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* T A Y L O R O L O G Y *
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* A Continuing Exploration of the Life and Death of William Desmond Taylor *
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* *
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* Issue 25 -- January 1995 Editor: Bruce Long bruce@asu.edu *
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* TAYLOROLOGY may be freely distributed *
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
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The Court-Martial of Edward Sands
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Wallace Smith: February 22, 1922
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What is TAYLOROLOGY?
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TAYLOROLOGY is a newsletter focusing on the life and death of William Desmond
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Taylor, a top Paramount film director in early Hollywood who was shot to
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death on February 1, 1922. His unsolved murder was one of Hollywood's major
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scandals. This newsletter will deal with: (a) The facts of Taylor's life;
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(b) The facts and rumors of Taylor's murder; (c) The impact of the Taylor
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murder on Hollywood and the nation. Primary emphasis will be given toward
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reprinting, referencing and analyzing source material, and sifting it for
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accuracy.
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The Court-Martial of Edward Sands
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Edward F. Snyder, alias Edward Sands, was one of the prime suspects in the
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Taylor murder (see TAYLOROLOGY #19). In 1915, during his first enlistment in
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the United States Navy, he was court-martialed for fraud and embezzlement.
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The following are extracts from the court-martial record.
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Case of Edward F. Snyder, Yeoman, first class, U.S. Navy.
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November 22, 1915.
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Record of Proceedings
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of a
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GENERAL COURT-MARTIAL
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convened at
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The Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.
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by order of
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The Secretary of the Navy
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File No. 26251-11261
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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY,
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Washington, November 3, 1915.
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Sir:
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Edward F. Snyder, yeoman first class, United States Navy, will be tried
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before the general court-martial of which you are judge advocate, upon the
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following charges and specifications.
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You will notify the president of the court accordingly, inform the
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accused of the date set for his trial, and summon all witnesses, both for the
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prosecution and for the defense:
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CHARGE I.
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FRAUD, IN VIOLATION OF ARTICLE EIGHT OF THE ARTICLES FOR
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THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NAVY.
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SPECIFICATION.
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In that Edward F. Snyder, a yeoman first class in the United States
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Navy, while attached to and serving on board the United States ship PADUCAH,
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and assigned to duty as ship's store yeoman of the said vessel, and by virtue
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of such assignment, employed and service being charged with the care, custody
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and sale of stores in said ship's store, did sell, knowingly and fraudulently
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and with intent to defraud other persons in the Navy, at various times
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between the twentieth day of January, nineteen hundred and fifteen, and the
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eighth day of September, nineteen hundred and fifteen, on board the said
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ship, to certain men belonging to the crew of said ship, for amounts in
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excess of the prices lawfully authorized by the pay officer of the said ship,
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certain articles from the ship's store, as follows, to wit: Life Buoy soap,
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chocolate almond bars, pennants, William's shaving sticks, Pebecco tooth
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paste, Bull Durham tobacco, Cashmere soap, Electro Silicon, Bicycle playing
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cards, Colgate's tooth paste, fountain-pen ink, peanut butter, Prince Albert
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tobacco, Epicure tobacco, P.G. soap, Torrey razors, Durham Duplex razors, and
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fountain pens; thereby making fraudulent overcharges amounting in the
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aggregate to one hundred dollars, United States money, or thereabouts.
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CHARGE II
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EMBEZZLEMENT, IN VIOLATION OF ARTICLE FOURTEEN OF THE
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ARTICLES FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NAVY.
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SPECIFICATION.
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In that Edward F. Snyder, a yeoman first class in the United States
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Navy, while attached to and serving on board the United States ship PADUCAH,
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and assigned to duty as ship's store yeoman of the said vessel, and by virtue
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of such assignment, employed and service being charged with the care, custody
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and sale of stores in said ship's store, having sold, knowingly and
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fraudulently and with intent to defraud other persons in the Navy, at various
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times between the twentieth day of January, nineteen hundred and fifteen, and
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the eighth day of September, nineteen hundred and fifteen, on board the
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aforesaid ship, to certain men belonging to the crew of said ship, certain
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articles from the ship's store, as follows, to wit: Life Buoy soap, chocolate
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almond bars, pennants, William's shaving sticks, Pebecco tooth paste, Bull
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Durham tobacco, Cashmere soap, Electro Silicon, Bicycle playing cards,
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Colgate's tooth paste, fountain-pen ink, peanut butter, Prince Albert
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tobacco, Epicure tobacco, P.G. soap, Torrey razors, Durham Duplex razors, and
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fountain pens; thereby making fraudulent overcharges amounting in the
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aggregate to one hundred dollars, United States money, or thereabouts, and
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he, the said Snyder, having received into his possession the said amount in
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overcharge, did knowingly and fraudulently misappropriate and apply to his
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own use and benefit the said amount of one hundred dollars, United States
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money, or thereabouts, lawful money of the United States.
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/s Josephus Daniels
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Secretary of the Navy
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First Day.
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Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Monday, November 22, 1915
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The court met at 10:30 a.m.
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Present:
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Commander John V. Klemann, U.S. Navy,
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Paymaster Ben D. McGee, U.S. Navy,
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Captain John A. Hughes, U.S. Marine Corps,
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Passed Assistant Surgeon Edward V. Valz, U.S. Navy, and
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First Lieutenant Frederick R. Hoyt, U.S. Marine Corps,
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Members, and Second Lieutenant Arthur J. White, U.S. Marine Corps,
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Judge Advocate.
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N.O. Foust, stenographer, entered.
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The accused entered and stated that he wished to have C.W. Ford and
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C.H. Brown, of Boston, Mass., act as his counsel; the request was granted and
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counsel entered.
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The judge advocate read the precept, copy appended, marked "A", and
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also a letter from the Navy Department, dated November 15, 1915, copy
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appended, marked "B".
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The accused stated that he did not object to any member present.
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The judge advocate, each member, and the stenographer, were duly sworn.
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The accused stated that he had received a copy of the charges and
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specifications preferred against him about November 1, 1915.
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The court was cleared.
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When opened, all parties to the trial entered, and the president
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announced that the court found the charges and specifications in due form and
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technically correct.
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The accused stated that he was ready for trial.
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No witnesses were present.
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The judge-advocate read the letter of transmittal, and the charges and
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specifications, original prefixed, marked "1" and "2", and arraigned the
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accused as follows:
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Q. Edward F. Snyder, yeoman, first class, United States Navy, you have
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heard the charges and specifications of charges preferred against you; how
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say you to the specification of the first charge, guilty or not guilty?
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A. Not guilty.
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Q. To the first charge, guilty or not guilty?
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A. Not guilty.
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Q. To the specification of the second charge, guilty or not guilty?
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A. Not guilty.
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Q. To the second charge, guilty or not guilty?
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A. Not guilty.
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The prosecution began.
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A witness for the prosecution entered and was duly sworn.
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Examined by the judge-advocate.
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1.Q. What is your name, rank and present station?
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A. E.H. Barber, Assistant Paymaster, U.S. Navy, on special
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temporary duty at the Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.
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2.Q. As whom do you recognize the accused?
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A. As Snyder, yeoman first class, U.S. Navy.
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3.A. Do you recognize the accused as having been attached to and
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serving on board the U.S.S. PADUCAH?
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A. Yes sir; he was serving on board the PADUCAH in the capacity
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of ship's store and clothing yeoman from January 20th,
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approximately, to September 8, 1915.
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4.Q. How was the accused so serving in the capacity of yeoman in
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charge of the ship's store; what instructions did the accused work under as
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regarding the selling of articles in the ship's store?
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A. Well, instructions were contained in the Pay Officer's Manual
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for conducting the ship's store. He was furnished with a price
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list, and told to keep it posted.
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5.Q. By whom was the accused furnished with this price list that you
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mention?
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A. By myself.
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6.Q. Where was the price list kept, or supposed to be kept?
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A. A copy was placed on the ship's bulletin board. The original
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price list was posted on the ship's store right near the door.
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7.Q. Were there any other copies, and where were they kept?
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A. One copy was given to the ward-room, and one furnished to the
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commanding officer.
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8.Q. Can you remember, at the present time, the prices as established
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by you, of the various articles contained in the store?
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A. No, I cannot remember.
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9.Q. Have you in your possession any memoranda, or any record, of
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these prices which were in effect during the time the accused was in charge
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of the ship's store?
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A. I have the original ship's store ledger, which is in the
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hand-writing of the accused, which contains the official price
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list.
