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| Richard Croker. |
Cortland Evening Standard, Tuesday, April 18, 1899.
MAZET INVESTIGATION.
Richard Croker Again the Principal Witness Examined.
NEW YORK, April 18.—In the session of the Mazet legislative investigating committee Richard Croker was again the principal object of Mr. Moss' examination and the most important development was the probability that the Tammany chieftain and John F. Carroll will be the subject of contempt proceedings before the state legislature shall adjourn. All during the evidence Mr. Croker parried the questioning of the counsel of the committee and refusing to satisfy the members with the amount of information he was willing to give regarding certain matters which he classified as "personal affairs."
An adjournment of the committee was taken until next Friday morning and Mr. Croker was subpoenaed to reappear before the session on next Monday morning. By the initiative of Mr. Moss many of whose questions Mr. Croker repeatedly refused to answer and with whom he had several sallies that came very near being personal, the chairman of the committee took such action as would leave Mr. Croker in technical contempt.
It was stated that when Mr. Fallows of the committee left for Albany he had instructions to prepare papers adjudging Mr. Croker and John F. Carroll in contempt.
When the committee began its inquiry about the first thing brought up was a resort known as the Broadway garden, which had flourished in the upper Broadway district for some time. In this place the alleged robbery of former Mayor of Trenton Frank Magowan took place, and Simon Butner, the former proprietor of the garden, and several of his waiters were examined. Butner made some rather startling charges against Police Captain Price and his waiters corroborated, in part, his testimony.
Assemblyman Hoffman offered a resolution to have certain prominent men summoned before the committee because of a rumor that a certain law firm, "by and with the assistance of other persons, by corrupt methods secured the passage through the assembly" of the Astoria gas franchise whose real purpose "was to enable the Consolidated Gas company to force a consolidation of all the gas interests in the city to the end that the supply of gas might be controlled and the price regulated by the so-called consolidation.
Mr. Hoffman wanted to subpoena the law firm of Tracy, Boardman & Platt; Elihu Root, the incorporators of the Astoria Heat, Light and Power company; Thomas C. Platt, Benjamin B. Odell, Lemuel Ely Quigg and John D. Crimmins. The resolution was defeated, however, five Republicans opposing it and two Democrats standing by it.
Richard Croker was called to the stand soon after noon and he occupied the attention of the committee the rest of the session. He testified that the police did not contribute a cent to the Tammany campaign last year, but that the officeholders did. He could not tell the amount of money raised last year; nor did he know in what bank the funds were kept. He said he had never received a cent from Bourke Corckran. He also swore he was never caught short with Manhattan L stock and did not lose $27,000.
Troops Ready to Sail For Manila.
SAN FRANCISCO, April 18.—The Twenty-first United States infantry, the famous Indian fighting regiment of earlier days and later very active participants in the Cuban campaign, arrived in this city and will depart for the Philippines on the transport Hancock. Batteries L and M of the Sixth United States artillery also arrived here and four more batteries are expected. The Sixth will probably sail on the transport Warren in company with 300 men of the hospital corps and about 240 recruits.
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| Emilio Aguinaldo. |
A PEACE CONFERENCE.
Committee of Filipinos Appointed to Meet the Americans.
NEW YORK, April 18.—A dispatch to The Herald from Manila says: In an interview General Lagarda said that a committee of twenty-two Filipinos had been appointed to confer with the peace commission for the following purposes:
First—To obtain as large autonomous rights for the Filipino people as possible.
Second—To bring about peaceful relations between the insurgents and the American authorities.
Third—To insist that Americans and Filipinos only shall occupy public offices.
Arevalo, a former aide to Aguinaldo, is now in Manila. He said in an interview that if the Americans would send missionaries to Aguinaldo now he thought a peaceful solution of the present trouble was probable. Influential Americans think that this commission of rich Filipinos is eager to protect property and has little influence with the insurgents.
NO MORE CORPORATION MOONLIGHT.
A Heavy Taxpayer Urges Welsbach Gas Burners for Street Lighting.
To the Editor of The STANDARD:
SIR: If I am correctly informed in regard to last night's meeting of the [Cortland] board of trustees, it brings up a matter that is of vital interest, not only to every taxpayer but to every inhabitant of this village.
