The New York Herald Newspaper, February 13, 1876, Page 5

. ‘2.BABCOCK’S TRIAL” Tegal Arguments Over Telegraph Messages ~*-aw Documentary Evidenee, THE “SYLPH” DESPATCH. President. Grant's Testimony Taken in Washington. A Strong Indorsement of Secre- tary Babcock. Fifty-two Pages of Presidential " Evidence, THE DEFENCE OPENED. Sr. Louis, Feb. 12, 1876, ‘This day was almost wholly taken up by the legal “Qliestions raised for the defence on the admissibility of the Babcock-voyce telegrams., The finishing touches onthe examination of Commissioner Douglass given this morning threw some vivid side light upon the con- dition of national politics at Washington, showing, as they did, bow much Douglass’ anxiety to retain Bab- cocks friendly influence for obtaining an anticipated vacancy in the Court of Claims had to do with the Ring’s final triumph in effecting the suspension of the ordér transferring both Douglass and Rogers, With a supervisor’s smiling franknessshe admitted how eager they were to retuin this potent influence—the first to get Bis judgeship and the latter to be Promoted to the Commissionership as soon as the other had got his judgeship, The ,Femainder of the forenoon wa’ consumed by efforts of the prosecution to prove the authenticity of the tele grams by the telegraph clerks and the attachés of the White House who received the despatches for Babcock. At évery point they were bailed, however, by the un- c@asing objections of the defence. Mr. Storrs’ fertility {n raising questions of microscopic nicety elicited gen- eral amusement. Kram scemed to rather enjoy the trouble they were giving the prosecution, and laughed openly. The prosecution called all the attachés of the White House ‘to prove the handwriting of a deceased doorkeeper at the Executive Mansion, named Joyce, who signed the receipt for one of the despatches sont to Babcock; and none of them, although they had been years together with Joyce, knew his bandwrit- Img—singular coincidence—and when Luckey and the other retainers got back into their corner they scemed ‘70 BNJOY ITS RARE HUMOR, / for they kept giggling for some time. These discus. sions of every car mark ina telegram becamo, finally, so dry that the jury had to have some water. Storrs persisted that the existence of these despatches did not prove that they had been sent or received, and painted in lurid colors the blackness of the prosecution in trying to elevate the records of the telegraph office to the dignity of documentary evidence. When Perry, clerk at the Planters’ House, testified to the identity “of bis signature on the receipt book of the telegraph company, Krum insisted that he could not possibly remember that he delivered that very despatch to Joyce, and the witness had to admit it Luckey was very nervous on the stand. Babcock was busy all day rolling small paper shreds « Into ny balls and chewing them, and a few times he “9 amiled derisively at the embarrassment of the prosecu- tion. During the ponderous argument in the afternoon as to i admissibility of the despatches the jury looked Upon the ng of the trial this morning the cross- Pram ion of J. W. Douglass, ex-Commissioner of In- \ernal Revenue, was completed in a few unimportant questions, Op the redirect, the District Attorney pre- pented an affidavit purporting to be charges preferred 1878 by Lindsay Murdock, a collector of réVoenue in Southeast Missouri. The charges were against John A. Joyce and Jonn McDon- ald, resp: ctively revenue agent and supervisor. The pavelopeswas indorsed by ©. C, Suiffen, the President’s pr secretary, showing that it had been received the Executive Mansion and referred to tho Treasury eut, Another jndorsement showed the rei- tothe Commissioner of Interna! Revenue. Mr. could not testify that he had seen the afll- based to aed the eildayiy, showing. sats in 01 § ia . J ud McDonald had been sent to Jeyoe bbe Bx e ‘exnon and bad gone through the de- poorer The Court only allowed the witness to ‘ify that the indorsements showed that such phargos had been received and fled, They were not Nearly the entire morning session was taken up in bh trace through telegraph clerks of this city and Washington, and also by the doorkeepers and mes- ofthe Executive Mansion, certain telegrains not admi ve that they were received and back ic between Joyce and McDonald here and General Babcock in Washington, Finally the de- fence waived this proof as to one despatch and allowed the following, admitted to be. in General Babcock’s handwriting, to be read:— TUR SYLPR DESPATCH. . Wasuireton, D. C., Dec, 13, 1874 General Jouxn McDonaip, St. Lou: > Tucceeded. They will not go. Before this was fe a ee announced that they proposed to ¢ a jongthy argument against the pdunission of the other telegrams, and perliaps they might want to include this “‘syiph”’ despatch in those objected to. The detence wished to reserve that point. 4 WITNESS WHO WANTED PROMOTION. Deputy Commissioner Rogers was recalled and testi- Ged:—i bad a conversation- with Generat Babcock in regard to the transfer of revenue agents; General Bal- cock said be bad heard that Mr. Douglass was about to Issue an order directing nsfer of ageuts; I told him the order bad that morning been issued; he ex- pressed his regret, ag 1t would bring @ political pres- sure on Mr. Douglass, and he would be forced to revoke the-oraer, and that would work disastrousjy wo bi Mr. ‘was at that time spoken of as a candida) for the » Of Claims; there would be more or hse odium eo him, General Babcock sayl, on account of the failure of theenterprise when the order was revoked; that interview came about by a messenger bringing me either a note or a verbal communication from Gencral Babeock; | bad no previous conversati h bim on this maticr; I did speak to him before al ¢ Judge. ship of the Court of Claims; there was not a word su: in the conversation with General Babcock at bis hou: im regard to breaking up the frauds here; Mr. Douglass was not appointed Judge of the Court’ of Claims, as there was no vacancy; | do mot know that the re- voking of the order changing supervisors had cast such odium on Mr. Doaglass that he was not appointed ; fm the conversation with General Baboock I told him should report the interview to Mr. Douglass. On cross-examination witness eaid:—I bad two in- terviews with Geberai Bat ‘k, the first of which pop cites ey my ulterior object was to promote the interest of Mr. Douglass in counection with the Judge- ship of the Court of Claims, thinking, no doubt, I might got the position held by-him as Commissioner; Mill rite Fon SYLPH, Generai Babeock expressed friendship