The sun., 1901-07-31
BISERT JURY UNDER KEY:
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J,ry spent the Might at TIE Asess
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A, the conclusion Of the taking Of testi-
uouy on the first day Of the trial Of Ward
man George Bissert for extortion. In Part
IT.. General Sessions, yesterdsy afternoon,
sftsr Lena Schmidt had testified to paying
Rissert $500 to start . disordsrly house
and $50 a month to continue to run
Il. Recorder Gon announced that the jury
would be locked up over night. The
Recorders action was not unexpected.
The quality Of the evidence given by
the Schmidt woman and the woman
who confirmed her story. was such a. to
touch rather closely on police methods
iu relation to such houses. and tho audience
In the court room consisted for the most
part Of men who. while they have no official
connection with the Police Department,
are known to be highly interested In police
affairs. %. considering these facts, the
Recorder thought 1t BEST to keep the jury
men under surveillance. This Ii tho nrst
time jury has bean kept In confinement
In this way in New York county since the
trial for extortion Of Inspector W. W.
Mclaughlin. then Deputy Chief Of Police.
before Judge Barrett In 1896.
Assistant District Attorney Osborne
asked for an early adjournment yester-
day afternoon on account Of illness In his
family. Immediately afterward the Re-
corder, addressing the jury. said:
we are about to adjourn for the day
earlier than usual, owing to an engagement
Of one Of the counsel which consider i'm
portant. It h with extreme reluctance
that I order your confinement during the
trial. Were 1t not for an overweening
sense Of duty in the administration Of
justice, should not do SO. Being COM
be placed at your disposal"
Juror then announced that the jury
had decided that night sessions would be
agreeable to them, under the circumst ances.
In order TO facilitate the trial, II the Court
desired Il ten. Recorder Goh declared
that the matter depended on how much
progress was made and whether the counsel
no objections. 80 night sessions may be
held, beginning tonight. Court adjourned
until 0.30 O'Clock this morning, one hour
earlier than usual. The jurymen spent
the night at the Astor House, under charge
Of several court officers.
Lena Schmidt, the keeper Of a house
at 27 Stuyvesant street. testified yesterday
tina, she had known Bissert for about six
years. For two years previous to last Sep
tember she had kept furnished-room house
on the Stuyvesant street premises. This
not being very lucrative she decided to
establish a disorderly house. SO, In Sep
tember she went to the East Fifth street
station, she declared, To consult with the
police about the change.
Il called at the station about 10 o'clock
one morning last September" she said,
sand saw Bissert at the desk. l talked
with him at the desk. / said: i want to
open house, and he told me l couldn't
/ answered that there was one next door
to my place, and told him IL l was not al
the other up. He said at last: Well, you
60 home III come and see you
He came TO my house on Friday night
Sept. 20, and told me that II would cost
me $500 TO open the house and $50 month
to keep 1t open. l asked him II he had seen
the captain. He replied Yes. It's all
right. had the money ready and handed
It to him. $3.50 asked him how many girls
could keep and he said five or six"
Bissert was supposed to collect, she de-
clared, about the first OF every month.
He did not call regularly. On Dec. is he
collected the money for that month and
the next time he called was o'clock Christ
mas morning. He came in with an officer
named Livingston" said the witness, -and
the two sat around drinking beer with the
girls until O'Clock"
Money, said the witness, was paid regu-
larly In January, February and March Of
this year, but after that she paid no more.
It was toward the end OF December, accord
ing TO the witness, that Bissert began coming
In about once a week and chased the girls
out of che house" As the girls" invariably
returned within an hour this process was
rather inexplicable. The witness declared
that Bissert said they could come back
afterward.
awhy did he chase tho girls out'' asked
lawyer Levy.
I suppose he didn't want me to do any
business
Did he ever give you any eIplanationi'
He said that he was keeping the houses
on Stuyvesant street under cover
Later on indirect examination by As
sistant District Attorney Osborne, the
witness said: when Bissert came around
and drove the girls out he said they could
come right back. He told me that / must
be careful, for the Committee Of Fifteen
was around. He said also that he had a
big batch OF letters about me from the
District Attorneys Office
The Schmidt woman was followed as a
witness by Rosie Greenberg, an inmate OF
the Stuyvesant street house, who corrobo-
rated her testimony. She said that she
had seen the money paid to Bissert. The
women's testimony only differed as to the
time the money was paid, the Greenberg
woman declaring that IL was paid at 10
o'clock In the evening, while the Schmidt
woman fixed the time at o'clock.
Capt. Diamond, who was the only witness
under subpoena permitted to remain In
the court room while the women were on
the stand. smiled contemptuously while
they were giving their testimony. Alder
man Fleck who was recently acquitted
In Special Sessions OF the charge Of running
a disorderly house. sat In a front seat In
the court room during the afternoon
session.
Theatrical Notes.
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