We have been having sixty-nine lights, 253 nights in the year, until 12 o'clock midnight, at $5,000 per year. The new proposition as I understand it, is to have eighty lights 253 nights in the year, burning until 1 o'clock, on a five-year contract, at $6,000 per year.
I am also told that the gas Company has made a proposition to light the village as well or better with 150 Welsbach lights, every night in the year and all night, for $4,600 per year, and give an approved bond for the fulfillment of the contract.
I was in Sayre, Pa., not long since, where this light is used, and was very much pleased with. I asked a number of citizens of the place how it was liked, and was invariably told that it was giving perfect satisfaction, and that the best part of it all was that the streets were always lighted.
If our streets could be lighted as well as they have been and always lighted, I would be willing to pay twice as much for it; and if all of this can be accomplished at a saving of $1,400 per year, I think that the people will be heard from if it is not done.
I understand that the gas company only asks for a three-year contract, and agree to renew it at the end of the term at $1 per light less. We want no more "corporation moonlight." A HEAVY TAXPAYER.
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| Main Street, Cortland, N. Y. Notice arc light front and center, hanging over trolley tracks above street. |
NEARING A COMPROMISE.
VILLAGE AND TRACTION CO. DIFFICULTIES NEARING SOLUTION.
Traction and Electric Companies Willing to Allow the Village a Portion of the Lighting Contract Each Year in Payment of the Paving Assessment—Propositions and Counter Propositions Made—Village Will Probably be Better Lighted in the Future—Another Meeting Friday Night.
The long expected and often delayed conference between the village board of trustees and the owners of the Cortland & Homer Traction and Cortland & Homer Electric companies took place last night in the office of the village clerk. Much was said by different ones, and it was midnight when adjournment was taken. The result of the meeting was the ascertaining of the willingness of the Traction company to allow to the village each year, a portion of the street lighting money in case a contract for lighting is made, the only question remaining unsettled being the terms of the contract. The owners of the company took with them a proposition from the village for a lighting contract for five-years at $6,000 per year, one-half this sum to be retained by the village each year and credited to the Traction Co. on its paving assessment. The managers of the companies agreed to consider such a proposition and again meet the village board Friday night of this week.
The Traction and Electric companies were represented by P. S. Page of Scranton, Herman Bergholtz of Ithaca, Hugh Duffey of Cortland, their attorney, Edwin Duffey, and their secretary, treasurer and general manager, H. B. Westcott.
Attorney Duffey stated that though the two companies were legally separate and different he would not deny an identity of interest, and in this report no distinction will be made between the two companies. 'The position of the village was explained by Attorney O. U. Kellogg, and this position is well understood by the readers of The STANDARD. Mr. Kellogg explained that the proposed resolution, as previously published in The STANDARD was considered the most speedy method of getting at the matter. Mr. Duffey characterized the proceedings as extraordinary and very unusual. His company had expected to be sued in the matter. He spoke of the road from its inception and referred to the benefits it had given Cortland, such as rapid transit to Homer and to McGraw and the beautiful Cortland park.
The owners of the company have realized that their instrument has not been as promising as it might be. Adversity had met them at many turns, but the only thing the company could now do would be to ask for a renewal of the lighting contract. As to the payment claimed for paving, the village, said Mr. Duffey, seeks by a flank action, by a club as it were, to take away the franchise, to take away the very revenue with which the company would pay the assessment in case it [litigation] should eventually result in the necessity to pay. Mr. Duffey said the company believed it had a proper legal defense against the payment of the sum assessed on Main-st. from the very nature of the petition asking for the improvement, and from many other allegations that might be raised.