tor Mr. Douglass; I do not know of Mmfluence brought to bear, — from rumor, tet y the ieee! teanster. ring the supervisors revoked; I think I made ea. tion by letter to. General ‘MeDenald to Proven «4 as sistance; | had no suspicions of him at that time; the revo! of the order by the President would create an m that Mr. Douglass was rebuked; the lead- ing sutect 6 a oo Poe Pin Ee Dougiass’ im though he spoke ‘more viz, ape Preset from being annoyed. widbies ADMISSIBILITY OF TELEGRAPH MESSAGES, ‘The opposition of the defence to the admission of alleged to have passed between Joyec, and Babcock was carried to the utmost ex- tremity, They would admit nothing the clear proof of which could not be produced. They required not 4 i proot of ip and transmission by but ‘hat the despatches were actually p) inte the ands of the persons to whom they were addreseed. Bo far the prosecution have satisfied the defence only io fristance—that of the “syiph’’ telegram given also objected’ to the relevancy of ‘stated that they would argue oer ons at considerable Jength, and with this thom they requemed the prosécution to group all their jinent might be made at General Babcock, Washington, admitted to’ be Joyce's handwriting, fore ita contents are Lot gel. The despatch was the pombe A BE: Feseion Wiahtagion, ‘Kecutive Mansion, ington, who receipted for it, but as J died some months neral Babcock tha Ge jeg wore traced in like | who receipted for | tand ‘Ane day, that this is evide: ‘mk, ag we enid the poopy err oe ists Memesiches should be uped ¥ that estion of thei jeg ‘&c., Gad hale velovenay ‘shoei Sioeuee of the afternoon session the counsel ed with pumerous law books, and PI to make thaér arguménte a8 strong witnesses from Washington, in- Messrs Douglass and Rogers, were excused F aptendance, aud will leave for home to- ‘opened the ais a 0 the defer bis a argument for the ce. He said:—‘This séems to be a good opportunity to tak’s r thiscase; to see whither we are drifting, and, if possible, to get out of this fog, this this I im which we have been perigee five daya. to de. this it ld peoemanry 0 Mr. Storrs consider the indictment, Nearly five days have been spent in trying to ascertain whet! any conspiracy ‘ever existed, A very . small part of that tii Gas been devoted to the deferdant, and up to this time nothing has been produced aguinst him. This conspiracy must first be shown to have existed. Itis not every declaration which is admis- sible. The admission, in whatever shape, or the decla- ration in whatever form, ot been shown, as i! which innocence may appear allt be guessed at until it shall be shown which is Semonning. Here we pat ip fers gs, the most og ee of all docu- mentary evidence to distortion. e ones produced cannot be received as evidence: a S007 An, UeTINACT, between Joyce and McDonald ard the defendant. Be- cause mien Have been intimate. in ypars past and the guilt of one has suddenly Ween discovered, the guilt of the other cannot,be proven by any documents like ab- breviated telegrams and the kind of evidence sought to be introduced. A man cannot be held responsible for the present condition of a man with whom, eight or ten years ago, he may bave been intimate. The troablo is that the Court an Jury will fail to pat them- selves in the defendant’s position. It is mot enough that it must be shown thay these despatches were sent by this defendant to this corrupt combination. Tt mast be shown that this defensant knew of this cor- ruption before this im becomes admissible. General Babcock isnot jeted for giving information to Messrs. Joyce and McDonald, aud itis not unlawful for them to ask or for Im to communicate such in- formation. To make such itiquiries illegal the prose- cution must first prove that Messrs. Joyce and McDonald asked this Baboock PROM CORRUPT MOTIVES AND PURPOSES, that they were corrupt that the defendant is or was acorrupt man and knew the corrapt parposes coment by Messrs, Joyee and McDonald.” He sai “Alter a search of many telegraph offices an efforts made te preoure the - defendant’s pri- vate correspondence, four p' seless—so far as this case is concerned—telegrams have been found. He cited the ‘Sylph’ degpaten ‘and one other, and said, all combined were no evidenge to show the defendant had any knowledge of the frauds at St. Lows. Referrmg to Joyce’s despatches, hesaid they are no more decla- rations, because they are writtep, and no more adimis- sible. Written declarations are no more than uhsup- ported declarations made respecting one who ts avseut to a third party, and that is not admiesible.”” Mr. Storrs cited @ namber of authorities without reading them, and, In conclusion, said:—We think, without reference to the telegrams addressed to Gen- eral Babcock by Mr, Joyce, it will be found that they had no relation to the matter involved in this trial; and second, that ‘Were unanswered, and it is not shown they were’ by cack, Colonel Dyer followed Mf..Storrs, contending there is evidence to prove’an, it fact, which is that information was received from Washington by the Ring here giving. notice contemplated visits of revenue agents. These despatehes of Genoral Babcock, taken in their proper connection, tend to, show this, and that he furnished this information, or some of it, This evidence should go to the jury and its weight be decided by them, Colonel Brodhead then spoke for the prosecution and gave numerous authorities. to show that these de- spatches were not only relevant, but competent. The: were evidently connected with the conspiracy, and, taken in connection with circumstances and events shown in evidence, they were a part of that eaeapisnay, He contended they were ent d bo admitted, and the jury showia be allowed, under proper rulings and instructions of the Court, to give them BS consideration a they thought they were worthy 61 ? mals koe Judge Porter then began-an argumont, taking pretty much the same ground as Mr, claiming that in regard to some of the despatches produced there was nO proof that they were ever received by General Bab- cock, and respecting others purporting to have been written by hii, there is no evidence that he ever saw or knew anything about them. Before Judge Porter got fairly ipto his speech the Court adjourned, aud the argument will be continued on Monday, PRESIDENT GRANT'S TRSTIMONY—AN IMPOSING SCENE AT THE WHITE HOUSE—BABCOCK TOOK NO PART IN CONTROLLING OR ADVISING AS TO THE APPOINTMENT OF REVENUE OFFICERS. Wasmmoron, Feb. 12, 1876. The deposition of President Gramt touching the case of General 0, EB. Babcock was taken at the White House to-day, the proceedings