Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-19
CONGRESS
IS PROBING
SHIP FRAUD
Anonymous Letters
Figure Largely in
Scandal
THREE EXPERTS SAY ALL
WERE WRITTEN ON ONE
TYPEWRITER
ATTACKS ON REPRESENTATIVE
FROM MICHIGAN BEING
INVESTIGATED
Supposed Author Of Documents Denies
He Wrote Them--SubmItted by
Agent Of Torpedo Boat
Company
BY Associated Press

WASHINGTON, April IS. The
authorship of the anonymous letters
that have been introduced in the inves-
tigation of the Electric Boat company
was diligently inquired into today by
the house committee conducting the in
vestigation.
David N. varvalho and William ].
Kinsley of New York. and Albert s.
Osborne of Rochester, handwriting ex-
perts as to typewriting, testified that
the two letters and certain documents
presented to the committee by Repre-
sentative Ltiley. and which had been
testified were written by Abner =. Neff
OF the Lake Torpedo Boat company on
typewriter In the Lake Company's Of
fee. were all written on the same type,
writer. Neither Mr.. Lilley nor Mr.. Neff
was questioned by the committee on
this point, but both denied during the
day that they had written the anony-
NOUS letttrsL or that they knew any
thing about them.
Mr.. Lilley at the beginning of the
DAYS session, presented letter from
the commissioners of patents stating
that no patent had been granted to
Charles f.. Mason during the past ten
years. This document was introduced
for the purpose of contradicting the
testimony of the Electric Boat officials
that they had paid Mr.. Mason, VINO Is
a lieutenant in the navy, $500 for
patent he had secured.
Mr. Lilley asked that President
Bowles of the Fore River Ship Building
company and John p. Hollond be sum-
moned as witnesses.
The committee will be in session Mon
day.
Congressman Attacked
Chairman Boutell stated at the out
set of the session that of the many
charges brough. before the committee
the most serious was that OF corrupt
means having been used to secure OF
defeat nomination and election OF MEM
bers of the present congress
'.Such a charge reflects upon the In
tegrity OF the house and deserves the
most exhaustive investigation by the
comhittee," he said.
.s'rhe only case OF this kind which
the testimony has disclosed is the cow
ardly attempt made, partly through
an anonymous letter to blacken the
name ruin the career of Representative
Loud OF Michigan. AS no one has had
the courage to admit the authorship of
the dastardly communication this ecom-
mittee feels that the burden has been
put upon 1t to discover, If possible, the
authorship of the communication.
Mr.. Routell stated that the letters
had been turned over to experts, and
he then called David N. Carvalhog to
the stand. MIR. Carvalho said he had
examined the two letters in question,
one received by the Washington cor
respondent OF the Detroit Free Press
and the other by Frank Marlborough. a
q ND M
candidate for congress against Mr..
Loud. He also had examined great
many OF the typewriter documents
and compared them with the anony-
nous letters. taking photographs and
preparing charts showing his deduc-
tions.
Written on One Machine
Unquestionably. he said. the anony-
nous letters and certain of the papers
were written on one and the same ma
chine. The documents. 1t has been
testified. were dictated by Former
Senator Thurston and written by AL
mer E. Neff on a typewriter in the
Washington office of the Lake Torpedo
Boat company. The documents in
question were questions and statements
presented to the committee by Mr.. LII
ley and signed by him.
II know absolutely nothing as to the
authorship of the anonymous letters
that have been, introduced in the in
yestigation of the Electric Boat COM
pnay," said Representative Lilleyl
today.
.The four documents, which Carval-
no saws were written on the same type
writer as were the anonymous letters,
were submitted to me, by an agent Of
the Lake Torpedo Boat company. II
signed them and submitted them to the
committee"