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not.-A. Yes, sir; I recognize it. I would like to tell you about the book. I was boarding and was going home with a little sachel, and I could not get the book into my sachel, and I left it with this gentleman and told him that I would like him to keep that book until I called for it; that I might be back in a day, and might not be back in three months. Shortly after this this gentleman moved to Allegheny City. Thinking, perhaps, that I did not know where he had gone, or wanted my book, he told me that he had given it to Sam Woods. He also told Mr. Perkins that Woods had the book. Sam told me two years ago that he had the book, and I asked him to bring it over, and he said he would. Mr. Perkins told me two years ago that Mr. Woods had the book and I had better get it. Well, I didn't place any stress on the book, because there is nothing in that that has any bearing upon this case; it is my own private diary. I am very much obliged to Mr. Perkins, though, for giving some of it to the press; it is about the way he does business. I don't want to get personal, but I am very sorry not to have met Mr. Perkins under other circumstances.

By the CHAIRMAN:

Q. Why did you keep this book in cipher?-A. Simply for my own amusement. It is not so very hard.

Q. Does this book contain any entry in connection with the business of the torpedo company?-A. Not one, with the exception that in the back part of it I copied two or three letters. There are more pages in the book than there are days in the year, and after I got to December 31 1 copied in cipher some of my letters as I received them at that time. I never received a letter in cipher in my life, and there is nothing here that I am aware of that I have any recollection of that is either from Mr. Hall or Mr. McDonnell, although some of their correspondence may be copied in here; there is nothing that I am not willing shall be laid before this committee, or Mr. Perkins may give it to the newpapers if he sees fit. He is something of a newspaper man.

Q. Did you receive any letters from Mr. Hall which are there in cipher? -A. Never. Well, I don't know; it has been so long I may have copied in something. Mr. Perkins can probably tell you better than I can; he has had this book for two years.

Q. Turn to page 379.-A. I find a signature here of "John McDonnell." I can explain that to you.

Q. Do yo see Mr. Hall's name there?-A. Yes, sir; that is correct, I presume. I do not see anything in it that is out of the usual way, or that requires being kept in cipher.

Q. It simply shows that he had sent you some papers for service?— A. Yes, sir. You understand that part of my district was over 200 miles from Pittsburgh, and I would go out, and any new writs that came up he would send me by express and then write me to that effect. I recollect requesting Mr. McDonnell to tell me if there had been any papers or injunctions issued, and he did it.

Q. Who is Mr. McDonnell ?-A. He is the deputy clerk, as I understand, in the circuit court.

By the CHAIRMAN:

Q. This letter from Hall appears to have been received in 1880 ?—A. Yes, sir.

Q. Were you then a regular deputy, or were you also acting as the agent of the torpedo company?-A. I was then working for Mr. Hall. I think I was appointed for him in June, 1880.

Q. Then at that time he was sending the injunctions and other papers

directly to you?-A. Yes, sir; there was no middle man between us at that time.

Q. Well, it seems that that book was for the purpose of entering the correspondence that you had with regard to the business you transacted-A. This that you have pointed out is October 12, 1880; that is the date of that letter.

Q. Who was John Gleason?—A. Mr. Gleason was Mr. Hall's clerk. Q. These letters are unimportant, except that they show that that book contained memoranda of those transactions?-A. There is nothing of that sort in the book, only, as I say, there are a few letters copied here that I regret very much I haven't got the originals of. These were copied after I got through with the days of the year. The rest is my own private diary and has nothing to do with Mr. Hall or the court.

Q. The letters you received from Hall were not in cipher?—A. No, sir; I can give you a sample of them.

Q. You simply transferred them into cipher?-A. Yes, sir; for my own amusement.

Q. Why did you desire to keep them in that way instead of the original?-A. That is a question that is very hard to answer. Probably I was foolish, but I had as much right to do it as anybody else. Of course I had no idea that that book would be brought before a body of men like this. I had no idea that Mr. Perkins would neglect his duty for two years. Here is a sample of my correspondence with Mr. Hall [handing some letters to the chairman]. I almost always destroyed them as fast as I received them. Now those would look very mysterious if they were put in the book in cipher, and perhaps they are.

Q. These are merely instructions in sending you papers?-A. Yes, sir; that is all. And all that I had from him were the same.

Q. You were at that time acting as one of his deputies?—A. Yes, sir. This McDonnell letter I don't think would come under the head of any colluding, as his friend Perkins expresses it, any conniving between me and Mr. McDonnell.

