The Portland daily press., 1886-03-23
BROADWAY SURFACE FRAUDS.
Alderman Jaehne Arraigned and
Held In S25, 900.
How Public Spirited Woman Sc
cured Jaehne's Confession.

New YORK, March 22.-The Times this
morning says that the arrest of Alderman
Henry W. Jaehne on the specific charge OF
having accepted a bribe to vote for the
Broadway Surface Railroad franchise, based
upon his own alleged confession to Inspector
Byrnes in the hearing of two concealed wit.
| nesses, has given rise to a great volume OF
speculation In regard to the nature of the
confession made, and how many other per
sons it duplicates, if any Inspector Byrnes
has maintained mysterious silence on these
points, and while allowing all kinds of ex-
trayagant rumors to spread has declined to
give to the public any information whatever
except the one fact that Jaehne had con-
fessed to something which was very terrible,
| Alderman Jaehne himself, when he has
deigned to say anything on the subject has
emphatically denied that he has made any
confession at all, a very natural course for
him to pursue, as whether his words are
true or false he is justified in objecting to
I being tried before his case is called in court.
| The result of this condition of affairs has
been to mystify the public, until it is safe to
| say that half the people of New York are in
doubt whether Jaehne has confessed or In
4
| bolster up his own falling reputation at the
expense of his former friend.
| 1t is time that this air of mystery about
| the confession of Alderman Jaehne should
be dissipated, and the actors in the scene In
| Inspector Byrnes's drawing room last We'd
nesday night should be placed in their true
light before the gaze of the public Mr..
yaehne was not 'tentrapped" by Inspector
Byrnes as the result of any shrewd detec-
| tive work, but that he made his confession
| dnlihprafplV a 9 a Qh0ipa of the lpSS1r of "a
| certain evils, trusting to escape from the
| punishment of his crime in the courts be-
cause he knew that in case he refused he
would be arrested on charges from which
| there could be no hope of escape.
| This result was primarily due to the action
| of one public-spirited woman, Mrs. Hamil-
| ton, who was willing to brave notOriety for
the sake of doing her duty, and placed in the
hands of the investigating committee. the
| story of the disappearance of her silver
ware in the shop of Alderman Jaehne. Then
| for the first time, the general public was no.
| titled that Alderman Jaehne was fence,
| but it was not the first intimation that In
| spector Byrnes had of the fact. The alder
man had been engaged in the business of re-
ceiYing stolen goods for nearly ten years,
| and this fact was known at headquarters
| long before Mrs. Hamilton applied to lnspec-
| tor ByrneS to aid her in the recovery OF her
| silver. The fence and the detective have
been friends, and Jaehne's operations were
| well known to ByrneS. How well known
| was shown in some degree by the revela-
! tions in regard to Mrs. Hamilton's silver,
which placed Mr.. Byrnes in a peculiar posi-
| ton as the friend and adviser of Jaehne. 1t
was this position from which the Inspector
determined to extricate himself by throwing
| Jaehne overheard, and the alderman was
given very distinctly to understand that un-
less he united in the scheme and diverted at
tention from the fence business by con-
Tossing to the bribery, things would be made
decidedly unpleasant for him.
Alderman Jaehne was not long in making
up his mind. He knew that Inspector Byrnes
could send him to Sing Sing if he chose in
very short order, and he preferred to take
the chance of trial for bribery, which gave
him some hope of escape. He consented to
make the confession which was to rebound
to the credit of Byrnes as great work of
detective skill, and he went to Byrnes's
house for that express purpose, after arrang-
ing for bondsman to be prepared to save
him from being locked up. He knew just as
certainly when he came down town on
Thursday morning that be was to be arrested
as Inspector Byrnes and his officers knew it,
and his subsequent appearance in the Dis
trict Attorneys office and giving of bail was
a part of the drama planned and arranged III
Inspector Byrnes's house the night before.
