The evening times., 1895-09-07
Mr. Wood ward Not a Medium.


Office of the Excise Board, Sept 8
Editor of The Times:
In order that may be relieved from the
implied charge OF partiality to the interests
of those who favor the establishment of q
saloon In Anacostia, contained in an ar
ticle published in the morning edition of
The Times of the 9TH instant, and also, in
the editorial comments In The Evening
Times of the same date, l deem it but Just
10 myself that 1 make the following state
ment of facts:
The filing of an application with the
excise board for a retail liquor license at
Anacostia had created such an unusual in
terest in the matter on both sides of the
question that the board. in order to get the
sense OF the persons owning property in the
immediate vicinity OF the proposed location,
directed that should make thorough can
vass of that part of the village,
In order To facilitate the matter. a plat
was made by one of the clerks in the
assessors office, showing the numbers
of lots and the owners thereof within the
designated limits.
With this plat to assist ME l went to
work. and, as far as 1t was possible.
had a personal int rview with each
owner, and obtained from him, not only
his vote on the question, but also his
reasons for favoring or opposing the loca
ton OF saloon, as the case might be-
In many cases the owners resided in this
city, in different sections, or in Anacostia,
far away from the property, and 1 had
great difficulty in finding them Some
was unable to see, either because they were
away from home, or lived out of the Dis
trict
As it was the desire of the board to
learn the wishes of the owners in the mat
ter, where 1 was unable to see the owners,
1 obtained the desired information from
other Sources deemed by me to be reliable.
Among these were H. s. and W. E. Petty
and L. j. Grimes, the first two of whom
1 was informed by the tenants resided at
Takoma and the latter in Baltimore, but
that the property in all these cases was
in charge of a, firm of real estate agents
in the village. As it is very common
thing for agents to sign applications for
liquor licenses in the name of their prin
cipals 1 asked the agents referred to how
the persons named stood on the question,
and they Informed me that the Pettys were
opposed and that Grimes favored q saloon,
and SO reported.
1t is now claimed that the Grimes, whose
name appears in my report as being in
favor of a saloon, was woman, but has
been dead these many years, and that, in
order to have obtained her opinion on the
question, 1 must have had recourse to a
medium, or be, myself. in possession Of
some occult power which enabled me to
communicate directly with her. Ny ex-
plaDation OF the means adopted by me to
gain the desired Information refutes this
presumption and shows that my report was
honest and was based on Information
which / regarded as reliable. and which
/ have every reason to believe was cor
rect
In regard to the statement that / re-
ported the name Of Samuel F. shreve
among those who favored a saloon, I
have this to say: / was very well aware
that he had been dead a number of years,
as he was during his lifetime a member
of the same society of which am a men,
Der; but the property is still assessed in his
name, aud his widow, Mrs. b. c.. Shreve,
pays the tax upon bills made out in the
name of her late husband. AS the present
u" hNAsoh thS PioPNitss cut siS u'A liCi O"h
name and that of her late husband to the
applica ton for liquor license filed by
William E. Hayes.
/ was therefore Justified in putting
the property in favor of a saloon, and it
is immaterial whether / used the name OF
Mr.. or Mrs. Shreye in my report
As l was very particular in perform
ing the work to which 1 had been as
signed not to express an opinion to any
one whether 1 was personally in favor
or opposed to the location in the village,
and was equally guarded on that subject
in making my report, in confirmation ~
which have only 10 refer to my report, in
which drew no conclusions in the matter,
it is unjust to charge me with being par
tial to the liquor interest, in which l have
no concern.
Go not think that 1t was the intention
on the part of your paper tn misstate the
facts, but, having heard but one side of the
question, yoI were induced to publish
what, had you kno wn the truth, you would
have excluded from your columns Very
respectfully. a. E. WOODWARD,
Assistant Clerk Excise Board.