tn. Price of Status Shaved to d.