Daily National Republican

Horse Contracts—A Forgery Discovered—Pennsylvania Contractor Runs Away—A Quartermaster's Clerk Caught with Tar on his Fingers.

The Contractor's Organ of this morning contains the following:

Some time since a man named Pichl, of Pittsburgh, Pa., came to this city and obtained a contract for one thousand cavalry horses, to be delivered in thirty days to Captain Thompson, A. Q. M., in this city. The horses were not delivered; but the contractor has been enabled to raise a heavy sum of money by obtaining forged receipts for five hundred horses, which he hypothecated for nearly forty thousand dollars with a bank in Baltimore.

The first indication of any dishonorable conduct in connection with this contract was made known by a party who afterward was arrested on the charge of having committed the forgery. Several days prior to his arrest, Levin S. Tarr, a clerk in Capt. Tompkins' office, went to Col. L. C. Baker and stated to that official that he feared that trouble was ahead in the quartermaster's office. The Colonel was, of course, very anxious to hear particulars, and at length drew a confession from Tarr that he had filled out five receipts for one hundred horses each, (designating them a part of the contract of Pichl with the Government,) but had not signed the name of Capt. Tompkins. He admitted that he had written the receipts on the official paper of the office, and with a great show of innocence, expressed his conviction at the time that he was not acting improperly. Col. Baker then asked him why he troubled himself about the matter if it was not wrong, and if he did not sign the name of Capt. Tompkins! He replied that Pichl had suddenly disappeared, and he found all was not right.

Here the matter rested temporarily: but the manner of Tarr convinced Col. Baker that a fraud had been committed, and that Tarr knew all about it. He refrained, however, from manifesting his suspicions.

The next they heard of the affair was a defalcation in which Pichl had negotiated the bonds as above stated. Col. Baker immediately obtained the receipts and arrested Tarr. The latter denied everything except writing the body of the receipt. He was committed to the Old Capitol. When the room was searched, a number of signatures of Capt. Tompkins's name were found, corresponding exactly with those appended to the forged receipts. Tarr was again brought to the office, and Col. B. exhibited to him the signatures found in his room. He acknowledged to have written them for amusement. When placed side by side with the forgeries, and being sternly charged with the crime of forgery, he remarked that he would not answer any questions until he had consulted with counsel. Col. Baker promptly recognized his right to remain reticent, and remanded him to prison.

Pichl, the greater criminal, as he has received the greatest benefit, has not yet been arrested. It has also been discovered that he has, in another instance, obtained nearly fifty thousand dollars on similar receipts. The banks, and not the Government, are the losers.