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The judge-advocate stated that if there was no objection by the
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accused, he would like to submit the original record of these prices to the
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witness so that he might testify as to the prices for the various articles
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sold in the ship's store.
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Question by counsel for the accused:
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"Do I understand that the witness kept this himself?"
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Answer by the witness:
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"Yes sir. The entries on the ledger were made by the accused."
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Question by the judge-advocate:
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"Do you object to the witness being supplied with this memoranda
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in order to refresh his memory?"
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Counsel for the accused:
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"No, I do not."
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The judge-advocate submitted the ledger to the court, stating that the
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ledger was the memoranda from which the prices for articles, cost and selling
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prices, were taken.
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The court had no objection to submitting the ledger as requested.
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Examined by the judge-advocate.
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10.Q. Do you recognize this book as the ledger kept by the ship's store
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yeoman under your supervision?
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A. I do.
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11.Q. From the memoranda in your possession, state the selling prices
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of the following articles: Life Buoy Soap?
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A. Four cents a cake.
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12.Q. Chocolate almond bars?
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A. Three cents each.
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13.Q. Pennants?
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A. Fifty-five cents each.
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14.Q. William's Shaving sticks?
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A. Twelve cents.
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15.Q. Pebecco Tooth Paste?
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A. Thirty-two cents.
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16.Q. Fountain-pen ink?
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A. Thirteen cents.
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17.Q. Did you have fountain-pen ink at other prices?
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A. No sir.
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18.Q. Peanut butter?
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A. Seven cents.
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19.Q. Prince Albert Tobacco?
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A. Eight cents.
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20.Q. Epicure tobacco?
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A. Eight cents.
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21.Q. P.G. Soap?
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A. Four cents.
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22.Q. Torrey razors?
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A. Eight-eight cents each.
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23.Q. Durham Duplex razors?
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A. $3.96.
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24.Q. Fountain pens?
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A. That all depends on the size; do you want the price list of
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fountain pens?
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25.Q. Yes.
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A. Fountain pens, 20 S.F., Bakelight, self-filling, $2.48;
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number 20-1/2 J.K., $1.65; number 18, Parker pen, $1.49.
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26.Q. The accused is charged with having committed certain offenses,
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between January, 1915 and September, 1915; state what you know of the
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circumstances?
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A. Well, after the inventory on September 8th--it was about
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September 10th or 12th, I went to the ship's store one night to
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get a box of cigars, and one of the members of the crew wanted
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to know if he could buy...some almond bar. I told him that I
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did not have a price list.
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Counsel for the accused:
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"This conversation I object to. A conversation of this nature is not
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admissible in any court; it is not admissible in any jurisdiction in the
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United States, and I do not see why it should be admissible here. Any
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conversation with a member of the crew, in the absence of the accused is not
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admissible by any rules of evidence. I therefore object. This member of the
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crew, I might add, might say in the absence of the accused that the accused
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committed murder, and it would be just as much his right to testify to that
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as it would be to testify to what he is now trying to testify to. This
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conversation with a member of the crew is not admissible either for or
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against the accused. And, as I have already stated, I have no objection to
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the Paymaster saying that he, in consequence of any conversation that he may
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have had, he did that, that, or the other, but the conversation, and I
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believe you gentlemen will bear me out in it, is not admissible on any
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ground."
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The judge-advocate withdrew the question.
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27.Q. On or about September 10th, did you have occasion to go to the
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ship's store for any purpose whatever, and if so, as a consequence of a
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conversation with a member of the crew, did you or did you not find that any
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irregularities had been going on in the story; if so, state briefly what they
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were?
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Counsel for the accused objected to this question.
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The court over-ruled the objection.
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Counsel for the accused took exceptions, and stated that any rights
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that he might have by the over-ruling of this objection would be saved.
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Witness continues testimony:
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"I ascertained that the accused had been selling almond bars at
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the rate of five cents each, or three for a dime; I then reported
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the matter to the commanding officer, and he ordered a board to
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investigate the irregularities in the ship's store.
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28.Q. Do you know if the members of the crew on the U.S.S. PADUCAH had
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any means of knowing the correct selling prices of articles in the ship's
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store; if so what were they?
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A. To the best of my knowledge the price list was kept posted on
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the door of the ship's store. Only on one occasion did I notice
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the price was not posted, and the accused explained that it had
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blown down. He was instructed to replace it. I saw the price
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list there on several occasions afterwards.
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Cross-examined by counsel for the accused.
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29.Q. Does the accused come directly under your supervision for any
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great length of time, that is, as officer or otherwise; have you had any
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occasion to meet him, or come in contact with him?
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A. From about January 1, 1915, to the present time.
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30.Q. And other than finding out the discoveries which you have
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testified to, so far as you could observe, his character has been good?
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A. Excellent.
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31.Q. And the information you received so far as irregularities were
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concerned was from conversation that you had with either a member, or
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members, of the crew, in the absence of the accused, was it not, Paymaster?
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A. No sir, I received my information through a Board of
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Investigation. I was present during the investigation.
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32.Q. And that information was what they told you?
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A. What they told the Board.
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33.Q. What they told the Board?
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A. Yes sir.
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34.Q. That is the only way you got your information?
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A. Yes sir.
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... Neither the court, the judge-advocate, nor counsel for the accused had
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any further questions to ask this witness.
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The witness verified his testimony, was duly warned and withdrew.
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A witness for the prosecution entered and was duly sworn.
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Examined by the judge-advocate.
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1.Q. What is your name, rate and present station?
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A. F.H. Sturner, Quartermaster, third class, serving on board
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the U.S.S. PADUCAH, Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.
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2.Q. As whom do you recognize the accused?
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A. I recognize the accused as E.F. Snyder, yeoman, first-class,
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formerly on board the PADUCAH.
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3.Q. What were the duties of the accused on board the U.S.S. PADUCAH?
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A. Canteen Yeoman, sir, and G.S.K. Yeoman.
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4.Q. Did you at any time between January 20, 1915, and September 8,
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1915, purchase any articles in the ship's store; if so, in what quantities,
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and at what prices for each article?
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A. Yes sir. I bought Bull Durham, not less than fifty at five
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cents a pack; Life Buoy soap, not less than ten, five cents per
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bar; P.G. Soap, not less than ten, five cents per bar; chocolate
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almond bars, not less than fifty, three for a dime; Epicure
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tobacco, not less than five, ten cents per can; Prince Albert
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tobacco, not less than five, ten cents per can; candy, half pound
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boxes, not less than fifteen, fifteen cents per box. That is
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about all.
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5.Q. Were these articles, articles that were regularly carried in the
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ship's store?
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A. Yes sir.
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Cross-examined by counsel for the accused.
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6.Q. Mr. Sturner, you saw the prices posted up there in the ship's
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store, did you not?
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A. No sir.
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7.Q. Were they posted up?
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A. Not that I know of; I never saw them.
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8.Q. You never saw the prices?
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A. No sir.
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9.Q. So you had no knowledge as to the prices otherwise than that
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which you gained from Mr. Snyder?
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A. Yes sir; I found out the prices from Mr. Snyder.
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10.Q. Most of your purchases were on credit weren't they?
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A. No sir.
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11.Q. You had considerable credit there didn't you?
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A. Yes sir, I had credit then.
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12.Q. There was a time that Mr. Snyder told you that you could not have
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any further credit, was there not?
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A. Not as I remember.
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13.Q. Didn't he tell you that your credit was exhausted?
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A. No sir, I cannot remember any time.
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14.Q. Did he say that he told you that your credit was exhausted?
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A. Yes sir.
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15.Q. You now say that he did tell you that?
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A. Yes sir.
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16.Q. But your credit stopped, didn't it, for some reason?
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A. Well, he was taken out of the canteen; he was taken sick.
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17.Q. And you never had a quarrel with him about it?
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A. No sir.
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18.Q. And you didn't think you were paying, when buying these various
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articles, anything beyond the regular prices charged by the Navy Regulations?
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A. No sir.
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19.Q. And you never made any complaint that you were being charged more
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than you ought to be?
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A. No sir.
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20.Q. There is a tin container for this P.G. soap, is there not?
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A. I am not sure; I don't know, sir.
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21.Q. You paid forty cents for a container?
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A. No sir, I never bought a container.
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22.Q. You never paid over four cents a bar?
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A. Yes sir, a nickel a bar for it.
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23.Q. Did you ever seek to inquire whether you were paying too much or
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not?
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A. Yes sir.