The company was willing to light the streets on the same terms as last year, or would submit sealed bids with the understanding that the contract be awarded to the lowest bidder. Mr. Kellogg said that as to the Railroad-st. assessment a technicality exists which might be debatable, but as to Main-st. the decisions are so plain in similar cases by the court of appeals, it is not to-day an open question or open to legal disagreement, therefore the company's refusal to pay its assessment is not justified in any way. The question of the total width outside the tracks, whether 2 feet or 4 feet could be litigated, but the rest of the assessment, the company, in his opinion was legally bound to pay. He said the village would be ready to submit the question to the courts if it thought it could collect a judgment in the event it should be secured. It was not a question of liability, but a question of intention as of willingness. The Traction Co. had claimed that it is not required to pave under the old franchise of the Cortland & Homer Horse Railroad Co., but the court of appeals has decided by a unanimous vote that, independent of any previous franchise, a company operating a street surface road is liable for such assessment. Mr. Kellogg thought that if the Traction Co. is willing to pay that which, in his opinion, there is no question over, or give good security for a judgment in case one should be secured, an agreement might be reached. Mr. Duffey said the Traction Co. had been advised by counsel as confidently as had the village, that it was not legally bound to pay any portion of the Main-st. assessment. While he would not be understood as saying the company is insolvent, he would say that it had no $17,000 or $18,000 in its treasury that could be checked out at once.
Mr. Duffey said that the company had been at one time anxious to get a bill through the legislature giving the company ten years in which to pay its paving assessments the same as other property owners. The bill was making good progress when its nature came to the notice of a former board of trustees who caused its abandonment.
President Holden inquired of Mr. Duffey if his company would put up a bond to indemnify the village pending the result of a lawsuit, in case the action resulted in favor of the village. Mr. Duffey could not tell, but did not think the company would consent. President Holden thought the village would be willing to litigate under those conditions. Trustee Thompson said that he for one would like some assurance that if a judgment be secured against the company it would be paid. He further inquired if the company would make a contract for street lighting for five years and would agree to pay a certain amount each year on its assessment. The Warren-Scharf Asphalt Paving Co. now holds a judgment against the village for the amount of the Traction Co.'s assessment, something over $14,700, and is pressing hard for its payment. No answer was given at once to Trustee Thompson's query. The representatives of the company held a conference by themselves of fifteen minutes.
The village charter provides for an appropriation of $5,000 per year for street lights, and no more. This has all been used in the past, and has also been overdrawn. The village has been using sixty-nine arc lights 253 nights in each year until midnight at the rate of 80 cents per light per night, or $75.90 per light per year. Geneva has light 300 nights in a year all night at the rate of $81 per light. Elmira pays $80. Ithaca pays $109.50 for all-night lighting every night.
After the conference between the directors of the company, Attorney Duffey said that if the village would take 109 lights, the company would make a proposition, the terms of which should permit the village to retain all over $5,000 per year, which would be $2,800 or $2,900 per year and apply the same on the assessment, the question of 2 feet or 4 feet to be litigated in a friendly way by going to the appellate court at once, the streets to be lighted at the old rate in the meantime. Mr. Hugh Duffey said he would oppose the giving of an indemnity bond. The company would not be humiliated in that manner.
Trustee Wood said that the proper way was for the village to own its own electric plant and do its own lighting.
Mr. Bergholtz was asked for a proposition on eighty lights for a five year contract on the moonlight schedule lately in vogue. His figures were $5,760 per year. If the lights ran one hour later or until 1 o'clock each night, that would be $250 extra or $6,010. He would light every night all night at 32 cents per light, per night. After a little [time] Mr. Bergholtz said that if the village would make a contract for lighting which amounted to $8,000 per year, the company would pay half that amount or $4,000 each year on its assessment. He later made the figures $7,000, and pay $3,000 of it each year.
This did not meet the views of the trustees who offered to make a five year contract for lights amounting to $6,000 per year, $3,000 of it to be retained by the village and credited to the company on its assessment until all is paid except the matter of 2 feet or 4 feet in width outside the tracks which should be speedily litigated.
Mr. Bergholtz had little faith that his company would look with favor upon this proposition, but after some hesitation said that they would consider it and meet the board Friday night of this week. The matter was left in that shape. While the details of the proposed contract were not discussed, it was understood that it had in view the 80-light scheme referred to above.
After the departure of the Traction Co. people, C. D. Herring, representing the Welsbach Street Lighting Co. of America, told what his company would do. He had several of his lamps on exhibition on Court-st. last summer. He estimates that two and one-half of his lights are equal to one arc light. He would furnish 200 lights 259 nights per year till 1 A. M., on a one year contract at approximately $29.50 per light, or on a three year contract at approximately $27.50 per light. He would give the same lights all night at $31.50 per light per year.
