The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-07-26
.PoliCySof Y. P. !. lnves'tli-.
eating Committee IS
NOW4O
PRESIDE #ltl' 'BRY'D Y'Dl
PRINCIPAL WITNESS. ! {;
His Statement Extremely Favor 'l--
able to Institution, and HI His
Allegations Concerning It's
Management and Finaf1-
tial Operations Car Car
ried Conviction.
S{From d staff Correspondent.).

.54$( From, o. staff correspondent 5
"a BLACKsBuRci,T5vA., ~ AZ : uly 25.. Reaching
q conellsion ns to Is line OF policy in
p n brief executive session this morning,
4 the Investigating Committee had two Sit
\ tings to-day, and President Nc Bryde, the
first and principal witness. completed his
Testimony. 81 4fst5 IA sfj5ssS by ~
with the dcrison OF the body this
2 morning not to 80 into the Christian in-3
Il cident, the way AZ open TOR harmonious
+ and speedy action, and indications now
point 10 final adjournment early next
week, :, and possibly w Saturday night
8si Fine progress WAS made with the in-}
Il curry to-day. Mr.. y. Fl. Avery, an & $ex-
pert accountant. from Lynchburg. ar
& rived this evening, and Ii now working
&.pYcrStlic books. J, 3 g a99 y stss
u II was the alleged shazing episode which.
prevented tho committee from coming to-
sether last night. and although was
aware Of II then, I was not at liberty TO
make IT r public The mi ghts rest ana
further thought served to larmonize con m
flicting Views. and now that the matter
4 has been finally eliminated from con-
sideratlon, the curse OF tho lnycstiga-8 "a
& ton has been greatly smpllfied
5 Or. McBryde's Testimony
Dr.. aicBryde's Testimony was extreme
sly favorable to the ins titute, 81 and u his
4 statement concerning Its mana efnent ana ana
financial operations seemed to carry con
viction 10 the hearts Of his hearcrs}
Neither the close Inspection Of the;
premises ss} nor tho All xamlna uon II OF 81 DR.
{ .uct5rydc, nor yet the general | examinat ton
made here, j = left any impr ssion q of
smIsmana.et4@i,s orextravagance. and
unless q ..7iR3ntIg yuln nerab BILE M shall pc
found u :.on further inquiry, the instit-a
#t,iteS XIII surely be wind icated from what 'ltt
ar. Nc cErydc In+ his test tin,ony I to-day re-
s scented as ",niserable ruinors. 3.iss
alessrs Johnson and Horsley g s torneys y
for tho board, ], were present at the ses-s
sion. but took no part iii the proceedings.
I4s The new board comes x to morrow, but
Etheiravsit is understood to bear no rela-s
Tt!on#to the inquiry. .5siS &
d The committee convened at 10 80 O'clock
for its first public session. and Chairman 4
Ihornhill at once made the following
statement: g8 sE %5i 5,3 n ig$ rs 5i5
Judge George L. Christian has stated
that tho knowledge which came In his
possession after the publication OF the
pamphlct$c the charges agninst9
the faculty and Board OF Visitors OF the
Virginia Polytechnic Institute has cons
WINGED him thnt all three young men re-
tcrrcd to In the resolution did. as a mat
terSof fact, participate In The hazing, and
were guilty. IS found by the faculty. He
has requested that the committee do not
go.into the investigation OF this incl
dent"
Eliminate Christian Matter.
In view$of these facts the committee
has decided to eliminate this matter from
It's consideration. The official statement
Z from the chair was heard with great In .
terest, though It's purport was not unan-B
aticipated
s Rector John Thompson Brown arose at q
this point and submitted a letter signed
1 by himself. on the part OF the Board OF
Visitors. which read In part as follows:
I'VE Shall he pleased to aid you In
your inquiry In any way you may desire
S or direct. Our department Of instructions,
our industrial plants and our books OF ac-
counts ara all open for your inspection
and examination. This Investigation wa
shall welcome as giving pnomisa OF set
ting atarest once and for all any reports
which may be in circulation tending in-
jiriously to effect tina interest OF the
institnton."
me prcllmlnarles over and the Christian
4 matter out Of the way there was plain
sailing for the committee, and the voyage
was begun Without further delay, Presi.
dent McBrydd being the first Witness
Submitted Detailed Statement.
Fl The president submitted detailed state
ment, showing the financial operation
of the institution since his ncumbency5
In the Office, and now and then lie would
so Into explanations as to how this or
that department had been progressed,
and as to the expenses It had required
from time to time. He pointed out that
industrial plants, most of which have
been forced llpon the school through It's
development and growth, wero the hard
est problems he had to deal with; that
few OF them were self-sustaining,
Judge Williams. OF the committee. asked
y II 1t was true, ms seemed to be the Inn
8 preston In some quarters, that the school
was getting away from pure agricultural
and mechanical teachings, 4
The witness said he did not think so.
Vie declared that the boys take regular
courses In these departments, and thar
when the agricultural building Is COM
pleted winter lectures on the farmer
will begin. He Thought to eliminate otler
branches, however, would make the!
school simply ono of manual labor.
The Afternoon Session
Resutming his Testimony at the after
reyew the finanpial condition at thu,
lchoo taking up the appropriation OF one
hundred and sixty-fiye thousand dollars
made In 1904 for hui ldlng and equipment,
and explained how 1t was spent Witness
declared that he and all others concerned
have H2en as careful and economical as
possible IN using the money and he
denied that there had been any extraya-
Il rance
FIe had traced the ruanols that the money
F had been ''sqllarlder back to the yil-
4 lage Of BlaekslbrTg, and said ORC instance
bf their origin was the allegation that
he could have saved some five thousand
collars by letting to contract the building
Of some shop (Which he had had con-
ptructed at a cost Of about seven thou-
sand fiya hundredl, because four years