Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1897-05-06

continued to do so during the frequent
absence of Secretary Lamont until al
er the election in November, when that
sort OF business became so active as
to attract general attention, and within
few weeks the gossip reached the ears
OF the head Of the department. Secre-
tary Lamont at once made an investi-
CATION. He called him before the
clerks in the supply division, the store
ke' per and other officials of the depart
ment, and secured statements from
them which caused him to require As
sistant SECRETARY Doe and Whitton to
make restitution 10 the amount of
nearly $1,000 in cash and to surrender
to the department considerable
amount of property, which, in his
opinion, belonged to the government
1T was disclosed, for example. that
during the absence of the secretary Of
war Doe had ordered two bicycles. one
for himself and one for Wilton.
which were returned to the department
and are now stored IL the basement
The official photographer e the depart
ment testified that he had made Two
sets Of prints, about 900 in number,
from the negatives purchased by con
gress some years ago. from Brady, the
celebrated war photographer - and
George X. Jenny, in charge Of the de-
partment bindery, testified that he
had mounted these prints and bound
them in handsome Russia leather al
buns, about twelve by eighteen inches
| in size at the expense of the govern
ment. A. X. Johnson, the department
| carpenter, testified that he had been
| employed for several weeks, under the
orders of Assistant Secretary Doe, in
making and packing furniture and
| other articles which We're shipped to
| GAINESVILLE Wis Among other things
he made Mr.. Doe ten handsome chests,
two Of ash and six of poplar. and two
chests of cedar for Wilton, which had
| been packed with articles unknown
and shipped away He had also made
! fine mahogany gun-case, which cost $40
| for the material alone, without consid-
ering the labor. and twenty-five picture
! frames, and about forty packing cases
which were packed full of articles by
| Mr.. Does messenger and shipped to
| Evansville Mr.. johnson was not aware
! of their contents. Edward McQuaide,
! the foreman Of the department stables
! testified that he hauled two wagon
| loads Of packing cases, furniture, etc,
| from the department of the express Of
| fee, which We're shipped 80. H." 10
| GAINESVILLE, Wis, in an eXpress-car OBJ
| tained by Joseph s. Moss, 4 clerk in the
! department, whose brother is the gen
enl manager OF the Adams Express
company in this city.
Secretary Lamont himself accident
! ally discovered one day in The carp an
! ter's room a large chest, sealed and ad-
! dressed to Gen Doe at GAINESVILLE.
! When opened by his orders it was
| found to contain a quantity Of fine sta
tionery, sufficient to last Doe the rest
| Of his life IT had been packed by the
! storekeeper on Mr. Whitton's requisi-
! ton. Col Lamont had the chest
| emptied and its contents restored to
the shelves of the store-room. There
/ was another box caught ION the fly. :"
which was also addressed to Mr.. Doe
| and ready for shipment. When opened
by Col. Lamont's orders it was found to
contain six fine United States flags.
| One Of them was made of silk and cost
the department 5000 The others We're
OF bunting and cost from $50 to 5000
each. These were unpacked AMI re-
| turned to the shelves.
1T was also reported to Secretary
Lamont that quantity of fine fulni-
| ture, bookcases, cabinets and writing
desks Of mahogany had been shipped
TO GAINESVILLE, and he had an interview
with Mr.. Doe on tina subject h1' what
occurred is known only to the two men.
Col. Ian ont is very secretive and
naturally wished to avoid scandal
during the closing days OF the Cleve-
| land administration. and the investiga-
ton was not pursued further. Il is I'M
derstood, however that Doe made resti-
tuition in cash, and that he would have
been dismissed in disgrace but for the
! intervention of Senator Villas. upon
whose recommendation he had been
| originally appointed and who inter-
coded for him with the president How
ever, from and after this interview Mr..
Doe was practically idle, so far as o.
fetal business was concerned. The
storekeeper received instructions to FIJI
! no acquisitions that were not approved
! by Secretary Lamont himself, and he
did not trust the supplies to the pro
! lection Of the ordinary lock and key.
| Shortly after Secretary Alger took
/ charge Whitton was removed and Capt
Thorpe was restored to his old posi-
! ton"
VEGETABLE CURRY.