The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-03-12
DENIES TAKING
 NEGR0'S AFFIDAVIT
Sten0grapher Charges Name Was Substituted After
 Acknowledgment

Montgomery. March n.-tspecial. John S. Mooring,s chairman of the stat, tax commission, and Henry P. White associate member, wenL before the legis lative Investigating committee this after. noon and substantiated testimony giver earlier in the day by Miss Julia kling a stenographer in the office of the taz commission, to the effect that she hae never taken the affidavit of a negro
 Miss King made the statement on tht stand this morning when she was ques toned concerning an expense account O. $S4, which bore the acknowledgment oi John C. Cheeseborougn, whom, it de. veloped was negro. Miss Kling thought the account had originally borne the sig nature of John c. Cheney, chief clerk oi the agricultural department, and that the name of the negro had been substituted after the acknowledgment was taken.
 Both MT. Mooring and MT. White de- nied that Miss King had ever taken the acknowledgment of negro in their office, the chairman of the commission, assert ing before Captain Cheney that anyone saying she had, uttered a ''D-n lie.''
 At this juncture members of the com mittee intervened and prevented the two officials from making personal matter of the incident.
 The committee heard testimony tending to show that the signature on an affidavit certifying an expense account for $s4 in the department of agriculture and indus tries had been changed from John c. Cheney, at that time chief clerk of the department, to John c. Cheeseborough. a negro lecturer.
 Took Only Acknowledgment
 This information was brought out in the testimony of Miss Julia Kling, a stenog- rapher and notary in the office of the state tax commission. Miss <ling, when shown the affidavit, stated tat she re- called having taken Captain Cheney's ac- by the paper, but denied that she had ever taken the affidavit of negro. She declared the signature was changed after the acknowledgment was taken.
 When questioned concerning the affi- davit, Captain Cheney told the commit tee that he had given the negro his per sonal check for the amount of the ex- pense account and that he had later col lected it from the state.
 The committee requested Captain Cheney to produce the cancelled check he had given Cheeseborough, and this the former chief clerk of the agricultural department promised to do. However, upon investigation at the bank. Captain Cheney found that although he had given the check on January 16. it had not been presented at the bank for collection. He showed the committee his check book with the stub of the check to the negro.
 Inquiry Into Cotton Speculation
 The committee made further inquiry into the former governors reported cot ton speculations by examining Mrs. Alice Ora ham, bookkeeper of the Western Union Telegraph company, and c. A. Fon- vile, manager of the company. Mrs. Ora ham told the committee the atate If Ala bama paid for some of the eelegrams sent by Governor O'Neal to New York cotton brokers She did not recall what amount the state had paid, nor did she recall the amount of margins which the former gov ernor was required to put up. Manager Fonville substantiated Mrs. Graham's tes- tiinony.
 Capt T. c. Dawson, warden at Speig- ners, was on the stand during the morn ing session and told the committee that the prison at Speigners should be torn down and new one erected. He declared the convicts need new quarters. He fur ther said that the convicts were well treated, properly fed and clothed and We're as satisfied with their lot as could be expected
 Another witness before the committee at the morning session was w. H. Sey- mour pure food and drug clerk of the de- Dartment of agricllltt1re and industries MT. Seymour was asked concerning the amount and number of tags and stamps on hand He declared there were enough food stamps in the office to last the state 2S39 years.
 A number of other witnesses testified.