The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-06-22
HOW LUMBER BPURCHASED
Mr.. Calhoun Goes AilHtely into The
Details Of Il.

9bahhs nc 10 AhACa n b0AN VIC - AA4A7
Der Purchased Through Hopkins and
schley. The Object of the Investiga-
ton Somewhat of a Mystery. Mr..
Hopkins Explains the transactions.
The sequel to the Central railroad
examinations in Baltimore before master
in chancery Geo. w. Owens, was con-
| Quoted yesterday in the office Of MIR. J.
| w. Conner, purchasing agent of the
! Central, and whitepine lumber was dis
cussed in detail
/ Any one present might have obtained
an excellent idea of the lumber industry.
He could have learned ina few moments
what 'picks" and selects" were. and he
might have determined easily what were
| the existing prices of white pine lumber,
| but 1t would have been rather a difficult
matter for a layman to determine what
the attorneys who had witnesses under
! fire were driving at. Harder still is it to
determine exactly what the question of
how much lumber the Central has
purchased from Albro 81 Co. or anybody
else, and what they have paid for it. has
to do with the litigation which comes up
before Mr.. Justice Jackson next Monday
Suffice it say, if Justice Jackson has to
read this tremendous accumulation of tes-
timony along with the hundreds and hun
dreds of other papers in the case, he has
a giants task before him.
MIR. CONFER ON THE STAND.
Mr.. ]. w. Conner, purchasing agent of
the Central, was the first witness on the
stand. The interrogatiOns were evidently
intended to show what the method of pro-
cedure in purchasing lumber for the Cen
trial was, and also that there had been
n1lm bAp Of Hno lf91crc with the fy.r1, Of
kins & Schley
In stating the method of ordering sup
plies Mr.. Conner said when he received
requisition from one of the shops he usu-
ally turned it over to one of the men he
had been been dealing with and asked him
TO fill the order When a requisition for
pine lumber reached him he called for
bids and he did not always take the lowest
bid, as other things were taken into con-
sideration. Those bills were filed in the
office, and all the files pertaining to bust
ness of his Office were kept in his Office.
Mr. Calhoun asked for a copy of an or
der from the books numbered 1879. The
original was at hand and was presented
for examination. He asked for the his
tory of the order so far as shown by the
records of the Office. 1t was shown that
the order was placed with E. d. Albro &
Co Of Cincinnati, O., in March, 1893.
The order was for lumber at prices of
$50, $50 80 and s115, and the freight was
not included in the price. The lumber
was shipped and received. Mr. Conner
was asked for copy Of the order and the
bids for this lumber
WANTED NO cnooKEDNEss.
isn't 1t fact that after the testimony
was taken in Baltimore you counter
manded the other given this firm?" Mr.
Calhoun asked
when Mr.. H. M Conner heard of this
replied Mr.. Conner, che told me to coun-
termand all orders placed with Hopkins
X Schley until the matter was cleared up
He said if there were any croOkedness in
the transaction he wanted it stopped
1t was reported by an inspector that
some lumber bought from the Bridge
port Lumber Company was worth $50 and
some of it $50. Mr.. Conner then stated that
he had charged the difference in the
lumber when it did not come up to CON
tract, to the account of the Bridgeport
Company amounting to 800 50. Mr..
Conner had ordered the lumber and the
bill had been approved. It had been or
dered from the Ambro Company, but was
furnished by the Bridgeport Company.
He said he had made no contract for the
lumber and he did not know whether a
contract for it had been made or not
1t was shown that the Central never
the bids which are received. The order
was addressed to Albro g. Company, but
frequently these orders We're sent to
Hopkins q Schley as their agents, as
was often done in similar cases.
After the order was given, he received
the bill for it from the Bridgeport Lumber
Company. Then the dispute in regard to
the lumber arose and the order was not
approved until after the matter was set
tied. The lumber was, he supposed, OF
dered through Hopkins g. Schley as the
agents of the Albro Co. The file concern
ing this lumber, was offered in evidence
MADE NO DIFFERENCE WHO FURNISHED 1T.
Mr. Conner stated, when asked by Mr.
Lawton, that it made no difference from
whom the luwber came, so long as it was
satisfactory in condition and in price
The order referred to, was signed by
Mr.. j. F. Babbitt Jr
Mr., Conner was questioned closely
in regard to his occupations before he be-
came connected with the Central railroad.
He said in referring to the letter of Henry
James & CO., of Baltimore, he found that
this firm had not quoted the rate of S37. so
on any such lumber as was described in
the order, but that the lumber they had
| quoted on was of poorer class than that
ordered
He said that Hopkins & Schley came in
monthly when acquisitions We're received
and submitted bids on the lumber wanted.
! They solicited the privilege of filling these
orders as bids We're rarely ever made on
such supplies He thought the anxiety of
| people to get The business of the purchas-
ing department was great enough to make
them square in their dealings. If that
order to Henry James g. Co.
had been filed and the lumber was not
satisfactory in quality and price a correc-
ton would have been demanded. The
! Central did not employ Hopkins & Schley
as brokers and paid no commissions to any
body as such. MIR. conner said, in response
! to a question, that he did not know where
Mr.. Babbitt was, but thought he was in
| Chicago.
MR.. CALHOUNs INVESTIGATION.
Mr., Conner said that Mr.. Calhoun came
into his Office on the day before to con-
! duct general investigation of the con
! tents of the files and the procedures
therein, or so he understood it. Mr. Cal
| houn tried to get him to state that he
came TO conduct a specific investigation,
but Mr.. Conner insisted that he under
stood that it was general investigation
that Mr. Calhoun desired to conduct,
Several other orders for lumber given to
| Albro & Co, were investigated These
orders had also been given through
Hopkins & Schley, and number of ques-
tons were put in regards TO them.
An insinuation was made, by Mr..
Calhoun, that a certain letter with