The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-18

I I'd and a. the conciu sion Of the interstate
] match TaiCh had 70 oe shot AZ an early
/ hour, 70 permit New Hampshire 70 hn1sh
l Dr. time for their tralD. ne Wo1lo have the
! targets examined II the presence Of z rep
I tentative from each team
/ AT the corc -usion q the days shoot, At
p. m I sent 10 the club house 10 learn
/ If the general could oe seen. and NJ sent
! word that he could see Us at ABOUT 8
I O'Clock that night Col. Cam and called
7 on him prepared ~ submit the evidence Of
I the uleu VINO had visited tire target pits.
I includtng the District Of Columbia officers.
The general stated that he
[ wished 70 talk the matter over
With in friendly way
mad 10. oficia.ly He then informed Us
,he target pits al night. unacconpa MED
/ b. range officer and without permission,
would invaildate their testimony before
any court Of inquiry. as he had been in
formed By prominent lawyers. He said
that the targets were stiu locked up. that
they han not been examined. and that
they would not b. unless a formal protest
was fled. in which event the proper au-
thorites would take charge Of the exsrnin-
alton, but that the testimony Of the afOre-
said men cou.d not be received or consid-
cred as they had violated the regulations
Of the range.
Officers Approved Protest.
we informed the general that We would
determine about entering the formal pro-
test and after consultation WHY the adj
yisory committee Of the team. who felt
that the protest should DC filed. 50 that
the men could have the opportunity Of
presenting their sworn testimony. 1 filed
Toe formal protest. This decision was
approved Of By Col. Phil 9. Byrd. acting
adjutsnt general Of Georgia. and Col.
George I. Cam. inspector general Of rife
Hffra both ~ -fgred he
with ne.
"On the following morning l received a
request from Gen. Spencer for the names
Ct the men OF the Georgia contingent who
had as he said he had been unoaiciaIly in
formed. visited the pits The names were
promptly furnished him officially. with
the further unofficial information that
Mai. Harvey. at whose instance this in
formation was given, Lieut.. Holt and
Lieut.. COokson Of the District Of Colum-
bia contingent, were also in the pits
Spencer wouldn't Admit II.
In the afternoon received a commu-
nication from Gen. Spencer stating that In
accordance with Section Of General Reg
uletjoHs governing the meeting, the exeeu-
tive officer declines 70 entertain the afore-
said protest on the grounds that several
persons attached to your contingent. as ls
evidenced by your esteemed favor Of this
date. were in the pits on Thursday night
be ween dark and midnight, without per
mission and unaccompanied by a range
Officer. ~ violation Of ali rules governing
these competitions
" The section referred 20 reads as fol-
lows: Protests and objections must not
be directly submitted 10 the executive Off
Ger. but 10 one OF the range officers In
case competitor considers the decision
Of the latter unwarranted By the facts as
presented. he may appeal TO the executive
officer. Final appeals from his decision
must be made In writing and forwarded
through that officer to the executive COM
mittee Of the association" As there seems
10 be no relevancy In Section 3 to the
grounds Of Gen. Spencers objection, I am
led TO believe that he intended TO refer 70
Section 8, which is already quoted in my
letter.
The only remedy left to US was to ap-
peal 70 the executive committee of the as
ISOLATION. Gen. Spencer is one Of the
three members Of this committee and. rs
he had already Informed us that the testi-
roouy OF our men would not be received by
any court Of inquiry did not think IL ad-
yisable 10 make the appeal
Thought They'd Get Justice.
AT the time that the circumstances re
lated above were occurring the Georgia
contingent refused to entertain any doubt
OF the desire Of the management of the
New Jersey Association to investigate
fully and, 10 the event OF the discovery Of
wrongdoing TO have the guilty
parties held TO strict accountability.
For that reason we waited for the inyesti-
cation promised Us and declined to give
out an ex paTte statement 10 the press.
While the statements contained in many
al the reports given out are in many in
stances without foundation.
"Ag an evidence Of our sincerity In seek
ing 10 furnish testimony as. to fhe irregu-
larities that were found In the targets.
append The affidavit OF Mai. VIM. r. Har-
vey. Sixth battalion. D. G. y. G., who was
present at the examination Of the targets
and who states clearly and In detail the
condition OF the targets. he afiidavit coin
cides with the statements Of our own
mem"
Following is Mai Harvey's AFFIDAVIT:
Mai. Harvey's AFFIDAVIT.
District Of Columbia: William e. Har-
yey, being first duly sworn according to
law. deposes and says: That he is an at
torney and counsellor al law. practic.ng
his profession in the city of Washington.
in the District Of Columbia. That he IS
major Of the Sixth Battalion of the Ma
tional Guard Of the District Of Columbia,
duly commissioned As such by the Pres
ident Of the United States, and that as
an officer OF the National Guard of the
District Of Columbia was present during
the eighth annual meeting Of the New
Jersey State Rife Association. at Sea
Grit. ". j.. between the Atm and 9Th days
OF September, 1899. That he witnessed the
| contest on Thursday. Sept. Z. 1890. for the
| Hilton Trophy" between the teams from
the District OF Columbia, state Of New
Jersey and the state Of Georgia. That
during the progress Of said match, and
| particularly during the frines a 600 yards,
he heard persons on the firing line ques-
tionng the accuracy Of the markings on
target No 8, on which the team from the
| state Of New Jersey was firing. That
about 10 O'Clock p. m. as nearly as at
| hant can state, w. c. Austin, a member
Of the Georgia team, came to the camp
of the team from the District of Column
| bia and asked that an officer accompany
the members OF the Georgia team to the
GO0-yard butts for the purpose of making
| an examination of target No. s.
| The request was not made to afliant or
| iginally but at the suggestion of Cap.