The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-02-26
Star Witness in the Ballinger-
Pinchot Inquiry in Partner.
ship With Seattle Man on
Timber Land Proposition.
FACTS LEAKING OUT THAT
DISCREDIT PROSECUTION
Special Agent of the Land Of
flee Gave Somewhat SenSa-
tiOnaI Testimony Regarding
Conduct of Government Case.
LAWYER NOT COMPETENT

Washington, Feb. 25.-The charge
by Horace Tillard Jones, a special
agent Of the land office, that James
NJ. Sheridan, who was sent by the
authorities at Washington to take
charge of the hearings in the Gun
bingham coal cases. practically threw
the governments case away by Civ
ing counsel for the claimants an op-
portunity to examine all evidence
collected by special agents working
under Louis +. CLAWS, furnished the
sensation today at the Ballinger-Pin-
ohot inquiry.
Jones made a bitter attack upon
the competency of Mr.. Sheridan, who
replaced CLAWS in charge of the cases.
and declared that, although CLAWS
was no lawyer. he knew more law
than did Sheridan.
Asked why he failed to protest to Wash
ington regarding the alleged incompetent
presentation Of the case, Jones replied
sCOrnfully that he might have been
deemed insUbordinate. The witness
worked with CLAWS on the Alaska cases
and said he felt II was a reflection upon
Mr. CLAWS that Sheridan should have
been sent out to relieve nm.
On direct examination Jones proved a
most effective witness. Under crOss-ex-
animation he proved stubborn and def
ant, flnging curt answers at committee
men and counsel alike,
Aside from Mr.. Jones, the interest of
the day CeuteTed in a young man named
W. W. Barr, a timber dealer brought
from Seattle to testify for Mr.. CLAWS
in refutation of a charge that "A missing
letters from the government files had
been found in a box belonging TO CLAWS
and stored IN the government building
at Seattle.
Badly Tangled.
On ss-examination Barr became bad
~ tangled. He said he had suggested
TO CLAWS TO telephone his successor at
Seattle to see If the latter had found
the papers that CLAWS had turned over
following his discharge from the service.
Barr said he listened at an extension
telephone while Christensen, new chief Of
division. replied that everything was
%. X" He said he did this TO protect
CLAWS.
Asked to detail the conversation. the
witness declared he could only remem-
Der that Christensen said everything was
20. X He told also of visiting the
storage room with CLAWS. but said that
neither he nor CLAWS put any letters
in the box.
1t was brought out on cross-eXamina-
ton that CLAWS was assisting Barr to
get possession of some timber lands
claimed by the state of Washington, but
TO which Barr says the state has no
right CLAWS is to share equally in the
profits. The witness could not detail eX-
actly all that CLAWS had agreed to. His
memory was bad, and the memorandum
of agreement had been left i'm Seattle.
Although he and CLAWS had been chums
for some years, and he had been a dealer
in timber lands for seven years, Barr
denied that CLAWS had ever given him
any benefits of his connection with the
field service of the land office.
he said CLAWS picked out lands which
he and Barr are trying to obtain. Barr
said he proposed to pay for the lands
with script issued by the government to
Northern Pacific and the lands passed
back from the railroad into forest re
serves.
Andrew Kennedy was the third witness
of the day. testifying to what he knew
of the box in which the alleged missing
letters were found He said the box had
been left partly open all the time it was
in the federal building. This, testimony
was introduced by Mr.. Brandels IN ad-
vance Of the testimony that is to be Of
fered by the defense as TO the finding
of the documents.
The prosecution will proceed tomorrow.
with the likelihood that Clifford PinchOt
will he the star witness, He will tell
of his experiences with Mr.. Ballinger
in relation to the conservation of natural
resources.