Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-27
BUFFERS CHARGES,
HEARDBY INQUEST
Convicted Former Purchasing
Agent on Stand Five Hours
in Road Probe.
BY WILLIAM ]. WHEATLEY,
STAFF Correspondent Of The Star.


ANNAPOLIS. Nd, February 27.-One
by one, the forty-two charges against
officials and actions in the State Roads
Commission OF Maryland, presented be-
fore the grand inquest several weeks ago
by William Furnell Hall. Baltimore at
torney, as having been prepared by
Thomas A Butler, so-called key" man
in the populations. we're delved into at a
joint meeting of the grand inquest and
the Nelligan committee in the State
House yesterday Butler, former pur-
chasing agent of the commission, is now
serving a penitentiary sentence. He ad-
mitted that most of the statements pre-
scented by Hall were hearsay but said
they were given as leads and it was
not his intention to have them presented
until they had been investigated.
Once the probing went into Mont
gomery County when Butler was queS-
toned as to his charge that the
G. B. Mullin Co of Washington had
been given a contract TO build a section
of the Damascus Woodfield road. on
which the M j. Grove Lime Co. had
been the low bidder.
Edwin G. Baetjer. counsel for the
Michigan committee. who was conduct
ing the examination, then read cor
respondence between the State Roads
Commission and the county commission
ers showing that the latter had agreed
to letting the contract to the Mullin
company upon finding that the Grove
company had SO much work to Go that
1t could not complete the other road.
On Stand Hours.
Butler was on the stand for more
than five hours. smoked necessarily and
parted with Baetier at various times,
and the latter in several instances, when
Butler urged him to make further in
vestigations if he wanted the truth. left
the line of questioning he was follow
ing, with the statement" "Well, We will
not go along that line further now"
The historic senate chamber, in which
George Washington resigned his COM
mission from the Army. was filled dur
ing the greater part of the day with
members of the Legislature and Curl
oSity seekers, many of them women
who had brought along their luncheons.
Taking up the charge that a roller
had been loaned by the commission to
the Sherwood Forest Golf Club to roll
its courses, without payment for its
use. Butler admitted that he was not
sure that l. was this particular club,
but that 1t Was q club on the Annapo-
lis road
AS to the charge that John N Mac
kali former chairman and chief en-
gineer of the State Roads Commits
sion. had taken lumber for the purpose
of constructing a garage on his private
estate, and had charged it to the Sew
ern River Bridge. Butler told Baetjer
he had not seen Mackalls personal
check for payment.
Butler insisted that Mackall signed
approvals for all the salary advances
received by the former. and said that
Mackall should have known the adj
vances were being made. He denied
that he forged the initials on the ap-
proval vouchers, which pnrported to be
Mackall's. Butler also insisted that he
never signed Mackall's name to any,
thing.
Claim Adjusters Testify.
He told the committee that Mackall
told him to sign any confession that
the bonding companies wanted him
to, promising him (Butler) that nothing
more would be done if the advances
were paid back He also said that
MaCkail bOlQ nun LIlal Inc DOnQlEg COM
panies were not interested in prosecu-
tons, and would not press any charges
and that Mackall would not He also
said that Mackall told him not to get
an attorney. He was specifically asked
if he expected immunity at that time,
and his answer was Yes" Butler said
that Mackall signed every one of the
salary advance vouchers and knew what
he was signing
At this point S. D. Simpson and John
NJ. Fountain, claims adjusters of the
United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.,
and w. S. Anderson, of the Maryland
Casualty Co., testified that they were
present at the signing of the confession
by Butler, that Mackall specifically told
Butler in their presence that he could
not promise anything Simpson said
that Butler, at the time of the confess
sion, said that he had signed Mackall's
initials to the vouchers.
-dany Of the charges, as they were
taken up, were passed by Butler as
merely matters to be checked up on.
Butler said that Attorney Hall violated
his instructions when he presented the
whole list of charge to the grand in
quest
Butler will go on the stand again to-
DAY before the joint committee.
e