The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-11-01
Charged With Attempt to Obtain
Pension By Fraud.
Swore He Was One w.
G.. Hawkins.
Has Been Member Of Togus and
Other Homes.

Hon. John II. Shine, who 10 the Unit
ed States msrshsl for the northern dis
triot Of California, arrived In this city
on Monday evening. having In custody
ons william Leland. indicted at the last
term Of the U. s. Circuit court held in
Portland. The charge under which Le-
land IL . risoner Is the violation OF tis
pension laws of special act parsed By
Congress nine years ago.
Lelsnd was delivered over to U. >.
Marshal Saunders. who gave . receipt
for the prisoner and 1t once committed
him to jail. Leland will be arraigned
within few days
There are two counts OF this Indictment
which the grand jury found last month.
They recite that Leland at Oaksville,
CAL, did present himself on October. ",
1897, ct Chelsea, in this state, to be one
W. G.:Hawkins late private In Co. ID.
Of the 3oth regiment Of New York infan-
try volunteers. and AZ such private was
entitled to pension from the United
Statea He appeared before Albert l..
Stephenson, . notary public. and signed
a declaration fer q pension under the
name Of Hawkins.
In this affidavit Leland stated that he
was So years Of age. that he had enrolled
as q private December 20. 1861, In Go. ID,
Of the 18th regiment Of the New York
infantry volunteers; that he had served
ut least 81 days in the war OF the rebel
lion, and that he had been honorably dis
charged at Rochester. N. Y, May 20,
1868. He further stated In this affidavit
that he was suffering from the following
disabilities OF q permanent character:
A gun shot wound In the right hand,
which was incurred in service June 3,
1869. at Fair Oaks. Va, this injury re-
suIting In the loss of the use Of his right
thumb; bronchitis, rheumatism, disease
Of the kidneys and the partial loss of the
eye sight. None of these injuries were
the result of any vicious habits Of the
claimant and they inoapacitatsd him to
suon an extent ~ to render him unabl g
to earn q support. He was not receiv-
ing q pension at the time Of making the
sffi iavit, nor had he ever before applied
for pension.
He made these declarations in the affi.
davit, 90 the Indictment alleges. for the
purpose of being placed in the pension
rolls of the United States under the aci
of Congress passed June 81, 1890. These
declarations were sworn to by Leland.
The count then continues to stats tia,
Leland was not the Identical Hawkins,
as he we'll knew. and the jurors say that
on Octotsr 18th 1897. he made this false
deposition for the purpose Of obtaining
and aiding to obtain the approval of a
claim upon the government of the Unit
ed States by an officer in the service Of
the United States, authorized BY law. te
approve claims for pensions to aid thu
commissioner of pensions, which claim
was then aud there false. fictitious and
fraudulent. as Leland well knew, ant
| which claim WAS for disability invalit
pension.
| En route to this city from the Pacihc
coast, Leland told Marshal Shine tina
he had travelled about considerably dur
ing the last few years, three times having
been abroad He was formerly mem
Der Of the National Soldiers Home a
LOCUS. There is also one OF these insti
tutions at Oaksville, Cal. and IL was IL
| this home that Marshal Shine found th'
man and ARE sted him.