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24.Q. When did you first inquire if you were paying more than you ought
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to pay for it, between January and September, 1915?
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A. I don't remember, sir.
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25.Q. From whom did you inquire as to whether you were paying too much?
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A. Snyder.
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25.Q. What did Mr. Snyder tell you when he replied to your inquiry?
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A. Four cents a bar for P.G. soap.
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26.Q. After he told you four, you didn't pay him five?
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A. Yes sir.
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27.Q. How was it you paid him five when he told you it was only four?
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A. I laid down a nickel and did not wait for change.
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28.Q. You knew the price was four cents?
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A. Yes sir.
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Reexamined by the judge advocate.
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29.Q. By whose authority were you extended credit in the ship's store?
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A. By Snyder.
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30.Q. You were then not extended credit by authority of the Paymaster?
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A. No sir.
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31.Q. Did you know that it was illegal to extend credit in the ship's
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store?
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A. No sir.
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Neither the court, the judge advocate, nor counsel for the accused had
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any further questions to ask this witness.
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...
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A witness for the prosecution entered and was duly sworn.
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Examined by the judge advocate.
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1.Q. What is your name, rate and present situation?
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A. Thomas P. Fields, Seaman, on board the U.S.S. PADUCAH, Navy
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Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.
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2.Q. As whom do you recognize the accused?
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A. E.F. Snyder, formerly attached to the U.S.S. PADUCAH.
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3.Q. Did you at any time, between January, 1915 and September, 1915,
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make any purchases in the ship's store; if so, what articles did you
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purchase, in what quantities, as nearly as you can remember, and what price
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did you pay for each article?
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A. A fountain pen, $3.75; 5 bars Life Buoy soap, five cents a
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bar; Hershey's chocolates, about three for ten is what they
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|
sold it for, five bars; two plugs chewing tobacco, forty cents
|
|
a plug; that is about all.
|
|
4.Q. From whom did you purchase these articles?
|
|
A. E.F. Snyder.
|
|
Cross-examined by counsel for the accused.
|
|
5.Q. You don't mean to state to this court that you paid $3.75 for a
|
|
fountain pen?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
6.Q. Quite sure of that?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
7.Q. Did you buy that on credit?
|
|
A. No sir.
|
|
8.Q. Paid for it in cash?
|
|
A. I bought the first pen on credit, for $2.50 and some one
|
|
took that out of my ditty box, and then I bought this one and I
|
|
can't quite remember whether I bought the second one on credit or
|
|
paid cash for it.
|
|
9.Q. You cannot remember whether you paid for it or not?
|
|
A. I don't remember. But I think I paid cash for it.
|
|
10.Q. Are you sure of that?
|
|
A. Quite sure.
|
|
11.Q. Didn't you think it was rather high at the time you purchased it?
|
|
A. I didn't know.
|
|
12.Q. What kind of a pen was it?
|
|
A. I forgot the name of it,--Barlite, or something like that.
|
|
13.Q. Was it a self-filling pen?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
14.Q. Have you got it now?
|
|
A. It is over in town in my room.
|
|
15.Q. Do you own it now?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
16.Q. In other words, did anybody steal that from you?
|
|
A. No sir.
|
|
17.Q. Was that the fountain pen you bought from Snyder?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
18.Q. What did you pay for the first one?
|
|
A. $2.50.
|
|
19.Q. When did you buy it?
|
|
A. In May or April.
|
|
20.Q. In what year?
|
|
A. 1915.
|
|
21.Q. You think it was in May or April?
|
|
A. Either May or April. I have two slips in my ditty box now,
|
|
receipts.
|
|
22.Q. And you paid $2.50 for that one?
|
|
A. $2.50 for the first one.
|
|
23.Q. Pretty good pen?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
24.Q. You are sure somebody stole it from you?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
25.Q. When did that pen disappear?
|
|
A. It was about a month afterwards.
|
|
26.Q. After you purchased it?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
27.Q. Some time in either May or June?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
28.Q. Then after it disappeared, you bought this one, for which you
|
|
paid $3.75?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
29.Q. Did you have any conversation with Snyder when you bought this
|
|
one, for which you paid $3.75?
|
|
A. He spoke to me. I was going to get the same kind of pen.
|
|
30.Q. What did you say to him?
|
|
A. I didn't say anything then.
|
|
31.Q. What did he say to you?
|
|
A. He said he had a pen which sold for $4.50, but that he would
|
|
sell it to me for $3.75, because it had a chip in the cap,--
|
|
a chip was broken out of the cap.
|
|
32.Q. Because it had a chip broken out?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
33.Q. Did you say anything further to him?
|
|
A. No sir; only said I would buy it.
|
|
34.Q. You said you would buy it?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
35.Q. You don't know whether you got it on credit?
|
|
A. I don't quite remember.
|
|
36.Q. Did you owe anything to Mr. Snyder at that time; have you paid up
|
|
all that you owed?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
37.Q. Who did you pay?
|
|
A. Snyder.
|
|
38.Q. Did you say anything to Mr. Snyder about $3.75 being a high price
|
|
to pay for a fountain pen?
|
|
A. No Sir.
|
|
39.Q. You had it, say, since last June?
|
|
A. Well, the second fountain pen I had, it was either June or
|
|
July, I have a receipt.
|
|
40.Q. And you do not remember the name of it now?
|
|
A. No sir, it was a self filling pen.
|
|
41.Q. But you don't remember the name of the fountain pen?
|
|
A. No sir; Barlite, or something like that.
|
|
42.Q. That is as near as you can remember it?
|
|
A. That is as near as I can remember it.
|
|
43.Q. Did you see the list of prices of these articles posted up there
|
|
at all?
|
|
A. No sir.
|
|
44.Q. Did you ever have any conversation with Snyder as to whether or
|
|
not he charged too much for any articles that you bought?
|
|
A. No sir.
|
|
45.Q. You simply bought the articles and paid him what he told you the
|
|
price was?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
46.Q. When did you first learn that you had paid too much for any of
|
|
these articles?
|
|
A. When Snyder was accused.
|
|
47.Q. Who told you that you paid too much?
|
|
A. I saw the slip posted in the canteen there.
|
|
48.Q. That was the first time you saw it posted?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
49.Q. Who called it to your attention?
|
|
A. Nobody called my attention to it. I simply noticed it up
|
|
there, and I looked it over.
|
|
50.Q. Did you volunteer to the Court of Inquiry the information that
|
|
you gave in this court; who asked you first how much you paid for these
|
|
articles?
|
|
A. They first passed the word, and the men asked me if I had
|
|
bought fountain pens.
|
|
51.Q. Who asked you about the price of it?
|
|
A. Mr. Rogers.
|
|
52.Q. Did he ask you about the price you paid for various other
|
|
articles you mentioned?
|
|
A. No sir, the fountain pen was all.
|
|
53.Q. Is this the first time that you told what you paid for soap to
|
|
anybody?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
54.Q. Mr. Rogers asked you what you paid for the fountain pen; did he
|
|
then ask you the name of the pen?
|
|
A. The paymaster is the one that asked me.
|
|
55.Q. Did he ask you what kind of pen?
|
|
A. No sir. I showed it to him and the told me the name of it.
|
|
56.Q. Since then you have forgotten?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
Neither the court, the judge advocate, nor counsel for the accused had
|
|
any further questions to ask this witness.
|
|
...
|
|
The court at 12:20 p.m., adjourned to meet tomorrow at 10:00 o'clock
|
|
a.m.
|
|
Second Day.
|
|
Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.
|
|
Tuesday, November 23, 1915
|
|
The court met at 10:30 a.m.
|
|
...
|
|
Thomas P. Fields, seaman, U.S. Navy, who had previously testified, was
|
|
called before the court, informed that the oath previously taken was still
|
|
binding, and stated that he had had read over to him the testimony given by
|
|
him on Monday, the first day of the trial and pronounced it correct.
|
|
Before this witness withdrew, counsel for the accused desired to
|
|
further cross-examine him.
|
|
Cross-examined by counsel for accused.
|
|
57.Q. What did you state yesterday you paid for that fountain pen?
|
|
A. Which one, the first one?
|
|
58.Q. The one you have now.
|
|
A. Well, for the first one I paid $2.50 and the second one
|
|
$3.75.
|
|
59.Q. $3.75 for the second one.
