Shiner Gazette. (Shiner, Tex.), Vol. 5, No. 6, Ed. 1 Wednesday, July 7, 1897 Page: 4 of 8
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THS GKZ6TTE.
Published every Wednesday by
c. VV. vv ARI).
SUBSCRIPTION rates:
"One Tear, postpaid,.....$1.00
Entered at the Shiner, Texas, Post-
eoffiee as second-class matter.
mmm, TEX., WED., JULY 7, 1897.
'The Court House and
Vault Question.
In my last letter I stated that
I would not write again, but as
Mr. Pauius brings some grave
tcharges against me in the issue of
June 30, you will please give me
is pace for my answer.
In answer to an article by Als-
iberry & Son in the New Era of
.June 16, I will state: I did not
Intend to answer the same, because
my answer I considered would be
.an injury to Alsberry & Son, and
the injustice to me I was willing to
■stand. But Mr. Pauius brings it
before the public again in the
(Shiner Gazette with the intention
to injure me, and refers to the
(article of Alsberry & Son on bridge
building in The following way: He
■quotes Mr. Alsberry as follows,
which is incorrect: “Mr. Meyer’s
statements were not true and were a
lot of rot, (this high toned language
■comes from County Judge D. A.
.Pauius, not from Mr. Alsberry),
■and as yet Mr. Meyer has not seen
lit to reply to this letter of Mr. Ais-
■berry’s, which puts him in the
“soup.”’ Now, to get out of the
“soup,” here is my answer, and I
will leave it to the citizens of La-
vaca county if I did right or not to
■keep Mr. Alsberry’s hands out of
■the county treasury any deeper.
I will give a true statement of
The last bridge letting- Alsberry
.& Son were not in it from the start.
Mr. Mather, agent for the New
AJolum.bus Bridge Go., Houston, had
■the lowest bid. The second day,
.alter dinner, the commissioners’
court agreed to reject all bids and
>select a first-class plan for all to
bid on. Stating this to ali bridge
argents present, none would come
•forward with their plans. Then
Air. Oliver got up and said, “If you
ure ali afraid to show your plans,
Iiere are mine, they can stand close
-examination.” Mr. Alsberry see-
•ended this willingly*. If Mr. Als-
berry had better plans why did he
not come forward with them? lie
knew why. But after Mr. Alsberry
had the contract he worked hard to
.get his plans and specifications in,
■but of course failed to do so.
Mr. Deborah was appointed to
superintend the Supplejack bridge
and I to superintend the Kallets-
ville and Rocky creek bridges.
The contract for the Rocky creek
bridge reads as follows: “The
county lias to haul the iron part of
old Lavaca county bridge to the
bridge site at Rocky creek. The
contractor has to furnish new piers
B6 inches in diameter, also ail lum-
ber used has to be new and of long
leaf pine. The bridge to be put
-up in good workmanship order.”
When Mr. Alsberry, jr., who
■acted as foreman for ail three
bridges, measured the length of the
' bridge at Rocky creek and investi-
gated the ground for length of piers,
lie found that his piers on the south
side of the creek were twenty feet
too short, and on the north side I
think about eight feet. Now, the
contract, as you will see, reads that
he has to furnish new piers there;
it don’t, say anything about the
length, and the county had the
right to force the contractor by the
contract to complete the work.
But I knew that all the bridge
agents calculated on a Mr. Rhodes’
measurement which called for short
piers-, and for “charity and honesty”
sake, which Mr. Alsberry refers to,
X stated it so to the former county
judge, Mr. James Ballard, in favor
of Mr. Alsberry. I wrote to three
different bridge agents who were
present when the contract was iet
land they all stated the same thing,
that they bid on Rhodes’ measure-
ment. When the commissioners’
court met 1 placed these letters be-
fore the court. Four members of
the court agreed to pay Mr. Als-
berry for the extra work, except
Mr. Gandv. And the court agreed
to pay Mr. Alsberry for “charity
s&d honesty” sake for extra length
of cylinders, and same approach
the sum of $431. When me cyl-
inders arrived here, at Rocky creek,
I saw that most of the joints were
made of second-ciass material.