It was nearly midnight and no more business was attempted. Trustees Thompson and Sprague were appointed a committee to draft a suitable bicycle ordinance including practically the same features as outlined in Saturday's STANDARD and have it ready for action Friday night, also to take effect May 1.
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| The Athletic Field was located near the former armory (Peck Bros. Farmers Exchange), the long building with two cupolas in lower right of this 1894 map. |
ORGANIZE TO-NIGHT.
Meeting of Subscribers to Baseball Park Fund Called at 8 o'clock.
An informal meeting of those who have been most active in securing baseball grounds on the Randall flat was held last night, and on the strength of the success thus far wet with, it was thought best to call a meeting to-night for organization. The meeting will be held in Fireman's hall at 8 o'clock this evening, and every one who has subscribed anything for the purpose is asked to be there, as well as all others who will take stock. This does not by any means mean that the project is certain, because more subscriptions are absolutely necessary to insure it. The board of directors chosen to-night will be compelled to solicit more funds to-morrow and the succeeding few days, and then if enough cannot be raised, the scheme will fail of necessity.
Every one admits the feasibility of having the grounds changed, and a great many say they are willing to help. Let those people be present to-night with their subscriptions. There is more than a probability that after a year or two, something can be realized from the investment because there will be numerous occasions when the grounds can be rented for football games, outdoor sports, circuses, etc. It is earnestly hoped that those who are interested and who have not yet subscribed will be at the meeting to-night for this is a critical time, and all the help that can be secured is needed very much, and right away too.
A gentleman who is in a position to know said this morning that if games had to be played at the fair grounds this year, Cortland's team could not possibly exist after July 4. Do the people of Cortland want this state of affairs? If not, each one should interest himself, be at the meeting to-night, and help along the cause.
Court Notes.
Justice of the Peace Harrington yesterday sentenced William Gilbert and Burdette Gilbert of McGraw to pay a fine of $5 each or go to jail for five days for public intoxication. They went to jail.
Gustavus Foster, a tramp, was ordered out of town at once. He had been arrested by Officer Crandall for begging in the vicinity of the countyhouse.
BREVITIES.
—There will be a regular communication of Cortlandville lodge, No. 470, F. & A. M., this evening.
—No meeting of the board of education was held last night, it being adjourned until to-morrow night.
—The Wide Awake Literary club meets this evening at 7:30 o'clock with Mrs. B. F. Samson, 13 Wheeler-ave.
—About twenty people went to Truxton this afternoon on the special train to attend the funeral of the late Mrs. A. R. Bryant.
—The rehearsal for the "Merry Milk Maids" will be held in Empire hall this evening at 7:30 o'clock. A full attendance is requested.
—The second in the series of Rob Roy dancing parties will be held in Empire hall to-morrow night instead of next week as intended.
—Victor hayloft No. 357 1/2 will hold a regular meeting Thursday night in Empire hall, after which a banquet will be served. All companions are invited to be present.
—Miss Myrtie A. Webster aged 19 years, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Webster, died of consumption at 1:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon at their home three miles west of Cortland. Funeral services will be held Thursday at 10:30 A. M. Burial in Homer.
—The members of Vesta lodge and John L. Lewis lodge, I. O. O. F., are requested to meet in their respective lodgerooms next Sunday evening at 7 o'clock sharp to attend divine services at the Homer-ave. M. E. church and listen to the annual sermon by the pastor Rev. J. C. B. Moyer. All other Odd Fellows are invited to attend with either lodge.
—New display advertisements to-day are—Baker
& Angell, Jenness Miller shoes, page
7; Model Clothing company, Spring suits, page 4; Geo H. Ames, Our last move did
it, page 7; Smith &
Beaudry Wall paper, page 7; McGraw & Osgood, Shoes, page 5; Paddock & Daniels,
Undertakers, page 8; M. A. Case, Wash goods, page 6; D. McCarthy & Co., Our mail order
department, page 4; Bacon, Chappell & Co., a Season of silks, page 7; T. S.
Mourin, Furniture, page 8.
