Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-17
The Appointments Made by the
District Commissioners.
SKETCHES OF THE MEN SELECTED
The Law Under Which the Assess
ment Will Be Made.
ALSO AN EXCISE BOARD


terday afternoon appointed the following
as members of the permanent board OF as
SCISSORS: Col. James A. Bates, s. I. G. Nor
sell and j. Harrison johnson. This result
was reached at the session of the board,
which was prolonged Until a late hour in
the afternoon. There were before the Com
missloners the names of large number OF
competent men who had been recommend
ed for this position, and whose standing
in the community and whose ability to per-
form the duties Of the position were recog-
nize1. In coming to a decision the Com
mssioners considered the fitness of the per-
sons recommended to their attention, as
well as their political affiliations, and the
location of the city in which they resided.
1t was concluded that two of the MEM
bers of the new board should come from
the dominant political party, and also that
the three sections OF the city should be rep
resented. Within these lines the appoint
ments were made Col Bates is repub-
hcan, residing in the eastern section of the
city; Mr. Aorseli is democrat, whose
nome Is the northwestern section, and Mr.
johnson Is also of the democratic faith,
and is a resident of the southern section OF
the city. The Commissioners had good ma
terial to select from and they believe that
they have not only met the conditions
which In their opinion, should govern such
appointments, but that they have secured
men OF standing AMI ability.
How They Were Made.
Inc appointments We're surprising because
IL had been generally understood during the
day that the Commissioners had selected
tLree other men. All of the gentlemen
were well Endorsed for the positions. But
THIS was the case with every applicant.
1t was 30 O'Clock when President Ross
Called the board together. 1t was to be an
executive session, and all doors leading to
the board room were locked and a messen-
ger detailed to patrol the hall. so that no
one Gould approach the open windows of the
board room and hear the arguments
After the board had convened Commits
sioner Ross called UP the matter of an
pointing the permanent board of assessors
secretary llndal was dispatched for The
applications, and he appeared a few min
utes later with big armful. These were
Geposlted on the board room table, and the
discussion opened All of the Commission
ers agreed that they could not be too care
ful in their selections
Engineer Commissioner Powell, while he
had several good men inc view, intimated
mat he would defer to the opinion of the
civilian Commits siOners, WHO, In his estima-
ton, were better qualified to make the Sc
lection 1t was thought that this would re-
duce complications, and that the Commits
siohefs could come to an agreement in a
short time. But this was soon found to be
a mistake. .'ts-T.>.tt.
There were complications of which they
1t Was evident after the first vote that in
would be long time before an agreement
was reached.
The Political Question.
one OF the Commissioners previous to the
meeting had expressed himself in favor of
the reappointment Of the old board of re-
vision which, it will be recalled. was COM
Tosed of Messrs. Griffin, Gurley and Nor
sell. But two of these were republicans.
n nd hnr
bers of that political party on the board
during a democratic administration was
questioned. The Commissioners were de-
slrous of absolving themselves from any
political considerations, yet il was mutu-
ally understood that majority of the new
board would be democrats. But who would
they be? Among the democratic applicants
MIR. William Dickson had the most back
IT <. bushel of letters were on file, from
almost every prominent democrat in the
city. including the Vice President and
Speaker Crisp. His name was among the
first considered but there was a hopeless
disagreement and his application was laid
aside. And so each applicant was taken up
and considered. Each one was fully dis
cussed before vote was taken. When
there was a disagreement the application
was put in the basket for future considera-
ton. At last six applications remained. 1t
was past , o'clock and the Commissioners
Were getting hungry. Capt. Powell thought
the matter had been reduced to such a mar
row margin that If each Commissioner
T ominated his choice the question could be
settled. Commissioner Ross, It is under
stood. nominated Mr. j. Harrison Johnson.
He was unanimously elected. Commissioners
Truesdell nominated Col. James A. Bates.
I his was in accordance with Capt. PowelPs
views, ard he, with Commissioner Ross,
voted for the ex-army officer Then all
agreed upon Mr.. S. T. G. Morsell. and the
ard of permanent assessors had been Sc
1ecied. 1t was half-past > O'Clock. Three
hours had been devoted 10 making the ap-
HI obi mad
james a. Bates.
Col. James A. Bates has been engaged in
the real estate bI siness in this city for a
number of years past and resides at the
corner Of "a and T streets northeast, Eek
ington He is we'll known in army circles
and has a wide acquaintance among the
He was born in Scotland and came
to this country about the time of the COM
mencement of the late civil war. On the
18th of April, 1861, he enlisted as a private
in the twelfth New York regiment and came
to this city with his regiment and was
camped on Franklin Square. He served
with the Army of the Potomac and received
a wound in the seven days fight in front of
Richmond, in consequence of which he sub
sequently lost a leg. He was promoted to
first lieutenant and to captain in the twelfth
New York and was brevetted major and
lieutenant colonel of volunteers. Upon the
of the army in 1865 he was
He was brevetted major and lieutenant col
onel, L. s. A. for gallantry in the field. In
December, 1870, he was placed on the re-
tired list in consequence of the loss of a
leg. After his retirement from the army he
was in the ship-buiding business in Con-
necticut for nine years. Since 1888 he has
been engaged in the real estate business in
this city. He is fifty-four years of age. He
was recommended for appoin tment by a
number of the business men and residents
OF the city and by members of the Senate
and of the House.
:. II. G.. MOrseII.
Mr.. Samuel T. G. Morsell has long been
known IS one of the leading builders in
this city. He was born near Bladensburg.
Md, and came to this city. where he began
his career as a carpenter apprentice He
became a jOurneyman and finally master
builder and contractor. He is also known
as an architect. having designed many of
the buildings he has erected. OF late years
Mr.. MOrSell has to a certain extent with
drawn from the active labors of his pro-
fessOn. his chief connection with building
being in the CaDacitV NJ an