Classified_ad

Gentlemen:- In tliis my last re port I doem it my ihity t make as ful -and complete a statement as poBsïbli of my administration as Commaiulant of the Home. Yon are all aware o vhnt has leen dono by 't li e board anc tihe ofllcers whom yon have appointed but tli ■ outside ivorld knows lmt Hult of your proeeedinga or the labora o the otficers in charge of the Home As this institution i.s supported by tht tox payers, as the old soldiers for wliom thifl Home was huilt are the words o: Bhe state, the board of man agers and tbeir oificers nre. tho ser vants ii tihe people, their official acts, ■.i-U &e the reporta of the officera of the [lome are public property aaü -snii.icr.t ho the crlticism ol the p On entering opon tbe duties of Oommandan.1 oï Bhe Homo. I ïound oölcere u htwn no Charge oí extra va se as t'ar as 1 know reated. Uodei -in-h circamstancea i; is fair to presiniH1 tSb&t sucli administration olthe .nïieiTs in t'.iat direction was satisfac tory to the Let os compare ïf you ptease, ttoe past wlth bhe iivs.nt atlmiiüstration. And from tho result determine whether the ehaw of extravagance Hos Justly at my dooi Ml' llOt. We ïind t'.iat General Plerce, Majoi Loog and OoJonel Hlnsdale -ach had a privat-e servant at their privan quartere. In the officer'a dlnjn room we flnd bhe Commandant and adjutam witli separate tables and a èerv.(, open and Close the as oilicers and their ladlea passad in and ■out. These eervanta were n the pay roll and drew a salary of $57 a month. In the Commandanfa room was au ordcrly at '. a month, in tho adiuam's and quartermaBtér'a departivi'ir i mployed tWO i-lerks at a salary of $24 a month, in the com-iry depoxtment was employed th wifo of tho commissary, Colonel HinsOale, as a clerk at a salary of $12 a .month. a bota] oí" $45 a month. In ■tíie four mont.hs I havo boen in charge il the Home X have reduced the help .somowhat. In the private officer'a qnarters is employod one aervant for ■li.-m all at $9 a month. In the ofiio.er's dtnlng room is set oue table mlVh ono watter at a oost of $15 a tuonth. in tlie quartrmastcr's and commissary department one clerk at $25 a month, a total of $10 a month. -. saving to the state in the offieers' "private dinlng room and quartors, of $33 per month, whüe Bbowlng au incroase in the clercial help ia the ofii-cer's quarters of $4 per month, a net living to the state is shown of $29 .per month. The salaries paid for running the Sgeneral dining room under the former tduniustra.tion was $425.50 per numth, under the present admlnistratiom it is $341.50 per monta, a saving oí 114 per month, a, saving of my salary and that oí my orderly. ■Under the old administratton s:x : h-orses were quartered at the Home, and used as follows: General Pieroe private norse, Colonel Hinsdale ambulance liorse. Major Long's horse, the gray horse on the farm, the doctor'e norse and the head COOk's hors, with r attendants. At present the same number of jes are kept at the Homo employed Olkvws: Two of the state horses ;are worklng on the grade taking the place ni a ?: t-eam, one horee is draw!:■■ ainhulance. aind the other tlie :-ïnail wagon, as they were formerly !. It becoming neeessary to 'm.' extra horses tor the home, the horses on the 'rade must be taken off or other horses produced. To meel .iiis emergeney, I dlrected my private ' to !)■ sent here. They rived on :the twenty-tourth day i fliril, and Save been used by the officers of the iome in their official capacity ever BtDce, taking the place of the state horses on the road, as has my buggy wlion the state buggy was out ol'repiiir. One of my horses was on the imnp cart drawlng stone lor si. ■ lays. tor bhese Bervices no charge has been made. believing as I did when 1 %rought them that they would more Tthan pay the state for their keeping. Prior to moving to the city oí Grand Rápida, Adjutant Walker built for hls wn use a small eteamboat elghteen leet long with a five foot bea.ni, which iie brought with him. There being ■o boat house at the home hr tcot to'4?eth?r a lot of old boards and other timbers and with the uil ï earpenteTS at thirty cents a day built to, very reepectabl( boat house, th" i r ■■ a' tliis building was well known ij) your honorable body as shown by , re oïnti a Introduced by Mana ser .■s at the May meeting pertaining i:e erectlon of boat houses at the 'Slome. The building is now complete, situited m the gronnds, made out iï Btate material, and erected by state labor and can be put to the best possii)U' advaotage as a 1 : i J i ■ ' saloon, is nothing di ;ic tfcid exists on the .. grounda, exceptlng in the priv;iic rooms in ih' main building, the painter also Informa me tfoat he used ; about one dollar's worth of paiat . mei about .