St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-03-21
sCHwAB FIRED THIS TINE.
circumstances Surrounding His
Case Demand Explanations.

Yesterday morning the investigation
into the disappearance of Smith and
AnderSon,t the two prisoners who should
have been at the workhouse, was con-
tinued. When it was over, Court Of
flcer John Schwab was notified of his
discharge from the force. The former
charge against Schwab had been cleared
away. While circumstances were against
him, he was given the benefit of the
doubt and reinstated. These other
cases, of Anderson and Smith
were similar. While it is not
clearly proven that Schwab has
been guilty of appropriating fines to his
own use, some one has been grossly
negligent. Schwab has been an efficient
officer for the four years of his connec.
ton with the department. His reputa-
ton has been excellent. He has been
looked upon as the last man to resort to
such practices as are alleged against
him. There was little to be gained by
collecting those fines. and failing to
turn them over-only a patty $40.
1t seems strange that any one
would run so great a risk for such
small reward. He may be. and proba-
bly, is, only the victim of circumstances.
Certain parts of the system for the
transfer of prisoners from the central
station to the workhouSe are so loosely
constructed that it is difficult to fasten
the blame. 1t looked like Schwab. so
lie went.
The witnesses who testified at the in
vestigation Yesterday were Supt West,
OF the workhouse: Henry AltnOw, clerk
of the municipal court; Capt. Dan Dav,
of the central station; Capt. Louis Ness.
of the Second precinct: Sergeant Kirk
ham and Judge Mahoney. The two
prisoners whose release from custody
could not be accounted for were Frank
Smith and Peter Anderson. Anderson
has not been found as yet, but Smith
was discovered and brought before the
mayor.
Smith testified that on the day in
question he was convicted of drunken
ness. and fine of SO OF ten DAYS i'm
posed. He was taken down to the lock-
up with the other prisoners to wait for
the ''Black Maria" Before it arrived.
however, friend of Smiths came to
the rescue with so. Smith took it and
handed 1t to some officer in the lookup,
Smith was asked if he remembered the
man to whom he gave the money. He
said that he couldn't. Schwab was
pointed out to him, and he was asked if
that was the man. Smith said that he
didn't know. Schwab was also put
through some close questioning, but he
Stoutly denied having ever received any
money from either of the two men or
from anybody else which he failed 10
account for.
Then came the examination of the
records and here were revealed some
damaging facts. Clerk AltnoW's books.
Judge Mahoney's tab and the lookup
entry book all bore these letters after
the names of Anderson and Smith,
com" This is an abbreviation for
committed" None of the above re-
cords contained receipt for either fine.
But the report handed in to Supt. Hen
derSOn did not agree with the other
records i'll respect to these particular
prisoners. The letters com" after
their names had been erased
and the authorizations IS. S."
sentenced suspended) inserted in
place thereof. This report was made
out by Schwab and signed by Court
Sergt. Wash Pierce. If the prisoners
paid their fines, 1t stands to reason that
their sentences were not suspended,
but Oh the contrary, executed. But un-
less they escaped from the wOrkhouse,
they must have paid their fines Judge
Mahoney was positive he had not suS-
pended their sentences. Who then re-
ceived the fines? Superintendent West.
of the wOrkhonse, testified that the two
men were never at the work
house. He was sure of that.
Another suspicious circumstance is that
the two men were not sentenced the
same day, one being sentenced on the
9th and the other on the 18th. Super
intendent Vests brother, William
West, drives the BLACK Maria" He
receipted for all the prisoners. including
Anderson and Smith on the 9th and
18th respectively, but he could not
swear that these TWO ever entered the
''Black Maria" Schwab having failed
to turn over a $40 fine, received a few
days ago just as the prisoner was about
10 leave for the workhOuse, made this
affair look still worse for him. Nothing
but discharge could follow.
1t would seem that further investiga-
ton might be made with proprietv.
There are several phases of this matter
that need more light. Admitting that
Schwab has been guilty of appropriate
ing fines to his own use something as
yet not clearly proven), it looks very
much as If he had an accOmplice. How
is it that prisoners can be receipted for
at the central station and then never
go near the WorkhouSe? That has
not yet been explained. But such |
things have happened. There is no rea- |
son for their occurrence. What are the |
records for, if not to show who has been |
sent to the workhouse and who has |
not? Admitting, again, that Schwab |
has been g0ilty of wrOngdoing, there
are many who believe that some one |
else suggested the scheme. The public |
has right to know why prisoners are
handled thus loosely. Who knows how
many have escaped Imprisonment in
this way? If they can escape after this |
fashion on the payment of the full fine.
what is TO hinder their escape through