The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-05-07
R RETRIBUTIOy. E
The Big Four Struggling for
Liberty in the Grasp
Of the Law.
THOSE QUEER COMMITTEES.
The Mystic Number Four Was
Prominent in Them All.

The ssBig Four were all on the hilltop
early this morning. They were breathing
in the fragrance of the blooming trees that
surround the old stone Court House, and
breathing out vengeance upon those who
| had dared to bring them to the bar of
Judge Lippincott's court for trial.
"We're all here" said Reynolds, land
we're not afeerd o. all all o. yes. Ye can
blackguard us all you please"
They did not move promptly to the
courtroom at the ringing of the bell; but
by the time Judge Lippincott, looking
| less ruddy than is his wont, had
taken his seat on the bench with
Judges Paxton and Hoffman, theywere all
in their places. Kern, who enjoys the
notoriety of being the chief of the Big
Four was the only one of the combine
who sat with Counsellors Garrett
son and Vredenbergh for the
defence. He wore under his dark
coat and vest, blue striped shirt. From
| beneath its turned down collar black
scarf, decorated with flaming diamond,
| fell over the shirt front on to his vest. He
! stroked his mustache, percept1bly darker
| than his hair, nervously, and whispered
| occasionally into his lawyers ear.
| The other three of the combine" ar
ranged themselves against the railing that
encloses the bar, with apparent regard to
| the luXuriouSneSS and abundance OF their
| hirsute decorations.
First sat HiIliard, with his patriarchal
| beard struggling down to his lap. Watts
| chin was bare, but either parts of his face
were covered with carefully brushed side
lights and mustache, and at the end sat
| Reynolds, who wears no hair on his face.
Gathered in the courtroom were Com
missioner Van Keuren, eX-Alderman Max
! Salinger, new Finance Commissioner
John Edelstein and old Finance Com
missioner Joseph Warren, Patrick
! Sheeran, "Jimn Braun, Chief Engineer
Ruggles and others of less note.
| INTERESTING RECORDS.
| The proceedings of the morning We're
not sensational, but it was surprising
what vast amount of interesting read
| ing Clerk Martin Finck found in the
routine minutes Of the Boards proceed
| ings that no one would ever have sus-
pected that entirely unsensational manual
of containing During the whole morn
| ing Mr.. Finck diverted the jurors with
selections from these records.
| There was first the street cleaning con-
tract. Dennis Byrnes offered to do the
business for $40 per mile The Board,
which was the big combine, awarded the
contract to Thomas Mailly for
| S15. The Board of Finance did
not concur. Clerk Finck said that
the non-concurrence was due to belief
on the part of the tinanciers that he could
not do the work for that money.
The Board of Works went back and
awarded the contract to Lawrence Carey
at $40 per mile Prosecutor Win
| field made much of the fact that
the Board had skipped over Barney
| Stanley. He was evidently under the inn
| ic fho Enn
| Pennsylvania Railroad contractor: Mr..
| Vreedenbergh called Mr.. Winfield's at
| tention to the fact that the bidder lives on
Union street in this city, while
the contractor lives in Newark.
The only point me e. Prosecutor t,,is. 11,or
Mr. Finck's confession that he did not
know why the Board should have picked
out Mccarthy of all the higher bidders for
the contract.
THOSE QUEER COMMITTEES.
|, Then Mr.. Finck was directed to turn
back the pages of his manual to the date
when Commissioner Van Keuren quit the
chair, and refused to serve longer as the
Boards President. Reynolds was made
temporary Chairman till Kern was
made President. The Committees were
reorganized at the time of the change of
President. The committees are all made
up of Hilliard, Reynolds and Watts, or of
Watts, Hilliard and Reynolds, or of Rey-
nolds, Hilliard and Watts, or of
Reynolds, Watts and Hilliard. Van
Keuren and Somers were left entirely out.
The Prosecutor went over the proceedings
as shown by the minutes. The whole
business of the Board was done by
the four, with Van Keuren and Somers
always on the other side. The only mo-
tion that invited unanimous concurrence
was that for the close of the meeting.
THE SAME FOUR REPEATED.
For nearly two hours Mr.. Finck regaled
the juries by intoning, at half-minute in
teryalS:-
"Kern, Reynolds, Watt and Hilliard."
And then, after a pause
"Somers and Van Keuren."
Mr. Winfield's part of the drama was to
invite the first response by asking
"Who voted for such and such a resolu-
ton"
The pause In the clerks replies was to
give the Prosecutor chance to ask
"Who voted against it?''
1t was terribly unsensational, but it was
important as showing that Kern,
Reynolds, Watt and Hilliard were solid
every time in running the business of the
Board, and in bearing out the specific al
legations against the defendants that
whatever was done by the Board was in
pursuance of conspiracy between them
Watt broke away in one instance, and
in another instance S0merS voted with
them, but these were both on unessential
matters.
and" the Prosecutor said when ex-
Judge Garretson called his attention to
them, "the matter that Somers acted with
them on was probably square. 'Twould
be surprising if, in all this mass of busi-
ness, there was not square thing done"
He did not let go until he had led Mr..
Finck all through the catechism of 300
finely printed pages; and even after he
had Shut up the book, he sent Mr. Finck
back through the record to find an answer
to question he had forgotten
"Who," he asked voted for the
pay rolls on which are the names of
Dooley, Larkins and Matthewssn Mr..
Finck chanted the monot one.
"Kern, Reynolds, Watt and Hilliard"
in response
"Who againstf' intoned the Prosecutor.
"Somers and Van Keurenn was the re-
sponsive strain from the witness box.
THE GROWING INFAMY.
Mr. Winfield did not omit to call the at
tention of the jurors to the fact that the
last act done by the combine on going out
of Office was to vote Pipe Yard Keeper
Carroll out of an Office he had filled for
many years and vote Reynolds, one of the
combine, into the place.
When ex-Judge Garretson began the
cross examination he showed by Finck
that Mailly, to whom the street cleaning
a. Il lT