The sun., 1894-12-17
POLICE CAPTAINS ANGRY.
THET shY THoRNE's ALLEGED
CONFESSION rs FULL OF LIES.
sterhs-son Silent s.d Cross Absent. but
the Rest Az. U.sni.o-s--Byrne SIC
L.-shiir and vinia~. May be witnesses
This week-No subp@ns for voorhis.

the Rest Ar. Unsni.o-s- -Byrnes, Me-
L..shnr and vyinia-. May be witnesses
This week-No subp@ns for voorki..
The police Captains and acting Captains who
have commanded in Leonard street in the last
twelve years were pretty unanimous yesterday
In saying that Patrolman Augustus J. Thorne,
the last man 10 confess and get reinstated, was
. liar. Thorne's confession, the substance OF
which was printed in yesterdays papers, impli-
eated, u was alleged, Capts. Eakins, Siebert,
Stephenson, Ryan. and SohmittberRer, ex-
Capt. Cross, and Acting Captains o'Toole and
Norman westervelt In Thorne's statement
Capt Macmillan Schmittberger Of the Tender
loin who s under Indictment for accepting q
hvs-hundred-d bribe from NJ. Forget Of the
French line, led of. Capt schmittberger sue
sseded Capt. Ryan in the command Of the
Leonard street station. He was there only ten
weeks. He got red in the face yesterday when
TIE Sun reporter asked him about Thorne's
statement lie said:
81 don't even recall having seen the man, and
I know never detailed him in plain clothes
while was on duty in Leonard street. II he
has implicated me in his confession As having
been guilty of any wrongdoing, the receiving Of
bribes, or extortion, or anything Of the kind
while was in Leonard street, then denounce
him as q liar, and say that he ought TO be in
ulCtcu ONeT hkhln. why, IL ho Whlhou tHln
room this minute, wouldn't know him. He
never had detail from me. Why, was told
this morning that all the time I was in the pre-
cinct Thorne was on sick leave. will say
again, any statement Of his duplicating me in
any wrong Is an unmitigated lie" The Captain
brought his fist down on the desk so hard that
the ink bottle danced.
rs there any truth in the statement that you
have decided TO 20 on the witness stand before
the committee and mako statemontr"
That's rot" he declared. ~ never had any
such idea l want to say that ever since this In
vestigation began my name has been constantly
dragged into it without cause. I'm getting tired
Of 1t. I don't understand why IL should be. and
you can say, too. that there isn't any danger of
my running away. / never backed down In
front Of an enemy yet, and I'm not going to be-
gin now"
Norman westervelt the present acting Cap
tain in the Leonard street precinct and the man
who at present is Thorne's superior officer, was
next.
"rve been here Just two months acting
Captain" he said, land haven't seen tho sis hit
Of money. II Thorne has implicated mo in his
confession In any way, he has told what Is not
true. Since have been in command here he
has never had detail and he has been engaged
all the time in uniform as patrolman. Yes,
have seen him since his return to duty. but
have not spoken to him. Capt. Stephenson left
this precinct In 1899. At that time Thorne was
ct s't hs sos IN plain
Ryan, and Thorne did patrol duty only. Then
came SShmittberger. then Cross. then Doherty.
70 1adfs liz
asas Sp1k so se sep ss
possibly impiicats these men In any .wrongdo-
confession" : -
""Do you intend speaking to him about it ?"
no. / do not" said the acting Captain.
pS;Sp CAPT Thomas M Ryan now now Of .hs High
station seven months. He declared: . The man
pever did days special duty for me In his life.
only remember him vaguely. MY recollection
think I ever had 20 reprimand him. Now
wouldn know him II Imet him. II he has men
Gono me in his confession, he has told an un-
Capt. Joseph II. Eakns, now of the Mercer
!quad Tor several years before stephenson's
lime He said: When was there Thorne was
was there he was on plain patrol duty. re-
member that once In while did detail him In
s9snss sS Sa. on
Outside OF this never had anything to do with
the man. and never spoke To him except upon
me in any wrongdoing It is absurd. know
nothing about his confession except what have
Capt Jacob Siebert, who now commands the
Union Market station, was Captain Of the Leon
elared with lot Of emphasis: If this man
ThOrne did any collecting while l was COM
mspSdns The Lsons,d street station he did i
he pockete T.. But believe there is some mis-:
lake about hi; report q his All
look command OF the station and he was there
.hen left. and that's absolutely all that have
paptsin Of the Essex Market squad. was acting
aonths. lie S deeiSpod. III TSorne % Sas iese %ss
TONED my name IN his alleged confession, he
three months. l wasn't there long enough to
get well ac9paintsd with the men under me.
never detailed Thorne on any SPECIAL duty ,oi
any kind while he was under me- He never did
any duty while WAS in command OF the station
except regular patrol duty In uniform All that
] remember about him Is that he was attentive
Cap. stephenson spent his first sunday in the
Tombs. Capt. Grant, who Is his brother -in-aw.
called on HIM and spent most OF the afternoon
with him In he eennsers room. Sergeant Chap;
Lawyer Hllman also called. lie would not see
my newspaper men, and sent word that he had
essa TSey bss
spoken about rhorne's confession.
En.osRt Adam A. Cross is the only man who
confession who was not seen. The reporter could
Thorne himself was on duty from 8 O'Clock TO
eo'elock, Acting Captain Wsstervelt was be-
around at the station early In the morning and
sat around the mems Waiting room. All the pa
trolmsn had been warned not to speak with him
regarding the alleged confession, and the result
was that they didn't speak 10 him At all. They
kept just as far away from him possible.
When they were, called out 20 answer roll call
and go ON duty. he took his place In line. Even
the men on either side OF him did not say word
10 him, and when they marched out of the house
he walked on TO his post alone. Several report
ers saw him later on duty, but he had nothing
TO say about the confession.
Lawyer Goft will proba bly, call all the Captains
who were appointed by Commissioners McClaYe.
French, and VoOrhis this week, and will ask
them the same questions he asked Capt Creeden.
But his star witnesses Will be superintendent
byrnes and Inspectors Williams and McLsugh-
I'm. IL Is almost certain that lie will call these
three this week. This WAS stated yesterday bya
man who 10 acquainted with the plans Of the
lie, order elect The examination of Williams
anu McLaughlin will be on the matters that
nave been brought out from time TO time during
khe investigation In which their names hAyO
been mentioned In addition effort win be
made 20 force them 10 tell how much money they
are worth and where they got il. Check books
ana bank books will be called for.
fOlice Justice NOOFhis. who aDDOinted Cree