The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1903-08-03
DOODLE BRIGADE IS IN
HARD LINES.
Among Those Indicted Is the Mayor
Of Lock Haven, Pa-All Are In
dicted for Conspiracy-The
Grand Jury Is Not
Yet Through.


grand jury, which has been considering
evidence growing out of the postoii'ce
| investigation, today returned indictments
| against the following:
AUGUST w. MACHEN, formerly gen.
eral superintendent of free delivery: =,
JOHN T. CRUPPER, mayor of LOCK
william c. LONG, of this city;
WILLIAM GORDON CRAWFORD,
also ,0 Of E this Is cit city oprNz
MARTHA ]. LORENz. his wife. OF
Toledo, Ohio. 49,
MAURICE UNKEL, of New York city.
THOMAS w. McGREGOR, formerly
chief of supplies. division Of mail free de-
livery and
LEOPOLD ]. STERN, of Baltimore
With the exception of Crawford, all
Of the above are indicted for conspiracy
The Indictment against Crawford Is FOR
presenting a false claim against the gov
ernment Long and Crupper also are IN
dicted separately for bribery. Orders Tor
the arrest of all the parties were imme-
diately issued. This batch OF indlcs-
| ments does not wind up the cases before
| the grand jury, and other matters re-
sulting from the postal investigation are
pending before that body and may result
in indictments against other parties IN
Conspiracy Act Violated.
| Machen Crupper and Long are named
| Jointly in one indictment for VOCATION
| of the conspiracy act of the revised stat
| utes. The Indictment sets out tnat pc
| tween July /. 1897, and July l, l9ol, Crup-
| per induced Machen to give him (Crnpper)
| the contract for furnishing materials Tor
and employment in the painting of letter
| ugira nd
| Crupper painted these boxes, posts, etc,
in Re- d.ng. Albany, Scranton and many
! other cities throughout the country and
! in addition painted Il, III boxes at the box
! factory at Reading, Pa, and 2.O4S pack
! age boxes at the box factory in Cleve-
land Ohio, Crupper paying Machen
! commission of 10 cents box, Long ACT
| ing as an Intermediary. Another lndlct-
| ment against Stern, Long ana Macheh.
| based on alleged violation of the same
statute, charges that Stern entered INTO
| a contract with the government to 1ur-
! Eish letter carriers satchels and letter
| collectors satchels for the free delivery
| service, the satchels to be supplied III
| each case with a leather shoulder strap.
The cost of each Of these straps to
Stern in complying with his contract
would amount to % cents. The lndlcl-
capacity was to procure said straps at
The expense of the United States and de-
liver the same to Stern to be used by the
latter in the performance of his contract
in order that Stern might save % cents
ON each satchel delivered to the United
States. 1t further charges that, not
withstanding the furnishing of such
shoulder straps by the United States,
Stern was to charge the full contract
price for such satche furnished by him,
and that portion of the saving to Stern
| should be retained by him and the resi-
| due paid to Long, to be divided between
| Long and Machen. Various overt acts
| OF Machen, such as the procuring Of pur
| chaSeS by the United States Of such
| shoulder straps and the delivery of them
| 10 Stern to be used III this way, are re-
! cited, Stern is alleged to have paid bills
| TO the postofiice department without de-
ducton or allowance for these shoulder
| straps, ana various overt acts of Long
| in the receiving of money from Stern and
in the furtherance of the conspiracy are
recited.
third Indictment jointly names Will
| liam Cor don Crawford, well known social
| ly in this city: August W. Machen, George
| L. Lorenz and his wife, Martha j. Lo-
REM both of Toledo. Ohio, for conspiracy.
Lorenz was formerly an official OF the
postofce department. Crawford repre-
|
pany, which received the contract for
| furnishing certain of the letter carriers
| satchels.
How Graft Was Divided.
The contract called for shoulder strap
| for the satchels. which the indictment
| charges were never furnished by the con-
tractor, being supplied instead by the
| United States under Machens orders al
though the contractor received the pay
for them. For this concession it is
charged that Crawford paid to Machen
| through the Lorenzs about so per cent
| of the amount received from the govern
ment. The company. it is stated, received
since July, 1902, and up to the present
about $4,000 from the government for the
satchels. OF this amount it is charged
| that Crawford paid the Lorenzs $1,000 and
that the latter divided that amount with
Machen The Postal Device and Lock
| Company is New Jersey corpora ton
and its officers are mostly New York men,
| but Crawford has been its vice president.
| manager and attorney in this city and has
! had entire charge of ITS business here. Ma
! one else in the company is implicated.
| Maurice Runl<el, of New York city;
| Thomas w. McGregor, formerly in charge
| of the supplies for the rural free de
livery service and recently indicted in
! Baltimore under another charge and Au-
| gust w Machen are named jointly in an
other Indictment for similar transac-
ton. 1t is charged that Runkel received
| payment for shoulder straps which he
| failed to furnish with carriers satchels
as required under specifications. and that
the postoffice department furnished the
straps for which the contractor was paid
For this concession the Indictment al
leges that Runkel paid sums to Machen
and McGregor aggregating about $1,000 &c
| Machen and $500 to McGregor.
John r. Crupper, the mayor OF Lock
haven, Pa, is charged In a separate in
dictment with paying Machen bride Of
$500 in August, 1900. Long also is indicted
separately for paying a bribe. both these
bribery charges being in the same trans
| actions involved In the conspiracy indict
| ments. Crawford was separately indicted
| for presenting a false claim for satchels
by charging the government and receiving
pay therefor for shoulder straps never
supplied by him. The cases have beer
pending before the grand jury for a Ions
time and Inspector Walter S. Mayer, OF
! Chicago who worked up the cases. ha:
beer in daily conference with the dis
trict attorneys office advising as to de-
| tails.