Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1903-12-04
A BIG SENSATION.
Wholesale Bribery at
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Ex-CIty Attorney Liant X. Salisbury
Makes II Confession Concerning
Water Scandal duplicating
Many Prominent People
Rig Corruption Fund.


Big Corruption Fund.
Grand Rapids, Mich, Dec. 1.-The
confession of eX-City Attorney Liant
X. Salisbury in regard to the notori-
Gus water scandal in this city was
told Monday for the first time in
court at the preliminary eXamina-
tion of State Senator David Burns
and it has created tremendous SEN
sation on account of the number of
prominent persons it duplicates, in
| addition to the II officials and for
mer officials who were arrested on
bribery charges ten days ago.
Never once did Salisbury have to re-
fer to notes and he rendered his tes-
timony readily and rapidly, giving
names, dates and occurrences as
though the alleged events happened
only last week instead of three years
ago.
The examination of Senator Burns
was completely lost to view in the
story of the conspiracy as related by
! Salisbury. AS names of many prom
inent men were mentioned by SAILS
y >
for their influence or silence was
given, there was a suppressed muir
mur of surprise throughout the
| thronged court room
The persons implicated by Sails
bury during his testimony against
| States Senator Burns and the amount
he alleged they received are as fol-
| lows:
George r. Perry, ex-mayor, $13,-
| 725; j. c. Clark Sproat, manager
Grand Rapids Democrat, 1888; r. a.
Cameron, New York, $500; State SEN
ator Burns 5000, Alderman NtcCool
$500, Alderman Ellen $3.50, Alderman
Depagter $3.50, Alderman Muir $500,
Alderman Kinney $3.50, Alderman
Donovan $500, Alderman Phillips ST.
600, Alderman johnson $3.50 or $4OO,
Alderman Stonehouse $3.50, Alderman
LoZier $500, Alderman Shriver $3.50,
Alderman Mol $3.50, Alderman
Ghysels $3.50, Alderman Hodges $500,
Alderman Slocum $500, Cory p. Bis
sell $500, Russell Thompson, reporter
on Evening Press, $500, Isaac Lamor-
eauX, eX-city clerk, $500; State
Representative Van Zoeren $3.50,
State Representative Van Dercook
$50, Z. D. Conger, manager Grand
Rapids Herald, 100000; Thomas +.
McGarry, prominent attorney now
in Florida, $500; c. S. Smith, mana
ger of the Evening Press, $4,000.
He also implicated in water deals
Dudley Z. Waters, ex-president of
the board of public works; DR.. Uille
De Vries, eX-city physician; George
Ellis, local broker; Samuel NJ.
Lemon, collector of internal revenue,
and William II. Anderson, president
OF the Fourth national bank.
Six separate wafer conspiracy deals
were on in Grand Rapids at one time
according to Salsbury's sworn tes
timony, each gigantic in its size and
all calling for the use of Doodle
fund. In addition to the Henry Tay-
lor 100000 Lake Michigan water deal,
he said there We're five other strings
out, from each one of which thou
sands of dollars were hanging.
Every one of these six sets of men
who put up or offered to advance
corruption fund were dupes, so Sails
bury says of himself, Perry. McGarry
and Sproat. Pat Flynn, of New York,
he names as one of those at the head
of one scheme. The men interested
in the hydraulic water company are
named as the hackers of another
deal, in Chicago. Then there was
Milwaukee deal, in which he said Con-
tractor Loss, of Chicago, was inter-
ested; the Omaha deal in which the
Barton millionaires are said to have
put up $4,000, and the Gillespie deal
| On top of all these, Salisbury i'm
plicates Revenue Collector Samuel
Lemon with Il deal charging Lemon
with coming to him with PROPOSE
tion to buy the council after having
bought the mayor for $4,000.
During the examination of Sails
bury the recent acquittal of ex-Sena-
tor George Nichols on the charge of
bribery was taken up and Salisbury
declared that Nichols really was
guilty; that Nichols and McGarry
conceived plan to bribe Frederick
II. Garman, the peoples star witness
in the former water conspiracy
trials, but that he (Salsbury) opposed
it, never believing that Garman could
be bribed. He said that the money
was turned over to William Leonard,
exactly as the prosecution claimed,
and that Leonard gave it to Garman.
The prosecution completed its in
PRODUCTION of evidence in the Burns
case and the respondent asked for
an adjournment for week to pre-
pare his defense, which the count
granted.
In signed statement z. G. Con-
ger, manager of the Grand Rapids
Herald, denies Salsbury's charges.
Tneuter Efurocd