St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-04-05
TO TRY GEO. A. BRACKET.
Witnesses Examined Under
Oath and a Deal Of Red
Tape Displayed.
GEO. A WANTS TO SETTLE.
Submits a Proposition Which
Will Be Considered by
the Com mittee.

| A solemn body of men assem-
bled in the city hall yesterday after
noon for the purpose of investigat-
i ing the foolish dicker the city made
with George A. Bracket for it's hos
pital site. AS everybody knows, the
! deal was contaminated in a lauda-
! bic desire to assist Mr.. Bracket
out of his financial difficulties. The
details of the transaction were ar
ranged according to law, and, while
it is true the board of charities and
like thing in purchasing the unde-
sirable site from Mr.. Bracket, no
sensible person has questioned the
| honesty of either the commissioners
or Mr.. Bracket. Nothing, in fact,
| is clearer than the entire deal was
engineered by Mayor Eustis, who
was particularly active in his friend
| Brackets interests, and whose in
fiuence in the board was directly
responsible for the entire transac-
ton.
Yesterdays proceedings were of a
character to make men smile, in
view of these facts. The council COM
mittee appointed to investigate the
! hospital matter constituted itself a
| court of law, and from the air of
righteousness that hung about the
, committee rooms it might have been
supposed that Mr.. Bracket was
there on trial for his life instead
OF his own free will, ready and anx-
ious to tell all he knew.
When the self-constituted court
convened there were about fifty
Well-known citizens and Interested
persons present, including Aid.
Miner, Rand, Long, Dickinson and
fort who constituted the commit
Tee; Commissioners Miller, Hove.
! Cloutier and Woodland, and Score
tary OWre, of the board of charities
and corrections; City Physician
| weston, City Attorney Simpson.
George A. Bracket, c. H. Woods.
MS attorney; John H. Field, cashier
OF the Washington bank; w. S. King
| and several others.
The witnesses examined were SOL
EMMY sworn and their statements care
Iuily taken down by a court stenogra-
pher. In fact, a general loaded for
pear expression was depicted in every
| countenance, save and excentinp tho
! benevolent physiognomy of George A.
prachett' that has Illuminated so many
| publlc-spirited enterprises in which
Minneapolis was the beneficiary.
Dr. f. X. Woodland, president of the
boa
lore ne began his testimony Aid. Rand
moved that the rules of evidence gov
ern the proceedings. Dr. Woodland
then made statement of the board s
, actlon IN relation to the matter, stat
Ing that he was not present when the
! second payment of $25 geo was made to
MI Bracket. He admitted, however.
that he would have voted for it had he
peen present, and ventured the opin-
ION that Mayor Eustis would have done
the same.
In reply to question he admitted
that the board had paid $4,000 on a
| property covered with blanket mort
gage of $4,000 without securing a GER
tificate of release.
Mr.. Brackets statement was very
{! comprehensive and covered the entire
! ground. 1t began with a history of the
sale and description of the property.
with which newspaper readers are ia
miliar.
| AS to the first payment of So, 900, Mr..
! Bracket stated that on June Is he
asked the board for that much money,
offering them a deed to additional
| property for security, which was ac-
| cepted and the money advanced to him.
The statement then recited Mr..
Brackets efforts to secure a release
from the New York Life company.
He had proposed that he give up
! $1,000 and pay the New York Life $50
/ 600. 1t was deemed unwise by all par
! ties concerned, however, to Withdraw
such a sum from the banks at thai
time, and the matter was finally COM
promised by Mr.. Bracket giving adj
ditional security in the shape of the
property described in and 4 above
This compromise was accepted by the
board, which thereupon paid the adj
| ditional $4,000.
Coming down to his little affair with