New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-08
CHAPMAN'S TRIAL BEGUN.
THE rENpERLoIN COMMANDERS CON-
DUCT AT MR.. sEELEY's DINNER.
LITTLE NJ IMPORTANCE BROUGHT OUT AT THE
FIRST DAYS HEARING-NAMEs OF THE
v,r~rccES S,-RPOENAED

,,rr,r or IMPORTANCE BROUGHT OUT AT THE
FIRST DAYS HrAR1Nc-NAMEs OF THE
WITNESSES suBpoENAEp.
The trial Of Captain George s. Chapman OF 'ne
West Thirtieth-st police station. charged win VII"
warrantably without warrant of law. entering
Sherrys early the morning OF December ~. wiz,
Herbert B. See!ey was entertaining part! Vi '
f~le.ds at dinner. and there conducting himse'i "
a ,ude bois,erous and nsolent manner as ,"e
charge puts 1t. began yesterday afternoon d, o.e
HEADQUARTERS The Seeley dinner mas oeen 'ne 'd
of a good part of the town ever since 1t was known
that Captain Chapman was an unweicome anu u,'',,
vitcd guest thereat. 1t has peeh rec''eu H"'
how both Mr. Seeley and Mr.. Sherry reiuseu 10 ''aNe
a formal complaint against Captain chapman. anu
10, Chic, conlin decided to act the complainant
himself He opened his yesterday before Ponce
Commissioner Grant
Tho courtroom at Police Headquarters was crowd
cd 10 the doors yesterday afternoon some time De-
fore the trial opened In the audience were mum
her of fashionable men. who were present at the
,cbd,.cussed dinner and who had been SUBJ
poenaed as witnesses. Among them were severa'
Of the ushers at the wedding Of Clinton Barnum see
ley and Miss .Isnce futile. which TOOK place '"s'
"Wednesday a Trinity Chapel. In an adjoining room
were several Of the women who appeared III 'he
vaudevile programme arranged and executed ior 'ne
divers on of Mr. Seeleys guests at the dinner Cora
Rout, and Mrs Wade. who calls herset ii',e
Egypt" Annabelle Moore. whose father made the
complaint which prompted Chapman's action were
also there.
president Roosevelt and Commissioner Parker were
present during part Of the session. as were
slso Civil Justice Joseph II. Stner and Oscar Ham
mersten. There goodly array OF counsei pres
ent in the interests Of the various people ihVoNeu
In the trial Colonel h. c. James appeared 10 exam
tne the witnesses summoned by Chief Conin for the
prosecution w +. s Hart looked after the inter-
ests OF Captain Chapman Alderman Hall was pres
ent for Mr. Seeley Thomas Thacher for MI Sherry'
while William +. Howe said he would look after the
interests OF Little Egypt
The session lasted all the afternoon, but 1t de-
veloped little with which the public Is not already
familiar None OF the female witnesses were called
and most of the testimony referred to the time ana
manner Of Captain Chapman's entrance to Sherry's
and his conduct while he remained there
THE CHARGES READ.
The trial opened with the reading of the charges
against the accused captain TO which his lawyer
entered a plea of not guilty. Chief Conlin then
read the correspondence that had passed between
himself md Messrs Sherry and Seeey and which
showed lat those two men refused to make
formal complaint against the captain or 10 SUBMIT
affidavits touching his offence. This. the Chie1
pointed out made it necessary for him. in the in
terests of the Department. to become the prosecu-
tor himself At this point Colonel James arose and
explained that the Chief had requested him to as
sist him in the presentation OF the evidence Win
out the loss OF a moment Mr.. Hart entered the hrst
of many objections lie OBJECTED ths tihie " TIC
employment Of private counsel He thought the
Chief ought be the public prosecutor Dut COM
missioner Grant thought differently
Charles r. Wilson. assistant manager TOT MT.