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
Reexamined by the judge-advocate.
|
|
60.Q. Did you at any time after having purchased the articles to which
|
|
you have testified, learn that you had been over-charged for the same?
|
|
A. Why, after Snyder was accused, sir; after I had seen the
|
|
list.
|
|
61.Q. Did the accused at any time refund to you these over-charges?
|
|
A. No sir.
|
|
Recross-examined by counsel for accused.
|
|
62.Q. You don't know now that you had been over-charged, do you?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
63.Q. By seeing the list?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
64.Q. Was it by seeing the list that you formed your opinion that you
|
|
were overcharged?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
65.Q. When did you last see the list?
|
|
A. I don't remember, sir, when I last seen it. I don't know
|
|
when it was.
|
|
66.Q. Did you see it posted?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
67.Q. Where?
|
|
A. It is posted in the canteen, sir.
|
|
68.Q. When?
|
|
A. After Snyder was accused.
|
|
69.Q. Did you ever see it posted before Snyder was accused?
|
|
A. No sir.
|
|
70.Q. When was the last time you saw it?
|
|
A. Why, I seen it this morning.
|
|
71.Q. Who showed it to you?
|
|
A. Nobody showed it to me.
|
|
72.Q. Where did you see it?
|
|
A. On the canteen, sir.
|
|
73.Q. How did you happen to see it?
|
|
A. I walked by there; I was going to the scuttle butt to get a
|
|
drink; when we go to get a drink we pass the bulletin board on
|
|
the canteen, there, and as I passed it I glanced at it.
|
|
I generally glanced at it when I passed.
|
|
74.Q. Do you generally glance at the price list?
|
|
A. Couldn't hardly help it, sir. Yes sir.
|
|
75.Q. You didn't help yourself by glancing at it before Snyder was
|
|
accused, did you?
|
|
A. There was no price list there to glance at, sir.
|
|
76.Q. How did you happen to glance at it this morning?
|
|
A. I just happened to glance at the bulletin board and took a
|
|
glance at it.
|
|
77.Q. Well, was it for the purpose of verifying your memory of
|
|
yesterday that you glanced at the bulletin board this morning?
|
|
A. No sir.
|
|
78.Q. How did you happen to glance at it?
|
|
The judge-advocate objected to this question on the ground that the
|
|
witness has already testified, or explained, how he happened to see it, by a
|
|
casual glance in passing the canteen, and it would seem that the manner of
|
|
bringing out testimony by counsel for the accused savors of a desire to
|
|
confuse the witness or to brow-beat him.
|
|
The objection was over-ruled by the court and the witness instructed to
|
|
answer the question.
|
|
A. Well, as I said before, you could not help seeing it on the
|
|
bulletin board as you passed by. As you go to get a drink you
|
|
pass the canteen, and it is the custom to look on the bulletin
|
|
board to see if there is any new orders posted. Most any person
|
|
will glance at it, at the price list because it is right next to
|
|
the bulletin board.
|
|
79.Q. That is how you happened to glance at it this morning, isn't it,
|
|
Mr. Fields?
|
|
A. Yes sir, exactly.
|
|
80.Q. Now when you bought this fountain pen for which you paid $3.75,
|
|
why didn't you follow out your custom and glance at the price list first?
|
|
A. There was no price list there.
|
|
81.Q. When you bought the other fountain pen was there a price list
|
|
there?
|
|
A. No sir.
|
|
82.Q. When you purchased this fountain pen from Mr. Snyder, did you ask
|
|
him why there wasn't a price list posted?
|
|
A. No sir.
|
|
83.Q. What did you purchase this morning?
|
|
A. From the canteen, sir?
|
|
84.Q. Yes.
|
|
A. Nothing.
|
|
85.Q. How did you happen to go in there?
|
|
A. I didn't say I went into the canteen, sir.
|
|
86.Q. Didn't you go in?
|
|
A. I only passed there; I walked by.
|
|
87.Q. As you went by, you glanced at the price list?
|
|
A. I went by the bulletin board as I went to get a drink of
|
|
water and that is how I happened to glance at it.
|
|
88.Q. Now, Mr. Fields, I want to ask you this question, from January up
|
|
to the time that you heard Mr. Snyder accused, have you ever seen in the
|
|
canteen or in the ship's store-room a price-list posted?
|
|
A. I had never seen one posted on the canteen, or store-room.
|
|
89.Q. So that you had never seen a price list?
|
|
A. No sir.
|
|
90.Q. So that at any time when you wanted to purchase something from
|
|
the ship's store you had to take the word of the man who was presiding over
|
|
the store-room, or canteen, as the case may be?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
91.Q. During the progress of this trial, has the price list been called
|
|
to your attention?
|
|
A. No sir.
|
|
92.Q. So that you don't know at the present time what the prices are
|
|
for, say, fountain pens, soap, tooth paste, etc.?
|
|
A. Yes sir, I know now sir.
|
|
93.Q. You didn't know there was a printed price-list?
|
|
A. I know the list that is on the canteen now, sir.
|
|
94.Q. When was that placed there, do you know?
|
|
A. After Snyder was accused.
|
|
95.Q. Do you know who placed it there?
|
|
A. I do not, sir.
|
|
96.Q. Is it there now?
|
|
A. Yes sir.
|
|
97.Q. The price list, so far as you understand it, Mr. Fields, should
|
|
be posted on the bulletin board, should it not?
|
|
A. I think it is supposed to be posted on the canteen, as far
|
|
as I know.
|
|
98.Q. On the canteen bulletin board?
|
|
A. On the canteen bulletin board.
|
|
99.Q. It should be posted on the canteen?
|
|
A. Yes sir, it is posted.
|
|
100.Q. And during the interval between January and September, 1915, you
|
|
never saw it?
|
|
A. I never seen it.
|
|
Neither the court, the judge advocate, nor counsel for accused had any
|
|
further questions to ask this witness.
|
|
...
|
|
There being no objection by the court, or counsel for the accused,
|
|
Assistant Paymaster E.H. Barber, U.S. Navy, was recalled as a witness for the
|
|
prosecution, and, having been informed by the court that his oath previously
|
|
taken was still binding, testified as follows:
|
|
Re-examined by the judge-advocate.
|
|
35.Q. You previously testified to the selling prices of certain
|
|
articles in the ship's store; will you explain how and by what authority
|
|
these selling prices were established?
|
|
A. An Act of Congress, approved June 24, 1910, authorized a
|
|
profit of articles sold in the ship's store not to exceed fifteen
|
|
percent, and based on the original cost price, it was endeavored
|
|
to make a profit not to exceed fifteen per cent, generally about
|
|
ten percent.
|
|
36.Q. Who fixed the selling prices of articles for sale?
|
|
A. The supply officer.
|
|
37.Q. You also stated the authorized selling prices for certain
|
|
articles that were carried in the ship's store in your testimony; will you
|
|
state from memory, if possible, the authorized selling prices of the
|
|
following articles? Bull Durham tobacco?
|
|
A. Four cents a sack.
|
|
38.Q. Cashmere soap?
|
|
A. Seventeen cents a cake.
|
|
39.Q. Electro Silicon?
|
|
A. Seven cents a can.
|
|
40.Q. Bicycle playing cards?
|
|
A. Seventeen cents a deck.
|
|
41.Q. Colgate's Tooth Paste?
|
|
A. Fifteen cents a tube.
|
|
42.Q. Was it necessary for you, prior to entering the court this
|
|
morning to refresh your memory in regard to these selling prices?
|
|
A. It was in the case of electro silicon and bicycle playing
|
|
cards.
|
|
43.Q. Did you refresh your memory from entries in the same ledger that
|
|
you used in the court yesterday?
|
|
A. Yes sir, I did.
|
|
44.Q. Have the entries in this ledger, so far as your testimony is
|
|
concerned, been altered or changed in any manner whatsoever?
|
|
A. They have not.
|
|
45.Q. Are they, each and every one, in the hand-writing of the accused?
|
|
A. All articles except school books received in the ship's store
|
|
since the accused was transferred.
|
|
46.Q. How often are the accounts of a ship's store yeoman settled or
|
|
checked? How often were the accounts of the accused, while serving as store
|
|
yeoman on the U.S.S. PADUCAH checked or settled?
|
|
A. At the end of each quarter, each fiscal quarter.
|
|
47.Q. Were they settled at any other time?
|
|
A. They were not, except at the period when he was transferred.
|
|
48.Q. Did his balance cash on hand at any of these periods show an
|
|
excess of cash?
|
|
A. It did not.
|
|
49.Q. Did the accused ever turn over to you cash in excess of that
|
|
accruing from the sales at established selling prices of articles in the
|
|
ship's store?
