The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-05-11
CURTIS FIRST TO
HEAR ABOUT DEAL
Former Inspector Got Informal
ton That Dairyincn Paid
Wise and Pollock.
HARD TO PICK COMMITTEE
President Peters Studies List,
Trying to Get Fair
Minded Judges.

II President r. Lee Peters. of the Com
II mon Council. has not yet named hi
\ committee on investigation of the Pol
II lock Wise charges. 1t is no easy jol
according to the presiding officer o
the lower branch, who yesterday ha,
| a list of the forty Councilmen befor,
| him. Some are witnesses. Some hav,
| had business transactions with dairy
men. Some are particular persona
friends of the accused Some are apol-
ogists for the Health Board. and some
are known to be equally antagonistic
and all these are believed by the Pres
dent to be equally disqualified from
sitting as Judges in the case.
| About the only development yester-
! day was the tracing to its source the
! origin of the reports affecting the
two attorneys. and as forecast in this
paper last week, the charges came from
the dairymen, who put up the money,
through former Inspector r. III. Cur
| It's, recently discharged by the Board
of Health for the good of the SER
vice" Some dairyman. name unknown,
told the story of the raising of fund
TO secure the passage OF an ordinance
through the Council to Mr.. Curtis
rather Dragged Of it. in fact. for Mr..
Curtis. when inspector. had reported
several dairymen for feeding swill. and
in the Taylor case had peeped through
the cracks of the barn at night to
secure evidence.
Who Told Curtis.
Mr.. Curtis, so the story now goes,
repeated what the dairyman had told
him about a fund TO w. II. Dobbins.
his uncle employed at the City Gas
Works. Dobbins, 1t seems. told fell
low employe, John Carter. 1t was from
Carter that Councilman Umlauf first
heard of the report, and it was Coun-
Gilman Umlauf who told DR.. Frank NJ.
Reade. All of this information was
gathered by Mayor Richardson in his
preliminary investigation.
j may ben mentioned that the May
or's stenographer took down that evil
dence. and that a transcript is now in
possession of Commonwealth's Attorney
! rolkes The Mayor did not give the
name of the dairyman who first told
| Mr.. Curtis, bur he Will be summoned
as a witness when the investigating
committee Is named. Under the ruling
of President Peters. the investigation
is 10 be limited solely 10 charges
affecting the two accused Council
men, and the committee cannot go
into either the allegation that the
Chief Health officer authorized the sus-
pension or violation of the ordinance,
or into the reasons why Mr.. Curtis
was dismissed. The testimony. how
matters. Both the Mayor and the Com
monwealth's Attorney have had eS
tended interviews with Inspector Cur
It's and the Mayor has recommended
that he be called as a witness. Once
on the stand he may be INDUCED TO
tell the whole story of the charges
brought against him by James Bell
wood and others; OF his trial and vin-
dication by the Health Board; of the
renewal of the same charges by Mr..
Bellwood before a committee of the
state Legislatures; of the fight over
the Throckmortcn bill, and his later
dismissal by the Health Board, for
the good of the service, an action
which followed close upon the boards
of the amendment al
lowing the feeding of fresh distillery |
waste.
Why Were LAWYERS Necessary.
Both Mr.. Wise and Mr.. Pollock eX-
press confidence that they can con-
vince any fair-minded committee that
their employment was both legal and |
proper. a great many members Of
the Council, however, are disposed to
ask the question propounded by Mr. |
umlauf: Why was it necessary for
the dairymen to be represented by
paid lawyers in order to convince the
Board of Health that a good feed was
yroper?" These members are asking !
why the dairymen did not go directly |
to the Health Board and present the !
matter or, failing in that, why it was
not brought to the attention of some
or before the Committee
on Ordinance, Charter and Reform
which could have acted without hear.
ing the speeches of paid attorneys. A |
great many members of the Council |
have expressed the opinion that, pos
sibly through a misunderstanding, the
dairymen have been put to great ex-
pense to secure a privilege or a re-
lief from an unnecessary restriction
that should have been accorded them
as right.
Judgment Entered.
Judgment was entern> yesterday in
the Law and E'ouitv C,,S,rt H., +l,o ,,s.