occapying two sessions, one of three hours in the garly part of the afternoon and another of tw cation of the testimony. ~ A rumor in the morning that the examination would be “conducted with open doors sent not only every newspaper correspondent in Washington, but quite a large representation of the local judiciary, to the vesti- ule of the White House, which they besieged with great earnestness and patience, but fruitlessly, as the doors of the apartment in which the proceedings took place were rigidly closed to the press as well 4s to the public in general. This apartment was the execu- tive chamber itself, The business on hand was not only serious and ffiportant, but the scene was in a measure impressive and august. The President occu- pied his usual seat at the head of the historical table, across which so many matters of state have been dis- cused and accomplished. Af his left sat the Chief Jus- tice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Mr. Morrison R. Waite, who was present In the capacity of notary to attest and certify the result of the interrogation of the President. A simple notary or a United. States. Commissioner would have been, competent for, this purpose, but owing to the eminent position of the deponent whose deposition was te be taken courtesy demanded that the notarial office should be performed by a judicial official of exalted rank, It will be remembered that th fence, in whose in- terest the testimony of President Grant, elicited to-day, is to be presented at St. Louis, contemplated asking his attendance in person at the trial, but the advantage of such a strong circumstance for the defence had to be foregone, in view of the custom, which has become al- most a law by successive rulings of the Attorneys General, that the President shall not leave the vicinity of the Executive Mansion during a session of Congress, In deference to this regulation a commission, duly au- thorized by the United States Court at St. Louis, came to Washington to take the deposition of the President in answer to a serics of interrogatories agreed upon by the opposing counsel if the case, and propounded to him seriatim. Next to the Chief Justice sat Mr. Bristow, Secretary of the Treasury, and a Ifttle further along the table Mr. Pierrepont, the Attorney General To the right of the President, and ‘occupying the other side of the able, were the attorneys, Messrs. Lucien Eaton, of St, Louis, government coun- sel, and William A. Cook, of Washington, who submit- ted the questions, on behalf of General Babcock. Two stenographers made @ short hand memorandum of each ipterrogatory and the answer thereto, being employed at the instance of the Chief Jastice, in fulfilment of his impartial duty to the opposing interests inyolved im the proceedings, Secretary Bristow and Attorney General Pierrepont hstened attentively, but took no oral part in the examination. 7 BOW B® TESTIFIED. The President made a good witness. He spoke readily and without hesitation, telling what he had to say inadirect and fluent manner. Where the mono- syllable yes. or oO was, required he gave it promptly. -Witeré he was asked to relate Something, he warrated {t quietly and easily. The plan of wrilten questions as laid down in the original commission had to be departed from at several stages of the deposition, owing to the President’s answers being different from what was expected or an- ticipated. The testimony elicited is ‘ STRONGLY PAVORABLE To GkweRAL BABCOCK, and was in no portion emsentially jmpaired by the cross- examination. The time set for the examination to begin was eleven o'clock this morning, but it was nearly noon before the business was well under way. Two hours were then consumed in steady, con- tinuous work, and a recess was taken between two and three o’clock im the afternoon. re The disunguished party reassembled this evening, when the stem ) Who--had written oat their notes, submitted the Completed transcript of the test! hich was then duly verified by the Chief Jus- \d will to-night be committed to the Post Oflce to take its’ coarse th the Féguiar mail for St. Louis. Another copy is to be prepared from the stenogra- pher’s notes for the useof the defence, and asa pre- ¢aution against any accident to the packige ‘sent by mail, The deposition covers about fifty-two anc legal oap, the larger portion being the interrogatories é ‘behalf of the defence as Htovounded By Mr, Cook and | Weekly average....... WEW YORK HERALD, » The la making about one-third of the whole, comprising the cross-interrogatories of Mr, Eaton and the President's answers, The entire testimony would take up about four columns of the Hxmaup. , PURPORT OF THR DEPOSITION, On thedirect examination Ulysses 8, Grant, having been duly sworn, deposed substantially as fellows Had known, General Y. E, Babcock for period cov ing the last ten or twelve years; deponent’s felations with him had been ofan intimate nature, The Presi- dent here expressed himself as entertaining and having entertained a constant conddence in the accused. Th Court of Inquiry at Chicago was ordered at the request of General Babcock. After it had been found that he could not appear to testify in the Avery trial or any other case within a reason- | able time No effort was made, to the President’s knowledge, on the part of General Babcock or of any- body for him to prevent atrial om the indictments Neither the appointment of Joyce nor those of McGuire or McDonald, or either of them, or of any one else involved in the investigation of the whiskey ring frauds, had been made at the solieitation or by request of General Babcock, nor did he at any time interfere with investigations into the alleged frauds, or the unlawful conduct of the distil- lers, or of officials of this kind, or like or similar business, His only suggestion bad becn incidental and to the effect that the investigations should be con- ducted by men of character and integrity, as was usual in the army. At this point official papers were produced and Iden- tified by the President going to show that General Babcock bad no connection with the appotntments or changes of collectors or supervisors, and the President stated distinctly that no remark, observation, or act had come within his knowledge which ‘had led him to Suppose that his accused secretary had any connection with the whiskey rings or whiskey frauds, or was inany way interested to screen the alleged frauds or wrongs upon the government. He went on to depose:—The “Sylph,’* “Mum”? and other de- spatches to which his attention had been called after the indictments wero first found had