The San Francisco call., 1899-01-27

e1O sOAtlSe Ae udu seen MIN frequently
every day. After General Miles state
ment had been made public General
bagan's appearance was greatly
changed. He looked haggard and worn
ana at times was greatly excited. Wit
ness thought that General Eagan had
come to believe that public sentiment
was strong against him, and that the
pubic had accepted General Miles
statement as true, and this worried
him greatly. AS the days passed his
nervous disturbance greatly increased
| until he appeared before the commits
sion. On one occasion the witness went
10 General Eagan's desk and spoke to
MN on a matter of office business. AS
ne approached the desk the general
SAID, apparently to himself: Il am a
murderer and for gain" This he re-
peated several times in an absent
minded way. He did not appear TO no
tice the witness.
General Eagan himself was the next
witness. He said he entered the voIun
teer army in 1851 and in 1866 was made
a second lieutenant in the regular
army He then briefly gave history
or his military career, which included
several campaigns against the Indians.
he received wound in the Modoc war
Tor Which he received a breVet During
the war with Spain he had been in his
ONCE every day with one exception and
he had worked early and late. He had
gwen his testimony before the commits
SION under oath, preferably so. He had
nrSt read General Miles statement in
the Washington papers. For a long
time he feared that he might not be
called before the commission, but he
nnally received a summons to appear
Even then he was not fully prepared,
as his statement necessarily involved
the overhauling of records, etc. He
4 hEld t..
| retary OF War, in the course of which
! he told the Secretary that he desired
to defend himself by bringing proceed
! ings against General Miles, but was
! told that the immunity granted by the
President would prevent any such ac-
| tion. Witness accepted this as a fact,
but he did not think this immunity
covered the newspaper interviews in
which General Miles had by inference
| declared him to be a murderer for
gain. Witness said he became greatly
excited. This statement of General
Miles, in the opinion of the witness, had
taken away his (Eagans) character. He
could not proceed against General Miles
| in the courts or otherwise, and he felt
that he might be better dead in the
gutter.
During this recital General Eagan's
eyes filed with tears. His voice trem-
bled and he spoke very feelingly His
honor as soldier, he continued. had
been attacked, and a soldiers honor
should as sacred as the honor of a
woman. He had kept his sorrow to
himself. He had kept away from the
! clubs and very soon found he could not
sleep. He felt that the people of this
! country had come TO believe that he
was a dishonest man.
But / am an honest man." said the
general, with feeling, and 1 believe
| that no one who knows me will believe
! that | am dishonest man. My record
/ is clean, my uniform is unsullied. but |
| have been slandered and wronged."
In answer to a question by his coun-
| sci as to whether he had ever received
any benefit for any contract he had
made, General Eagan said, with great
| feeling:
mo, on my honor and before my
God, not one cents profit gain did ]
ever receive, and yet my office his dis
bursed S19,000,000, and / am now Door
man-so poor that have not now suf-
ficient money with which to pay your
| fee
AS he (Eagan) understood public
sentiment, the public believed him to be
a murderer and for gain, and he said
! he was greatly racked in body and
brain in consequence. He was goaded
to death and was very glad of a chance
| to appear before the commission and
through them 70000,000 people in the
defense of his honor.
During this impassioned and impress
sive recital each member of the court
listened intently to every word spoken
and every eye was fastened upon the
| speaker. The incident was dramatic
in the extreme. The witness spoke OF
his mental and physical condition be-
tween the time General Miles gave his
testimony and the time he himself haG
appeared. He could not get rid of the
thought that the country believed hin
to be a murderer and for gain, and il
/ drove him nearly to distraction.
Mr.. Worthington then read large
number Of newspaper clippings, many
of which spoke of General Eagan as q
scoundrel and demanded his dismissa
from the army. At IL o'clock Mr.
| Worthington announced that he was
unable to proceed with his case, as the
Secretary of War, whom he desired tC
call as a witness, was now before the
War Investigating Commission ant
could not appear. Thereupon the cour
adjourned until 10 o'clock Tomorrow