Q. You had no arrangement with Mr. Hall as to the costs which should be collected?-A. Most emphatically no, sir.

Q. You had arrangements as to how much you should be paid in the torpedo cases?-A. Yes, sir. But not with McDonnell nor with any of those parties. That was with Mr. Thomas. He is a man that could give you information about the contract between Mr. Hall and Mr. Roberts. He did most of the business; Mr. Roberts did very little.

Q. Who is Mr. Thomas and where does he reside?-A. He is the mayor of Titusville to-day. He married the widow of the deceased Roberts.

Q. He is a brother-in-law to the president of this torpedo company? A. Yes, sir; he is the man that has always brought the suits, since 1876 to my knowledge, for the Roberts Torpedo Company. All the men that made those informations returned them to him.

Q. Then Mr. Thomas should know whether the costs were paid to Marshal Hall in all those cases?-A. Yes, sir; he knows all about it, because I know in several cases where persons would go to see Mr. Roberts, and he would tell them to go and see Mr. Thomas and see what settlement they could make with him.

By Mr. VAN ALSTYNE:

Q. What is Hall's business now?-A. I don't know whether he is farming or not. He has a couple of farms there, I believe, but I don't know whether they are his or not.

Q. Are they in the vicinity of Pittsburgh ?-A. They are at Little Washington.

Q. Do you know anything about his physical condition; whether he is a sick man or a well man?-A. I do not. I saw that piece in the papers some time ago, that he had to be watched, but I do not think there is anything in it.

Q. When did you see him last?-A. I have not seen him for two years. Q. Was he an apparently well man then?-A. Oh, yes, sir. According to his own statements, this doesn't worry him any. He claims that the Government owes him $1,200. I presume that the $143 that he turned in in 1878 was an overpayment, and that perhaps interest and other things from that time to this will make up the $1,200. I know that $143 is all that he has ever turned over to the Department.

By the CHAIRMAN:

Q. In what way do you estimate the defalcation to be about $200,000? -A. I knew about how many torpedo cases there were; I knew about how many bank cases there were, and I went on that basis. In saying that it was $200,000, I calculated to put it low enough. I calculated in my own mind that it would admit multiplying by two easy enough, and still be below the figure.

By Mr. VAN ALSTYNE:

Q. That would be $400,000?-A. Yes, sir. I think his own books show that the earnings in the torpedo cases were something over $30,000; that is according to his docket entries.

Q. And that was a small portion of it, in your estimate?-A. Yes, sir. Q. Give the committee the basis of your calculations, then, upon which you suppose that he would be short $400,000. I presume you took some basis upon which to arrive at that conclusion?-A. Yes, sir; I did.

Q. State upon what you bassed your estimates.-A. Well, there was something over 3,000 bankruptcy cases, and I know it was usual to pay the marshal $25 down on the start. If he got $25 in each, every thousand cases would make $25,000; and if there were 4,000 cases it would be $100,000. Then if the torpedo business was another $100,000, and perhaps the other business of the court would amount to another $100,000. That was about the way I figured it. I never got down and figured it closely, but I made these estimates concluding that I was safe in making the statement and that I would not have to take back

water.

Q. Have you examined the records at Pittsburgh ?-A. Yes, sir.

Q. And Mr. Hall's emolument returns in Washington ?-A. Yes, sir. Q. You have examined the records of the clerk's office ?-A. Oh, no; not particularly; only in a few cases. I had nothing to do whatever with his records.

Q. I mean that in order to obtain this information you looked into the court records in Pittsburgh ?-A. Yes, sir.

Q. And into the marshals emolument returns here?-A. Yes, sir. Q. You were connected with his office, directly or indirectly, for a number of years as a deputy?—A. Yes, sir.

Q. From the knowledge you have had of the business done, and your examination of the records, you have reached the conclusion which you have stated?--A. Yes, sir.

Q. Have you seen anything since to change that opinion?-A. I have not. In fact for two years I have paid no attention whatever to the matter.

H. Mis. 38, vol. 2-2*

Q. And you say you have never demanded any money of Mr. Hall to keep quiet?-A. No, sir; I never have.

Q. Directly or indirectly?-A. Directly or indirectly; and I think that my action ought to satisfy the committee of that from the fact that I came to the Attorney-General and made a statement. I don't think that goes far toward showing me to be a blackmailer.

Q. You have never made any proposition to any officer of the Government authorized to look into these matters demanding consideration for your information ?-A. No, sir; I have not. I think Mr. Perkins was the last man that I ever talked to about it, but that was back, I think, two years ago. Mr. Perkins, I know, telegraphed me to come and see him. That was a year ago last October. I was building a house and could not go, and I replied to him that if he wanted to see me he would have to come to see me, and I never heard from him from that time to this.