been fully and * SATISPACTORILY EXPLAINED TO HIM by General Babcock. Before this time the President had no knowlodge, directly or indirectly, of these tele- graphic messages, It had’been the custom of his sec- retary to respond to messages and inquiries from all over the country, These were sometimes of a friendly, sometimes of a political and sometimes of a business character, Thishe did largely and freely, Deponent did not believe bim guilty of anything that had fallen under his motice of the charges made against him, and General Babcock continued to retain his con- fidence, That if anything oxisted wrong on the part of his secretary it was a matter of surprise to him, and was wholly without bis knowledge. The cross-examination which now followed was conducted with a view chiefly to show that General Babcock might have acted improperly without the knowledge of the President and might have concealed his acts and incriminating papers from him, and to make it apparent that the President himself had through over-confidence in his secretary trusted him too largely, and in the matter of making appoint- ments of collectors and supervisors had omitted to ex- ercise the extra caution which the matter demanded, FATAL COLLIERY ACCIDENT, FOUR MEN KILLED AND SEVERAL BADLY INJURED BY A FIRE DAMP EXPLOSION. Prrrstox, Pa, Feb. 12, 1876, ‘This afternoon a terrible explosion occurred in the Exeter Mine, belonging to the Lehigh Valley Coa! Com- pany, and ‘located in West Pittston. The mines have been idle this week on account of the suspension, and, though the fan which supplies fresh air to the cham- bers below has been kept going all the week, the quan- tity of air forced into the mines was not sufficient to expel all the foulair and prevent the accumulation of fire damp. The immediate cause of the explosion is not known, but sufficient knowledge has been gained to lead to the belief that one of the men below entered achamber with a lighted iamp and that its sparks ignited the gas which had accumulated there, Since Monday about twenty-five men have been en- gaged ip the repair of tracks and gangways at the headings, Among the number were several miners and this morning they all went to work as usual About half-past two o'clock this afternoon, while the men were employed at their work below, the explosion occurred. The last report resounded through the sub- shaft with its ominous echoes. The force of the ex- plosion was so great as to tear away brattice props, doors, tracks and great masses of rock and coal. The orn to pieces and other damages, amounting to thou- sands of dollars in the aggregate, were wrought; but there were twenty-five men below, and the many miners who stood near the breaker hastened with all TO RELIVE THEIR DISTRESS, The main shaft was very badly damaged, but an entrance was effected. It was a dangerous business to hunt for those below in the uncertain condition of the mines, filled as they. were ‘with fire damp and with ‘most of the pure air now drawn out; bat the volunteers prosecuted their work for three hours until they had brought to the surface twelve men, four of whom were dead, and the others more or less burned and mangled. The report of the explosion had among the hundreds of idle winers, and in a short time after the disaster crowds were gathered about the breaker. There were a few women present, and some of them were kept in a state of agon’ suspense pending the rescue of those below. hen at last the bodies of the dead and the blackened forms of the mangled were brought up great distress and sorrow was manifested by all. The men were retyrned to the surface at inter- vals, and as the DEAD AND INJURED FOLLOWED EACH OTHER, thé agony of those who had friends still below was in- creased by the terrible uncertainty resulting in the un- avoidable delay of the sorrowful business of bringing the bodies up; butthe work was fivally completed, when it was ascertained that four men had been kill outright and six or eizht badly injured. It is thought that some of the latter will die. NAMES OF THE VICTIMS. ‘The names of those killedare D. Smalley, Edward Allen, Thomas Harris and Aleck Jones, Most of the men reside in West Pittston, but a few live on the east side of the river. A mouraful procession of the vic- tims, Which passed through town about five o'clock, was the cause of great sorrow in the community, INCREASE OF POSTAL REVENUES, Wasuinoton, Feb. 12, 1976. During the month of January tho demand for post- age stamps, postal cards and stamped envelopes reached the unprecedented amount of $3,500,000 Worth, The department bas sold 90,000,000 postal cards since Jume 80, 1875; whereas the during tho entire ‘which ended on ti ite were only 101,¢ figures are considered indicat ofa rapid eas prosperity throughout country, ~~ *, MIDNIGHT WEATHER REPORT. Wan Darrantaent, Curmy B16", Feb. 18-1 A: Me | ‘ Probabitivies, In the Southern States and the Ohio valley, falling barometer, southeast to southwost winds, warmer and clear or partly cloudy weather will prevail, followed, from the last district to the- West Gulf, by rising barometer, cold, northerly winds and possibly occa- sional rain. " In the upper-lake region, Upper Mississippi and Lower Missouri valleys, low, followed by rising bar- omever, winds shifting to cold northwesterly, cloudy or partly cloudy weather and occasional rain or snow. In the lower lake region, Middle States and New England, rising, followed by falling barometer, winds shifting to northeast and southeast, rising tempera- | ture, mereasing cloudiness, and, in the first-named district, rain or Snow, where the winds will shift to cold northwesterly during Sunday night. t The Ohio River will tall at Pittsburg and coniinue rising at stations below, The Mississippi will remain nearly stationary from | New Orleans to Cairo, and continue rising at St. Louis. THE WEATHER YESTERDAY. The following record will show the changes in the temperature for the past twenty-four hours, fn com- orrice or THE Wasutncron, D. C., roof of the fan house at the top of the air shaft was |. TIE MILWAUKEE PLOT, A’Conspiracy to Destroy the Testi- "mony Against the Ring, BUILDINGS TO BE BLOWN UP. Details of the Arrangements with the Robbers. HOW THE CRIME WAS PREVENTED. Miwavxes, Feb. 11, 1876, @ The history of the supposed plot to burn or blow up the federal building in this city, and, if necessary, the Newhall House, one of the largest caravansaries of the ‘West, is so full of cool maligmity and fiendish diaboli- cal ounning that the meagre outline sent by telegraph already will merely have served to whet the appetite of the people for the entire tale in all its naked hideous- ness.’ When the facts first leaked out and were tele graphed tothe Herap a broad smile of incredulity illumined the land from Maine to San Francisco; and even to-day, as I sit writiag this despatch, I hear per- sons discussing the matter in a manner that sufliciently proves their want of faith inthe story. Therefore it is time the whole truth, so far as developed, should be told with something like attention to detail. Tn order to ascertain the circumstances I called on special prosecuting counsel Mr, McKinney and others, and fpom them gathered the tale as told to the Grand Jury dnd as known to the principal parties to the transection, and there can now remain no doubt asto the main points having been testified to by competent witnesses under oath, and that the men, Alderman Julius Jonas and Philip Goldberg, of Chicago, and W. A. Crosby, indicted by the Grand Jury for complicity as principals in a plot to ESTROY THE BOOKS Gnd records of the whiskey prosecution, will have to stand their trial on sufficiontly grave testimony. In July last, when the whiskey trials in this district wero in their infancy, and the government had only just begun to accumulate the testimony which proved the knife that opened the whiskey fraud oyster, these three persons, who are perfectly well known to the whiskey men of this city, and about whose identity there can be no mistake, came here for tho purpose of suggest- ing a plan by which the records could be obtaived and made away with, ‘THE FIRST NEGOTIATIONS were ly preliminary, intended to feel the way to something more serious, and so far satisfactory that more than one distiller was placed in possession of the fact that a plot was on foot to put the entire records of the frauds out of the way. The whiskey men at that period were anything but alarmed at the prospects of conviction; so it was determined, before proceeding further, to sound their counsel as to the prospects of acquittal Matt Carpenter was understood to advise that the entire practice of confiscation of distillers’ property before trial was unconstitutional, and that the greater portion of the internal revenue law was inop- erative also on the same ground, and hence the distillers at first felt inclined to» draw back from the proposed plot. Soon, however, it became apparent that the government was in possession of clews not suspected, and shat very quickly the Ring would be fighting for bare life instead of boldly con- testing these fundamental questions with the United States, As the trials advanced and Matt Carpenter's best efforts faded away like mist before the inexorable logic of facts, the Ring became more and more alarmed, and negotiations? temporarily suspended, were re- sumed in earnest, ‘Then, for the first time, THE PLANS OF THE CONSPIRATORS were made known. They proposed to make a simple burglary of i, All the principal papers of the govern- ment were supposed to be kept in the office of the Clerk of Court, Mr. Kurtz; the office of the District room temporarily occupied by Mr. McKin- to United States Marshal Hamilton; a room tem) Tented by Acting Supervisor Hed- Tick for the use of orem = er pen gehen mts, te the federal building, and In eve TAgtings supervisor Hed: Mr'MeKin- kepton the destination of all papers relating to the whiskey trials, and it was soon discovered that very few, ifany, of these all-important documents were in- accessible, WERE KEPT. federal building:—The are on fthe rst floor is occupied as of the stairs, on the second floor, is the office of the District ro be) and the last offices on this floor is thesuit y the Collector of Internal Revenue and his ass! its The first door on the right band, at the head of the stair- case, on the third floor, ia that of the office of the United States Marshal; the second door that of McKinney’s temporary office, and between the two was acommon panel door. Un the opposite side are the Judges’ chambers and the two rooms of the Clerk of the Court, and then comes the court room, jur rooms, &c. "United States Commissioner Bloodgood, who taken the evidence in ail tho preliminary ex- aininations om which the prisoners had been held, and which examinations wr reality the basis on which the structure ef the prosecution rested, has the room between the ‘court room ap McKinne: temporary office. The whole of the testimony, indictments, records of the pre- liminary, examinations, proceed and findings of the id Jury, orders and decifions of the Court, and, in fact, (kat Aer of importance under which ‘the whiskey men were held and ever}thing upon which future proceedings could be based were lying in drawers, boxes and pigeon holes in these rooms, A cold chisel could have forced open the most secure of ail the hiding places in any of these rvoms ll this having Deen determined, the next point was to discover how much or how little of these papers had been dupli- cated and sent to Washington, and it was found, or supposed to be, that at this early stage scarcely any- thing of'real importance had been duplicated, and of the actual law records not a trace would remain if the originals, thus lying open to the bands of bold rob- bers, were once destroyed. The means of ingress and egress were next investigated. All tne doorsto the offices referred to are of ordinary make and material, | with ordinary fastenings. There is bot a lock that cannot be eeened by an experienced burglar ina few minutes with a piece of wire and a small pair of phers, ‘THR ONLY GUARD proper in the bailding is the janitor, Mr. John Burke, who has a cous ‘apartment and whose vigil is or was shared by his sou. The Post Office Department has a watchman, but the rooms are so far apart, the walls so thick and the distances so great that for all the purposes of securi the building inst @ bur- ht as be nobody on the promises the persons in question, locks, wood doors and silent, deserted halleat their mercy, with at worst but three men to Overcome, the kernel of the vast building would be in complete possession of the conspirators should they elect to proceed by pupa. ° But to the credit of the distillers, so bankrupt in food name, be it said, the committee authorized to reat with the robbers refused to bave anything to do with e scheme of robbery that might involve the mur- der of the watchman or the loss of any lile, and then the robbers unfolded a new plan, which was, in ‘effect, to buy off the officiais. Those Knew Jobn Burke laughed at euch an idea, and it was abandoned, and the matter dropped for while, Later a proposition was submitted embracing to approach