The Washington herald., 1908-04-23

Of the most exciting meetings ever held
in the District Building, yesterday, when
Commissioner Morrow continued his In
vestlgatlon of the charges Of P. J. Bren-
nan, and which thus far have resulted in
the dismissal Of Charles Fernald assist
ant engineer in the highway department
of the District
The meeting was held behind closed
doors in Commissioner MorTow's Office,
with the following present; Commissioner
Morrow, Assistant Engineer Commissioner
Markham. Engineer Of Highways Hunt
Robert Fanham, local engineer Of the
Pennsylvania system; 2. ]. Brennan. of
the Brennan Construction Company: F S.
Smith, Of the Beall Construction Com
pany; Mr. McDermott, of the McMullen
& McDermott Company; Harold Davis,
Of the Brennan concern; E. b. Johnson.
superintendent for Mr.. Brennan; Mr.. Fer<
Maid, who was dismissed Monday, and J.
H. Bradley. Of the Columbia National
7tsstA 1fbtNhiitb NttHIotiJt
Repeats His Charges.
Commissioner Morrow asked Mr.. Bren-
nan to repeat his charges, that Fernald
had said 10 Brennan that Fernald had re-
ceived $500 from Mr.. McDermott, of the
AdcAIullen and McDermott concern, and
$3.50 from Mr. Wainwright Of the Drake
Stratton Company. and that Mr.. Thomas.
an Inspector in Mr. Fernald's Office. had
received $50o0 from Mr.. McDermott.
Ny statement was correct" said Mr.
Brennan. when Mr.. Fernald purchased
his house and made additions thereto. he
asked me for the loan OF $500 for the pur-
pose OF completing the furnishings.
Tn the light Of Fernald having once
been in my employ, I gave him the loan.
and took his note. which I stin have -
Is per cent II has not yet rpatured-
Then came the most dramatic incident
.of the investigation.
AT the time of the loan. Fernald said
TO me. - continued Mr.. Brennan, in a low
voice; You are too chinchy. You can't
get any work in the District unless you
pay for It. McDermott gave me $500
Drake q StTatton gave me $500. and
McDermott gave $500 to Thomas.
Immediately all eyes centered on Mr..
Fenald. His face flushed As Commits
sioner Morrow asked him what he had
TO say Mr. Fernald flushing, arose and.
in a voice deep with feeling, declared it
was untrue.
J. II. Bradley, OF the Columbia National
Sand Dredging Company. was the next
contractor called
Acting as a friend Of Mr. MoDermott
and Mr. Crawford, I went 10 Mr.. Davis,
Of the Brennan Company" said Mr..
Bradley. and requested him TO see Mr..
Brennan with me, and have Brennan
put a stop TO these proceedings. 1 told
him that if they went any further they
were liable TO put two Of his friends in
jail"
Mr.. Bradley said he met Mr.. Brennan
and Mr. Smith the next day, which was
April 12, at Mr.. Smiths office, where he
made the same request he had made of
NJ Davis.
AAA~E Bradley, viii you state all that
was said at that interview asked Mr.
Smith.
Bradley refused TO give a portion OF the
conversation saying il was OF strictly
private nature. and could not honorably
be divulged by any of the parties present.
Davis, TO whom Bradley first spoke
was the next witness. He said Bradley
had asked him to request Brennan to
call the investigation off, as It would re-
suit in two of his friends being sent to
jail If it went much further.
Il can't see We have gotten any further
than when we started" said Capt Mark
ham. His view Of the investigation was
assented TO by Commissioner Morrow.
Paid for His House.
How did Fernald pay for his house?'
asked Mr.. Smith. You seem to have In
vestigated this matter sufficiently to tell
US the results Of your investigation
know that Fernald on January D. 1903,
paid a mortgage of S1.090 on his house.
My letter was written to bring attention
to the irregularities in your Office, pre-
suming that you would make a thorough
investigation.
It developed that the cause Of the In
vestigation eliminated in April 1907. when
contracts aggregating approximately $25,
900 were subsequently swelled TO about
s1ss,oo0, without bids, bonds, or the usual
precautions safeguarding government
competition.
At the time of the contract, Commits
sicner West opposed the awarding of the
contract without readvertising, yet the
contract was awarded, and it was not
discovered until three weeks ago that
the Commissioners did not have the pow
er TO award such contracts.
Three weeks ago. when the bid of the
Crawford concern Of sl3,615 was protested,
the Commissioners revoked the bid, stat
ing they did so on an order from the
COmptrolleT's Office that such a bid was
Illegal A partial search of the Comp
trOler's office has been made, but no
record OF the ruling has been found.
What contractors interested In the pres
ent investigation say they would like 10
know, is why this ruling was not known
when the SIS COO contract was under fire?
1t was with the protest following the
awarding of the recent S136I5 contract 10
the Crawford Company that the present
trouble started.
At the investigation yesterday. McDer-
mott denied empha tically that he ever
gave Thomas or Fernald money. He
said there was not the least truth in any
Continued on Page 2, Column 6.
No. cypress shingles, So per 1000.
Il 7 /. 81 ~