The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-03-15

After three long public sessions at (
which large number of witnesses
were examined, the State Library
Board adjourned at 1O;45 o'clock last
night. to meet at 9:30 o'clock this
morning when the inquiry relating to 4
the affairs Of the Library will he COM
pleted. nv #
Mr.. w. q. Nichols, who sold Mr..
Kennedy the Latrobe manuscript, will
,be invited to testify, and one OF the bther
witnesses will be Mr.. w. G. Torrence.
of the Library STAFF. There may be !
one or two others. q s,s$
All the sessions yesterday bristied
with interesting features, and there
was hardly a time during the entire
day when the evidence was not lis..
tened to with marked attention.
Every attache of the Library, u fron1
Mr.. Kennedy down to the janitor testis
fled with the exception OF Mr.. Tor
renee. who arrived in the city late last
night 81 is
Made Good Witness. W
Mr. Kennedy was on the stand for
several hours. and made a good wits.
ness for himself. He concluded HIS
testimony just before adtournmentS
with a rather dramatic statement. in
which he declared that he was only
seeking vindlcation from the false
charges made against him, and that DO
far as his position as Librarian was
nn1 ho 49,
der 1T IL the board said so.
The original correspondence concern.
Ing the purchase and sale OF Burk's
History was not available having been
lost In some way, and Mr.. Kennedy said
In the absence Of these papers he could
not swear he wrote the letters. He
had grave doubts about writing the
one in which I'VE" and "us'' were 80
often used. ssss
Hc produced letters from Mr.. Birdsong
to show that he had bought the history
on his own personal account. and q LETT
ter from Professor Dunbar Rowland had
refreshed his memory to the extent that
he now recalled that leaves were missing
from, two volumes of the work, and for Y
this reason, he said. he had not offered
it to the library. Mr. Kennedy laid great
stress on these letters and said they
absolutely cleared up the whole history
transaction. Nj
Practically. the testimony Of all the
library attaches was against the libra.
rian except that Of three young ladies,
They were loyal to their superior. and "
charged the other subordlnntes with os
tracisng them and holding conferences u
among themselves with reference to the
library situation. They Were sure there
was nutlny and dlscord In the tnstitu.
ton. ss
Mr.. Kennedy denied the statements
made by all those who testified against
him except those of Mrs. Kate Pleas
ants Minor, and he declined to contradict
anything said by lady a
lie characterized as false certain al.9
luslons to him made by Messrs. Evans
and Eckenrode, but later, at Mr.. Mer.
cdth's suggestion. modified his language
and said the statements We're at yarl, IA
iance with the facts,
Attacked by Mrs, Minor.
Mrs Minor did not spare the librarian
III her testimony. She referred to him al
"habltually untruthful," and said In hid s1
application for librarian he had said he
could speak four foreign languages, when,
as a matter OF fact, he could not read
page OF French. s
MI Meredith examined Mrs. Minor al
great length. and Mr.. Patteson asked her
a number of questions. but she secmei
to be able to take care OF herself pretty
we'll. She did not care to make any spe-i
clal addition to her former testimony.
She intimated that she had told mem
bers Of the board things concerning tha
libarian, and that they had not been
taken Seriously. She had declined to @
make any charges before the board, say M
Ing she had no charges to make against
any one,
Declines to Testify.
During the day Chairman Gordon ad- 4
dressed the following letter to Hon. p.
II. Cox. a member Of thc legislative In, n
ycstigatlng COMMITTEES: #
March ~, 1907.
H0n. u. ". Cox,
Ntchmond vp., ~
Dear sir,--At the request OF ,nr,u-
berry Of the Library h0nrd WIN de-
sire 10 address prrtMtn QWeAlt0ns
t0 YOU In the pending iavestlgN- 81 N
ti"A hs ihA AAsxA ~ ~ ttx1o