New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-08-31
ON INFES7IGA.
TION INTO PURCHASES.
Commissioners of accounts Include
Confession of W. j. Rickard,
Night SUPERINTENDENT.

supplies at Bellevue Hospital there ia a con-
fessiOn'' by Michael ]. Rickard. q night super
intendent. regarding which and his testimony
at the bearings the commissioners say:
Upon the question OF the gravity of the offence
disclosed and lying In the act and conduct or
Michael J. Richard IN falsifyng and procuring
The Justification of claims presented 70 the board
OF trustees for allowance and 70 the CohtroiIer
for payment. Your honor's attention Is particu-
larly directed TO Section 1872 OF the penal law
| (Penal Code, Sec SD
The law is quoted and then the commissioners
say:
The claims 10 which this report is addressed
were not only false and fraudulent but in their
nature illegal The testimony Of Michael j.
Rickard establishes the fact that he knew the
claims be false and that he knowingly pre-
sented them for payment.
The city charter provides in Section 419 that
supplies in excess OF S1O10 shall be purchased
from the lowest bidder under contract. When
the supplies do not exceed $1,000 IN value no
expenditure shall be made except the necessity
therefor shall be certified 20 by the head Of the
appropriate department" The commissioners
hold in their report that in the absence OF such
certificate the delivery Of supplies under open
| market order imposes liability upon the city
But Bellevue and Allied Hospitals needed
vegetables and fruit and The Board o; Alder.
men went 70 their relief
CHARGE RICHARD WITH ERRING.
II = here that MT. fSCEaTd Is charged WIN
! errinc- To relieve the board of trustees OF the
! hospitals from the certificate requirement. the
aldermen on March rs of this year adopted a
resolution empowering the trustees 70 buy fruit
and vegetables in the open market not in excess
of S11.2O0 year Rickard i said 10 have pur-
chased groceries and meats and 70 have hal
them charged fruit ~ Vegetables. II is
charged also that he did this not only for the
officers of the ne sptal including himself. but
that he had some OF the 81 lies sent to his
summer home a. City Island
! The commissioners also refer To- the substitu-
tions on bills Of one class II goods for another
under the contract system. saying that where
q dealer. under agreement - furnish turkeys.
sent ducks. he would make the charge on the
bill for turkeys and the amount % correspond
with the price of the ducks. Only one such in
stance was mentioned. but the commissioners
say that these substitutions in most cases are
NOT revealed in the city's accounts or records
The report was made about three weeks azo
10 the Mayor As he was o. be out of the cfty
for nearly month the document was withheld
until Yesterday. when il vas sent to the board
Of trustees Uf Bellevue and the Allied Hospitals
who. the Commissioners ~ Accounts say. knew
nothing about the alleged frauds prior e. the
I investigation The board made an inquiry on
its own account. which resulted in the suspen-
sion Of Mr.. Richard the reprinanding of Frank
A. While. the bookkeepeT. and tn. d-scharge as
the auditor. Frederick Eckstein But Mr. Rick
ard. With his family. is still living AZ BeHev,I.
Or John W. Braunan. president Of the board
IS in Paris He is expected to return on Sen
temter Is
DELICACIES FOR OFFICERS.
Reverting TO the permission given by the Board
OF Aldermen 70 purchase fruit and vegetables
the commissioners say that DIR. Brannan ap-
peared before the Aldermen. and arguing for the
grra nrf Of m
ter OF fruit and vegetables is closely allied with
the health Of patients and employees" Rur tbs
permission, the commissioners assert has bas,
used for the purchase of fruit and Vegetables
not for the patients in the hospitals bur for
the superintendent assistant superintendent
physicians, nurses and ernployes'
Continuing. the report saws:
These officers have purchased anil .,,
laiIihvht mas approved payment for not merely
fresh fruit and vegetables bur croceries l,
deHeaclas as we'll For example. i'm the month
81 January, 1902 the department issued an 0DeD
order 70 G. A Schmidt for fresh fr1jr and
vegetahes for month Of January" Schmidr.s
deIVerfeS Under this order as shown b, tbs
vouchers To watch IL is attached cnnsists,, ~
various delicaCieS. but did not contain \ si-,,ls
tables ~ i'"'' OF Vese-
According % the voucher these IeIicscjes
Mere delivered at the home OF Assistant super
tutendeHt Michael J. Rtckard The bin for fbsr,-
was approved by him and by IN, hoard af t~r,s
tees and was audited and paid BY the Depart
rfax
ana deiicacieS We're made by other dealers nm
der orders FOR fresh fruit and vegetables
Controller Metz wrote 20 Dr Brannan on Nav
y calling his attention to the fact that bills sub
mitted by dealers who had received omen market
orders for fresh fruit and vegetables contained
many items of groceries, etc, and saving thar
payment of those bills would be refused II was
then. according 10 the report. that Mr. Rickard
fearing that the bills would not he paid directed
his subordinates To strike out each item of gro
ceries and u insert items Of fruit or vegetables
~ the same value. The commissioners saw that
without such alterations the bills would have
been manifestIy void. The subordinate Miss
Martin kept the original bills in her desk som.
were turned over to the trustees for their inves-
tigation and some disappeared
one OF the dealers. the report says entered
the purchases of groceries and delicacies in his
books fruits or vegetables. whereas Schmidt
did not The commissioners in the report saw
that az Richards request schmidt destroyed his
book
CONFESSION" or RICHARD
The confession" included IN the report fol.
lows:
On Saturday night went TO Mr.. schmidt and
said: can ! see YOU In the back room and
and talked % the young man The book was
brought in. and In that whole book there were
five irregular entrieS-that 7 call irregular In
the month of July. II remember rightly there
slip pasted in il and underneath were
several items. and said: Explain 70 me what
this means"
He said: Those items were substituted for
you do it?" re said: Mrs Rickard requested
il" And I went further. The other four sub
stitutes were Just the same way. were slips %