The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-12
CHARGES TO BE READ TO-DAY.
EVERYTHING READY FOR THE
CARTER COURT MARTIAL.

the Court Have Arrived. and the
Others Are Expected This Morning.
scenes Around the DE soto Last
Eight-CoI. Cam VIII be StcnoEra-
pher-Thc Charges SO Far as They
Have Been Discussed-BOth Sides
Seem Confident.
The trial by court martial of Capt o. NJ.
Garter on charges which have been PIE
ferred against him in connection with the
river and harbor work here, and in Cum
berland sound, will begin before The court
appointed fer the purpose this morning at
II O'Clock city time.
Nearly all Of the officers of the court,
a list of whom was published in yester-
days Morning News, arrived n the city
yesterday. Maj. Woodruff, Maj Myrick
and Capt. Strong are yet to be heard from,
but it is expected they viii be here on the
early morning trains. All but two of those
who have arrived are stopping at the De
Soto. Col. Jacob Kline is at the Pulaski
House.
Some interesting scenes were presented
around the De Soto last night when the
members of the court were gathered in
the lobby. Capt Carter met and chat
ted pleasantly with many members of the
court, among them Gen. Otis. Capt.
Charles Mcclure who is to aid Col. Barr,
was also at the hotel mingling among the
officers. Capt. Gillette was not present
The officers retired early no doubt, to get
a good rest preparatory to the work be
fore them, which is 10 begin to-day
To-day the scene will change to one of
business, and strict business it is with
army officers. They will put on their uni
forms preparatory to assembling in the
United States Court room, where the trial
is to take place, and all army ethics and
etiquette win be preserved.
The arrangements for the assembling
in the court room have practically been
completed. Instead of sitting on both sides
of table as is usually the case, two ia
bles, long tables, have been arranged for
the officers of the court, at a slight angle.
and at the apex of this angle Will be seat
ed Cen Otis, president of the court. On
either side of him will be seated the other
officers of the court according to rank
Col. Kline sitting next to him on the right,
Col. Mansfield next 10 him on the left,
and so on. To the right of the court,
president of the court, will be the judge
advocate, Col. Barr, and his assistant,
while on tho left will be the accused and
his counsel. Between the two but nearer
to the latter, will be the witness stand,
and at a short distance from it the table
for the stenographer, Col. George T. Cam,
who will have charge of making the entire
report for the government The matter
of assistants in making the report of the
trial is left altogether with Col. Cam.
The court will meet at II clock this
morning, in accordance with orders, and
can sit up to 8 o'clock in the afternoon.
As there will hardly be anything to-day
but organization and the reading of the
charges, it is not likely that the session
will last longer than O'Clock. After to-
day the court can adjourn 10 whatever
hour in the morning between 8 and 3
o'clock it sees fit. 1t cannot meet earlier
than o'clock, nor can it sit longer than
O'Clock in the afternoon. 1t is said that
the hours during which the court Will
probably be in session will be from
O'Clock in the morning until O'Clock in
the afternoon, though 1t is possible the
morning hour may be changed to 10
o'clock, as o'clock in Savannah is car
lier than people usually get around. NIL
itary courts. however usually have their
own way of transachng business, and
when they have business on hand others
who are interested generally have to con-
The public is more or less familiar with
many features of the case which have
thus far transpired. OF course the Spe-
cihc details of the charges are as yet an
unknown quantity, but accounts of them
| have been published, and something at
least is known of what they will be. 1t
is said they consist in conspiracy with
the contractors, conduct unbecomng an
officer and a gentleman, paying fraudu-
lent claims against the government and
| ENLIGHTENMENT.
These charges, it is stated. are largely
| constructive. According TO a dispatch to
! the Morning News from Washington pub
! lished some time ago, an account of them,
in a measure, was given. 1t was stated
that the charge embezzlement did not
mean that government funds had actually
been taken but that government money
had been improperly paid out. In other
| words it is alleged that the specifications
were deviated from, in that cheaper ma
terial was used in the construction of the
! jetty works here and at Cumberland
sound than was called for in the con-
tracts. Such being the case it
| is construed that the con-
! tract was void, or that there was no con
tract, and money paid out under it was
improperly paid out This 1t is said. con-
stitutes the charge of Cmbezzlement and
the payment of false claims. There are
other minor charges which came up Incl.
| dentally IN the investigation made by the
board of inquiry. such as absence from
his post without leave, and the entering
of improper claims on pay rolls, and these.
il is stated, are included under the charge
of conduct unbecoming an officer and a
gentleman.
Capt. Gillette, who first gave the in
formation leading to the charges. seems
confident of his position in the matter, ana
though he says nothing about the case,
expressions have been heard among his
friends which leads to the belief that he
is confident.
Capt Carter and his friends also ex-
press the greatest confidence. Capt. Car,
ter talks little about The trial. but feels
that he is among his friends. and thaC
the outcome VIII he successful for him.
His friends believe and say that his work
! here has been a success and there are
many OF the most prominent Savannah
ians whose strongest sympathies are with
| him.
Besides the attorneys who have been
interested in the case in his behalf.
Messrs. Charlton. Mackal & Anderson.
! Mr.. Abram J. Rose of New York ami
Mr.. Frank p. Blair of Chicago. he has
| had here q board of engineers. headed by