The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1910-03-11

davtt the Gue4enhedm syndicate had
been given ansoptidn Of a half inter-
est In all the Cunningham claims.
Attorney Brandeis. who was ques-
tioning Mr.. Garfield, followed the
declaration By. reading from Secre-
tary Ballingers report to President
Taft on September 4, last. concerning
the CLAWS charges, the statement that
Mr.. Ballfnger had suggested to Mr..
Cunningham u amendment to an
afiidavit made prior to the one which
he presented to- Secretary Garfield in
September, 1908, and that Mr.. Cum
ningham made The amendment by ex-
planning In detail what he meant by
q certain term used in his former am
davit. q.
Mr.. Garfield said Mr.. Ballinger in
giving him the a4ldavit left the Inn
preston that his action was entirely
casual and that he had been request
ed by friends III Seattle to leave It, on
file for whatever It might be worth.
Mr.. Brandeis then called attention to
the fact that the name of Mr.. Ballin-
gers law frm was printed on. the
backing of the affdAvit..
The former secretary of the inter-
ior was examined and cross exam
ined. as to his administration Of the
Office which he. gave up to Mr.. Bal
linger on March s, 1909. Mr.. Garfield
in explaining what he did in the mat
ter Of the withdrawal Of lands with
out specific provision Of law, declar-
ed he was working In the interest Of
the people and to prevent monopolis-
tic control of power sites and oonse-
quent extortionate prices to the con-
sumer.
When he had concluded his testi-
mony, Mr.. Garfield took seat be-
side Mr.. Pinchot and with arms about
each others shoulders they sat for
some time in smiling discussion Of the
days events.
Cunningham Testifies.
Cleveland, Ohio, March 11.-For the
first time since the government coal
lands Investigation tegan Clarence
Cunningham, the man who made the
original survey on which the Alaskan
coal land claims are based. appeared
as witness ere today. Mr.. Cunning
ham was called by the attorneys for
the thirty-three claimants in the in
quiry which has been opened here by
United States Commissioner William
]. MCGEE.
Mr.. Cunningham's testimony was
not concluded when, adjournment was
taken until tomorrow, and he had
merely time to relate the circum-
stances under which he discovered
the Alaskan coal fields.
The primary reason which, Mr..
Cunningham said, attracted him to
Alaska, was the report OF the finding
Of oil wells there: This was in the
fall of 1902. After weeks OF travel
with Indians throuGh the mountains
and across q deA0late snowbound
Wilderness be reached country
where. accordmg ~ his testimony,
there were virgin coal seams. fifteen
feet In breadth apds apparently inex-
haustible In extent.k7 -.'''
In this barren tcanntry some poor
white squatters agreed to sell their
rights for $500 apiece. :: .
Mr.. Cunningham returned. to- Spo-
kane and succeeded In interesting
nine men I'M his discovery. Each of
these. men, he testified, paid $500 for
the initial expenses of locating
claims. He returned to Alaska with
an engineer and staked out twenty
two claims which he filed with the
patent Office at Kayak. Some of the
persons in whose names he entered
claims refused to 60 further in the
matter and others were substituted.
Finally thirty-three entries: were
made.
The earlier part Of today's session
was taken up with the examination of
Henry E. Wick of Youngstown, Ohio,
one Of the entrants. Mr.. Wick denied
in detail that he had ever entered into
or considered any combination with
other entrants or with the Guggen-
helm, interests