The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-01-17
DETECTIVES on THE RACK.
Atlanta Officers Charged With Whole
sale Corruption.

I NAA-NA " AAA - ~@eAA@Na AAAk ne AuN NnE
Names Of Certain Gamblers Out Of the
List Laid Before the Grand Jury, But
Claims That It Was Done With No
Wrong Purpose-GrocerD Dodd Accuses
Them of Bad Faith-other witnesses
Testify That the National Hotel Joint
Enjoyed Police Protection Gamblers
Forewarned of Police Raids-Two De-
tectives Presented With Rings by a
Woman of the Town.
Atlanta, Ca. Jan. 16.-The Baker inyes-
tigation win probably be concluded to-
morrow. The prosecution concluded earlv
during this mornings session and Cant.
Baker was up for the defense when the
committee quit for the day To-day the
detectives were handed melriiessly l1y
the defense, who seek TO break tho weight
of their accusation by showing that they
are not only engaged in conspiracy to
supplant Baker in office by Detective
Looney's son, but that they are them-
| selves corrupt to the very core Evidence
of a most sensational character, sustain
ing the attack on the honesty of the de-
tective department, was brought out dur
ing the day, and it is hard to see how a
searching and systematic investigation Of
the whole police department can be
avoided. The detectives are accused by
sworn witnesses OF selling protection TO
gamblers, and using their Office to prey
upon whatever unforunates fall into
their hands. They have also received pres
I
houses of i'll fame. and besides all these
! charges of corruption. there is direct CON
| hict between what the detectives swore
| on the stand and the sworn testimony OF
| others against them. There is a loud call
/ for the heads of Chief Wright and Looney
| and Cason, who are the shining marks
/ for the present attack. The Baker case is
almost lost sight Of between the exposure
| of such a den Of horrors as the old Ma
| tional hotel saloon and the sensational evil
dence of corruption against the police.
| Chief Detective Wright was the first witt
| ness called to the stand by the committee
| this morning. Chief Wright was giving
| his testimony last night when the commit
| tee adjourned, and this morning what he
/ had to tell was very much on the same
| line as what he gave last night. He adj
/ mitted that he had cut names out of the
/ list of gamblers furui. he'd by has depart
ment to the grand jury, for the purpose
/ of giving that body Information upon
which to find indictments, but he declared
/ that he was not guilty of anything inn
proper in doing this. He did not remem-
| Der the names of the men who had es-
capped the grand jury through this mutila-
tion of the list.
G. T. Dodd well known wholesale gro
GER was the first witness for the defense.
/ He began the toasting that the detectives
got all along the line by declaring that
| there was nothing criminal in the action of
his son in carrying certain goods TO the
! National hotel. as he was a partner in
| the business Mr.. Dodd said that at the
| time the matter was explained satisfac-
torily to the detectives, and that when
the present investigation was first sprung,
| the detectives promised to leave this tran
sacton out of the formal specifications
| against Baker. but they had not kept
| their word in the matter. which added
to the injustice done Baker in having a
| charge that the detectives knew was false
| when they made IL by doing a further in
! justice to his family also.
Tom Dodd, the young man who had
! taken the goods 10 the National while
drunk, was introduced and cOrroborated
| his fathers account.
| Bill Hall, a witness against the detec-
! tives, was then called. Hall was the pro-
! prietor of the National saloon during the
| period of its worst reputation and during
] part of that time, Baker was his conhden.
tial friend and business associate. 1t is
on account of this relation that Baker is
! in his present trouble. He was in author
ity during the absence of Hall and is there
fore held by the police IS equally respon-
sible with him for the dark record made
by the place Hall, when he took the
stand, assumed the air of trying to con-
/ 4 tie aIr tod t1ter
a blind tiger attachment to the place, a
poker room and crap room, which We're
| highly profitable. He also admitted with
out dispute that there were a great many
crooked things done at the place, but con-
tended that they were done contrary to his
desires or allotment, and that he was not
himself criminally guilty.
Hall tried to shield Baker all he could
in the course of the rigid cross-examina-
tion to which he was subjected. Detec-
tive Looney, Hall claimed, was not only
aware of the character of the place, that
there was a blind tiger being regularly
run and gambling going on, but he
charged that Looney protected him in
these violations of the law by keeping him
posted Of the movements of the police,
notifying him whenever there was danger
of a raid and whenever it was necessary
70 lay low FOR a while. On one occasion,
Hall said, Looney went out TO his house
on Sunday to tell him that there was like
ly to be a police raid and that he must
close up his shop. When negro started
an opposition tiger in the hotel, Looney
pulled him at Halls request. In return for
these services Hall swore that Looney
had carte blanche al the saloon and got
everything he wanted As a substantial
tion of the accusation against Looney,
Hall declared that there was never case
made against any person who frequcnted
his poker room, but that just as soon as
he quit business, the gamblers began to
get into trouble. His blind tiger also
did business practically undisturbed, he
said. Hall admitted that he kept the
RED Book" described by Fred Cooper yes
terday, claiming that he kept IT for self
protection. AS an instance Of the devotion
Of Detective Looney, he said that when
ever frequenter Of the place got 10
talking too much, all he had 10 do was TO
tell the officer, and he would run the
troublesome one out Of town. so that he
could not expose the place.
VI. n. Papa of Thomas county testi-
fed to having been robbed of so in a
house Of i'll fame on visit TO the city
He called on Detectives Looney and Cason