The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-27
LATTER TRIAL ABOUT CLOSED.


-. could have been no possible nouFe
isoantion in these reports, Mr.. Blair
O In n the case of one OF them, Capt.
s eu MS actually in the Office Of the
can ' ~ of War on the date on which
Sc dacention was alleged to have been
practiced. 49, c,nt fortar All
-, horses, as the evidence showed,
thar he was entitled to forage for
az In made no difference whether the
,tianl9r forage secured from the con-
p,,toSe, went to the horses or not, 30
no as ne money involved actually went
:, the feedi1s of the horses.
mis- Mr.. Blair said, brought him to
49,. nan charge of. conspiracy If the
--.s6cat.ons under that charge fail, the
specifcations under the other
,-'r,as must also fail. The case, he
aiI IS built up on three propositions, That
r'nt carter had more money than he
| am business to have; that. the fas-
-. ard mattresses were not up to spec
,s,,tio-= and that the stone was not up
70 specifications
,r5sre is absolutely no question, Mr.
y. ir sid, that Mr.. Westcott gave Capt
C,r.er arge sums of money. 1t stands
S.fora he court in evidence and uncon-
trovertad, that Capt. carter had much
Il ,a1nav in this way. His brother saw Mr.
U,astcott give him $3.50 in 5000 bills. r.
Z Westcott said he knew his father gave
| C,of Carter money and it has been
| st5rn that he also had access TO Mr..
| Uasrcott's safety deposit box, IN which
| 49,. l,apt currency and bonds. With this
evidence before the court, uncontradicted,
,bv he asked, should Mr.. Westcott be
brought here 10 testify 60 these same
| tctsq Mr. Westcott could only testify to
1 What had already been stated before the
liz ~ .axry ,axrH
| mar if was his money, that he did not
trou how much. and that he did not care.
Wbv should MIR. Westcott, a sick man, be
branaht from the bedside of his sick
| dauohter 80 testify as to facts which
stand uncontroverted? Mr.. Westcott had
confidence in Capt. Carter, as has been
shown. and if he wanted to treat him as
he did in the handling of his property,
why should he, not do SO?
Mr. Blair said he was al disadvantage
in not knowing what points would be made
| nv the Judge Advocate, and necessarily
had to anticipate somewhat He had pre-
| Dared a statement showing all the money
Maid TO the contractors and all the depos-
lis made by Capt Carter. About 100000
had been paid out to the contractors in
the district since 1892, he said. During
eight and one-half years Capt. Carter had
| denosjted in his own account $5O,COO and
| in the account of Mr.. Westcoit while he
had charge of it, about $4,000, making
total of about $1,000 in that period.
From the statement presented Mr. Blair
| argued that there was no similarity or
| connection between the deposits made by
! the contractors and those made by Capt
Carter. Many of them were far apart
and there was an incongruity between
others chat made it impossible to even
| suspect any connection.
The manner in which Capt. Carter spent
! his money was next dealt with. The tow
boat company in which he had stock made
much less money after the river had been
| deepeued. Could that have been evidence
| Of Capt. Carriers conspiracy with the
other stockholders of that company? Mr..
Blair asked. Why should he not have
bought a picture for $3.50? Why should he
not have bought his mother a 500 ring, or
| himself % cent tooth brush at Tiffany S
/ as is in evidence here? There is no reason
i why Capt. Carter should mot have spent
4 the money his father-in-law gave him as
4 he wanted to spend it,
Mr. Blair next took up the technical fea-
1 lures of the case. Engineer officers had
testified that they frequently published
advertisements for less than thirty days,
/ and that usually they sent out only one
copy of the specifications. The same thing
had been done in the district before by
Gen. Q. A Gilmore.
When Capt. Gillette arrived in Savan-
NAH Mr.. Blair said, "he had never seen
brush fascine, an engineering fascine,
and had never heard of one"
Mr. Blair then went into a discussion of
the fascine, showing that the eight officers
Of the engineering corps had stated that
Capt Carriers fascine was the proper one
under the specifications.
MIR Blair advanced the theory that the
mattress Inspected by Capt. Gillette at
Felnandina might have been an effort on
the part of the contractors to run in infe-
| rlor material on a new man, 1t being
shown that it was a foot and a half less
in hight than previous mattresses there in
spected by Marion Twiggs. After discus
SION of the mattress and the stone work,
Mr.. Blair submitted that the great prepon-
derance of evidence showed that they
We're fully up to the specifications, and
that the government got all it paid for.
There was no reason why Capt. Garter
should not have written friendly letters to
Capt. B. D. Greene. The finding of the
stock book of the Empire Construction
Company among Capt. Carriers private pa
peIs could mean nothing. since the stock
Of the company was valueless. Capt. Car
ltf knew nothing about how ii came into
eIt there by one of the Gaynors. The evil
oeuce showed that there We're active COM
peutors against the Atlantic Contracting
company in the bidding here, and that be-
lns the case. Capt Carter could not con-
uo the bidding or the letting of the con-
tract
There is not one scintilla of evidence ir
mis- long case anywhere, Mr.. Blair said
showing that one cent of the money Capt
Il Narter had came from the Atlantic Con
Il uaetnS Company or any of the contrac
Il @rs' tie has taken upon himself the burder
a Of proving himself innocent though the
4 ID" surrounds him with that presumption
unul he IS proven guilty. In conclusion Mr.
BAR said he desired to thank the cour
Iof us kind and patient attention, and als'
ule Judge Advocate for his courtesy anC
aNeaiion throughout the trial. Mr.. Wal
Ter o. Charlton then asked the court K
take a recess of a few hours before he be
gan MS argument. IN order that he nigh
e.nnate some of the features of which
Mr. Blair had already spoken. The cour
o'A4ed to take a recess until A o'clock IL
the afternoon.
MI Blair had ccchned himself principal!
Il % an argument upon the evidence pro
Il uuce1 IN the case, and the facts before tn
4 vourl lie took up each specification unde
m tdt1 charge ana daalt with il In arPll