ÍL!. 10 "vortli of labor ivas ; plaoed upon the boat. lt ia au undlsputed fact that in the ; tlnv state's carpentcr )ias made many .brackets, and the state's paint iS rilded and painted many arti■clC8 of the offioers' furnlture, using the state's material and the Btate'a time. Tli closest scrutiny of these records fail to show thr Mliirlitest criticism from the board. In my effort to improve the groundfi I teft no etone unturned and have 'done everything in my power to inake the improvement iund go aa tor as poseible; I have eaiployed the bost men I ould get at as eh'; wages as thoy would work, in many cases paying ■only 75 cents a day aind board. -Many of the old soldiers started to work for 30 cents n day; as they jjrew strcmgor nnd more used to work they demanded higber waes. Some of them took thoir discharges and went to work at the Hoiin'. I ha vi at every meeting of the board or committee on grounds asked for Lnstructioofl, ahvays reeeiving the one universal anawer: ''You are doing well, go anead." Frora the commence ment of ttoe gradlng I have liad the opea endorsement of Mr. Buthertord as bo my management of the gradkig, and at nO' time durtng his visits to the grounds did he change or suggest any changes to any of the plans of the grado, but at almost every vleit expressed himself satisfied with the progress of the work. At one of his visits. in the latter part of April, while passing througn the woods west of tlio gravel road he BUggested the dlgging oí ,-i ditch from one crossIng the Held on the north to the springs on tihe aouth de of the sald woods and laying out drives through the woods, and aaked me what the oost wottld be. 1 told hdm, "From $00 to $75 uouhl do the dltdüng." He said: "If it dou't cost more than that lay the diich." which 1 did do. I also found it necessary in order to get top dressing tor fche grade, to wid in a diteh aeróse the loivcr grounds from the ■voods to a large spring or reservoir up near the ivorth end of said premisee, running parallel wlth the rlver, its terminus, about 3001eet from Lamberton C'res'k. The dltch so dug was 7 1-2 feét on top and o 1-4 fèet on the bottom; the dirt ezcavatèd from bhls aerved as a top dressing for about two-thlrds oí the grade. The diteh belng flnlshed and the to) dressing of the grade trwo-thlrds done, 1 was puzzled and unable to find tqp dressing tor the balauce of the grade. I askeil Si'i-m'.-uii Nelson ii hfi k-iew wiici-c surface soil could be got to (inish the grade, and wwn't wiih liim around the prenilsés to see ii we eould fiiiil Where the sáime eould be got. None eould be found. He advanced the idea of building an artificial late on tiie low grounds west ol thé gravel rrKid connectiug with a ditcH and using the soil excavated for the top dressing of the grade, and supplying the lake with water from Lamberton ('reek. This project was presented to Managers Crozier and Rutherford. but did not meet with their approval and the work was not done nor have there been any water courses chamged. At the next meeting of the board, which was the same day I received my instructions en the grade, the board, without open crltlclsm, directed that I should confine the gTadin% to the east side of the road, at the same time cautioning me to be careful and not overdraw the appropriation. I told them, "that there were sufficient funds in the appropriation to complete the grade, build the neceseary wal'ks, clear the woods from underbrush. i'iuish the drives, and still have $500 in the fund." I thought it strange that the ditching should be gtopped, as that above every thing else was the Very essence oí improvements, as every rod oí diteh added to the value oï the Home property by draining the black ash swamp. drying up and making accessible this diseasebreedin.ií hole, tluit -was very troublesome ivheii the ehange of administratie n toolc place. At the .Tune meeting there seemed to be a coldness on the part oï the board that I could not account for. I was not aware of the tact that Manager Rutheriord was continuaily advising the board that the funds were nearly exhausted and the grade not !ialf done. I was not aware of the (act that a traitor was seated at the offieers' table, ir that a Benedict Aroold was on the Commaindant's Btafl ready and willing to betray his beneactor by pourlng in the ears of a too willing board every word uttered, to picture out and enlarge every act done for no other purpose that to further liis own ends. Notwithstamding the fact tliat the old board aaked from the egislature $8,000 to do the grading, and claimed that ie would nrt be done Sor lesa money, thia extravagant Oommandant has so nearly completed the grade íor 9:5,000 that I will enter ato bonds to finish the grade for $1,000, the balance of the appropria9tion, the same to l)e done to the entire eatiafaetion of Manager Crozier, lovrrnor "Winans and tibe mayor of (ra uil Itapids. I desire to say in reference to the frade that I have been ably