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personal knowledge.
Q.136 The complaint avers that the defend= =and undertook to purchase certain coal for the plaintiff, or for the Western Pacific Railroad Company. Is there any such contract in existence, to your knowledge?
A. No such contract, as I know of: no written contract, that I know of.
Q. 137 Do you know anything about the other averment is the complaint, — that the defendant undertook to obtain transporta= =tion, or to transport, coal for the plaintiff, or for the Western Pacific Railroad Company?
A. I know the defendant did transport coal for it.
Q. 138 Will you state what you know about that transportation?
A. Well, I know that coal was received, transported upon the barges or schooners of the defendant, from the bills coming in — Schooner "Elko's" cargo, or Schooner "Truckee's" cargo — coming under my super= =vision to be allowed.
Q. 139 Are those the schooner's which you have already spoken of, for which you charged the hire to the defendant?
A. They are.
Q. 140 Who made that contract with the
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defendant for the hire of those schooners?
A. That I do not know.
Q. 141 Did you ever have any correspondence or conversation with the defendant at any time about the hire of those schooners?
A. I think not.
Q. 142 Did you, as secretary of the Central Pacific Railroad Company, receive any pay= =ment from him for the hire of those schooners, other than the sum you have stated as being an offset to the voucher Exhibit "A"?
A. I do not remember any other.
Q. 143 At the time you speak of who was the owner of those schooners?
A. Which time? The time I speak of, when the defendant was paying rent for them?
Q. 144 We will go back to that time: to Exhibit "A." Who was at that time the owner of those schooners?
A. The Central Pacific.
Q. 145 The defendant paid charter money or hire for those schooners to the Central Pacific Railroad Company?
A. Yes sir.
Q. 146 What was the nature of that con= =tract for transportation between the plaintiff in the Western Pacific Railroad
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Company and the defendant
A. What contract?
Q. 147 The contract for transportation.
A. I do not know anything of it.
Q. 148 Did you know at the time, when the defendant was using those schooners, whether the transportation being done for the profit or loss of your companies or for the profit or loss of the defendant?
A. I did not.
Q. 149 Did you ever seek to obtain any account from the defendant with respect to the profit or loss of those vessels during the time he was running them?
A. I did not.
Q. 150 Who paid the expenses of those vessels during the time they were run by defendant?
A. I think the defendant did. But I have an impression there was a little controversy at one time about some repairs or something.
Q. 157 Did that relate to a question, during the time of the charter of the vessels, whether the owners of the vessels or the charterer should pay for certain repairs?
A. I think so: that is my impression.
Q. 152 But the general running expenses of the vessels were paid by whom?
A. By the defendant, I suppose. They
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were not paid by the Central Pacific.
Q. 153 [Gives witness a letter:] Will you look at that letter, Mr. Miller, and state whether or not it is signed by you, as secretary of the Central Pacific Railroad Company?
A. It is.
Q. 104 Does that relate to the hire of those schooners in part?
A. It does.
Q. 155 And the other part relates to the matters embraced in Exhibit "A"?
A. Yes.
Ex. "B." [A copy of the letter is offered in evi= =dence, marked Exhibit "B."]
Q. 156 Can you say how long that charter of the schooners "Elko" and "Truckee" continued?
A. It continued until the defendant purchased the schooners. I cannot fix the time.
Q. 157 Until the time of their purchase by the defendant?
A. Allow me to correct that: I am not positive of that.
Q. 158 Give your best recollection.
A. The only answer I can give is, I cannot recollect. I am not certain but they were laid up for a certain time before the defendant purchased them.
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Q. 159 [A paper shown witness.] This is a voucher for money paid by the defendant to the Cen= =tral Pacific Railroad Company for the use of the schooner "Elko" for the month of December, 1870, is it not?
A. Yes
Q. 160 Was the amount specified in that voucher the rate per month at which those vessels were charted?
A. I think the rate per month up to October 1870, was $200 per month for each schooner.
Q. 161 And it was then reduced?
A. I presume as I don't know that except from this voucher.
Ex "C." [A copy of the voucher above referred to, which is dated December 31, 1870, is put in evidence, marked Exhibit "C."]
Q.162 [Letter given to witness.] Does that letter relate to charges made by your company against the defendant for outlays made by you in respect to the the transportation done by those vessels?
A. A small portion of it is for outlay, and the balance of it is for services for discharg= =ing the schooners at our wharf in Sacramento.
Ex. "D." [A copy of the letter, which bears date March, 15, 1872, is put in evidence, marked Exhibit "D."]
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