The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1889-10-17
" SECURING" JURYMEN.
BOLD GAME TO PURCHASE A YER
DICT.
Scheme to Defeat the Ends of Justice by
Buying Up Jurors in the Cronin Case
Six Men Indicted and Under Arrest.
[ChicagO Telegram.

Buying Up Jurors in the Cronin Case
/ Six Men Indicted and Under Arrest.
| [Chicago telegram.7
/ The latest sensation in connection with the
| Cronln murder case is the discovery of q bold
/ plot to corrupt the jurymen whose verdict
| depends the guilt or innocence of the five pris-
| oners now trial.
One day last week George Tschappat, foreman
! OF the Page Lard-refining Company, st A Erie
/ street, was summoned a juror After being
| summoned and before he had been examined
! Ba1l1f Mark l.. Soloman, with whom he was
| we'll acquainted met him and invited him out
to have a cigar. This civility extended Solo
man asked Tschappat if he didn't want to make
some money. Tschappat answered atfirmativelv
Very Well, then" responded Soloman, "you
get on the jury and stick for acquittal and
| you shall have 81, 000"
| Soloman further told Tschappat that the ar
| engagements could be carried out with his wife
| The money could be paid TO her. and if paid by
| a certain day she should appear in court wear
ing certain colored dress. If it were not paid
| to her she should wear 81 different dress
Tschappat replied that he was not that kind of
man. Tschappat on examination was ex-
cused for cause, he having said that he could
not give the defendants fair trial. Tschappat
told THESE circumstances to his employer Mr..
Page, who went TO the court room and repeated
the statement to Mr.. Mills with whom he is in
tlmately acquainted; Mr.. Mills held an
interview with Tschappat, who repeated
the story as he had told it to Mr..
Page. Tschappat was then invited down
In the ante-room. Bailif Soloman was then
called in and closely questioned. He denied
eVeryGmng. he was Immediately confronted
/ With Tschappat, and, realizing his position, he
broke down and made a full confession in which,
he implicated several persons. Soloman's con-
fession is that he was handed list of corrupt
or corruptible jurors by Bailiff Alexander l..
Hanks, who said: IF we get man on this jury
TO fix 1t, or If you fix one man, it means $4,000,
hall OF it for the juror and the other halffor us"
Further, Soloman was to approach the venire--
men he knew and Hanks those he was &C
qualnted with.
Immediately on Soloman's confession Hanks
was arrested, and he too produced list of
talesmen which tailed with SOloman's Each
man whose name was these lists was imme-
d1ately sent for, and carefully questioned the
information thus obtained being such that the
State S Attorney called for the immediate sum-
moning of a special grand jury to investigate
the matter This grand jury was composed of
prominent business men of Chicago, eX-Mayor~
John A. Roche being foreman. After an exa1ni-
natlOn OF witnesses lasting eight or ten hours
the grand jury returned indictments for con-
spiracy and attempted jury bribing against the,
following persons:
Alexander L. Hanks, Mark L. SoIonan
Frederick W. Smith, Thomas Kavanaugh,
jeremiah O'Donnell, Joseph Konen.
These six were immediately placed m
der arrest and from closely questioning them
further information has been elected which
may result in the arrest and conviction of o.
half dozen more None of those now under ar
rest are the principals in the conspiracy but it
IS hoped to gather information sufficient to
catch them.
The connection of the men indicted with the.
bribery conspiracy will probably be best under
stood by a statement of who and what the men
are
Frederick w. Smith is ostensibIv q hardware,
manufacturers agent at 1875 Lake street. He.
comes from Connecticut His father-in-law is.
james Reynolds, and it is thought he is no
other than the James Reynolds of New
Haven who is x-Treasurer of the Clan-na-G Gael
triangle. This, however, Smith denies. Mr..
Hynes says Smith was indicted for perjury at
Oshkosh.
Thomas Kavanaugh another of the indicted
men, was the engineer at the County Insane
Asylum during the doodle" days, and his name
and management at that institution figured fire.
quently i'll the investigation of that institution
made by the State Board of Charities in Noye1n-
Der. 1885 In January of that year he assaulted
DIR. Herman because of some structures made by
the Doctor on his methods of heating the asy-
lum He was arrested and tried by jury in
Justice Lyons court. 1t is said the Jury was
packed. AT any rate, 1T was of SO bad character
that Justice Lyon removed two of the jurors.
The places of these two, however, were taken
by employees of Brown d Tubman, Kav-
anaugh & Brown. Kavanaugh on thi7 trial was
defended by Alexander Sullivan. Kovanaugh is
q member of the Clan a-Gael, and seems to
have been furnished with ample funds for his
latest exploits. He has been active in spread
ing the report that CrOnin was q spy He be-
gan public life as a labor agitatOr. Later on he
became Democratic politician, and narrowly
escaped Indictment with the "boOdlers"
jeremiah ODOnnell is q recently appointed
United States StOrekeeper at South Chicago.
He WIS for number of years street-car con-
ductor on the West Side. He says he met KaV-
anaugh on the street one day. and was asked by
him ii he would assist in acquitting the defense
by securing juror who would vote that way for
out of his own pocket ODOnnell remembered
a friend he had out in Calumet, and struck a
bargain With kavanaugh. He then approached
his friend, who is not much than q
boy expressing his views on the Cronin
case instructing the young how to an
swer the lawyers questions, and promising him
81, 600.
Alexander L. Hanks is an old appointee in the
Sheriffs office. He has had little or nothing to
do with summoning jurors. He has been one
of the bailitfs having immediate charge of the
prisoners He sat every day just behind Cough
lin. Hanks, like So1Oman, approached jurors
whom he knew. One Of the men ON the bailif's
list said Hanks had been to see him and told
him he could get 81 900 for a verdict for the de-
fense Hanks further told him how to answer
questions and that the defense is fixed all right
and will understand you"
One of the first questions asked after the dis
cOves'y of the conspiracy was whether the at
tOrneys for the defense aware of it. AT
first the attorneys for the State were disposed
to eXOnerate them from all knowledge of it, but
later there a disposition to withdraw this
acquittal. Tom Kavanaugh, though he refused
to saw who supplied him with money, is said to
have reported to Mr.. Forrest The statement of
the man approached by Bailiff Hanks, that the
bailiH said "the defense is fixed for you, points
to the same thing. So does the apparently uni
form method of instructing the approached
jurors to their method Of answering ques-
tiOns and their demeanor in the jury box.
Mr. Foster said "If the charge of jury fixing
is made against me there will have to be an in
vestigation. [ know my innocence.
court the fullest inquiry and will not submit
to any aspersions my character"
Mr.. Foster and Judge Wing were equally en-
phatic The latter wanted an agreement with
the States Attorney that the record in the jury
bribing case should be made part of the
record in the CrOnin case in order to do justice
to the ATTORNEYS for the defense as we'll as for
the protection of the jurors already secured,
n w. HITTING RESIGNS.