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Show Minor Official of Shipping Ship-ping Board Involved. In-volved. WASHINGTON, Aug. '3. Evidence connecting at least one minor official of the shipping board with an alleged conspiracy to obtain contracts from the shipping board at extra high prices has been gathered by government agents, it became known today. This was disclosed as a result of the arrest In Washington of Edward L. Travis, former law partner of Repres-entativcKltchin Repres-entativcKltchin of North Carolina and Selim B. Joseph and Leon M. Green. The technical charge against tho men is that of conspiring to obstruct tho draft by getting a job for Green which would place film In deferred classification. More generalfy, however, how-ever, it is charged that they, acting in connection with government employes, promised to got orders for between IS and 24 ships at a price of $195 a ton, which is considerably higher than most contracts provide, with n view to dividing the bonus. Several govern-ment'employes govern-ment'employes are under suspicion of having agreed to be associated with the men. Company Aids Government. Tho ship contracts which never were actually negotiated wero to have been given to the Perth Am boy Dry Dock company of Perth Am boy, N. J., which aided tho government in running run-ning down the men after they wero said to have made proposals which seemed improper to the company officials. of-ficials. When the company notified the government gov-ernment of the machinations, Richard F. McDonald was assigned by the secret sec-ret service to represent the Perth Am-boy Am-boy company in an effort to discover tho men's game. Ho was said to have found that Joseph was to receive $1.50 a ton on each ship for which orders wero obtained at prices above tho average av-erage while Green, who was said to have as a nephew a cabinet member, was to get-50 cents a ton and in addition addi-tion a position with a shipbuilding company at a big salary. Travis Referred To. Green referred tho Perth Amboy's supposed representative to Travis in Washington who was said to have posed as having great influence with the shipping board. He also mentioned mention-ed his former connection with Representative Repre-sentative .Kttchin and Senator Overman Over-man whose political campaign lie managed. Other shipping contracts arc being investigated- I |