New-York tribune., 1905-11-22

time of the year" Mr.. Nichols explained that
this reference in the letter was underlined to
show that he not our friend" He further
explained that he had written to Senator Dope"
merely because of the friendly relation with him
which he enjoyed. He next identified the ran
tankerous friend Of the second Depew letter
as the sams Manning.
MANNING VERY PUSHING"
How was he rantankerous?" queried MI.
Hughes.
'He was 7 cry pushing" was the Illuminating
reply Then Mr.. Hughes took the initiative IN
the matter.
o-was Mr.. Manning connected with the insuT-
ance investigation of 1877? A-fes. sH' OeNe'e
Was he stenographsr in that ingsts iaTesgo a.
6qona 9 and o d the he not cs Of Sa9 nvesgaon
not made known in the report portions 'na' were
Mr.. Nicholss memory failed him completely on
this point.
Q-was it through desire to prevent this pub
B. Hyde in this report had been suppressed 'hat
the payments were made!
The witness could not remember The little
his memory supplied told in voice so low
the committee could not hear, and frequently
asked for a louder tone
Mr.. Hughes turned UP two payments OF Soooo
concerning which Mr.. Nichols could recall noun
ing, but asked for time. Mr.. Hughes then re-
turned to the Manning case, and introduced III
evidence a dozen vouchers, bearing dlherellI
names, and marked 'in the matter Of Bowker
and others All these the witness declared re-
ferred to Manning his explanation was that ne
desired to conceal the mans name anu - oeeu 80
planned that his whole connection WIN IN. Lhe
Equitable consisted in looking after Manning;;
moment later it shown that the MutuaI
put up a sum large as the Equltaple 70
keep this Manning mot hostile One voucher
table and the Mutual thus paid SI,VGo apiece
annually to Nichols ''in the matter OF Manning;
Mr. Nichols testified that his connection VITA
Manning began when Henry B. Hyde called him
to his Office and asked him ito get rid OF me
annoyance" Just what this meant MI NicholS
could not explain. for the next momens 1 ne e9 9e
clared Mr.. Manning had wanted TO "be ilde-
pendent and that it had required great effort
to persuade him to subside. Mr. Nichols was
anxious to make it clear that he had not acted
for Mr.. Manning in the affair. He was in the
dark as to whether Mr.. Manning oelongeu No ~
the Manning family of Albany, but recalled
that he was a relative of Shepard Honans, q
well known insurance man. The apparent pro
cedure was for Manning to call at Mr Nlchols
Office and get his money eacn year.
COMAN's PLEASANT JOB.
The fact that Tamn1any kept careful watch
| upon the Equitable salary roll was shown by the
| testimony of Thomas Conan. who identified
himself as a former president Of the Board OF
| Aldermen, who was acting Mayor in the early
| 70s when Mayor Hoffman became Gov
ernor. He was also at one time an acting police
magistrate Mr.. Conan testified that he had
! been in the employe of the Equitable for twenty
| five years, and that his salary had steadily IN
| creased until it reached $4,000 a year. Last
summers reduction had cut his salary to 50, 4Go
At the outset of his testimony Mr.. Conan
| glibly explained that his work was in dealing
| with violations of Health Department regula-
tions but he could recall only one of these in re-
| cent years. Then he attempted to show work with
! reference TO fire ESCAPES. Then he showed that
| he had spent day or two fixing up a detail Of
a street which was torn UP.
! You don't seem to be a very busy man, COM
mented Mr. Hughes. This did not evoke ary
answer so Mr. Hughes continued:
Isn't it a fact that you are the intermediary
between the city departments and the Equi-
| tabe?"
Whenever they require anything the
| frank answer moment later Mr.. Conan
added that his large acquaintance fitted him for
| this work.
A rather humorous phase of Mr.. Cornan's ac-
! tivty was shown. Mr. Hughes produced the
port of the State Superintendent of Insurance, i'll
which Conan listed as in charge of the as
| sessment matters OF the Equitable. His main
mission in this regard. it appeared, was to OBJ
tain reductions in the personal assessments of
James w. Alexander. Henry 2. Hyde, Gage E.
Tarbel and Thomas D. Jordan Conan further
testified that he went with officers of the society
when they paid their taxes ito get them through
quickly Asked how he came to have his salary
raised he explained that "other employees were
getting theirs raised" No extra work followed
the raise, he volunteered
Mr.. Conan further Illuminated his political
past by declaring he had been appointed
Courthouse Commissioner by Mayor A. Oakley
Hall His son is also an Equitable employe. A
long list of questions asked by Mr.. Hughes, with
the intention of showing that Mr.. Conan might
also have served as the intermediary for
failed. Mr.. Conan had never heard Of any such
gifts.
APGAR'S NAME ON CARD.