Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-02-25

discovered in tho signal service accounts, and Howgatc was charged with having committed thcm. II" was arrested. but by ruse escaped frCm his guards, and for Is years remained ir New York Al though a reward of 5000 was offered for his capture, he was not arrested until last fall.
 At the beginning of tho trial therc was a hot legal hattie in regard to tho validity of the indictments on which it was pro posed to try Howgatc. They were finally sustained and the case tried on its merits The jury found that the case was not har- red hy the statute of Limitations, but held that HowGatc was not guilty of the par ticular offcnScS charged
 After the verdict was rCndcred HOwgatc was sent back to jail to await trial on the scvcn indictments still remaining against him. It Is not known which of these will first be tried
 Howgate's Discovery.
 Tho discovery of Howgatc by cx-Chicf Drummond in New York. wherc he had been living for years carrying on second hand book business under the alias of Will liams, looked like piece of stage business. It developed during the trial that How gates whereabouts had been known to . scorc of persons during the past IS years. In fact, his friends had been in moro or less constant communication with him. Officials of the WAT department could havo arrested him on a dozen different occa- sionS had they seen 1t. Sporadic attempts were made by sccrct service officers to take him but, warned in time, HowSnto would D1ovc un.
 Theso officials are sharp enough to run down petty countcrfcitcrs and minor crim. inals, but a man who could turn asidc sev- eral hundred thousand dollars of govern ment money seemed to wear a charmed veil which rendered him invisible wherev- CT he might choose to wander More than once Howgatc had been in Washington. He had travelled over the principal rail roads of the country. put up at prominc. |; hotels and attempted no disguise. His in, | dividuality is so marked that once seen bis facc would novcr be forgotten. II, was known to thousands, and yet he W
 the streets of New York for six yea. fore he was finally arrested.
 District Attorney BirnCy found tn | the indictments which had previousI been prepared against Howgatc wcrc fatal | ly defcctivc though they were prepared ! by a man considered to be one of the shrcwdcst criminal lawyers in Washington tho lawyer who drcw up the indictments against the star route jobbers, which also proved defective. Mir. Birney drew new l ones and prOCCCtlCd to trial.
 Then he discovered n strange reluctance on the part of witnesses when he sought to obtain testimony. Important docu' ments mysteriously disappeared. It was l impossible to trace them. The clerks who had them in charge could only twirl their i thumbs and stammCr forth disclaimers. As the trial progressed pages which werG | known to contain discriminating entries l werc found to have been bodily cut from government books
 1 Tho Prisoners Assurance. Yet tho case looked complete. The jury was rather above the average in intelli gence and standing. Tho government had the best of the argument. although How gato was defended by two of the ablest lawyers of the Washington bar Judge | McComas' rulings and his charge to the | jury were considered as weighing against the prisoner.
 From the beginning Howgaps's demean or has been one of easy assurance. He ha' acted like a man who was sure of acquit tai. Nearly every ono who is familiar with the case has the same comment tC make, "Howgate knew too much" Wer' there others concerned with him? It ma! never be known.
 Tho management of the signal servic' in tho days when he was sailing yachts giving terrapin dinners and living like | prince on the limited salary of a captain in the regular army was relic of the day of good stealing at the close of the war General Myer-Old ProbabilitieS-chief O the signal service, was worried into hi grave by wrongdoing which he discoyere' too late and was powerless to prevent.
 It Is known that for years Captain How gate had the private wires between tn White House and the departments running through his offices. with the result tha the most confidential messages between the president and the members of the cab met were subjected to his scrutiny with out their knowledge. It was all reveale' | by an accident.