The morning times., 1896-07-16
BIC CLAIM TWICE PAID
Continued from First Page.

the Navy Department for the goyernnent e
in 1861, for the sum OF S322, ooo- Ire
,oflI,any Lad issued EGO sI.dTes OF STOCK
at : 900 each. After deductlng tie coiii-
mission for selling, TIE shares were worm
Ss5i 90 each. Before payment II was
uscertained that flty- Oue shares were
held by stockholders residing III the SCUM,
and the Navy pay agent at New 1ork was
directed 10 retain tie money due Tor these
ufty-ope sla res, and TO make payments 10
tie company FOR tie rcInaing 800 shares.
Consequently, III the years 1911, lots,
1878, and 1874, forty-one shares, in ac-
dition, were paid TO Tie claimants, and the
remaining shares We're provlncd 1or py
special Appropriation, amounting 10 S4i,-
aOl .S5, coDtained IN tie act making ap-
preparations for the naval service, ap-
proved March 2, 1895. In making settie-
Inens OF the Iorty-one shares, paid In 1871
go and 4, the bills were made out IN
the Dames OF the attorneys. and not in tie
names OF the claimants, and the papers le-
IatiDg to these claims were retained at the
Navy Depa rtment, and were not attact ed TO
the vouchers, according 10 the present
practice !
PAYMENTS NOT ENTERED.
The papers, or a portion Of them. were
sent to the Bureau OF Construction and Re
pair for safe keeping and il appears that
they were not entered on the files or papers
relating to the purchase or vessels, and
were lost sightof IN that bureau This was
about twenty-three years ago. In conse-
made
In the course of tile settlements made
under the appropriation Of S41 ,I01 80
by Congress 10 the act making appropria-
tiun for the naval service. approved March
g, 1895, one OF the supposed claimants.
Mr.. h. II. Lewis OF Raleigh, N. c.. declined
to receive any funds on this account, de
ciaring that lie had already been paid
Investigation was at once made in tins de-
partnent into the history of the case and
The record OF payment was found: Tie
first and naynpnt to MT. Lewis
having been made over twenty years ago,
and the papers connected Herewith not
having beeu disposed or 10 accordance
with the now existing custom, the error
was not discovered until he refused 10 re-
ceive the payment second time
The oyerpay yments made under this
appropriation appear TO he SS,53o 81.
or this amount one claim of S1,702.l2
may he correct, tue investigation OF the
Aud.tor into its validity not having been
concluded.
Tue bills in all these cases, except that
OF Mr.. Lewis, having been made in the
names OF the attorneys and not in the
names of the claimants, the records of the
AUDITORS office did not furnish n ready
check upon the payments when made in
the maine OF the claimants themselves.
1t was not until the date, names of attor-
neys, and appropriations out of witch
pa yments had been made had been ascer-
la.ned by this Department in consequence
OF the matter having been brought to at.
tention by Mr.. Lewis, that the number and
amount of the oyerpa yments was dis
covered.
BOTH WERE REGOvERNMENT OFFICIALS
Under President Cieveland's first admin
istration Gen. Chas. NJ. Shelley, one OF
the firm concerned in prosecutingt the claims,
was the Fourth Auditor of the Treasury
and his partner Martin was chief clerk of
that division. The Fourth Auditor is
charged with the accounts OF the Navy De-
partment.
Gen. Shelley was seen last night by a
Times reporter in his room at the Metropof-
tan Hotel. The General is a very suave and
pparently frank old gent ieman. He