Stating this to Mr. Alsberry, jr.,
he said, “Mr. Meyer, I pledge you
my word of honor that they are
new and have never been used;
they have only laid in Houston a
while in our yard.” I then told
Mr. Alsberry that he may put them
in, but that I would report the con-
dition of same to the commis-
sioners’ court. The next time Mr.
Alsberry, sr., came to Halletsville,
the work was nearly completed. I
met him soon after he arrived and
before he saw his son. I remarked
to him that 1 was sorry that he
sent second-hand cylinders for
Rocky creek bridge; and he replied:
“That was the best we could do
under the circumstances; they come
from an old steel tank and are good
metal yet.” Please compare the
two statements from father and son.
The Lavaca county river double
bridge was put up according to con-
tract except one steel railing one
foot wide to be put between the
sidewalk and roadway; this was
never sent. Mr. Alsberry, jr.,
agreed to put up a temporary
wooden railing, but when it come
to settlement Mr. Alsberry charged
an outrageous price for the wooden
railing, I think $140, and $10 for
putting in six bolts to fasten the
floor. The wooden railing con-
tained $16.50 worth of lumber with
two days of labor. As I was
familiar with all the work I advised
the court to ignore this last extra
account and accept the wooden
railing and the bolts in place of the
steel railing in order to get through
with Mr. Alsberry from whom I
had just enough. Mr. Deborah re-
marked in court, “I thought a good
deal of Alsberry & Son at first, but,
gentlemen, they won’t do.” The
steel railing was worth double as
much to Lavaca county, and to de-
duct $100 for second-class piers
used on Rocky creek would be
more than a fair settlement, to
which the commissioners’ court
agreed. Mr. Gleckler was not pres-
ent. In a former meeting the com-
missioners’ court agreed by request
of Mr. Deborah to pay Mr. Alsberry
for forty feet additional approach,
$120, on Supplejack creek. The
original contract for three steel
bridges is $5090. Now, let us see
what Mr. Alsberry & Son received
from Lavaca county.
Reserved for Penn Bridge
Co................ $2311 05
Paid to Alsberry & Son 2227 43
Draft issued this day to
Alsberry & Son.. .. 1108 52
IpiiiiiiAi
■ Mowers
We are selling*; t!i©
| STANDARD, BUCKEYE * MCCORMICK
Mowers and Makes,
#*####**#*#***#********#
We have a full and complete stock
of General Merchandise always on hand.
Wolters
• @©
for $9500. Please state who ever I by your slick talk. I have a better
$5647 00
Now, Mr. Pauius, I invite you to
go to the records and see if I am
right or not, and if you have any
other contract where the’contractor
complains that he could not get
deep enough into the county treas-
ury bring him forward and I will
show you that he had more than
justice, even if he did not get all
the money he wanted. I will le&ve
this with the citizens of Lavaca
county to judge who is swimming
in the “soup” now.
Another charge from Hon. D. A.
Pauius: He says that I misquoted
Mr. Burow, commissioner from
DeWitt county, by saying, “Mr.
Burow just told me that the Cuero
court house could be duplicated,
everything connected, for $65,000.”
(Mr. Pauius makes it $60,000, but
that is one of his small mistakes
which he can’t help, up or down,
just as it suits him.)
Here is Mr. Burovv’s letter, which
reads as follows:
“Yorktovvn. Tex., June 12, ’97.
Mr. J. D. A. Meyer.
Dear Sir: When at Halletsville
I told you that our court house
could be built for $65,000. In this
I had our lamented Paul Helroiv as
my informer and authority. Two
of the experts who testified in be-
half of the defense stated respect-
ively that it could be built for
$62,000 and $64,000. Mr. Heiner,
however, a first-class authority,
states under oath that it could not
have been built for less than $80,-
000. So not being an expert, von
must use your own judgment in the
matter,” etc.
[ We saw the original letter and
so state bv lequest.—Ed.]
