St. Paul Daily Globe

BERRY EXONERATED.

The Park Board Clears Him of the Charges Recently Preferred.

The park board held a regular session yesterday afternoon, and, although the meeting was devoid of the sensational features which have characterized a few of those preceding it, there was considerable business transacted in a quiet way. The report of the committee on rules, which caused so much controversy at the last meeting as to cause Commissioner Northrup to declare that he would resign his chair in the board, was taken up again and those of its sections which had been laid over were adopted with but few alterations. The much postponed report of the Berry investigating committee, the principal points of which have already leaked out and been given to the public from time to time, was also dragged out from its retirement and adopted.

The committee appointed to investigate the "Journal" charges of Oct. 5, Commissioners Dahn, Northrup and Boardman, reported that, pursuant to the instructions of the board, it had sat two afternoons and one evening, examined seventeen witnesses and taken fifty-nine type-written pages of testimony. The report went on to state that the committee had found no facts whatever to warrant the statement that Chris Paulson or any other teamster had done any outside work, drawing pay for such time from the board, and that the other charges were not sustained by any evidence obtainable. The report concluded as follows:

In conclusion, your committee finds that the only charge sustained is that Phon Berry owned teams working for the board. No evidence was introduced, however, to show that these teams did not work the full time they were paid for, or that they were in any way favored over other teams.

The charges reflecting upon the superintendent are, from the evidence, entirely without foundation.

This report was unanimously adopted. The president repeated that on Dec. 28 he and the secretary had been served with papers in a mandamus suit instituted by Messrs. Hay and Hayes to require them to appear and show cause why the property designated for the proposed First ward park had not been purchased. The writ was made returnable Jan. 2, but, owing to the absence of the attorney, the time was extended. Commissioner Lawrence was authorized and instructed to act in conjunction with the attorney in this matter.

The sections of the report of the committee on rules which had been deferred were then taken up seriatim and, with a few slight changes, adopted. The rules as a whole were then adopted. The only important change was made in the section providing for a timekeeper, that office being done away with entirely. Instead was substituted a clause providing that the superintendent shall each month submit to the secretary, not only his pay rolls as heretofore, but also the time books of the foreman and such other data as the pay rolls are compiled from.