The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1895-06-21
A Raised Bill.

III the wing. II Is long SlOl Dul uldkSS
interesting reading for people interested
in public school affairs. 1t looks like
there is something rotten in Denmark:
considerable portion of the time of the meet
ing of the Board of School Commissioners
Tuesday was consumed in hearing n case of bill
"raising," which for some weeks past has been
| exciting considerable comment in the Eighth
district of the county. 1t that in March last
a slate black board had been purchased in Phila-
delphia for the use of the pdblc school at Row
landville, of which Mr.. John l.. Crothers is
teacher The board was received by freight at
Conowingo station, where Mr.. John r. White, the
School Commissioner resident in that district
called on March 10Th, and paid the freight on
amounting to 81 cents. The black board was de-
livered at the Rowlandvile school and put in its
place by James Wilgis, and about month later,
April 18th, two bills were received through the
mail by Mr.. Crothers, the teacher of the school,
one bill of $3.50 due Mr.. Wilgis for setting the
board, and second bill of freight, for S1.S4, the
two bills amounting to $4a. These two bills had
been enclosed with out any accompanying letter
| by Mr.. White to Mr.. Crothers at ROwandville.
The freight bill contained on its face in the
column, statement of the weight of the black
board, $50 lbs, and in an adjoining column the
rate of freight per hundred 30 cents. the correct
freight charge for which was "a cents On closer
examination Mr.. Crothers found that the figure
| L. and dollar mark-S-had been added to the bill,
another shade of ink being used, and that the
amount of freight charged on the bill was SlS4,
instead of 81 cents. TneneXtday after the receipt
of the raised bill by Mr.. Crothers, he in company
with Mr. Lewis T. Logan, drove to the house of
Mr. White, some three miles distant, when Mr..
Crothers handed his school report to Mr. White
and paid him the full amount of Wilgis bill $780,
and the full amount of the raised bill, total of
S43l the payment being made in the presence OF
| Mr. Logan.
In a very short time the story of the raised bill
| became the gossip of the negtborhood, and Mr..
Crothers fearing it might prejudice him, went to
| Port Deposit and had an interview with Mr.
| Everist, the President of the School BOad, the
raised bill as well the square Wigs bill, having
in the meantime been returned as vouchers with
| Mr. Crothers school report to Mr.. Biddle, the
School Examiner Mr.. Crothers also employed
as counsel Messrs l.. NJ. Hanes and Albert Con-
stable and the case came up for hearing on
Tuesday.
After the minutes of the last meeting of the
board had been read the case was called Mr..
Haines stating that his client, Mr.. Crothers,
WlSneu inc C;iSe luNcSllSuleu tHe tcstllHoHs
of witnesses present taken to exonerate his client
| from any possible reflection, suspicion in the
matter The papers in the consisting of Mr..
Crothers' report with the raised" bill attached
were produced and examined by counsel, the
different color ink and penmanship showing
plainly that some one had tempered with the bill
| Mr. John l.. Crothers was the first witness
called He swore that he had received in a letter
| In no ofW luis "a
of SlSl for freight on the black board in question
which had been put up in his school. That on
receipt of Mr.. Whites enclosure of the two bills
he had opened the envelope in the postolfice, and
that both Mr.. Lewis T. Logan and Charles Death
had seen him open it, and with him had detected
the raised" bill That this was on April 15 1885
That the next morning he went to Conowingo
and saw Mr.. Stephen j Caldwell, the railroad
agent at that station who said that Mr.. White had
paid him 81 cents freight on the black board on
March II, 1895, and that the bill as it appeared
had been tempered with. That evening, he, Mr..
Crothers, and Lewis T. Logan drove to Mr.. Whites
house. and paid him S4.3i. That he asked Mr..
White if he had paid the freight bill, $1S4 and
White replied Eyes, that it was all right" That
| he handed Mr. White his school report for the
term, which he had made out before he received
the two bills from Mr.. White, and that his report
was not sworn to when he handed it to Mr.. White.
| Mr. Lewis T. Logan was sworn, and said that he
was the assistant postmaster at Rowandvile.
That the evening of April 18th, Mr.. Crothers had
opened in his presence the envelope received by
mail from Mr.. White and that it contained the
two bills described by Mr. Crothers the Wilgis bill
for $780, and the raised" freight bill for $lS4.
That there no opportunity for Mr. Crothers to
raise the bill if he desired to, that there was no
question il had been tempered with before its en-
closure by Mr. White to Mr.. Crothers. That he
accompanied Mr. Crothers to Mr.. Whites house
and him pay $4.Sl to Mr. White; that he,
White said in his hearing that the 81 81 freight
| bill all right, and that the school report
handed to Mr.. White by Mr. Crothers was not
sworn to, as it now showed on the file in the
School Commissioners office. That he had also
talked with Mr. Stephen j. Caldwell about the
freight bill, and that the bill was not for SlS4
when it left his hands as freight agent as Mr.
White had only paid him 81 cents.
Charles Death was sworn, He testified that he
was a clerk for the Logan Brothers, and that the
posto1ice is in their store That he was present
on the evening of April l5 1895, when Mr.. Croth-
ers received by mail the two bills from Mr.. White
That Mr., Crothers came round to the safe where
he was, and In his as well as in Mr.. Lewis T.
| Logan s presence opened the envelope, ana While
there called his attention to the BILL as looking as
| though it had been tempered with, as the correct
amount for freight should be 81 cents, and the
dollar mark and the figure had plainly been
added to the bill previous to its receipt by Mr..
| Cr0thers
Mr.. Stephen ], Caldwell being sworn testified
that Mt the time of the receipt of the black board
for the Rowandyile school ne was the freight
agent at Conowingo railroad station. That the
bill of freight on the board amounting to 81 cents
or $50 lbs at 30 cents per hundred, had been made
out by II clerk in Mr.. John II. Whites name and
that on the 18th of March 1895, Mr.. White had
called at the station and paid him, Mr. Caldwell
ers had on the 10th of April called on him, and
showed him the bill raised" to 81 81 and that
he Mr.iCaldwell, had refused to correct the bill
because it had been tempered with.
VIM. A. Swope. Il clerk at the Conowngo station
was called and sworn. He testified that he was
the freight bill in question, and that he had
Mr.. White hand Mr.. Caldwell one dollar note
out OF which 10 fake the freight bill of 81 cents.
School Commissi oneF John r. White was then
sworn at his own request, He stated that he did
not deny the fact that he had only paid Mr. Cald-
the evening OF April 10th as stated, Mr. Crothers
and Mr.. Logan had come TO his house and called
him out of bed That he had enclosed the two
bills to Mr.. Crothers AT Rowandville and that ON
the night stated Mr.. Crothers had paid him in the
presence of Mr.. Logan SI34 of which 81 so was the
Wilgis bill and 81 81 the freight bill lie emphat
icaly denied any knowledge of the bill being
tempered with at the time if it had been raised
10 SlSI il could as easily have been raised to
S2.Si. That il appeared now, that he had received
from Mr. CrOthers one dollar more than the true
amount of the freight BILL but that Nj, Crothers
school report as it showed on Its face it had been
that Mr.. CrOthers did affirm to the report and