Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-06-06
JOSEPH BOYER GIVES
STARTLING TESTIMONY
His Stock Holdings Were Only a
Small Portion Of lhe Gifts He
Admitted Receiving From
COAL MINING COMPANIES
Calti Clerk in The OIllCa Of A. v. Gibbs,
Superintendent Of hOliYa Power
OIL ihe Pennsylvania Railroad.
A'1oclaied Fro1. Dllralch BY -roclal vino.

Associated Press Dispatch by Special Wires.
Philadelphia Pa, June 6.-The Inter
state commerce Commission today con-
unued ats investigation of The relations
OF tha pennsylvania Railroad officials
ana employees 90 various mining COM
pames ln the hituminous coal district.
The hrst witness was Joseph Bower of
altoona, chief clerk IN the office of a. W.
Gibbs, superintendent OF motive power.
Mr. Boyer said he had 200 shares of stock
IN the Jamison Coal Co.. given To- him
Tor hls one-third interest in The Maclaren
Coal Co. The Maclaren stock was given
10 him by Mr. Jamis0n. He also had
10 shares in the Valley Coal Co. and is
IN the Edri Coal Co., which were presented
TO him By Capt Alfred Hicks. Ten
shares of Preston Coal Co. stock were sent
to him in an envelope He was not GER
tam who sent it, but thought il might
have come from Joseph Aiken. a railroad
man. or H. A. Kuhn. en- operator. All
OF these stocks paid dividends Mr.
Boyer said also that be holds an interest
amounting to $1,000 IN undcvcloped coal
lines on the West Penn division He
paid for this stock
y
was OF a startling character His stock
holdings were only small portion of the
gifts he admitted receiving from coal
mining companies In his capacity as
purchaser OF fuel coal he testified. he had
received from five companies. an allow
ance Of from three to five cents a ton on
coal used by the railroads for fuel pur-
poses. During the period from the latter
ART nN lat I.n Is.N i
total of more than S46.O GOO The money
was FIRST sent TO him in cash, but later
cashiers checks were sent to Cashier
II isiings Of the Second National Bank
4 Altoona and placed on deposit for
boyer. The companies which made him
the allowances were the Graft Coal Co
the Clarified & Granton Coal Co. the
Dunkirk Coal Co. and Thomas Blythe &
Co. The Graft Coal Co. allowed HIM five
cents a ton, and the Clearfield & Granton
Coal Co. gave him an allowance which
amounted TO not less than four cents a
ton. Blythe d Co. gave him three cents
e ton.
He was asked why he Disseminated
in favor of Blythe & Co. He replied
/ that he did not discriminate, as the
I money came TO him without solicitation
or any effort on his part He believed
that the money had been paid in the same
manner to his predecessors in Office and
/ that he was only following the custom
Of the department.
What did you do with the money p"
asked Attorney Glasgow.
% kept IL all
did you not share it with others in
the employ Of the railroad %
"No. sir. kept il all
How do you account for getting it p
II imagine somebody had been getting
it before me
Answering a question by Mr. Glasgow,
Mr. Boyer said that for the money he re-
ceived from the coal companies he did
what he could for them. Asked to ex-
/ plain this he said he distributed the
orders for fuel coal among these COM
| panies TO the best advantage.
"What did Mr. Blythe say when he
came to see YOU ?' queried Mr.. Glasgow.
"He told me he had paid the allowances
before and wanted TO pay it to me.
did you ever refuse any money ?"
"Yes'
"Why ?"
"Well / didn't know the people who
offered IT,"
Mr. Bower said his salary is sos a
month His stock holdings are worth
al par something more than $1,000.
Mr. Glasgow read from the records the
purchases OF coal made from the COM
panies which gave the allowances. show
ing steady increase. Roughly esti-
mated the money received by Mr.. Boyer
from the companies mentioned was as
follows: Graf Coal Co.. $4,000; Clear
field d Granton Coal Co.. $4,000; Dun
kirk Coal Co., 81 $50; Smith & Turner
SIS $50: Thomas Blythe $1,000
! Mr.. GLASGOW said he understood that
these pavments had ceased last March
He wanted TO know why.
Mr.. Bower said he had not inquired
the reason. but Judged it was because ol
! the Interstate Commerce Commission
investigation.
A. ". Gibbs general superintendent
of motive power Mr. Boyer's superior
officer. testified that he knew nothing oi
his chief clerk 3 acceptance OF money
from the coal companies.
Commissioner Clements, referring tc
Mr. Boyer's statement that he believed
he was acting according to the custom o.
the department, asked the witness If he
had ever heard of any other man in the
department accepting money as Boye
had.
Mr.. Gibbs said he had heard thai
former Chief Clerk Rohrer had received
presents, but the rumors we're not tanglpl'
and he had no knowledge on the subject
Mr.. Gibbs declared Mr.. Boyers tesui
mony to be a revelation to HIM. ia,
he been aware OF the condition, he SAID
he would have taken some action.
Mr.. Gibbs was asked II he had eve
been instructed to buy fuel coal from TN
keystone Coal and Coke Co.
lie replied that when a new compan1.
was organized it was customary ior IN
railroad 10 help it by purchasing iuel cog
until such time as It should become we
established. This applied not only q
the keystone company but other ne'
companies. ;s l.
Nh Glasgow asked the witness II b
could give the commission any lniorma
tion concerning the agreement 3et,Wee
the railroad and the II. {. rick Coal an
Coke Co. relative to car repairs.
Nr. Gibbs said he understood there ma
been some sort of an agreement but Ut I
was not familiar with its terms. IN
coal company he said. claimed that li
railroad should make al repairs bui ~
latter made am issue Of II and renaere
bills to tho Frick company Tor repairs
its cars. The Frickk company pAi9 i'
repairs TO wheels and aXles, but reluse
10 paw the full amount OF the chaI ges'
The commission took q recess tor lulel