This will be, I hope, sufficient
asked you to sign a contract for
that amount? State who made the
motion’ You know you can not
do it, for there was never such a
question before the commissioners’
court and it got into your fertile
brain by dreaming. You said once
when the question was up about an
independent vault that you would
not sign a contract for an independ-
ent vault with the Diebold SafeCo.,
but we tol&Tyou, you making this
charge, that you would have to
sign the vault contract first before
we ever would sign the court house
contract, and you signed the vault
contract al! Tight first.
Now, let'J) see how you voted.
You know you were not in it, and
when we lowered the price of the
court house you opposed it. Any
steps for an independent vault you
opposed, ev$?n to get competition
for the vault you opposed, which
the two letters published by you in
the New Era from Mr. Townsend
and mvseif will prove.
You know you were completely
whipped and we had you fiat on
your back, otherwise you w-ouid not
have gone to Houston to pick up,
thoughtlessly, Alsberry’s charge,
and to De Witt county, by saying
I misquoted Mr. Burow.
Mr. Pauius says, “Mr. Meyer
does rot seem to like lawyers, and
especipTiy young ones,” etc. Yes,
I do like some lawyers, young ones
as well as old ones, for it has al-
ways been a pleasure to me to hear
good lawyers, speak when they
effectively, forcibly and elegantly
argue their case. But there are
some lawyers k have not much use
for; they can rever ask a witness a
question or speak to a jury unless
they insult them. I never wished
to be a lawye^, for I am proud to be j
a farmer, but j do wish right now
that I could' handle the English
language better than 1 do.
As you have asked me several
questions and I answered them
truthfully, allow me to ask you a
few questions. When the com-
missioners’ court was on the trip to
look at different court houses, in
Karnes City were y°u 80 anx"
opinion of the people of Lavaca
county; they are too intelligent for
that. As long as you keep the com-
missioners’ court thoroughly split
up, in which you succeeded to per-
fection in the short time that you
have been county judge, and as long_____j
as you try to catch any wrong from j reckoned without
the commissioners you don’t like,
to put it on the biggest clock you
can find and to ring it all over the
county, the people of Lavaca county
will not endorse your acts. But
there is a way and it is the only
wav, that if you and we all work to-
gether in harmony and that one
assist the other in the welfare of
Lavaca county, then, Mr. Pauius,
the people of Lavaca county will re-
pay you at the proper time.
Respectfully,
J. D. A. Meyer.
Wanted to be Bung.
There was a man—I shall call
him Dirks—who aspired after a
higher and better life beyond the
grave. He did not care to trust to
the ordinary means of securing
that desideratum. He wanted to
be sure about the hereafter; so he
concluded to get hung. He knew
that the only way that he could
get hung in the orthodox manner,
and have the sympathy of the
citizens, and a convoy of angels to
carry him oil after the ceremony
was to get convicted of murder in
the first degree. Without any pro-
vocation he deliberately destroyed
an unoffending man with a shot-
gun. He made no effort to escape,
hunted up the sheriff and
begged to be taken into custody,
for fear that he, the murderer,
ftiight change his mind and not
want to go to heaven after all; but
the sheriff said he knew the mur-
derer to be a gentleman who would
not run away. He so earnestly de
sired to go to heaven where he
ious to go to iMT Antonio where we | cduld see Bill Longley, Brown
had no business, because the court
house there cost $650,000? From
whom did you receive those, tele-
grams from him Antonio while on
Bowen and other saints who had
gone before, that he awaited his
trial and conviction with impa-
the road? Why, when at Gonzales,! Bence, i he tact is, that Dirks was
did you recommend the Gonzales U little out ot his mind, anyhow,
court house to the commissioners so
highly and that we should duplicate
it m Lavaca county, and handed a
report from an architect that was
there on record to Mr. Gleckler to
read to us, which stated that it was
a first-class and a cheap court house?
Y'es, Mr. Pauius, if we had just
voted with you we could have got
all the independent vaults we
wanted. Why did you go several
times before contract letting to
Houston right in the midst ol the
contractors? Who paid for those
trips and telegrams? If you give a
true statement of this then the peo-
own families, and for the welfare
of the public—I can’t see bow it is
possible for them to help finding
me guilty*. Then the sheriff will
hang me up; and in a moment
more I will be in heaven.” He was
sadly disappoi * ted, however. He
his lawyers.