|
|
A. Not to my knowledge. There was no way of ascertaining this
|
|
except at the final inventory at the end of each quarter.
|
|
50.Q. At the final inventory at the end of each quarter?
|
|
A. At the end of each quarter.
|
|
51.Q. At the time the accused was relieved, did he turn over to you
|
|
cash in excess of that which was due from the sale of articles, or minor
|
|
shortages that may have occurred during the quarter, or at the time he was
|
|
relieved?
|
|
A. He did not.
|
|
52.Q. What kind of money was accepted in exchange for articles in the
|
|
ship's store?
|
|
A. Money which is the common medium of exchange in the United
|
|
States. No foreign money was accepted.
|
|
53.Q. That then was the only authorized medium accepted in exchange for
|
|
the purchase of articles from the store?
|
|
A. It was
|
|
54.Q. What disposition is made of funds accruing from the sale of
|
|
articles in the ship's store?
|
|
A. They are received under "General Account of Advances", and
|
|
credited by the Auditor for the Navy Department to appropriation
|
|
"Provisions, Navy", with the exception that the net profit
|
|
accruing from the sale is carried under a separate fund accounted
|
|
for by the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, known as "Ship's
|
|
Store Profit."
|
|
...
|
|
Recross-examined by counsel for the accused.
|
|
55.Q. Mr. Paymaster, you always found the accused a pretty efficient
|
|
sort of fellow, or chap, or employee, at the time immediately prior to the
|
|
time he was accused, while he was under you, did you not?
|
|
A. Yes sir. I considered him the most efficient ship store
|
|
yeoman that I ever had under my supervision.
|
|
56.Q. When the accounts were made out at the end of each quarter, if
|
|
any deficiency in the accounts was discovered, the accused always made it up?
|
|
A. Yes sir, he made up any deficiency without protest.
|
|
Examined by the Court.
|
|
57.Q. In answer to a question by the judge advocate, you mention supply
|
|
officer; explain who performs the duties of supply officer on the U.S.S.
|
|
PADUCAH?
|
|
A. Well, I performed that duty until I was detached on November
|
|
20th, 1915.
|
|
58.Q. What other duties did you perform?
|
|
A. The duties originally known as Commissary Officer, General
|
|
Storekeeper and Pay Officer.
|
|
Neither the court, the judge-advocate nor counsel for the accused had
|
|
any further questions to ask this witness.
|
|
...
|
|
A witness for the prosecution entered and was duly sworn.
|
|
Examined by the judge advocate.
|
|
1.Q. What is your name, rate and present situation?
|
|
A. O.P. Smart, Commissary Steward, U.S.S. PADUCAH.
|
|
2.Q. As whom do you recognize the accused?
|
|
A. Snyder, Yeoman, first class, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. PADUCAH.
|
|
3.Q. Did you at any time, between January 20, 1915, and September 8,
|
|
1915, purchase any articles in the ship's store, if so, in what quantities,
|
|
and what prices did you pay for them?
|
|
A. I have purchased tobacco and soap on numerous occasions,
|
|
and always paid six for a quarter, and a rebate was always
|
|
offered me, a cent or two cents, which I turned back to the
|
|
yeoman. I purchased a fountain pen at $2.50, jack-knife safety.
|
|
4.Q. What make is this pen?
|
|
A. Parker.
|
|
5.Q. From whom did you make these purchases?
|
|
A. From Snyder.
|
|
...
|
|
A witness for the prosecution entered and was duly sworn.
|
|
Examined by the judge advocate.
|
|
1.Q. What is your name, rate and present situation?
|
|
A. William T. Hardy, yeoman third class, U.S. Navy, attached to
|
|
and serving on board the U.S.S. PADUCAH, Navy Yard, Portsmouth,
|
|
New Hampshire.
|
|
2.Q. As whom do you recognize the accused?
|
|
A. E. F. Snyder, formerly attached to the U.S.S. PADUCAH.
|
|
3.Q. What duty did the accused perform on board the U.S.S. PADUCAH?
|
|
A. As canteen and small stores yeoman.
|
|
4.Q. Between January 20th, 1915, and September 8th, 1915, did you
|
|
purchase any articles in the ship's stores?
|
|
A. Yes, sir.
|
|
5.Q. What articles did you purchase, in what quantities and what
|
|
prices did you pay for them?
|
|
A. I got tooth paste, not less than two, at 15 cents apiece.
|
|
6.Q. What kind.
|
|
A. Colgate's. Soap, six for a quarter, not less than six.
|
|
7.Q. What kind of soap.
|
|
A. Life Buoy. Almond bars, not less than ten at three for ten
|
|
cents.
|
|
8.Q. What were these almond bars made of?
|
|
A. Of chocolate and nut inside. That is about all I purchased.
|
|
9.Q. From whom did you purchase these articles?
|
|
A. From Snyder.
|
|
10.Q. Do you know if the prices you paid for these articles were
|
|
correct, or not?
|
|
A. Not at the time of purchase.
|
|
11.Q. When did you learn that you had paid incorrect prices for these
|
|
articles to which you testified?
|
|
A. I learned that after I had taken the canteen as Snyder's
|
|
replacement.
|
|
12.Q. What are your duties on board the U.S.S. PADUCAH?
|
|
A. Canteen and small stores yeoman.
|
|
13.Q. Are you in charge of the ship's store?
|
|
A. Yes.
|
|
14.Q. When did you take this duty?
|
|
A. I cannot give the exact date but it was some time between the
|
|
1st and 10th of September, I am not positive as to the exact
|
|
date.
|
|
15.Q. Did you find a price list posted in the canteen when you took
|
|
over the duty?
|
|
A. Yes, sir.
|
|
16.Q. Where was it?
|
|
A. The price list I found was way up in the top, one dated
|
|
quite a ways back, partly torn and soiled, which I destroyed
|
|
and threw out when I was cleaning out the store.
|
|
17.Q. Why did you destroy and throw out this price list?
|
|
A. Because it was of an old date and could not be recognized
|
|
and was of no use. If I remember right it was 1913 or 1914;
|
|
it was not a current date.
|
|
18.Q. Did you ever see any price list of articles for sale in the
|
|
ship's store posted any place on the ship?
|
|
A. No, sir, none at all.
|
|
...
|
|
A witness for the prosecution entered and was duly sworn.
|
|
Examined by the judge advocate.
|
|
1.Q. What is your name, rate and present situation?
|
|
A. Otho Harpe, yeoman first class, U.S. Navy, attached to and
|
|
serving on the U.S.S. PADUCAH.
|
|
2.Q. As whom do you recognize the accused?
|
|
A. E. F. Snyder.
|
|
3.Q. What is his rating?
|
|
A. Yeoman, first class.
|
|
4.Q. Do you know where he has been serving?
|
|
A. On board the PADUCAH.
|
|
5.Q. What are your duties on board the PADUCAH?
|
|
A. Pay yeoman.
|
|
6.Q. Where do members of a ship's crew purchase articles which
|
|
constitute the daily necessities?
|
|
A. In the ship's store and in the clothing and small stores.
|
|
7.Q. Have they any means of knowing the authorized selling prices of
|
|
these articles?
|
|
A. Yes, sir.
|
|
8.Q. Will you explain fully?
|
|
A. On clothing and small stores there is a memorandum issued by
|
|
the Bureau on the first of January, taking effect then, and they
|
|
can learn the price of any article by simply inquiring. On the
|
|
ship's stores there is a price list prepared under the direction
|
|
of the Pay Officer, giving the selling prices of all items that
|
|
are carried in the ship's store.
|
|
9.Q. And where are these price lists kept?
|
|
A. Generally posted inside, or just outside, of the canteen.
|
|
In the clothing and small stores it is usually posted inside,
|
|
just a written price list for the information of the clothing
|
|
and small stores yeoman.
|
|
10.Q. In the ship's store or canteen on board the U.S.S. PADUCAH do you
|
|
know if this price list that you have mentioned was kept posted at any place?
|
|
A. I could not say as to the time, but it was posted in there at
|
|
various times; I could not say it was always in the canteen.
|
|
11.Q. As nearly as you can remember, state when and how often you saw
|
|
this price list?
|
|
A. I could not say positively because I never paid any
|
|
particular attention to it and in fact I was not around the
|
|
canteen very often. I know I have seen it there on two occasions
|
|
at least during the present year but I could not say just when.
|
|
12.Q. Could you state approximately the month, or months?
