The evening world., 1893-06-14
Assistant Appraiser Proves a De-
fiant Witness.
FaIrchIld Commission at Work In
the Laight Street Stores.
stsnographsr Bassett Reinstntcd
and May Take Testimony.


Deputy Appraiser Cyrus A. Stevens is .
acting as the head Of the department !
since Mr.. Cooper has withdrawn. and ,
he IA now under orders from the Com |
missioner to furnish such witnesses as
they may require.
The position occupied by Stephen w.
Bassett, late stenographer to Mr..
Cooper, is somewhat uncertain. Orders
were received yesterday from WASH
ington that he should be reinstated
and assigned to duty. but the Appraiser
ignored them and left his office in the
afternoon in h If.
1t Is said this morning that Actin Ap-
praiser Stevens has carried out the or.
der. and has assigned Bassett as ofhoial
the testimony Of such witnesses. includ-
ing a number Of merchants who decline
to appear before the Commission at its
FORMATION pugne % they they have & il they are as
sured that 1t will be kept out of the
The first witness called this morning
was ]. Stanley Isaacs.. Assistant Ap-
praiser Of the Sixth Division.
Mr.. Isasss asa, said he had been apPEoin TED
he had been in the hat cap and cloak
His division had to do with the ap-
mems wear, felt, blankets, clothing. raw
wool carpets and ali kinds Of furs and
skins.
manner Of talking, and made some Of
his answers so forcible that even Mr..
Macfarlane seemed to be somewhat
ness. ness In aN appearance M nee he ' Bears ~ a striking
resemblance to Mr.. Macfarlane.
In regard to invoices he said that es-
division was very seldom behind hand.
He usually received all the way from
nifty to one hundred and twenty in
What steps do you take to satisfy
yourself that the valuation fixed by the
examiner is correct, besides talking with
the ws wssamasr ME- aseEsTans ySH it is not e.
should is' Ss familiar M A With the ApRset %arset
XaSs Sis Of all the articles that come with
Each examiner is supposed to be
conyersant with pieces Of goods that
figures In my head"
M. Isaaes vent on to explain how he
price-lists from foreign ports occa sion-
ally. never had consular reports, but
the best way was to compare invoices
"Examiners who have been familiar
with the business for many years gen.
orally can tel the grade Of the good.
.rs.nss sprsssa'aasss sho flsassSt St
tAs snaSs ne osis s!S1si knowledge of such
persons coming here"
do you Mr.. Hinds?"
Domestic woollen Manufacturers AS
II have heard that he was"
How often does he visit your divis-
ion?'
u.sN. .3Nh. he comes in several times every
realy oes done foms Know. .nfIe lie 1st comes
In and looks around. Sometimes he
asks how many invoices of English
goods e%s we are ar receiving in the division"
business is in your division?" ~ .
II don't suppose anything. I am not
hrs.,nn. here to suppose. 1 am here to answer
tWell we want you to suppose. Give
+ can't do It,"
The witness finally said that he was
not present to ,.hield Kinds. Sometimes
Kinds had given, him information Of
reports that goods were undervalued,
and he had Investigated the reports and
found the invoices correct.
To several Of the questions asked him
the witness said he did not see the use
OF such inquiries, and when finally
pressed for an answer would say he did
not know.
The custom Of one assistant appraiser
signing invoices for another went back
to 1870. the witness understood. The first
day he was asked TO sign a dozen in
this. and was told 1t was the regular
custom. and he had simply followed the
rule.
was the purpose Of an assistant ap-
priaser's signature to an invoice.
After some lively fencing bet the
witness and Mr.. Macfarlane. the former
admitted that 1t was an assurance to his
superior officer that the invoice had been
thoroughly examined.
well, has that signature any weight
whatever as ar assurance when made
by the head of another division?"
Mr.. Isaacs said he would not answer
the question because he did not come to
criticise the other appraisers.
DO you examine invoices from other
divisions Say to see. see 4 T.. they are correct be-
"of fes course not. That's an absurd
question. How can / know anything
about goods in another division? / only
is i'a all 70 right. sas know ss a good % many Of
them now, though didn't know one
when ! first came here"
Don't you think that such a prac.
II don't approve of it," said Mr..
Isaacs, but what can do when an as
sist.nt appraiser is away. Somebody
has got to sign the invoices"
roaI,ae Then you have an opinion about the
Inatter!'
Yes. think the system is all
wrong, and that an assistant appraiser
should know what he Is signing"
Couldn't any office-boy sign these In
voices. and wouldn't that be as much
protection against fraud as under the
present system. II such was the law?"
Yes; ! suppose he could. II that was
the law"
Mr.. Magone told the witness at the
close Of his examination that he did
not like the manner in which he had
replied to some of the questions. What
the Commission wanted were facts and
not "iscursive arguments.
Mr. Isaacs said he was sorry II he
had not pleased the Commission, and
he would be willing to correct any of
tory.
After recess the first witness called
was John F.. Henry, tr.,. Assistant APP
ical division.
Mr.. Henry is a young man. but he
showed considerable familiarity with the
affairs of his division. He became
slightly confused, however, and. sud
denly turning very pale, he asked for
,o Sommissioner Magone thought he was
gong 10 faint and excused him from
turther examination. n
Assistant Appraiser William H. Leay-