The evening world., 1894-05-19

Law on his death-bed. when all the
", Tssi ar. Of tSs TSyia G sSd t RSt s Wss the he
moment when the lottery men trembled.
They knew the indictments against
them had never been destroyed out
Moses Clarke, from his ~dying-bed IN
one room, could see the safe that held
his guilty secrets In another. NO one
but he knew the combination, of that
safe. and later on, when the lottery men
came and crowded abort the bed, he vas
unable to give 1t to them. They mad
MI Purdy SAYS there were three. men
who watched by the side OF the dying
man until the end came, one OF me
three. he says, is dead, and another was
Eph I'M uas 'hifu "a"'' !"
"That will come later he added: III
they want an investigation, even AT tnis
late day, they a have all they want.
Scarcely a Moses Clarke breathed
his last when the watchers, ACCORDING
TO Mr.. Purdy, began to discuss how they
could get the indictments from the sate.
They tried to operate me 10 eo rnve IA up,
Then one suggested having 1t broken
open.
The Safe Broker Open.
They sent for a notorious safe
breaker, says Mr.. Purdy-a BURGER, one
whose name was then as now wei
known TO the police, and he did as
The safe was opened, and although It
was midsummer, n large fire was butt
and the indictments thrown into H. ~
was the intention only TO destroy the
lottery indictments. but there were SO
many others, and all in such confusion,
that It would have taken too much Time
to sort them out. So all that were iound
were thrown into the blaze with the
evidence in each case, and the three
men stood there for hours poking, the
embers and not leaving until nothing
but q heap Of ashes remained, Even ine
as a sign hould be left to tell the story.
Then they returned Il New Sss York bIrioa and
politicians without number followed the
Later still, when Coy. Cornell issued
his proclamation calling upon the
to enforce the law against the lottery
men, search was made for the indlct-
ments found in this county. but, OF
course, without result.
Comstock Believes II.
Anthony Comstock, when told Mr.. Pur-
dy's story yesterday, did not evince the
slightest surprise. on the contrary he
seemed to believe Il in all IT'S details:
Moses Clarke was in the District-Attor-
ney's office all sorts of crimes were com
mitted,, and nc language Is strong
enough TO uenDl'nCe the IltlIlOIS wv
practised. 1t Is true that hundreds Of
Indictments found on evidence submitted
by me to the Grand Jury We're stolen
from the District-Attorneys Office. ! uii
not mind the indictments so much as
that the evidence upon which, the indict-
ments were found disappeared also;
"Eph Simmons was the lottery king or
that time, and ran matters, JUST 10Y ttee
brought to trial. The indictments were
never recovered, 80 far as l can renehi-
Der. Not only did the lottery indict-
ments disappear at that time. but In
dictments In obscene and other cases
went with them.
was particularly we'll watched by the
public / have known forged indictments
TO nave been substituted for the ones
actually, found: h substituted ar'i en-
foreman of the Grand Jury and purport-
ed 10 have been found upon evidence
which had never been submitted.
II, Gould Happen To-day.
.'The same thing can happen to-day
lust as 1t did fifteen years or so ago.
II an official wants to be dishonest there
Is nothing to prevent MN INN MAXINE stpns , 9''
death of Moses Clarke have Known In
dictments to disappear m~ys,erlousiy O.
fore the case got TO trial. II Is not th'
fault Of tho Distrtct-Attorney's office 81
inucn as INSCRIPTIONS lawyers.
'sTne Police justices are in n large
measure to blame for the evil OF thu
present day, as In nearly every cast
they Insist upon the evidence being filed
in court with the complaint. 1t IL easy
TO imagine what coul happen while tn,
documents are on their way to the Dis
defendants lawyer is entitled to lool
Mt the papers. and II an unscrupulou'
man wants to abstract any particular ar
ticle he can easily do 1t.
tT~ 1850 -a.s A. Ia. N-..l .,,-I
me a lesson which l will never forget,
Our evidence was stolen that time,
Now / take particular care to keep the
evidence myself. II l am compelled to
plicate Of 1t.
Free, Yet Indicted.
at is a strange fact added Mr.. Com
stock. that no power On earth seemi
able to bring the gamblers to the bar
even now. just as 1t was then. Score
of indictments nave been found of late
ear against pool-room men and policy
dealers. and they are stu in the pigeon
holes Of the District-Attorney's office
] wrote dozens of letters to Mr. Nicol
on the subject when he was in Ollie"
but got little satisfaction. The indict
""Take the case of Mike Murray 70
instance. He was convicted in tw,
courts as well as pleading guilty in Spec
ial Sessions. 1t is notorious that he KEEP
5000 80 w.
side. yet there are indictments hangin
over his head that will probably neVe
be tried. John johnson. h is \
Adsms's right-hand-man. was convictc
three times. yet he last time he wa
convicted sentence was suspended. II
is row walking about the city with fv
indictments hanging over him"
None of the attaches of the District
ATTIC rney's office has any rccolieCtiu
of the burning up of the Indictment
during the Phelps administration. {
II he has, he denies It.
Judge Cowing, when asked about |
said he had not heard of II, but a
Mr.. Purdy remarked, he was the las
one who would know.
Every line OF the story Is true" NJ
Purdy aid. The burglar who opens
the safe is still in this city and can |
found, II any one wants an investig;
tion. The facts may as we'll come OF
now as at any other time. No one ca
be punished, as the statute Of limit,
tons prevents that"