The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1909-11-02

puSk PENITENTIARY DRAWN ON TO PAY THE BILLS
None, Lost in Collapse Of Houston B,n Charged on Profit and loss
Al ol be Nude, and Wagon, Used on 0, bed, Mere Transferred
Railroad Without Fcn,lcrrar Receiving Credit o >arr

Russ. Texas. nov Tho pcnl-
teurafs investigation committee Fos
an idea Of how the constru ION ~
the state railroad wa financed nom
Frank y Quinn, assistant financial
agent iu charge of the supply aud
sales department OF the prison at
this point The sum aud substance ot
Mr. Guiuus testimony WIS that.
aside from the proceeds of the sale
OF the s15u.U0o of bonds authorized
for the road hy the thir'ieth logisia-
mrp. the Rush pnniteuuary contrib
uted $4,000 I'm money and mater
lal toward the construction thereof
Tor which II had received no credit
II also contributed ten miles Of
railroad originally built for use in
The prosecution of the iron industry
and appraised at $10S.o0o, for which
it had received no credit.
It contributed all the timber sawed
by the state saw mill for the use or
the railroad and got no credit for IL,
although this timber was originally
bought to be converted into charcoal
for the iron furnace out of an appro-
priation made for the benefit of the
iron industry by the twenty-eighth
legislature The Rusk penitentiary
had to pay cash nevertheless. for
some of the product of this mill It
has since used, Mr. Quinn stated.
Ali Of the mules and wagons used
on the ore beds were transferred to
the railroad and worked and used,
without giving the Rusk penitentiary
credit for such work and use, and
afterward absorbed with the railroad
by the system on the ground
that Rusk was deeply in debt to said
system
Afterward. when It was sought to
recover the mules and wagons for
the reopenlng of the ore beds, the
penitentiary board wanted to ex-
change the Rusk pententlary for
them. but finally compromised by
taking the best ones for the farms
and leaving the small ones for the
iron industry.
Asked to explain how the purchase
ing Of supplies and other disbursing
Of money Is conducted for Rusk, Mr..
Quinn said that II has sometimes
been all in his hands and at other
tinaes only partially SO The conclus-
ion to be drawn from his statements
on this score Is that his jurisdiction
IN this respect expands on contracts
to suit the whims of the penitentiary
board ana the financial agent.
Asked to state how the money de-
rived from the sale of the $150,000
of bonds authorized for the state
Irairoad had been handled, Mr.
Quinn explained that $4,000 of II
had come direct to Rusk and that the
remainder had come In checks on the
Citizens National bank Of Tyler or
vouchers for bills paid for Rusk by
the financial agent at Huntsville. lie
had paid drafts for railroad supplies
out of Rusk peniteitiary funds TO the
amount of about $4,000.
He had not always been able to
get his requistions against the
lSl50,000 belonging TO the railroad
honored In full, The money was II
the state treasury, but was under the
control of former Financial Agent j
Nv Wright, who would tell him that
It must be made to last as long as
ipossible
! Sufficient evidence was procured
TO show concmsively that the system
of bookkeeping regarding the cos
| of the construction of the state rail
road from Rusk to Palestine was ex
ceedngly clumsy, and that It woulC
now be impossible to ascertain The
cost Of the road, even though no al
convicts themselves. Mr.. Wright saiC
| that after the proceeds of the $3.50,
600 bond issue had been expended OF
| the road about $4,000 had beer
borrowed from the profits on the con
Wet farms and the industries main
tained at the Huntsville penitentlary
| This money was obtained from tn,