Q. When did you last see Hall?-A. I think it has been about two years.

Q. Have you been to Little Washington recently?-A. I have been there.

Q. Do you know anything about what amount of property he owns there?-A. No more than as it has been pointed out to me from the railroad.

Q. How much is there of it?-A. He has two farms there. He told me at one time how much there was in those farms-how much he paid an acre. I think he has got a farm, containing in the neighborhood of 150 acres, that cost him about $200 an acre, and then a smaller farm that cost him something over $100 an acre. I repeat that as he stated it to me, but that is all that I know about it. The farms may be mortgaged, for all I know.

Q. Has he any business property in the city?-A. Not that I know of. I know there were lots of rumors there that I don't know anything about.

Q. Did he say anything about having any interest in any bank ?—A. No, sir. Well, now, hold on. I don't know but he did. I know he was at one time a stockholder in the Penn Bank, of Pittsburgh. To what extent I don't know.

Q. That is all I desire to ask, unless you want to make any further statement.-A. Well, no. I would like to know when I can get possession of that cipher book of mine. I think I have a perfect right to demand that. Mr. Perkins should rectify that statement about the book being held as collateral for my board; I don't know that he made it, but if he did it would be only fair for him to say that that book was not held as collateral for my board.

The CHAIRMAN. I do not think that statement was made before the committee.

The WITNESS. No, I do not think it was.

The cipher book referred to in the foregoing testimony was returned to the witness by the chairman.

WASHINGTON, May 8, 1884.

A. A. ADAMS sworn and examined.

By the CHAIRMAN:

Question. State your age, residence, and occupation.-Answer. I am 36 years of age; I am an attorney at law; my residence is Clearfield, Pa.

Q. Have you been in the service of the United States as an assistant district attorney at any time?-A. Yes, sir.

Q. Where, and how long?-A. I was appointed the 19th of December, 1872, and remained in the service until, I think, about the 26th of May, 1875.

Q. Where were you residing during the time you were in the serv ice-A. I was residing at that time in Pittsburgh.

Q. What was the nature of the duties you had to perform?-A. Well, my duties were varied, under the peculiar circumstances under which I went there. My legal preceptor was Mr. Swope. I had entered his office as a boy, studied law, been admitted to the bar, and then went with him to Pittsburgh. I very seldom assisted at the trial of cases, but I prepared the indictments, made the reports, kept the accounts, and attended to that part of the business of the office almost entirely.

Q. How many assistant attorneys were there during your time in the western district of Pennsylvania?-A. I was the first assistant that was appointed.

Q. Were you the only one then?-A. No, sir; Mr. Thomas Pender was appointed, I think, at the same time. He was appointed as assistant to the United States attorney. There was a distinction made in the commissions that were sent.

Q. What were Pender's duties ?-A. His duties at that time were more those of a detective officer.

Q. Was he a lawyer?-A. He was not a lawyer.

Q. What did he do there?-A. I can scarcely answer that question. He was the janitor of the office; he was an errand boy; he was a detective; his duties were those of a general man around the office.

Q. What was his salary?-A. I think it was $1,200 or $1,250 a year. Q. How long did he serve in that capacity?-A. He served in that capacity up to the time I left the office in 1875. I think his commission was dated in January or shortly after mine was.

Q. How long after you left was he still in the service?-A. I don't think he remained in the service after I left there. There was a general change made at that time.

Q. You say they made a distinction-that he was appointed an assistant to the district attorney-not an assistant attorney -A. That is my recollection; I would not state positively, but that is my recollection of the wording of the letter.

Q. But you know that he was not an attorney?-A. No, sir, he was not an attorney; and my understanding at the time was that Mr. Swope came down and consulted with the Attorney-General with regard to the appointment of assistant United States attorneys for that district; up to that time there had never been any regular appointment, and I received the first appointment. That appointment they decided would be legal, but as to the other they made it an assistant to the attorney; I don't know what the circumstances were, but I think that is all matter of record in the Attorney General's office.

Q. Pender did not perform any services that an attorney would be called upon to do?-A. No, sir; not as an attorney. Q. Who succeeded him ?—A. Mr. Knox.

Q. Was he an attorney?-A. Yes, sir.

Q. Who succeeded him?-A. I think Mr. Cameron.

Q. Was not Mr. Woods in there?-A. Mr. Knox was succeeded by a gentleman whose name I cannot recall now. He was a lawyer, and I knew him, but I cannot recall his name; and then Mr. Woods succeeded him, and after Mr. Woods Mr. Cameron.

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