The San Francisco call., 1899-05-28

NOGALFS, Arizona, May FIT has re-
Gently developed that the Civil Service
Commission sent from Washington. ID. c..
Z. NJ. Higgins, a gentleman connected
with the commission, and he was engaged
several days Investigating alleged frauds
in the civil service examinations as con-
Quoted by the local board here.
These charges involve the Collector of
Customs OF this port, II. *. Chenoweth,
as well as the members of the local board,
which is composed of three Custom-house
officials. Since the return of Mr.. Higgins
TO Washington not only has the fact of
the investigation become public, but the
subject matter and much of the testimony
is now known. Atiidavits have been made
by several reputable persons, who are in
a position to know the truth of the facts
to which they testify, which show state
of affairs in the civil service examinations
which IL extended throughout the coun-
try. would make the whole system of eX-
aminauons u mere plaything in the hands
Of spolsmen. What is charged and proved
10 have been done in Nogales will come
as a shock to every civil service reformer
In the country. for. # such work can be
done in an obscure corner Of a Territory,
1t can he done in every office OF every
department Of the Government and every
spokesman would hasten to adopt the
methods tried so successfully here.
The charges made are that the civil
service examinations held in October. 1897,
and March, 1895 were fraudulent in this
that the official lists of questions and
problems sent from Washington to the
local board were opened in advance Of
the examinations. the problems were
solved, the questions answered and the re
suits and replies written out by n COM
petent scholar and given to favored APP
pllcants, who went into the examination
Wit hAfp ,plr fhp hon -,
advance. leaving nothing for them to do
but TO copy the slips OF paper which had
been supplied them. The work is alleged
10 have been done by Professor q. l..
Lewis principal of the public schools here
and a cousin of the Collector II. X. Chen
oweth. The allegations were supported
by the, atlidavits of several persons TO
whom Lewis admitted that he had done
the work. Those examined in October.
1897, were J. j. Chatham. w. j. Mickey
and S. J. Duckworth, all of whom passed
March 16, 1895, Mrs. Chenoweth, wife of
the Collector, and Mrs. Aguirre. wife of
the Deputy Collector, a soldier from Fort
Huachuca, whose name is not now
recalled, and @. S. Hitchcock, then jani-
tor at the Custom-house now mounted in
spectOr, were examined.
The evidence in this last examination
shows that Mrs. Chenoweth and Mrs
Aguirre were fraudulently passed. The
papers had been prepared as in the pre-
Lious eXamnatton by Q: l. lewis,
pass. and Mr.. Hitchcock passed by dint
Of his own effort.
L is also in evidence that the examina-
ton papers, consisting of questions and
problems. arrived here from Washington.
D. c.. on the morning OF March a 1908,
and were at once taken from the post
office 10 the Custom-house ny one OF the
customs officials, and then turned over to
Mr.. Chenoweth, where they were put into
the Custom,house safe and were seen
there by others during the day. On the
night of the 14th of March, 1898, Collector
Chenoweth took the papers to his home
and in his presence the problems We're
solved and questions answered for Mrs
Chenoweth by Mr. O. l.. Lewis. On the
following night Mrs. Aguirre. in company
with her husband. the Oeputy Collector
went TO the house of the Collector, where
the papers were prepared for Mrs
AguiTTe.
It is further in evidence that on the
evening of March Is. 1898. Collector. Chen
whom it was known that a package had
been received from the Civil Service Com
mission on the 14th day of March. 1895
and borrowed his key to the postoffice
box used by the Custom house. alleging
that he expected mail from Mexico, which
never reaches here until So'clOck at night
and is not distributed until the next morn