When the trial came off they
showed that Dirks never had any
ill feeling against the deceased, and
it was therefore impossible for him -
to have killed him with malice
aforethought. They showed, too,
that the deceased was not killed
wfith malice aforethought, but with
a shotgun, which made a fatal
variance between the allegata and.
the probata; but the judge decided
otherwise, overruling the motion
to quash the indictment on this
ground.
“Now,” thought Dirks, “I reckon
I’m safe for heaven.” But his law-
yers cross-examined and bull-dozed
the witnesses for the State until
it appeared as plain as day that
the deceased shot himself accident-
ally. Dirks’ heart sank within
him. His worst fears were realized.
And the jury, did acquit him with-
out leaving the jury box. Dirks
was discharged from custody and
that night was serenaded. His
lawyers were thanked by hundreds
of citizens with tears in their eyes.
The only sad man was Dirks him-
self. He went home and brooded
over bis hard luck for a day or two.
Then he loaded up his old cluck
gun and sauntered down the road.
He met a country physician of his
acquaintance, and before the doc-
tor had time to say, “Howdy
Dirks!” he turned the old muzzle-
loader loose and killed the doctor.
Dirks gave himself lip cheerfully.
Court was in session, and the case
was tried at once. He would not
have any lawyers, but the judge
appointed two to defend him.
Witnesses were produced by the
counsel for the defense, who proved
that there was found on the doc-
tor’s person a weapon of peculiar
and puzzling construction; and two
of the witnesses testified that ttrey
heard the doctor say to Dirks,
some four weeks before the mur-
der, -“Whenever you get sick, call
on me and I will straighten you
out.” This, the lawyers agreed,
The day for the trial arrived. In
the meantime the local press had
excited much sympathy for Dirks
by telling what a kind-hearted man
he was, how he killed an Indian in
1873, what a perfect gentleman he
was, and all that sort of thing. As
there was no bad feeling between uui> ____.,
the parties, there could of course could only bear one construction;
be no malice; and where there was
no malice ana wueiu intuu ... ,,
malice aforethought there could j was e%1< en_ - a 1 '
claimed that it could not be con-
structed in any other way; there-
fore Dirks was justified in shoot-
ing the doctor on sight. The jury
be no murder. Hence it was that,
before the trial came off, about
half the community did not really
believe there had been any murder
true statement of this then the peo- j committed at all. .1 his v ill ex- Sftme view of it, and Dirk
ple of I,avaf county will under- ] why there™ - much ng,Un acqniUed. „„ dU.
made oboiR^mVautt *° ^ ° I thought it was a shame to try him. j appointed but not cast down. He
Your closing phrases are always jin order to gain favor with the j had read of Robert Bruce being
something like the following: “The j public, several prominent lawyers, enc0l1raged by observing the per-
people of Lavaca county can rest | in spite of Dirks’ protest volun- , ” ~ ..........
assured as long as I represent the teered to defend him. But Dirks
people everything will be all right.” j knowing bow atrocious the mi, -
— ........, ~ -t- .....i or Whose ^faithful servant I am,” der was, had no fear of bein* ac-, ----^ ^ lhe wventh time.
proof to the people of Lavaca j or am p8rgUaded to believe thatj quitted-He still veained foi aj^ ^ ^ He killed a hack-
county in this case | at the proper time they will endorse |hlissful futme. +} J raan with a knife. He was deter-
Yoti say m your la particle my course.” Now, Mr- Pauius, don’t |hinJ^/ "h ^can’t^ee^ow good I mined not to be acquitted again, so
saved Lavaca county $o3o0 on the i f}atter vourself that you can j matter. I can t tc ho P ! ,• d two younglawyers''to de-
vault by refusing to sign a contract | throw sand in their eyes that way | citizens, who have regard for then*, he lined } oung .
i '
severance of a spider that made
six futile attempts to swing from
one rafter- to another, and trying
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Ward, Charles W. Shiner Gazette. (Shiner, Tex.), Vol. 5, No. 6, Ed. 1 Wednesday, July 7, 1897, newspaper, July 7, 1897; Shiner, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1111236/m1/4/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Shiner Public Library.