Prosecuting Attorn: his assistant, and other persons having 0 e ‘The plan was jnstantly rejected ; for, whatever may be said against McKinney, his wor omy Will concede his bull-dog honesty. oe & _ project McKinney, access to th ‘that, dri Wo desperation and there bein, reso! Subject of blowing up the f¢ ing aad. Newhall. House was broached.. To co ver the asrocity of the design matter was first treated SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1876—QUADRUPLE ° SHEET. the President’s answers thereto, and the other portio=; * explosion when the inmates were absent and few persons about An alarm of fire was also to be given And small fire started below, in order to draw tho pormone occapying rooms out into the corridor and thus: Jessen tho possible massacre. All these details were carefully pianned, the materials and machinery to be weed doubtless des! and nothing was wanting but money, The distillers were unable to raise the funda, Some of those who were asked to subscribe re- Tuned to accede without information as to the intended use of the money, which it was well known before- hand they would never sanction; others, who were desperate enough aud vicious enough to sanction anything to hide their guilt, found themselves, at the end of their resources, with the payment of the Jast assessment for the legal defence of the King. In fine, the sinews of war were not forthcoming, aud THE SCURME COLLAPHKD, 0 @Xaggerated t could afford them; it was impossible to trace them to a to ba respectable source, Information of the matter, how- e reached she ears of the prosecuting attorney, in such a shape that he was enabled to place ev). dence of a convincing character before the Grand Jury, and upon that jence the indictments of Jonas, Goldberg and Crosby were retarned, THE EVIDENCE IMPLICATING LEADING POLI- TICIANS—INFLUENCES BROUGHT TO BEAR UPON THE PROSECUTING OFFICERS AND THEIR BYFECT—THE AGITATION FOR A CONGRES- SIONAL COMMITTEE, Miwavxer, Wis, Feb. 10, 1876. I recently telegraphed that whiskey matters in this section promised to become lively in a few days. Allusion is intended to the agitation for the appointment of a Congressional committee to take evidence as to the supposed complicity of Matt Carpenter and others in the whiskey frauds. Thero are people who formerly acquiesced in Carpenter’s greatness, who, since his Urédit Mobilier speech, think, in vulgar parlance, hang- ing would be far too good for him, Even these, how- ever, do not say or charge that the great aethronea lon has been actively guilty of frauds, but that he was cognizant of large sums of money, estimated at $10,000, being obtained from the Whiskey Ring ‘for campaign purposes,” which was so obtained by pressure and could never have been wrung out of the Ring except by the fear of severer treatmont than any to which they had been theretofore subject in case of failure, It is as- serted that evidence was placed in the possession of Mr. McKinney to the effect that Mr. Carpenter did him- self receive a large sum of money, not far short of $10,000, and that in consideration of that sum he did say or do something that the Ring accepted as an as- surance that they would be protected for the balance of his term as United States Senator. I have not mot nor have I been able to find the man who testified to that, but I have a responsible citizen who says he knows absolutely such testimony was placed+in possession of the proper persons, Now, it will be remembered that McKinney bad announced to some friends his deter- mination to throw up th whiskey prosecutions, assign- ing as a cause that he’was being so hampered with INPLURNCES PROM WASHINGTON he could not follow up his own distinctly marked plans nor pursue to a successful result the investigations al- ready begun. Two-thirds of the persons present at the conversation where this was said have confirmed this statement as published in the Reratn Yet be- tween tbe time the words were spoken, shortly before bedtime the 24th of January, and the morning they appeared printed in the Heratp, a change had come over Mr. McKinney, and he not only qualified his lan- guage in a lame atvempt to give it an entirely different meaning to those who had previously heard him, but he authorized newspaper correspondents to deny that he had determined to back out of the prosecution, Of course he could not deny that he nad said he had so de- termined, although he could now deny the present in- tention, At this there broke out what threatened to bea war, which, however, soon developed into an armed truce at the intervention of friends, Some offi- cials gave an entirely new and UNBXPECTRD VERSION of the manner in which the prosecution had been con- ducted, and it seemed for & few hours that the resigna- tion of either Mr. McKimney or Mr. Acting Supervisor Hedrick, of Iowa, who conducted the seizures here last May, must be sent to Washington without delay, as Milwaukee was evidently not wide enough for both, Mr. Hedrick, being pushed, asserted that the depart- ment he represented was determined to prosecute, puvish and pursue to the bitter end all persons, great and small, implicated in the Whiskey Ring, yet, when challenged to the proof and questioned closely’ as to why this man bad been Jet off, the other man nollo prosequied and some one else against whom testimony was ample escaped indictment, could but reiterate his assertion and screen bimeelf behind the tact that bis work ended and that of the law officers began when the proots of guilt were procured and the cases sent {nto court And the law officers, in in a balf jesting way; but asthe minds of the parties big to the idea the jest became earnest, ‘was ott im first asked as reward for ex jul destruction of the records was $100,000, ther bay | and. finally $30,000. No detaris wero given of Proposed plan. 1t was tacitly understood thatthe Job was to be done, but how, and when was to be idt to the tion of the active criminals: Their sleep were ndt to Know anything more thar evidence of their guilt bad been de- stroyed. Ang after all the job, when regarded in do- tail, lost mi of its horror, and although the fendish- nes: of the in is still imeredible, yet one mignt see, the idea inthe men’s minds was not newly so as was at fret supposed. The expres- sioi, “blow parison with the corfesponding date of last year, as indicated by the thermometer at Hudnut’s pharmacy, Henatp Build 75, 1876. « 17 48 «(8:30 P. a (62 a 6 oe a «@ 42 9PM. au 4 47 2PM. mw 4 their turn, excused the nou-indictment of certain par- tes and the other acts charged by the statement that that such evidence when sified