|
|
A. No further than during the spring, I could not even state
|
|
the month.
|
|
13.Q. You say you saw this two times?
|
|
A. I know I saw it twice because it occurred to me that it
|
|
was rather soiled and it would be a good idea to have a new one.
|
|
Those are the only specific occasions I remember noticing it.
|
|
...
|
|
The prosecution rested.
|
|
The defense began.
|
|
The court took a recess for five minutes.
|
|
The court reassembled at the expiration of the recess. Present: All
|
|
the members, the judge-advocate, the stenographer, the accused and his
|
|
counsel.
|
|
The judge-advocate was called to the stand as a witness to produce the
|
|
current enlistment record of the accused, and after being duly sworn, was
|
|
examined as follows:
|
|
Examined by the judge-advocate. [sic]
|
|
1.Q. What is your name, rank and present situation?
|
|
A. Arthur J. White, Second Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps,
|
|
attached to and serving at the Marine Barracks, Navy Yard,
|
|
Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
|
|
2.Q. Are you the judge-advocate of the General Court Martial now in
|
|
session?
|
|
A. I am.
|
|
3.Q. As whom do you recognize the accused?
|
|
A. As E.F. Snyder, yeoman first class, formerly attached to the
|
|
U.S.S. PADUCAH.
|
|
4.Q. Are you the legal custodian of the current enlistment record of
|
|
the accused? If so, produce it.
|
|
A. I am.
|
|
The witness produced the current enlistment record of the accused, it
|
|
was submitted to the accused and the court and, there being no objection, was
|
|
offered in evidence and so received.
|
|
5.Q. Have you read the record over?
|
|
A. I have.
|
|
6.Q. From that record what is his standing?
|
|
A. In what regard?
|
|
7.Q. As a matter of conduct and efficiency?
|
|
A. From the enlistment record of the accused I find that during
|
|
the period he has served in the United States Navy from
|
|
September 19, 1911, to November 5, 1915, his markings are as
|
|
follows: Sobriety and obedience are all 5, with the exception
|
|
of one mark of 4.5 while serving on board the U.S.S. FRANKLIN
|
|
from December 28, 1911, to December 30, 1912. On December 31,
|
|
1912, he was assigned duty in the pay department of the U.S.S.
|
|
MONTANA and continued on this duty until detached November 5,
|
|
1913. He served as canteen yeoman on board the U.S.S. CHESTER
|
|
from Dec. 31, 1913, to June 30, 1914. On September 30, 1914,
|
|
he was in the pay office of the CHESTER. On September 9, 1915,
|
|
on the U.S.S. PADUCAH he has a mark of 0 which is since the
|
|
Court of Inquiry which examined into his accounts. His
|
|
markings in proficiency are, 4; 3.5; 4.; 4.5; 4.5; 4.; 4.;
|
|
4.;4.5; 4.5; 4.8; 4.; and 0 which corresponds to the other
|
|
marking since charges were preferred against the accused.
|
|
8.Q. He would be given the mark of 0 under any circumstances while
|
|
under these charges?
|
|
A. Yes. While serving on board the CHESTER at Vera Cruz on
|
|
April 22, 1914, the accused volunteered to search small boats
|
|
lying inshore, for snipers. There is an entry in his record
|
|
dated 9-8-15, "Gross irregularities in handling canteen stores
|
|
and giving unauthorized credit to enlisted men. Punishment not
|
|
awarded on account of man being on sick list and transferred to
|
|
hospital."
|
|
9.Q. And that last item you read states practically what these charges
|
|
are that we are at present trying?
|
|
A. So I understand it.
|
|
10.Q. Is the highest mark in efficiency 5?
|
|
A. It is.
|
|
11.Q. And during the entire time of his enlistment, otherwise than the
|
|
0 recorded against him on account of these pending charges,
|
|
there is no mark less for efficiency or otherwise than 3.5?
|
|
A. None less than 3.5 and that only in one case, which mark is
|
|
under the heading "Proficiency in Rating."
|
|
12.Q. Would you consider the marking and the rating as contained in
|
|
that book an excellent one?
|
|
A. I would.
|
|
13.Q. Would you consider it beyond the average?
|
|
A. I would consider it beyond the average?
|
|
14.Q. Would you consider it considerably beyond the average?
|
|
A. I would.
|
|
15.Q. Would you consider that a man who volunteered to go into small
|
|
boats during the trouble down in Mexico was a most desirable
|
|
seaman in the United States Navy?
|
|
A. That would depend largely on circumstances. However, I
|
|
should say that he was a desirable man.
|
|
16.Q. From reading Mr. Snyder's record, would you consider Mr. Snyder,
|
|
being that volunteer, a most desirable member of the
|
|
United States Navy?
|
|
A. I would.
|
|
The judge-advocate did not desire to cross-examine this witness.
|
|
Examined by the court.
|
|
17.Q. Will you state the age of the accused as given?
|
|
A. Date of birth April 4, 1893.
|
|
Neither the accused (counsel), the judge advocate, nor the court
|
|
desired to further question this witness.
|
|
The witness verified his testimony and resumed his seat as judge-
|
|
advocate.
|
|
The defense rested.
|
|
The accused did not desire to make a statement to the court.
|
|
The counsel for accused submitted an oral argument to the court, in
|
|
substance as follows:
|
|
"Mr. President and gentlemen of the court, I am somewhat, of course, as
|
|
you gentlemen will readily understand, at a disadvantage in coming before a
|
|
court of this sort; in one way I might add that I consider it a disadvantage
|
|
and in another way a considerable advantage, somewhat of an advantage on
|
|
account of the experience, and considerably I am at a disadvantage on account
|
|
of the fact that the procedure is a little different from that to which I
|
|
have been accustomed and concerning which I have been trained. I feel,
|
|
however, that I am coming before a court that, to say the least, is mighty
|
|
human. I really believe in my own mind that I do not exaggerate matters when
|
|
I state that in my opinion I am before a court which cannot in any way be
|
|
fooled by any technicalities, even if I had a desire in my mind to get the
|
|
accused off by such methods. The fact is the evidence is fully in your minds
|
|
upon which these charges are based. Anything that I might say perhaps would
|
|
not influence you except insofar as you might be influenced by the fact that
|
|
the evidence is not sufficient to prove that the accused here is guilty of
|
|
the offense with which he is charged. Now, I am not going to in any way
|
|
undertake to sum up the testimony of the various witnesses. You, gentlemen,
|
|
know it, it is fresh in your minds and you are just as capable of forming an
|
|
opinion as to whether that testimony should have any weight as I am, and
|
|
perhaps much more so, but I would like to make this only as a suggestion,
|
|
that there is not a particle of evidence offered against this accused that
|
|
has the slightest weight in proving the charges of which he is accused. In
|
|
the first place, my brother has not shown that he has over-charged for any
|
|
article because my brother has now been able to show that the accused knew
|
|
what the regular prices were. There has been no testimony introduced here,
|
|
with the exception of the Assistant Paymaster's, that there has been any
|
|
charge which was beyond the regular prices that the accused should have
|
|
charged. The Assistant Paymaster, if I remember it correctly, stated that
|
|
the price of soap, I think, was four cents. The testimony of some of the
|
|
witnesses here is that they paid four cents for the soap. There has been
|
|
testimony by some of the witnesses to show that they paid more for Pebeco
|
|
tooth paste, I think, and Colgate's shaving soap than really ought to have
|
|
been charged them, and I think that another witness testified that he tossed
|
|
down a nickel for one of the articles and did not wait for his change.
|
|
"Now, upon that testimony, it would seem to me that even if you believe
|
|
it, and I am not questioning the veracity of the witnesses for the
|
|
prosecution--even if you believe it, it should leave a reasonable doubt in
|
|
your minds as to whether or not this boy is guilty of the offenses charged.
|
|
I assume that if any doubt exists in your minds which you gentlemen consider
|
|
is reasonable, this boy will be given the benefit of the doubt. I might
|
|
state in passing that I never realized the seriousness of offenses against
|
|
the United States Government until I got into this case. I do not believe
|
|
the boy can possibly realize what a serious position he is in, whether
|
|
innocent or guilty. You, gentlemen, know that which I did not know and
|
|
possibly what this boy did not know either, and I have only this to add to
|
|
what I have already stated in rather a hesitating manner, that it would seem
|
|
in view of his record and in view of the testimony as it has been given that
|
|
there must be a reasonable doubt as to this boy's guilt and I simply ask, if
|
|
that doubt exists, that you will give him the benefit of it."
