Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1894-02-01
TEMPTED BY TELEGRAPH
How Boodlers Tried to Bribe a
Member OF the Jury.

In all the many attempts which have
been made to fix juries there is one
which arises above the commonplace
says the Chicago Times. In reprintinl
the following story of the famous case
referred to all names and dates have
been omitted.
Early in the spring of 1S-- the news
papers began to hint that everything
was not right with a certain county
board, that contractors, commissioners
and county officers were leagued to.
gether to rob the county. The first
publications of these rumors were
laughed at by the parties implicated.
They had grown bold in their crime
and covered their tracks we'll.
Suppose the charges are true, what
are you going to do about it?" laugh
ingly queried one.
''Oh, we're all right; they can't touch
us" said another, as he poured out a
glass of champagne.
However, the press and people were
thoroughly aroused A fund to prose
cute the boodlers was raised and the
best detectives in the country were set
to work. From vague hints the papers
got to definite statements Then the
boodlers began to feel uneasy They
were not yet alarmed, because they
were sure their money and influence
would secure them immunity. 1t was
not SO with the outsiders, however
the contractors, merchants, and others
who were only indirectly implicated
in the affair They feared that their
regulations would suffer even if their
liberty was not abridged. They began
to talk in order to clear themselves and
in this evidence was accumulate that
was unimpeachable.
Then the boodlers began to be
alarmed. One made confession. An
other pleaded guilty Everyone i'm
plicated was taking the easiest method
of protecting himself. The day of
trial finally came. The prisoners real
lied that nothing remained for them
but conviction and imprisonment if an
honest jury was obtained. The prose-
cution realized this fact, too, and made
every effort to obtain talesmen who
were above suspicion. AS fast as a
juror was accepted he was placed
under surveillance, and every attempt
to get at" him was frustrated When
the twelve men filed into court the
morning the opening arguments were
made the prisoners were hopeless.
Every possible effort to "fix'' member
of the jury had been tried and proved
unavailing From that time on the
jurors would be more closely guarded
than ever. The bailiffs and court Of
ficers were incorruptible. They had
been tried and found true to their
trust. Nothing but lucky flulxe would
save the prisoners from the peniten-
tiary.
However, the friends of the boodlers
did not despair. Among their number
were some of the cleverest schemers
in the country-men used to evading
the law, men always suspected but
never convicted of crime. 1t was
strange, they thought if with unlim-
tied money at their command they
could not save their friends. A selfish
motive, too, urged them to effort, be-
cause they feared that If convicted
some of the boodlers might make state
ments which would drag them with
them to prison.
Finally the longed for lucky fulse
turned up. In reading the examina-
ton of one of the jurors it was noticed
that he said he was formerly a tele-
graph operator.
Here was way to get at him. Now
if he could be bribed they were all |
right
The next day the friends of the pris-
oners took front seats in the courtroom
and scrutinized the jurors closely The
telegraph operator-call him Smith,
though his name was longer and more
euphonious than that-sat where the
rays of the sun shone full upon him. A
big scarfpin-an owls head with ru-
bies for eyes-was the most noticeable
feature of his apparel This scarfpin
played an important part in the subse-
queut proceedings.
Detectives were at once set to work
to find out something about Smiths
character, and to ascertain the best
manner of approaching him. The fol-
lowing night the would-be bribers met
The detectives had found out that
Smith was in the habit of indulging
too freely in liquors at times, that he
frequented pool rooms, and that he
knew the difference between "a case
card and lookout chair. In fact the
detectives reported that Smith had lost
considerable money at faro just before
he was summoned to appear in court,
and that he had been trying to borrow
money to square himself"
This news fell upon the conspirators
like burst of sunshine from cloudy
Sky. If they knew anything of char
acter, and in their minds they felt they
had not made their living by trading
upon their knowledge of character too
long to be easily deceived, Smith could
be approached by them This thought
kept up the spirits of the prisoners all
through the trial
The jurors were kept at the hotel
when they were not in court and were
closely guarded, no one being allowed
to communicate with them. Each juror
had made notes on certain parts of the
evidence, and one evening as the trial
was nearing an end, wearied of the
discussion, there was lull in the
arguments while the notes were being
carefully studied Smith was seated