would not stand bm aipay Nay, Judge Dixon. is aces wa aay ath nie not be Wy thet of an informer, himself an indicted man. It was such evidence wholly that implicated Carpenter, 1 have it on sufficiently good authority that after he went home, on the conclusion of his duties, a grand juror, when ons f questioned, confessed that a majority of the Grand Jury were completely convinced of the guilt of Carpenter and Keyes, but the evidence was such that they could not be indicted. So " A CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTER is being called for, and letters have been written to the members of Congress from this State insisting upon such a committee being appointed, and it probably will. B. Payne, Severed ol i Jagensested as chairman, and sach men as Willis (li i republican), of New York; Hancock, of Texas (democrat); W. B. Williams, of Michigan (republican), and John A. Kasson, of lowa, (republican), fur members. Great fear is e: lest any member should be appointed on. such committee elected from this State or who may be amenabie to the influence of Carpenter and Keyes. The friends of the latter undoubtedly feel ill at ease, yet profess the strongest desire for the fullest possible investigation, feeling quite certain of the INNOCENCE OF THE ACCUSED and their triumphant vindication. As the enemies of Carpenter and Keyes have undoubtedly made use of the opening this has gjven them to circulate calumnies and scandajs of very unpleasant character, if true, it is earnestly hoped by the moderate class, who are neither Carpenter aor anti-Carpenter—and I believe these moderates are in the majority—that the Con- gressional committee will be duiy appointed, Of course, this mud stirring is, in popular parlance, “nuts’’ for the democrats, who see in tho amminent disgrace and break-up of the tottering power of the re- publican party in this State the opportunity they have lacked since the granger movement fell to pieces. Therefore, the News, democratic organ, and Commercial Times, the reform. organ, slop over with enthusiastic calls for an investigation. Another Grand Jury will probably be called tn March, ana if a Concreasional committee should be sit- ting at the same time we shall have plenty of excite- ment for a time. THE SIMONTON LIBEL SUIT, San Francisco, Cal., Reb, 11, 1876, In the Simonton Alia libel case to-day Judge McKee denied the motion of the defendants to strike out that Portion of the complaint relative to the Bank of Cal fornia, holding that it was proper the plaintiff should Provo the faisity of the statement that he bad caused the failure of the bank by showing that the failure arose from the acts of the officers of the bank, SENTENCED TO DEATH, Purapecrata, Feb, 12, 1876, George W. Fletcher, convicted of tne murder of Wiiliam Harley, was this morning sentenced to be hung. The prisoner displayed no emotion whatever. POLITICAL NOTES. Where is there a better man in the West than George, HL Pondicton ?—Augusta (Ga.) Constitutionalist (dea: The following is positively the latest th dent,. Boss Tweed, late of Blackwoll’s Aland, New York; for Vice President, Johnny MeDigpaid, of Jetfer- son, Mo." E The Cincinnati Commercial is of -8finion that “it will not be a recommendation of a gaudidate that Grant is | forhim.’ Oa the contrary aaa is exactly the thing not wanted in a lidate, If it is expressly known that thero is @ eapdidate that Grant does not like that will b¢ © tr rommendation having & positive influence. Then ‘4 will not be important whether Grant. cordially, tion, The py, to the Can Adave, Tho rising and not tho setting sun will rec give obeisance.’” Th.4Columbus (Ohio) State Journal (republican) evi- deaily has sympathy for somebody beside Conkling a8 | Abe Yepublican candidate for the Presidency when it Says:—Oonkling may ag well’ give it ap. No ‘0? can be President... Think of Crawtord, Clinton, Calhoun, Clay and Cass, People don’t ‘C’ it.’” Says the Omaha Herald :—"Whom Senator Conkling was offered the place of Chief Justice aod dectined it Jore Black was asked why he refised such an office, ‘For the same reason,’ replied Mr, Black, ‘that 1 would refuse to be Emperor of © “ow ro hoe me pause 1 not speak the language, yey et (Mina.) Pioneer Prest (fepuviicap) de- toket is furnished by the Memphis Court rae al Gras) :—‘‘Ciyil Service Reform Candidates, Presi-. | jpporta the nominee of the conven- | ‘Will look not to the incumbent, but | clares that Minnesota |s cortain for Biaine,*atrt ‘@ounte|! support of the slatedent, collection of the pithérté Unpublished ie Baars ate (down) adhered Jo. ita pelief |souie Yorkshire foimilies, gutitled \4 General 6° <will ges Lhe repabli¢ag Domimanon //Gentiame’s Je > i 5 by the unserupulous use of his office-holders, rings, pet-baggers and agents of corruption, and that having jottem the nomination he will fail to unite the party t¢ support It looks now as though the carpet element, the filthy creation of the republican ee will return, like tho Frankenstein monster, to slay its creator.” The Scranton (Pa) Republican (rep.) thinks that Hill's speech ‘‘will have to undergo still another re- vision. In the Congressonal Record the ‘applause’ and ‘cheering’ come tn just where Hill most violently assailed the North, where he most shamefally misrep- resented and falsified the treatment of Confederate prisoners in Northern camps, and most outrageously slandered those who bad the conduct of the war for the Union,” Says the Cincinnati Times (rep. )—'John C Thompson. is back at Columbus, arranging his programme for » united delegation from Obio for Thurman in the Demo- cratic National Conventton,'* ‘The Hartford Courant (rep.) says the speech of Sena+ tor Morton on Mississippi affairs wil inevitably be considered ag a bid for the support of the Southern ree publicans tm the national Convention. The Springfleld Republican (ind.) evidently does not think much of the chances of Judge David Davis to1 the Presidency, when it says:—“He is @ rich fellow enough, go to, anda fellow that hath had losses, and one that hath two gowns, and everything handsome about him. But he will never be President of thé United States. It was he who was responsible for thé failure of the Cincinnati Convention of 1872" ‘The gracious suavity with which Senator Morton's home organ concedes to Mr. Blaine the second place on the republican ticket is really refreshing, The Atlanta Herald (dem.) declares that Ben Hil) said 9 grand thing when he confronted Blaine and his angry adherents and exciaimed:—‘I tell you that this reckless misrepresentation of the South must stop.right hero;”” and adds;—‘‘We thank God that there is a man in Congress at once bold enough to say such a thing as this and able enough to enforce it.'