The evening world., 1894-05-19
BURNED 5000
INDICTMENTS.

f(InhnuSd rOrn f'TH fhT
the Great Destroyer, and that was the
moment when the lottery men trembled
They knew the indictments against
them had never been destroyed, but
were locked up in the big safe;
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 ,o.,ery hd he ,es wes
unable to give 1t t. them. They had
come too hate.
MIR. Purdy says there were three men
who watched by the side of the dying
/ man until the end came. one or the
three. he says, is dead, and another was
Eph simmons. The third name for the
present he withholds.
That will come later" he added III
they want an investigation. even at this
late day, they .cin have all they want.
Scarcely had Moses Clarke breathed
his last wher the watchers, acCordlnB
to Mr.. Purdy. began to discuss how they
could get the indictments from the safe
They tried to operate the combination
! lock. but were compelled to give II up
open.
The Safe Broken Open.
They sent for notorious safe
breaker, says Mr.. Purdy-a burgler. one
whose name was then as now well
known to the police, and he did as
directed. -. . =.
The safe was opened. and although It
was midsummer, large fire was built
and the indictments thrown into 1t. II
was the intention only to destroy the
many others. and all in such CONFUSION,
that It would have taken too much time
to sort them out. So all that were round
were thrown into the blaze with the
men stood there for hours poking the
embers and not leaving until nothing
but heap of ashes remained. Even the
ashes were raked, SO that not as much
as a sign should be left to tell the story.
Then they returned to New York.
Later on Moses Clarke, was buried, and
politicians without number followed the
casket to the grave.
Later still, when Gov. Cornell issued
his proclamation calling upon the
to enforce the law against the lottery
men, search was made for the indict-
ments found in this county. but. Of
course. without result.
Comstock Belicves 1t.
Anthony Comstock, when told Mr.. Pur-
dy's story yesterday, did not evince the
slightest surprise. on the contrary he
to nsleSs !! In In all its fSaa When
Moses Clarke was In the District-Attor-
ney's office all sorts of crimes were COM
mitted. and no language Is strong
Indictments found on evidence submitted
by me to the Grand Jury were stolen
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 how ne
pleased. 1t was next to impossible 70
have any of the cases against his men
brought to trial. The indictments were
never recovered, so far as l can remem-
ber. Not only did the lottery indict-
ments disappear ct that time. but In
dictments In obscene and other cases
"Further than that. whenever a case
was particularly well watched by the
public have known forged indictments
have been su6ststuaea tor the aricis
bore '' the forged signature of th'
foreman Of the Grand Jury and purport
ed to have been, found upon evidence
which had never been submitted.
1t Could Happen To-Day.
"The same thing can happen to-day
lust as It did fifteen years or 50 ago
IL an official wants to be dishonest ther.
is nothing to prevent him making or
with indictments. Many times since tn
death of Moses Clarke have known IN
dictments to disappear mys1ter,iously !. tS, Re
fault OF the District-Attorney office 81
much as INSCRIPTIONS lawyers. ,
THE Police Justices are In iarg
|
present day, as in nearly every cas-
they insist upon the evidence being file'
in court with the complaint. 1t is eas,
to imagine what could happen while tn
documents are on their way to the DIS
trict-Attorney's office. Besides that, tn
defendants lawyer Is entitled to lool
at the papers, and II an unscrupulou
man wants to abstract any particular ar
ticle he can easily do 1t.
For my part, the lottery fraud taugh
me lesson which l will never forget
Now / take particular care to keep th'
evidence myself. II l am compelled t.
file the evidence in court l keep du
plicate OF 1t.
. Free, Yet Indicted.
. "It Is a strange fact" added Mr. Com
stock that no power on earth seem
| able to bring the gamblers to the ba
of indictments have been found of lat
, years against pool-room men and polio.
/ dealers, End they are still in the pigeon
/ holes of the District-Attorney's office
/ on the subject when he was in office
but got little satisfaction. The indict
: ments are, still there:
!. court, as we'll as pleading guilty in Spec
I ial Sessions. 1t is notorious that he KEEP
; side. yet there are Indictments hansin
r over his head that will probably neve
I be tried John Johnson. who is A
e Adams's right-hand- was convicte
:, three times, yet he last time he wa
d convicted sentence was suspended II
v Is row walking about the city with fiv
e Indictments hanging over him"
None OF the attaches of the District
v Attic rney's office has any recollectio
n OF the burning up of the Indictment
y during the Phelps administration. G
o II he has. he denies It.
: Judge Cowing. when asked about 1
e said he had not heard of 1t, but n
d MIR. Purdy remarked, he was the las
& one who would know
e Every line OF the story Is true" Nj
= Purdy said. The burglar who opene
= the safe is still in this city and can b
n found, II any one wants an investigf
tion. The facts may as we'll come OF
now as at any other time. No one ca
be punished, as the statute of lmits
tions prevents that"