The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-14

for us to get this information. l desir. 10 state that I afterwards found out naVe signed other papers in good faitl that l afterwards found out l could no carry out
 MT. Drennen said that he would fl nance the three firms One of my asso ciates told me that he had plenty o money and did not need any finances Later l found out, however, that sucf was not the case I know that I did no have the necessary money. We wer, to use MT. Drennin in any way we want ca to. l received letter from Mir. Dren nen. written from the Waldorf-Astorit or the Marlborough hotel in New York about the bond sale Have not this lat ter IS 1t was destroyed"
 How do you know it was destroyed MT Burkhalterw was asked by Capt White.
 By Intuition.
 T know 1t, as a lady told me once py intuition, whatever that means" wal MT Burkhalters reply.
 MT. Drennen said In his letter that h, thought he would be able to place tn, bonds. Think he said one of the big firm. he did business with in New York would probably take at least a part of the bonds. He did not sell the bondss how. ever.
 "Tlissllx there was a conference held ir MT Drennen's office at which we three contractors, MT. Drennen and a young lady stenographer were the only ones present. Mir. Drennen did not say to me that 1t would take $5OO0 to buy MT. Smyer, and s250o to buy MT. Gillespy and $25OC to buy Mir. Motion.
 Called 1t a Joke.
 T tell you this matter Is all a Joke. We simply wanted a man with the in- fiuence and standing of MT. Drennen to act for us. Don't think that Donelson or Pennington disagreed on any propo- sition that l made to them"
 Cross examination: This is all joke about trying to buy the commission. We had the best organization in the country, too, and l am not ashamed of it. That Is no joke, however
 I read the agreement before I signed 1t. We had to have SIG, 600 worth of ma chlnery to do the work Did not ask MT. Drennen who prepared the agreement. I would have put more in it if I had been MT. Drennen. MT. Drennen knew how ever, that I would not undertake to get out of paying an honest debt on a technicality"
 At this juneture Mir Burkhalter asked sAAS 4ACStioh. icil Wildt you ID trying to get at anyway, Capt White?' The facts,' was the reply of the at torney.
 Continuing the witness testified: " do not know whether or not I could have made Mir. Drennen live up to his agree ment. I did not hear MT. Pennington use the words on dangerous ground with reference to members of the sanitary commission, in the presence of Mir Dren- ren."
 Questions Evaded.
 Several questions were asked MT. Burk- halter by Captain White, which he evad- ed. Referee Trimble told the witness that he must answer all of the questions pro- pounded to him by the attorneys.
 MT. Burkhalter said: My recollection Is that Pennington signed the agreement in either my office or the office of the Donelson Construction company Don't know what MT. Pennington asked MT. Drennen about the members of the sanl- tary commission. Did not hear MT. Dren- nen tell MT. 5myer that he had consulted E. J. Smyer his attorney, about the agreement. never told John Donelson or MT. Pennington that s5000 of this money was to be paid to MT. Smyer, and that MT. Gillespy and MT. Motion were each to receive s25OO. We never talked about it"
 Did you tell MT. Donelson and MT. Pen nington repeatedly that this s10000 was to be divided among three members of the commission?" was asked of the witness.
 That sort of talk makes me laugh, al- though I am sick" was the reply of the witness
 Not Answering Question.
 That Is not answering my question" said Attorney White
 The witness refused to answer the ques- ton for some time. Referee Trimble told him that all questions must be answered. MT. Burkhalter finally said:
 'If 1 did l have no recollection of it."
 We did not employ MT. Drennen to buy anyone. I have lived in Birmingham for many years and expect to remain here. I did not ask MT. Drennen what he was go- ing to do with the S10,000. Do not recall any conference held in the city hall on June 20 1 told MT. Drennen at my stable that we had signed the agreement but could not carry it out inasmuch as we could not dispose of the bonds. l did not tell MT. Donelson and MT. Pennington that 1 had seen MT. Drennen and that he had said the agreement had been destroyed. They did not see me about the matter. They wanted me to see MT. Drennen, how ever. and ask him if he intended to make us live up to our agreement. The agree ment with MT. Drennen was an honest contract"
 Several questions were asked MT. Burk- halter and he again evaded them Finally Referee Trimble said: Tt seems to me that the witness Is trifiing with the court, and I am sorry the referee in bankruptcy has no authority to make him answer the questions of the attorney
 Captain White: "If It pleases the court, it seems to me that the first thing we can do is to see that the orders of the court are obeyed.
 Mir. Burkhalter; "I simply do not want you attorneys to try and ball me up."
 Not a Joke.
 Referee Trimbe: This matter is not a joke and I think the witness knows bet ter than to trifle with the court. Congress in its wisdom did not give the referee in bankruptcy the power to punish witness for contempt of court. The only thing 1 could do would be to report him to the judge of the United States court for mis- conduct.
 Do you remember having had a conver- sation with E. w. Barrett, Ross s. Smith and A. l.. Fulenwider in the Woodward building about the time of the last mun'- cipal campaign concerning the agreement of Mir. Drennen with the contractors?'