Sherry was the first witness called lie had only
begun his testimony when Mr.. Hart arose with a
new cause for objection. He wanted all the VIII
nesses to leave the trial room In order. as he sad
N remove all chance of collision. He explained
that he naturally suspicious. After some 'dik
Commissioner Grant ordered the witnesses 10 re're'
Whereupon about half the auditors arose and made
their way out of the room into the room where the
female witnesses had already been taken Some OF
them seemed to enjoy the prospect But their JOY
was short lived, for in a moment the women were
guided into a separate apartment by ponce oincei'
Mr. Wilson'S testimony dealt altogether with the
manner of Captain Chapmans entry. lie SAID tha'
he opened the door for Mr.. Duchemann and a ladyy
a. on ont AT about ! O'Clock in the morning when
Captain Chapman and two other men, all in ci'i-
zen's clothes entered the door and brushed by hm'
He declared that he demonstrated ana asheu 'hei'i
what they wished. but that the captain brushed by
and went upstairs two steps at d time without
showing any warrant or explaining In any way, ana
that the two men followed him. He had not iocKed
tho door in Captain Chapmans lace Garner III 'he
evening Mr.. Hart. on cross-examinatioh' trieu "
get the witness admit that unusual precautions
were taken on that night to prevent the entrance
of outsiders to the building. but in this he was I'M
successful.
The next witness was Alexander A. Ducheman.
menu caterers. who furnished the performers OF
The evening. Mr. Ducheman was the man ha %n9T
entered. Mr.. Ducheman's testimony was corrooo'a-
tive of Mr.. Wilson.
THE CAPTAINS CONDUCT
Eugene Flauraud. manager for Sherry. TESTIFIED
that he was in the upper hall when Captain Chap-
man bounded up the stairs. He had no time 10
say anything, the Captain passed him without
noticing him. The Captain went into the dress
ing-room, and he heard him use , me p %Urus
the theatrical agent and Mr.. Rich. guest were
in the dressing room when the Captain en ite
but he could distinguish what was SAID Inc
guests heard the noise and rushed IN from the u''
James H. PhiPps. the amusement eaerer RE, RE-
dressine ri room. as he was to assist Miss Minnie
Renwood TO present to the guests souvenirs Of
Santa Claus up 10 date Her costume was a take
off on Trilby Miss Routt was putting on her street
costume in corner behind portiere when the
Captain rushed ill., The Captain said 10 her, You
are not Mt to be ana a her 10 e the po
lice station Mr. seeley and his friends the witness
,hs' pan the latter said he satiHed that
go into the dining room which he did after much an
turn turns He heard the Captain say that he had made
a mistake He added that the gentlemen asked ai
whether the officer took it or not He de-
scrbed the Captains manner as at first aggressive
furnished entertainers to clubs society people and
churches. whereat the irreverent laughed long and
loudly.
Mr. Hart tried TO get into the manner OF enter
tainment Phipps was asked 10 provide. but Colonel
James objected successfully. The reorts that passed
between The veteran lawyer and his youthful OPP
ponent furnished the only amusement the audience
had Mr. Hart full of objections. and the Colonel
was extremely indulgent just before o'clock the
Commissioner adjourned the case until this after
noon o'clock when IL l. expected that the testi-
mony will be interesting CAPTAIN Chapman
wore a brand uniform yesterday end looked
pious and confident He said that he expected to be
thoroughly cleared.
The other witnesses subpoenaed for the prosecu-
ton according 10 the official list. are Henry W.
Harris East Orange Louis ogden. of Mamaroneck:
Norman f. Tilden. Mamaroneck: A Gould Hamil.
ton. of South Orange: Horatio X. Harper. No. 81
Broadway; Theodore D. Rich. No los Futon-st:;
Clair Hamilton, South Orange; Conrad Il. Peters,
No "a Beaver-st.; Alfred Marshall. No IS Park
ave: r. p. Delaney. Wa,si: Wilson Marshaii:
East Thirty -ninth-st: Charles Tobias, No. 81
Paa st (larence A POSileY No. Sl5 Eifth-aVe..