The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-08-26

Q: Identical language, or nearly so? A. Nearly so.
 e. You are City Engineer? A. Yes. sir.
 Q. And you have been City Engineer for two years or more. A. Yes, sir.
 Chairman: You stated while ago that one of the Councilmen asked you to go out and see the Gibson gravel didn't you? A. Yes, sir.
 Q. We'll. now. you have never meas ured the Gibson gravel pit, don't know how much gravel there is there? A. have not
 Q. Don't know whether there Is more clay gravel at the Gibson pit than there Is at the Carter pit? A. I do not.
 MT. Gunrer: The quality of the clay gravel at the Carter pit IS good. is it not? A. Yes, sir.
 Q. You stated that to me. did you not? A. Yes, sir.
 o. You told the Mayor. and told the Mayor before the passage of this ordi- nance. and shortly before the ordinance was recalled? A. I did.
 Q. The statement that you made there is correct. I suppose. A. The statement?
 Q. The statement that you made to MT. Joseph? A. Yes, sir.
 Mir Mcintyre: Mir. Ford, what was your reason for withholding this infor- nation about MT. Carter having made these advances to you? A. didn't be- neve that the Council would purchase that pit for the amount of money that he asked for 1t, and knowing that If the Council did agree to purchase, that l could make this statement to the Mayor in reference to it. This is not very pleasant thing for a man to have to do. and I don't think that any man would place himself in this position if he could possibly help 1t.
 MT. Gunter: You were present the other night when I made my statement to the Council were you not? A. Yes sir.
 o. Did you make any effort to correct my statement there, that you had made certain statements to me? A. No sir, l did not.
 O. And it is your recollection now that instead of telling me that there was enough gravel in the Carter pit to last fifty years. that 1t was in the Marx s pit? A. That is my recollection, Ny Gunter. We spoke of tree pits. also mentioned Reeves pit. that they did not out and seen it.
 Q. MT. Ford. are you certain of that? | A. I mentioned it that day. O. To me? A. No, l am not positive about to you. I am not positive about mentioning it to you. l had so many con- versations in reference to the gravel plt
 with different Aldermen. Chairman: Where is the Reeves plt' l A. On the Louisville and Nashville Railroad near Coosada. Alabama. o. Did MT. Carter speak to you in reference to having any Alderman try to have his bid accepted before the Coun- ell? A. He did not. Q. Did he mention to you that he ex- pected to have some one to try to? A. He did not.
 CIIere Mir. Ford was questioned by City Attorney Graves and again went over the alleged offer by MT. Carter) CAMPBELL JONES. Campbell Jones was introduced. sworn | testified as follows:
 MT. Gunter: MT. Jones. in this 1nVes- tigation, probably you ought to know you need not answer any questions un- less you want to. it Is to be of your own accord. This investigation is to investi- gate the rumors and statements made by people that improper influences have
 been brought to bear upon Aldermen, that they received money or other con
 sideration for their vote in the Council | O. Did you ever try to influence the vote of any Alderman in favor of the
 Carter gravel pit? A. I have not. O. Do you know of anyone who has tried to influence the vote of this coun- cil? A. I do not, sir. O. It has been reported, Mir. Jones,
 that an offer of $500 or other sum was
 made to you by Mir. Carter for your in- fuence with the committee on gravel pit, or the council, Is this charge or rumor true or false? A. Yes, | O, Win you make statement of the Ioccurrence how 1t come about, when and where 1t took place? A. l was out at | the gravel pit. having the test holes, the holes for testing the pit made. and MT. l ICa told mo that if I would use my influence to help him sell the pit, that | he would give me $500. I said this to MT. l Carter, that If the pit. was what he rep | resented 1t to be, after we tested It, and proved to be that 1t was that l | would gladly recommend the pit to the different members of the council, pro- vided that I thought there was suffi-
 cient quantity of gravel and the quality l was such that it would be beneficial to | the city of Montgomery; that l did not want any of his money, that would sim | ply recommend 1t upon the merits of the
 pit, and not for favoritism for him, or l for pay.
 O. When did that conversation take place? A. think 1t was on or about the | 1st of March, somewhere in the latter part of February or the 1st of March. | did not keep any memorandum.
 Q. What was the result of your in-
 vestigation? A. Well, sir, after taking I
 dug, I found that all around on the
 edges I went around in a circle and dug
 the pits, I found there was entirely too much sand there and no gravel around
 on the edges. Mir. Carter had already
 dug a pit upon the top of the hill. went
 up there then and dug three feet and | found that there was sand. I went through the gravel into the sand, l went
 on the outside between the first test
 holes and that hole and dug other holes,
 and found on the north east side of the hill I found 1t went into sand very
 quickly and on the south west side I went through a small-suppose feet or l2 1-2 feet of gravel, and then struck sand again.
 O. Dil you give him any opinion of his pit? A. I told him that l did not think | the pit would do for the city, that there
 was too much sand. 1 O. And what did he say at that time A. He said that that stuff there was not | sand that there was enough clay with
 it to make 1t pack. 1 O. Do you know of any offer made by MT. Carter to MT. Ford, of a similar
 amount? A. I did not know at that time.
 O. When did you find it out? A. On | the day that We went out there to make
 the survey I carried MT. Ford out there,
 and coming on back MT Ford told me
 of it.
 O. What did Mir Ford say in refer ence to 1t? A. Mir. Ford said that he
 used some pretty rough language to Mir. Carter. Was that all he said. | Q. How did the conversation arise. do