Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-01-07
WILL TAKE NO STEPS
GRAND JURY MAKES NO FINDING
IN CHECK MATTER.
WERE LEFT WITH OLD PAPERS.
Mr.. West Makes This Explanation
MIR. womack, on the Other Hand,
Insists That They Were Gotten Out
OF His Desk i'm the bookstore.

duced before the Investigating Committee
of the Grand Camp have been dissipated
at last.
The grand Jury concluded their inquiry
into the matter yesterday morning. and,
after all the witnesses had been heard
adjourned without bringing in a report-a
fact which signifies that no ground for any
charges exists.
Mr.. Montgomery West was heard at his
own request, and Mr.. J. w. Womack ana
Mr.. ]. NJ. Skinner were summoned to APP
pear before the jury at the request of Hon.
George D. Wise, counsel for the former.
TESTIMONY OF MIR. WEST.
Mr. West who was first examined.
stated that the checks had been lying
round the store of the firm Of West. john
ston e. Co. for nearly a year before the
failure OF that firm. They had been found
in the small drawer OF a table In the 'front.'
part of the store, which was provided Tor
the accommodation of friends and VISIT
tors. and was frequently used by Mr.. Wo-
mack, who had frequented the estaDlsh-
r1ent and made his headquarters there Tor
many years. Mr.. Womack had been pro-
vided with a desk for his exclusive use a
neglected to move the checks out of the
old table drawer When the store was
closed, early in 1895. William Scott the
porter of the firm, cleared the drawer OF
the table and Of Mr.. Vests desk of all
the papers, and removed them in a sack
TO Mr.. Vests residence, on Grace street.
That gentleman did not examine the con-
tents of the sack until last summer,
when he had occasion to go through his
Old 4I.% 10 tot
besides letters and other documents, a
number of cancelled checks belonging TO
the firm of West Johnston e. Co., and
several cancelled checks which belonged
to Mr.. Womack. and which he had evil
IDENTIFY left in the drawer of the table in
spite Of his attention having been called
to them several times. Mr.. West was
employed at the time by the Baughman
Stationery Company, and he spoke of the
two checks to Mr.. Greer Baughman.
whose zeal in Confederate matters was
equal to his own. Last October he took
the checks TO the store, and, having
shown them to Mr.. Baughman, declined
TO give them to him, but threw them
away in such a manner as to let Mr..
Baughman see the place to which he
consigned them.
Mr. West asked the jury to summon
Mr. Joseph Johnston and other witnesses
to corroborate his testimony, but this was
not thought necessary.
MR.. WOMACKS STATEMENT.
Mr.. Womack was In the grand-jurv
room for considerable time. His evidence
in the main. was read from a statement
which he had written in advance, giving
his version of how the checks passed out
Of his possession. After the inquiry had
closed Mr.. Womack furnished the Dis
patch a part of his statement, saying
he did not feel that there was any i'm
propriety in his doing so, since the evil
| dence Of other witnesses who had gone
before the grand jury had not been kept
secret Mr.. Womack said, in part:
when the checks in question were first
sprung l was Of the opinion that | had
never had my bank account written up,
and had NOT, therefore, received the
checks from the bank, and consequently
had never seen the checks from the day
they were drawn till the moment they
We're handed me for inspection by the
chairman Of the Grand Camp Investiga-
ton Committee while was on the wit
ness-stand. / was undoubtedly mistaken
in this, and it is now unquestionable
that I had them in my desk at West,
Johnston & Co.'S, and that they We're
taken out of that desk, and since Mr..
Monty West turned these checks over 10
Mr. Baughman, il rests with him to prove
how he obtained possession of them.
This desk was turned over to me in
the early part Of 1894, together with
the key to same. by Mr.. West himself,
for my private and exclusive use, and |
kept it under lock and key always in
my absence. Such private papers of
value as l had in Richmond were kept
locked up in this desk, except. perhaps
for few moments while L was across
the street at lunch"
Witness told the grand jury in en-
phatic terms how he thought the checks
got out of his desk, and, continuing,
said
There was not an employee Of the
firm at the time but that knew that
that desk was for my private use, and
that / always kept IT locked in my abb
sence When West, Johnston * CO.
failed some two years ago, / cleaned out
my desk and took all my private papers
away and took them to my home in
Petersburg and locked them up In a
trunk. There were no checks among
these papers, and it is preposterous to
say that l threw my check-book and
checks away, and that therefore, they
were found among waste paper as has
been intimated i'm the newspapers from
to me as receipts for the amounts each
represented, and they were the last
things 1 should have thought of throwing
away
IT would like for this jury" said the
witness further on, ito ask Mr.. West
where are the other checks and tho
handbook that must have been with
these two checks"
FOR HIS EXCLUSIVE USE.
Mr.. Womack then goes on to say that
in reply to questions he said that he
had the desk from the early part OF 1894
till the firm failed. Before that he did
not have headquarters at West. Johnston
& Co.'S, though he occasionally dropped
in there, as he did at other places, and
wrote O. letter. He stated that he had
never had any private papers there be-
fore he got the desk, and could not have
had the checks anywhere, except locked
up in his desk
The remainder of the statement went
into details as to how Mr. Womack came
to have a desk in West. Johnston e. Co.'s
store, and told of business transactions
between the firm and he American Book
Company.
NO REPORT TO MAKE.
Mr.. Skinner was the last witness, and
he told the jury that he knew absolutely
nothing OF Mr.. Womack's papers or af-
fairs. He knew that he had a desk in
the store of West, Johnston & Co. but
beyond that fact he was totally ignorant
Of any and all matters connected with
the enquiry
After a brief elaboration, lasting about