|
|
The judge-advocate submitted the case to the court without remark.
|
|
The court took a recess until 2:00 p.m., the same date.
|
|
The court reassembled at the expiration of the recess. Present: All
|
|
the members, the judge-advocate, the stenographer and the accused.
|
|
The accused stated that he waived the right for his counsel to be
|
|
present.
|
|
The record of the proceedings of yesterday was read and approved.
|
|
The trial was finished.
|
|
The judge-advocate stated that he had no evidence of previous
|
|
conviction.
|
|
The court was cleared.
|
|
The judge-advocate was recalled and directed to record the following
|
|
findings:
|
|
|
|
The specification of the first charge "Proved in part--proved except
|
|
the words 'Pebecco tooth paste," 'Cashmere soap,' 'Bicycle,' 'fountain-pen
|
|
ink,' 'Epicure tobacco' which words are not proved; and the words 'one
|
|
hundred' which words are not proved and for which the court substitutes the
|
|
word 'seven' which word is proved."
|
|
And that the accused Edward F. Snyder, Yeoman first class, U.S. Navy,
|
|
is, of the first charge, "Guilty."
|
|
The specification of the second charge "Proved in part--proved except
|
|
the words 'Pebecco tooth paste," 'Cashmere soap,' 'Bicycle,' 'fountain-pen
|
|
ink,' 'Epicure tobacco' which words are not proved; and the words 'one
|
|
hundred' which words are not proved and for which the court substitutes the
|
|
word 'seven' which word is proved."
|
|
And that the accused Edward F. Snyder, Yeoman first class, U.S. Navy,
|
|
is, of the second charge, "Guilty."
|
|
|
|
The court was cleared.
|
|
The judge-advocate was recalled and recorded the sentence of the court
|
|
as follows:
|
|
|
|
The court therefore sentences him, Edward F. Snyder, Yeoman, first
|
|
class, U.S. Navy, to be reduced to the rating of Landsman, U.S. Navy; and
|
|
then to be confined in such place as the convening authority may designate
|
|
for a period of one (1) year; then to be dishonorably discharged from the
|
|
United States Navy; to perform hard labor during said confinement and after
|
|
his accrued pay shall have discharged his indebtedness to the United States
|
|
at the date of approval of this sentence, to forfeit all pay that may become
|
|
due him except the sum of three dollars ($3.00) per month during said
|
|
confinement for necessary prison expenses, and a further sum of twenty five
|
|
dollars ($25.00) to be paid him when discharged from the service pursuant to
|
|
this sentence.
|
|
|
|
The court, having no more cases before it, adjourned to await the
|
|
action of the revising authority.
|
|
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
26251-11261
|
|
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
|
|
OFFICE OF THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL,
|
|
WASHINGTON
|
|
December 3, 1915.
|
|
|
|
Submitted, with the recommendation that the proceedings, findings, and
|
|
sentence, of the general court-martial in the foregoing case of Edward F.
|
|
Snyder, yeoman first class, U.S. Navy, be approved.
|
|
The accused in this case was convicted of "Fraud in violation of
|
|
Article Eight of the Articles for the Government of the Navy," the
|
|
specification thereunder alleging that while attached to and serving on board
|
|
the PADUCAH and performing the duties of ship's store yeoman of said vessel
|
|
the accused by virtue of such assignment, custody, and sale of stores of the
|
|
ship's store, knowingly and fraudulently and with intent to defraud other
|
|
persons in the Navy, charged certain members of the crew of the PADUCAH
|
|
amounts in excess of the prices lawfully authorized by the pay officer of the
|
|
said ship for certain articles from the ship's store, and "Embezzlement, in
|
|
violation of Article Fourteen of the Articles for the government of the
|
|
Navy," the specification thereunder alleging that the accused having sold
|
|
knowingly and fraudulently, and with intent to defraud certain other persons
|
|
in the Navy certain articles carried in the ship's store of the PADUCAH at
|
|
prices in excess of the lawfully authorized prices, did knowingly and
|
|
fraudulently misappropriate and apply to his own use and benefit certain sums
|
|
of money derived from the charges in excess of authorized prices for the
|
|
same.
|
|
The prosecution established conclusively that the accused had over-
|
|
charged certain members of the crew for thirteen of the eighteen articles
|
|
upon which the excess charges were alleged to have been made, the remaining
|
|
articles having been properly excepted by the court in its findings under the
|
|
specifications.
|
|
The defense made no offer to refute the charges and offered in evidence
|
|
the past good record of the accused.
|
|
It is noted throughout the record that the court frequently allowed
|
|
oral arguments upon the admissibility of evidence to be recorded in violation
|
|
of Article R 828, U.S. Navy Regulations, 1913. However, the counsel for the
|
|
accused urged that his objections and the reasons therefore be recorded in
|
|
order that they might be brought to the attention of the reviewing authority.
|
|
The court in view of such a request from counsel for the accused, should have
|
|
invited his attention to the foregoing article and required that he furnish
|
|
the court with briefs of such arguments in order that the same might be
|
|
appended to the record.
|
|
It is further recommended that the Naval Prison at the Navy Yard,
|
|
Portsmouth, N.H., be designated as the place for the execution of so much of
|
|
the sentence as relates to confinement.
|
|
Respectfully referred to the Bureau of Navigation for comment.
|
|
|
|
/s Ridley McLean
|
|
Judge Advocate General
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
|
|
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
|
|
Washington, December 7, 1915
|
|
|
|
The foregoing recommendations of the Judge Advocate General are
|
|
approved.
|
|
|
|
/s Josephus Daniels
|
|
Secretary of the Navy
|
|
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
Editor's Comment: So Sands/Snyder was convicted of having overcharged
|
|
sailors a total of $7.00, and pocketing the overcharge. For this, he was
|
|
sentenced to a year at hard labor and given a dishonorable discharge.
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
|
|
Wallace Smith: February 22, 1922
|
|
|
|
The following is another of Wallace Smith's sensationalizing dispatches on
|
|
the Taylor case.
|
|
|
|
February 22, 1922
|
|
Wallace Smith
|
|
CHICAGO AMERICAN
|
|
The last woman William Desmond Taylor held in his arms and kissed before
|
|
he died -- the actress suspected of having murdered him in an outflaming of
|
|
mad jealousy -- was secretly questioned today by detectives, who found her
|
|
hidden and under the protection of hired guards in a Los Angeles suburb.
|
|
Nervous and shaken at the hint that she would be arrested and charged
|
|
with murder, she cried out her denial of the killing and her denial of any but
|
|
a "sisterly" affection for the eccentric genius of the films. It was a scene
|
|
as dramatic as any she ever acted before the camera -- but not quite as
|
|
convincing.
|
|
At least not to the detectives. Because they had in their hands a sheaf
|
|
of letters which had been newly found, which showed this woman on the most
|
|
intimate terms with Taylor. And they had, too, the love scenes between her
|
|
and Taylor narrated by Henry Peavey, houseman of the slain movie director.
|
|
Frustrated at last by an apparent "collapse" of their subject, with a
|
|
busy physician on hand to report her condition serious, they swore that they
|
|
would return to the grilling with fresh fuel.
|
|
"If she didn't kill Taylor," declared one of the detectives, "she knows
|
|
who did. And she'll talk yet. We made the mistake of not putting her under
|
|
arrest the day of the murder. She's the one real clue we've had since they
|
|
found Taylor's body; if she wasn't so prominent and so well protected by the
|
|
influence she has over powerful men, she would have been behind the bars
|
|
before now."
|
|
It was to this actress, it was rumored, that Taylor made the present of
|
|
the $12,000 Oriental jade as a "peace offering" after a quarrel. It is known
|
|
that she made him gifts as costly. The jade is said to have disappeared.
|
|
She admitted being in his house the day Taylor was killed, and even that
|
|
he had put his arm around her.
|
|
"But it was just the sort of thing that a brother might do," she said.
|
|
"We were very dear friends -- that is all."
|
|
"Did you go to his house late at night," she was asked, "and remain there
|
|
until morning?"
|
|
"That is a lie," exclaimed the woman.
|
|
"Was there another man in the room beside Taylor," was the next question.
|
|
"A man who was in love with you?"
|
|
"That isn't true," she replied. "We were alone."
|
|
"Did you have a gun that night?"
|
|
It was at this point, according to the report, that the subject
|
|
collapsed.
