The morning call., 1895-02-10
SACRAMENTO SCANDAL
Supervisors Under Fire by
the Grand Jury.
MONEY GIVEN TO THE s. ?.
Fifteen Thousand Dollars for a
Promise.
A BIG BRIDGE WAS TO Be CONSTRUCTED
Cash Was Paid Without a Contract
or Presentation Of Plans or
Specifications.

SACRAMENTO, Feb. "a scandal is brew
ing which involves the Board of Supervis-
I-ors of Sacramento County, of which j. NJ
Morrison is chairman. The Grand Jury is
now investigating the contract which the
Supervisors made with the Southern
Pacific Company for the construction OF
bridge across the Sacramento River. 1t
has had the members of the board up as
witnesses, and to-day A. n. Towne, the
vice-president of the railroad company,
and ]. A. Fillmore, its general superinten-
dent, appeared before the body and gave
evidence as TO the agreement.
When the agreement was made, in 1893,
the provisions were that in consideration
of $4,000 to be donated by the county of
Sacramento and $4,000 by the county of
Yolo, the railroad would construct a COW
cred drawbridge across the river The
bridge was to be covered and carriage
way was to be constructed above the rail-
road crossing.
The proposition was submitted by the
railroad company and it seems that the
Supervisors jumped at the opportunity
presented. The county was pledged to
donate $4,000. 1t is charged that the
Board of Supervisors, before they had even
seen the plans or specifications, paid over
one-half of the amount for which they had
made the county responsible and that the
carriage way was to have been constructed
and open to travel by the last day of 1895.
The latter statement is most emphatically
denied, however. There is no carriage
| way and there appears to be no present in
tention on the part of the railroad COM
pany to make good it's side of the contract.
The railroad got its $4,000 and the people
of Sacramento have received nothing in
exchange.
Vice-President Towne andgSuperinten-
dent Fillmore made their statements to the
Grand Jury to-day. They declared the
contract was a proper one, and that the
railroad would in time fulfill its promises.
Their testimony was in support of the Su-
pervisors.
Ex-Mayor Steinman declared tonight:
''The affair is a county not city. one,
and therefore 1 have nothing to do with it.
OF course am aware of the contract that
was entered into between the Supervisors
and the railroad company. 1 understand
that there is no time limit for the compile
ton of the carriageway, and that is where
the Supervisors made their mistake. l am
| informed that it is the intention of the
railroad company to build the carriage
way. The Board of Supervisors in making
the contract did so, am told, with the adj
vice of the District Attorney, and there
fore I do not think that they can be
charged with any wrongdoing."
| J. NJ. Morrison, the chairman of the
board, would not make statement for
publication He declared that all the evil
dence to support the board would be found
in the official documents, and rested his
side of the case with that.
Another version of the story, which
seems to be the correct one, is this: Some
| time in 1893 the railroad company an
nounced its intention of constructing new
steel bridge across the Sacramento. 1t
proposed that, as the bridge as designed
would cost S145, 600, the county of Sacra-
mento should pay $45, 900 toward the cost
of carriage way above the railroad tracks.
The Supervisors at the time were: M.
Miller, ]. w. Todd, j. M. Morrison, William
Curtis and Thomas Jenkins. They con-
stitute the present board with the ex-
ception of Mr.. Miller, who has been sue
ceeded by John brennan. The old board
! considered the proposition for some time
| The railroad, through its representatives,
declared that if the county did not see its
| way clear to make the appropriation,
they would put the carriage way beside the
rails. After several meetings the board
decided to vote 1000 toward the con-
struction of carriage way. The PROPOSE
ton came from A. N. Towne, and was
made in behalf, it is said, not of the
Southern Pacific Company, but in the
name of the California Pacific Railroad
one OF the lines absorbed by the, Southern
Pacific.
Frank D. Ryan, the District Attorney,
was called in for consultation. He de-
! clared, it is said, that while contract
might be better, the letter from Towne
would be ample to hold the railroad COM
pany, and so the money of the county was
voted to the corporation. Since then, SO
far as the county is concerned there is
no evidence that steps toward the con-
struction of the bridge have been begun.
The railroad got its $4,000 in advance, or
a part of it-for all sorts of ugly rumors
are now ahoat that the entire sum did not
| go to the railroad and the county got left.
! The representatives of the railroad declared
that it would take eighteen months to con-
struct the bridge, but they did not propose
| to wait for their money and so obtained it
something more than year in advance of
the time set for spanning the Sacramento
with new steel bridge.
/ The leading spirits in the Board of Su-
pervisors at the time the bridge contract
was made were Jenkins, Morrison and
| Todd. Theirs was the paramount influence
| in the board. 1t is charged here in Sacra-
mento that B. U. Steinman, now the
Mayor, advised the board to act, on the
ground that a driveway free from danger
/ of trains was needed across the river. The
| money was taken by c. J. Ellis and de-
/ posted in D. o. Mills bank. From there
no trace of it has been disclosed, but very
ugly charges have been brought to the
notice of the Grand Jury. That body is
now anxious to find E. J. Gregory, ex-
| Mayor of Sacramento, but it has been
| unable to locate him.
1t has been charged that the railroad Sc
cured the defeat of Frank Rhoades and F.