? ‘The Augusta (Ga) Chronicle (dom.), reviewing tha now called ‘‘animosity” debate im Congress and tho action of the republican leaders therein; avers that “they form on the same ground on which they have al- ready had ono Waterloo, and if no other policy is to be adepted the iriends of good government all over the United States may say, as did Cromwell when his opponents 400k untenable ground at the battle of Dun- bar, ‘The Lord bath delivered them into our hands,’ + Hendricks does not appear to be a favorite among the nowspaper men in Chicago, Seo what tho Dimes (ind, dem.) of bim:—'Within the last two or three weeks tho ‘greenback cause’ has assumed new tivity and manifested a significant vigor im the North- west, The indications are thatan unseen hand is ens gaged in placing the piecos on the greenback: chess+ board with especial reference to the Presidential candi- date of the Cenfederates, and it needs no great skill im guessing to indicate the two-horse-riding demagogue, Thomas A, Hendricks, as (he owner of the unseen hand.” Tho St, Louis Republican (dem.) has this! to say of what it calls republican Bourbonism:—'Republicam Bourbonism is a sham, intended to work mischief) There are tens of thousands of well-meaning but ignors ant: republicans who, reading the speeches of Bla! and Morton, are made to believe that there is gravd peril just ahead, and that the only way to avert it is to treat the South as a conquered province and the South~ ern people as public enemies. In uttering a friendly word in behalf of Senator Shere man’s candidate for the Presidency (Governor Hayes, of Obio), the Cincinnati Gasette (rep.) does not “wish ta be understood as discriminating against other candi« dates or intimating that any one of the distinguished citizens understood to be candidates would not carry the State of Ohio, as Hayes certainly would,” LITERARY CHAT. Englisbmen cannot get done writing about thelr Sépoy rebellion in India, Mr. John William Kaye haa just poured out three octavo volumes om the subject aud threatens more, , A now and very elegant translation of the poems o Hafiz by an enthusiastic Persian scholar, H. Bicknell has appeared from the London préss of Tribner. W. G. Polgrave, the traveller in Arabia and now British Consul at St Thomas, has written a book about Surinam, or Dutch Guiana, which is in Macmillan’ preés. An interesting critical work on ‘Diderot and thé Society of Baron d’Holbach,” from the pen of Mi “averzac-Lavighe, bigs appeared in Paria. Mr. Robert Brownin, jon has decome a landscap. painter. A very important document relating to the colonizm tion of North America in 1500 has beén found im the Azores, The Portuguese settlements are commemo rated in {t, and itis said it will throw muob light on thé vexed question of early American’ discovery. The au thor was Francesco de Souza, who wrote in 1670, ane his manuscript was hitherto supposed to have bees lost during the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. Mr. John C. Paget has written a statistical book on “Naval Powers and Their Policy,” which will give come plete tabular lists of tho British and other navies, with their armament, cost, &c, ° The value of printed books exported from’ Great Britain in 1875 was $4,575,490, about one-third of which were to the United States, i Sainte-Beuve’s letters from Paris, in 1843, to thé | Swiss Review, will be printed in a volume by Lévy. | Harriet Martineau’s ‘Eastern Life,” still, after thirty | years, one of the best books of travel in the East, bat been repripted by Roberts Brothers, Boston, The néw cook” book, ‘Housekeeping in the Blue | Grass," has sold’ to the extent of 6,000 copies im Clue cinnutl. Bylwer's, povel lef unfluished and entitled “Pause pias the Spartan,” will soon appear from the press ot Harper & Brothers, Halfof it was done, and it is prov | posed to print the noves made by the author for tha | remainder. | Professor Anderson will bring out, through the,press | of Griggs & Co., “Vi-King Tales of the North, from | the Sages of Iceland;” also, in two volumes, “The | Bider Edda and the Younger Edda.” | Paul Heyse’s novel, “The Children of the World,” is | published by Henry 1. Hintoh & Co., of New York, Mrs, Wister has translated for Lippincott’s press an other novel from the German of E. Marlist entitled | “A Nameless History; or, in tne House of the Council. | | | lor of Commerce.” “The Conflict of Labor and Capital,’ by Alfred 3, Bolles, wiil shortly appéar from Lippincott’s press, | a. LOO. 8. (a lady of Englana), the author of multl. tudinous books for children,-bas now gone to:India on | mission. Her real name is Miss TuckeF, and shé is a Wo are to have a new illustrated work on the ry and of Brittany, by Mr. W. M. F. Round, one of the editors of the Independent, WAlt Whitman, who is his own publisher, will goon, | rMissue his complete works in two volumes, \i@avea! {of Grass” will form the first, and the second, under the: | title of “Two Rivulets,”’ will contain prose and verse, | including Whitmen’s diary from 1862 to 1865 of bom | pital ahd battle scenes in Virginia and Washington. The spelling bee mania has broken dat tm England, | and the Newcastle Chronicle hat it is asessentiallyy ‘a pastime as charades or riddles, It does not think the novelty will soon die away, as it will be generation® before the English people will be able to spell sheitt mother tongue with perfect accutacy. |. The first eight numbers of the new and revised ed! tion of “Zell's Encyclopedia,” published by abe Davig & Co., Philadelphia, have been seat us- by the | agents in this city, Georgode Colange & OO. | one of the most successful attempts to make dictionary of knowledge and Iangunge, and is the result! of thorough investigation and labor by Dr. L. Coldnge, | LL. D., and bis colleagues, The new edition cOmtai | many fresh articles, and eighteen colored maps hay: been added, 4 histo ics Mme. Gasparin having presented to the Iuibrary off Roussehoix, France, a copy of her late book, ‘The, Schools of Doubt and thet 8 res, coived Crom Its director, M. Geroal, a-letter of accompanied by the statement that the book had immediately burned, The letter read:—How | ant, now the mornings are chilly, to warm one’ | with M. de Gnspatin’s books! They burt Nénddaly. | Obce more, thanks, madame!” i Mr. Cliffe Lealie's expected work on “English ‘mic and Legal History’ will be ready for the press-in & few. months, “ apy Spr Mr. Joseph Foster will issue in twofolio volumes & > Sia bo Ra aS aby