seconded )- niy adjutaut and cqually SO by Sergeant Nelson, who has been in imaédlate charge ol the men. direct ing ihe tirade in sd skiilful a marnner as ndicated a thorougjh knowledge ol tlie business be vas engaged in. The grade when completed will be ileasant vo l;jk at, w i 1 be :. place of esorl for the Grand Rápida people and a beautiful resort for the oíd boIdlera who cali it honie. As to the charle of extravagance on the part oí the administratie) of the Soldiera' Home, I desire to join issue with the "board of managers and "will Join m.v issue al th.' iiist meeting of the present board, and most regpectíully cali their attention to oue of the acts passed by that board at its first meeting, namely, the gramting to C. C. ('omstoek, of ttoe privilege of laytng a doublé track ncrons the Soldiere' Home grounds without a single dollar conslderation for tho yaluable grant conferred to Mr. C'omstock. I told the board then that they had no right or power to vote away such a valuable franchise, that the matter ought to be referred to.the legialature hen in sesslop. : Jlr. Rutherford said that they did not want to subniii it to the legislatura. There was no ealty parted with and he for one was ■eidy to TOte the franchise. I told ïim that the state oughtt v receive a consideration for sucli a valuable rancliise. The yea and nay vote was hen baken, iii which my votê a;is 'he oul.v one recorded against the enerprlee. ïhis rig-ht of way ís of great valué to Mr. Comstock, for whirh ie ghould have been obliged t( delivor all freights pertalnlng to sait Home over hiw track frec of charge At the first meeting after I bccanu Commandant of the Home arnd J. V Shank had beeu confirmed quarter master and commissary, and before tlie nrw oificor had entered upon the charge of his dntii's, the board man agera without ny request on my pari ralsed hls salary from $T'O to $1,000 This was an uimeeessary act as tin dutea of that depart ment are liftht requiring not more than half the officer's time. At the game meeting of the boarc they votèd i salary of $800 to their treaa urer. This is nu exhorbitant salary as the treasurer has nothing to do but U draw a few checks, taking not to exini three days labor alter each regular meet ing. At the same meeting the board, if my memory serves me right, roted to the outgoing treaaurer $550 as a fee for pas services. I cannot Bpeak positively bu ain oí the opinión, that ex-Trearurei Bliss never saw a cent of it. Whether these acts are legal I know not, but believe them to have been entirely unnecesaary. At the flrst meeting of the board aftei my appointmeut as Commandant, the board passed a resolution appropriatinj $1,000 tobe used in furnisiiing the offieere' quartera. I told the board that 1 was a Btranger in the city and asket that the board make the parchases ot the furniture that they deekned necessary for the offleere' quartera aad I wotü be Batisfted with their purchase. Thif they relused to do. They had appointei me Commandment of the Home and 1 must do my own purchaeing. The ladies of the Home in company with Majoi Long's wife made most of the purchases The rooms to be furnished consisted o; the Commandant's, adjutant's, qnarterinaster's and surgeon's quarters, conBisting of ten rooms, six Bed room sets, drapery, carpeta excepted. So long as 1 have not overdrawn the appropriation, the charge of extrevagance cannot lie, as such an económica] board could not for a moment be charged with extravagance in the appropriation. Would it not be well for the board before they charge extravagance to explain why it is they iinpose upon the Commandant additional responsibilities. At the same meeting the inembers oi the board in company with the Commandant and adjutant visited the hospital, examined tlie same and found that the roof was in a dangerous condition, so niueh so that they directed their extravagant and incompetent Commandant to proceed forthwith to repair and use such means as was in his judgment necessary to make said building safe. No, gentlemen, you can charge extravagance, you may howl incompefcency, but it will not cover up the fact that the removal of J. V. Shank as quartermaster was the principal cause that lead to the demand for my resignation. As the true cause of the removal has not vet been published I will here give to the public a few of the man y acts that caused his removal. On or about the twentieth day of May, Mr. Shank annouuced in the dining room that after the uext Sunday there would be but two meals on Sunday. This announcement was met with open denunciation by the inmates, causing many protests at my office. As this was done without my knowledge and believing it to be unjust and impracticable I immediately countermanded the order. From that day to the day of lus removal I had more or lesa tiemble with him. Atone time presenting me with