The full details of the Alderman's confess
sion will probably not be known until his
trial ON the Indictment for bribery, but the
main facts are as follows: Mr.. Jaehne said
he had been paid for every railroad fran
chise for which he had voted since he had
been member of the Board of Aldermen,
including the Forty second Street. the
Chambers Street, the Wall Street, and the
Broadway Railroads. He said that no pro-
iector of new line thought of getting fran
chise without paying the Aldermen well for
it. In the case of the Broadway Road he re-
ceiyed $50 600 for his vote, and the money
was paid to him by Alderman Robert X. De
Lacy, who is known as his most Intimate
friend and companion. He did not mention
by name any other Alderman who had been
paid, because, as he said, the matter was al
ways arranged so that nobody but the bribed
Alderman and the man who paid him the
money knew of the transaction. He knew
on general principles that others were paid
for their votes as he was paid, and he sup
posed that De Lacy was the man who paid
them ALL He did nothing in the way of vot-
ing without being paid, and, from the char
acter of his companions, he knew that they
acted in the same manner, although he could
not swear that any man but himself received
dollar.
This was the sum and substance of Alder
man Jaehne's confession, which he will be
at perfect liberty to retract when placed at
the bar of Justice 1t is due to Alderman
DeLacy tO>add that, when told by a friend
that Jaehne had accused him OF being the
financial agent in the transaction, he denied
it with all the Indignation that the typical
alderman can assume. Inspector Byrnes has
played his little game, and for the time at
tention has been diverted from Jaehne, the
fence, and his adviser Byrnes, to Jaehne,
the bribe-taker, and his prosecutor, the De-
tective Byrnes.
The mysterious letter received by Judge
Gildersleeve from member of the board of
aldermen of 1884, about which so much was
said in the newspapers and so little could be
learned in the district attorneys office, is a
mystery no longer. 1t will be remembered
that Judge Gildersleeve handed the letter to
District Attorney MARITIME, and the rumor
got abroad that one OF the aldermen. sup
posed to be Miller, who is sojourning in Pa
latka, Fla, had volunteered to testify
against his Acknowledgement in regard to the
bribery by which the Broadway franchise
was secured.
Mr. Miller denied having sent the letter,
but Judge and district attorney kept their
lips sealed on the subject, and Millers denial
was discredited generally The fact is the
letter about which all this talk was made
was written by eX-Alderman Charles b.
Waite with whom Judge Gildersleeve has
been very friendly in the past. 1t was writ
ten by Mr.. Waite in joking frame of mind,
and simply expressed his willingness to tes-
tify before the investigating committee. The
writer did not promise any startling deyel,
opments, and did not hint that he would tell
of any bribery. When the reporters discov-
cred that letter from an alderman had
been received by Judge Gildersleeve and
shown to District Attorney MARITIME, these
two officials became so mysterious over the
matter that q genuine storm was raised
about nothing. Ex-Alderman Miller is enti-
tied to this announcement, that he was not
the author of the much-talked-of and utter
ly valueless communication.
NEW YORK, March 22.-Alderman Jaehne
was arraigned this morning to plead to an
Indictment for bribery, found against him by
the grand jury, but ON petition of his coun-
sci he was given until Wednesday to enter
his plea. Bail was fixed at $4,000. His
bail was finally fixed at $25,000. No bail
bond has yet been made out.
The indictment against Jaehne contains
two counts. The punishment under the first
count is Imprisonment for ten years in the
State prison and $500 fine, and under. the
second count he may be imprisoned for three
years in the penitentiary or fined $780,
Alderman Jaehne, in charge of an officer,
visited the office of his lawyer after leaving
the district attorneys office this afternoon,
and from thence he was conducted to the
Tombs prison. The prisoner walked In
with his head down, and he appeared broken
down.
ON PEAKED HILL BAR.
Wreck of the Brig Emily r. Sheldon
The Crew Saved.
PRovINcETowN, Mass, March 22.-The
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