|
|
More and more as the little tangled ends of the stories are straightened
|
|
out the affair of Taylor and the woman suspected becomes clear. Detectives
|
|
working on the case believe that she and the woman who is known to have
|
|
visited Taylor in the early hours of the morning are the same.
|
|
With her, it appears, "Bill" Taylor was not the austere but paternal
|
|
friend. With her he was the impassioned lover, playing the sort of part he
|
|
had directed often from the small end of the megaphone out "on the lot."
|
|
To her he carried the finished product of many rehearsals -- of many such
|
|
affairs.
|
|
It is known that they quarreled. She is said to have admitted that, too.
|
|
But the same report states she insisted that it was just a trivial dispute and
|
|
soon settled.
|
|
Officers under orders of Undersheriff Eugene Biscailuz have been
|
|
instructed to keep the actress under surveillance.
|
|
"She is the one logical suspect," declared Biscailuz today. "She has not
|
|
told all the story. And we are not going to rest until she does. Half a
|
|
dozen times she has been on the point of arrest. The next time may not fail."
|
|
Undersheriff Biscailuz also announced that he would have his men examine
|
|
the man who drives the actress' automobile. Through him, the undersheriff
|
|
believes, he may be able to get some information about the woman's nocturnal
|
|
visits and her relations with Taylor. [The actress referred to in the
|
|
preceding material was clearly Mabel Normand.--ed.]
|
|
The theory that the man helped a woman with the crime seemed to be
|
|
strengthened with a new statement from Christine Jewett, employed in the
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|
household of Douglas MacLean, screen actor and neighbor of Taylor in Alvarado
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|
St. It was his wife who claimed to have seen a mysterious man leaving the
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|
Taylor home fifteen minutes after hearing what seemed to be the discharge of a
|
|
revolver.
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|
"It was around 7 o'clock that night that I heard somebody in back of
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|
Taylor's house," said Miss Jewett. "I know the time because it was then that
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|
Mr. MacLean honked his automobile horn outside to tell me to start serving
|
|
dinner.
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|
"I went to the screen porch. I saw the man then. When I came he stood
|
|
still. A little later I heard him scuffling around. I was busy with dinner,
|
|
but each time I returned to the porch I saw him standing there. He must have
|
|
been there fifteen minutes, anyway. It was about a quarter of 8 that I heard
|
|
the shot."
|
|
Henry Peavey, the houseman, was taken to the district attorney's office
|
|
and questioned again by District Attorney Woolwine, First Deputy District
|
|
Attorney Doran and six detectives. This was after Peavey had revealed the
|
|
love scenes between Taylor and the actress and had told stories to prove
|
|
Taylor's infatuation for the woman.
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|
It also followed rather a harrowing experience for Peavey, who finds
|
|
himself constantly being distracted from his favorite occupation of making
|
|
crochet pillow tops.
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|
Volunteer investigators, believed by Prosecutor Woolwine to be employees
|
|
of a Los Angeles newspaper, thought that Peavey might speak more freely if he
|
|
was taken to the graveyard where Taylor's body lies in a vault and confronted
|
|
with a ghost.
|
|
According to a statement issued by Prosecutor Woolwine, "a pair of
|
|
conscienceless blackmailers," representing themselves as officers of the law,
|
|
invaded Peavey's room and took him prisoner. Thereafter, the prosecutor
|
|
states, they held him prisoner until midnight before the cemetery experiment.
|
|
Peavey was escorted through the midnight dark through the long array of
|
|
tombstones to the Taylor vault. Here in solemn tones he was told to speak the
|
|
truth.
|
|
"I swear to the Lawd, boss," said Peavey, "I told you everything I know."
|
|
At that moment there emerged from the gloom a wavering, tall figure, in a
|
|
flowing robe. Phosphorent hands gesticulated menacingly in the dark and a
|
|
pair of phosphorent eyes leered at the prisoner.
|
|
"Whoo--oo--o--." moaned the figure. "I'm Taylor. Henry. Tell these men
|
|
the truth."
|
|
It was too much, even for Peavey. He enjoyed the first laugh he has
|
|
enjoyed since he found Taylor's body.
|
|
"You wouldn't fool me, big white body [sic], would you?" he chortled.
|
|
And the shame-faced ghost wavered back into the night from which it had
|
|
emerged. One thing a ghost can't stand, apparently, is laughter.
|
|
The district attorney was quite indignant about the "third degree"
|
|
methods attempted on Peavey.
|
|
"It is regrettable," he said, in an official signed statement, "that the
|
|
district attorney has no jurisdiction over the offense committed by these
|
|
miscreants for the false imprisonment of this witness. I have not been able
|
|
as yet to ascertain their names, but if I knew them and had such jurisdiction,
|
|
they would be in jail today.
|
|
"This presumptuous, dangerous and dastardly interference with the orderly
|
|
course of procedure by the duly constituted authorities, is calculated to so
|
|
terrorize good and well meaning people that they keep secret important facts
|
|
that might lead to the discovery of the perpetrators of foul crimes."
|
|
District Attorney Woolwine announced himself absolutely baffled at the
|
|
mysterious ramifications of the murder and declared that he was going into the
|
|
hills for a day in the saddle.
|
|
Police working on the strange case were given copies of a letter received
|
|
from one who signed himself, "J. Smith" and who mailed the epistle from San
|
|
Francisco two weeks after the slaying. The writer declared that he had gone
|
|
to Taylor to demand payment for "a consignment of stuff," that Taylor had
|
|
attempted to put him off because of lack of funds, and that, as he drew a gun,
|
|
Taylor grabbed the weapon and caused its discharge.
|
|
The writer added that, as he made his escape he ran into a woman in
|
|
Taylor's hallway. Also that has his letter was being mailed he was on his way
|
|
to board a ship which was carrying him to foreign ports.
|
|
The police chief declared that the letter might be a hoax, but he also
|
|
declared that he would not chance overlooking a clue.
|
|
Another suspect sought was a man known as "Morphine Mose," reputed to
|
|
have been addicted to the drug which gave him his nickname. According to one
|
|
report in the hands of the police, "Morphine Mose" was a dope peddler who did
|
|
considerable "business" around the studios.
|
|
The police were informed that Taylor himself had thrown this man out of
|
|
the premises and that the man had sworn vengeance for the affront as well as
|
|
for the interference with his business.
|
|
The detectives also were interested in the whereabouts of one named
|
|
"Anderson," said to be a friend of Peavey's who once secured employment
|
|
through Taylor's houseman.
|
|
Anderson, it was said, had spent several hours in the Taylor home at the
|
|
invitation of Peavey. Later he lost the job Peavey is said to have secured
|
|
for him. One theory was that the mysterious Anderson, familiar with the house
|
|
and the fact that Taylor kept considerable jewelry and money about, had been
|
|
trapped as he was robbing the place and had "shot his way out."
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
Wanted for Future Issues of TAYLOROLOGY:
|
|
|
|
Interviews with Mary Miles Minter, published between 1924-1936, discussing the
|
|
Taylor case or her relationship with Taylor.
|
|
|
|
Other interviews with Charlotte Shelby, discussing the Taylor case.
|
|
|
|
Any interviews with Charlotte Whitney or Chauncey Eaton, discussing the Taylor
|
|
case.
|
|
|
|
Other published contemporary reviews of Taylor's films.
|
|
|
|
Listing of other fan magazine issues where short story versions of Taylor's
|
|
films may be found (PICTURE-PLAY, etc.).
|
|
|
|
Details of the c. Sept.-Nov., 1918 court-martial at Camp Fort Edward, Windsor,
|
|
Nova Scotia, at which Taylor testified.
|
|
|
|
Any unpublished deposition transcripts taken by the authorities concerning the
|
|
Taylor case.
|
|
|
|
Any unpublished letters written by Taylor.
|
|
|
|
Any other interviews with Taylor.
|
|
|
|
Other recaps of the Taylor case, particularly those written between 1923-1935.
|
|
|
|
Any information indicating what became of Taylor's daughter: Ethel Daisy
|
|
Tanner. Did she have any descendants?
|
|
|
|
Any other material which might throw some light on the Taylor case, or on
|
|
those closely associated with it.
|
|
|
|
(By "other", we mean aside from items previously published or referenced in
|
|
TAYLOROLOGY.)
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
For more information about Taylor, see
|
|
WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR: A DOSSIER (Scarecrow Press, 1991)
|
|
Back issues of Taylorology are available via Gopher or FTP at
|
|
etext.archive.umich.edu
|
|
in the directory pub/Zines/Taylorology
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|