arequisition forbaled hay, I told him that was a dear way to buy hay. He said there was no hay on the market. I signed the requisition and the hay was öurchasèd at f 16 a ton. I was in the city the next day and passing by the hay market saw severa} loads of hay Belling at $14 a ton. This is only one of the many articlea he has purchased that I was lêad to belive he was paying full market price for. He also appropriated (iO yards of private carpet stored away in the Commandant's private room" and turned it over to the storeroom keeper who cut it to fit and put it down on the storeroom floor, which bas utterly destroyed the carpet as far as any use to me is concerned. The purchase of the peas was but one small item of itself, but plainly showed the utter lack of the iuartermaster's knowledge of the duties of the office he was called upon to lili, as it only took II bushels to supply the dining "room, Mr. Sanford's statement notwithstahdiug. Becoming alarmed at his general behavior and apparent lack of judgment in purchasinK, I directed a book to be kept :y the storeroom keeper of the Home, n which should be entered every article nirrhased in the commissary departnent and the price paid for the sanio, which bas been eomplied with in part, the entering of all articles having been nade as directed, but the price, the imjortant part, was omitted (excepting during the time Mr. Shank was relieved rom office). The storeroom keeper, Mr. McRae.wlien asked wliv my instructions ïad not been eomplied with, said: Mr. bhank told him it was not necessaryand if oeedn't do it." lí has been his habit to leave the Honie for all day and night without aprising this omce of his contemplated ace. Since his reinstatemenl by your honorable body, he has done that wliicli ought not to liave been done, towit. purchased goode at bis own expense that have been crossed off the requisition. The discharging of thequarterraaster had to bn done though it removed every appointee of your board and t will be a mere question of time before the newly apponted Commandant will have to exeeute the same authority. The demand for my reeignation wás no surprise to me as it was the common talk of the Home the day before the board met, that the quartermaster would be reinstated and my resignation demanded. The dining room sergeant' whose salary the quartermaster had increased from $9 to $18 a month offering to bet $5 to one to that effect. After hearing my written report and the statement made by Mr. Sliank the board adjourned, and" as I have been informed took dinner with Quartermas.er Shank and Major Long, then returning to the hall called the meeting to order and passed a resolution reinstating Mr. Sliank as quartermaster. This act I believed to be Ilegal, although I made no objection, and withdrew ti my office for the purpose of drafting my resignation. When nearlv completed the orderly informed me that the board wanted to see me. When I entered the room the chairman informed me that he had a resolution he wanted me to listen to. Mr. (iraves tlien read a resolution askinjj for my resignution. I was asked by the cnairman, JIr. Shank, what I had to sí' y. My reply was, "Gentlemen, aren't you a little fast, would it not be well to giye uie time to thiuk oí this tnatter." "You can have uutil tomorrow morí ing." "Then you have deeided tliis matter? Mr. Chaves: ''Yes, sir." Manager Rutherford : "You hav made charges against Major Long uk disgraced Mr. Shank tlie world over. I replied, "This is most too sudden t flnish my reporta aud close up my ac cnunts. lt you will withdraw your de manda I will tender my resiguation t take effect August lst. Scarcely had the board adjourned bc fore it was reportad that my resignatio was askcd for On account of inconipe tency. These were seriouB reporta an as none but the board and myself wer present at the time, it is fair to presum that theycame from somemember ( the board. I am nut ashamed of what I hav done and ani more llian wilting to sul) mit my administration to the people Place your finger on a single item that have purchased that the state has ik value received for. show me a lay' work 1 have paid for, that the state ha not received its iiill value. Show a sil gle dollar, vea, a single cent of til state's money that haa passed throug my hands that lias not heen econotn cally expended. As for the purchase in the quarter-master's ilepannient, will not be respousible for it; lie is you officer and not mine. A great deal has been said about Mi Long'a carpeta and table Unen. IÍ am not mistaken ii was at the Apr: meeting that James '. Long, the .'nlji lant of the Home stated to the boari that he had iurnished at his own ex pense part of a carpet on his privat quarters and asked that it be mad good to hún. 50111e niember of th board suggested that it be lelt wilh th Commandant to settle with adjutaut, i v. as 80 leít. I examined into the ment of the case aml told Mr. Long that . could not allow more that $25 or $30. was called upon by a member of th lirni of whom the carpet was bqtight wlio asked me how mueh the .--tai would allow on Mr. Long's carpet. I told him I was willing to allow $25 or lf30, the board might allow what i pleased. Some time alter this the sam gentlemen presented me with a written order with my name signed to it givin; the merchant the privilege of presenting to the board a bilí for a certain amount of carpeting. (I wish the board would cause to be printed the order that the people may readily see that it was no order.) I told the board then and repeat it now that I neyer gave any order for the purchase of linen, yet they allowed the bill. At the last meeting of the board, July 22nd, I went beforethe board and asked that the painter be sent for that he might testify as to the paint aud for whom it was used. This being a subject that the board at this particular timo (the same as the carpet and linen matters) didn't care to have stirred up, in the preseuce ot the reporters ol the press, in order to get rid of it took iin niediate adjournment. Dr. Rush J. Sliank, stand up to the charge of extravagance ! What do yoi knc.iw about t? You have liever seen the decoration in the Coinmandant's qttarters. You can't teil whether there is one room or teu. Again Dr. you havt cut oflF the wrong limb to shield' the sore Shank of yours. I defy you to sho where I have gone outside of my instruetions excepting to clean out the oli stumps, brush and dead trees arouni the red house down on the bank of the riyer, that the people of Grand Jn;iú might enioy the grove on the Fourth o July, and ihis was done with G Iiutherford's permit : Again you are wrong, doctor, dear, when you say that the horses were kepi at the expense of the State. They more thanpaid for their keeping in work on be premises, which can be proven by al least one dozen respectable citizens living in the vicinity of the Home, wlio will be remembered long after you and I are forgotten. Again, doctor, you are mistaken, there is no extra barn rented or groom employed to take care of my horses, it s the same man that was employed by .Mr. Rerce. My dear doctor, what can be the matter?" Again, I have not purchased a yard of carpet and had it harged to the Home, nor did I give idjutant Longany permit to buy linen, notwithstanding the statement made before your board to the contrary. All the carpeta and linen that were purchased vaa by the board against riy pn Vou can't produce a single word of proof to substantiate a single one of the above charges that would stand fora moment in a court of justice. Whv, doctor, take a dose of yourown medicino, never mind what it is, anything will help you, I uever saw a man so badly out of sorts. I never used a of the State's lumber, I never dorcaused to be erected a boat house, I ncvcr owned a vacht or even a common row boat. Wrong again, whén you say that there "ïily one charge a;iiut quarter er Öhank. The records will li.,v that the quarter master purchased all oí $1,000 worth of goods that were not contracted for, ora requisition signed for, during the month qf June. For your particular benefit that you may know in what hi.L'li esteem your worthy uncle was in-M by a certain ineiiiber of tin board I will publish a letter that 1 ceived a short time before Mr. Shank was removed. : "Greknvim.k. Micii.. June 1(5. 1S91 "C. H. Mani.v. "Commandant of Soldiers' Home. FrienI) Mani.v:- I am Just In reccipt of your letter and send this by him, (Theodore Karnseu.) Von will flnd hím a creditable youug man. Have Dr. Spaulding examine him as closely as he likea astohis ability to compound medicine. He will flnd him very prohcient. I have osed the srrietest care so as not to foist ou you anyoue that will give you trouble as I am satisíied has been done I am sorry I could not pret a chance to talk with you but think I understand the trouble quite well I ha. i some talk with Crozieraud Graves and tneyareof the opinión that the quartermasur is entirely Incompentent, and I share their views. Idon'tjust know how we aru to remedy the dlfficulty lmt I am ready to trv I have no confidence in Rutherford. I trust vou will notresliiu, at least not at present, for' in that cvent the tira republicuns with Kntherfordwill put in th old gang, gure, Etc. "Very respectrally yours, "L. V. Sl'I'.AGCE." Right you are doctor. Mr. Mauly did not write his own resignation. thave everyreason to believe it was dictated l'v .1. V. Shank, written by Manager Graves and endorsad by the rest of the ■ Right lucky wás 1 to get out of your clutches even with my undershirt, and lucky will be the Home if it escapes with a liare liberty pole unless you change your quartermaster. Bespectftilly yours, Chahles H. Manly.