New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-08-06
]. J. DEEGAN'S RECORD.
4TDED FAKE" INQUESTS.
Helped as State Witness to Send
Coroner COOmbs to Prison.

( ~ ONLf tOOHCOo ~ ftoOHs
lanes J. Deegan. the examiner in the Office
of Controller Grout. vino. as told in The Tribune
yesterday made out a whitewashing report in
FAVOR OF the old Dock Board and of Alderman
lanes r Gafney and ex-Councilman John j.
71urphv lessees of the West Seventy-ninth-st.
ar5 West NInety-sixth-st piers. is the same
r.roes J. Deegan who in 1897, according toNhis
1,,D sworn statement showed Edward B.
,.oo,,bs then coroner of Kings County, how 10
-. ,,r }ze'' inquests. Coembs was sent to the
..t,s--ia-v for his crime. Deegan, on account
- .sssisfIng'' the District Attorney Mr.. Backus,
was not prosecuted.
The whitewashing report was not made puDIc
,.-+u after Controller Grout had sailed for Eu-
-ora II was made technically by James F. Nc
-. toa5 of the Bureau Of Law and Adjust
-. 90 Jeremiah T Mahoney. next in rank
n Mr. Mckinney. Deegan. however was the
r,s,, who did all the investigating Inc re
mort wound up by saying that the prices palu py
wyrDbv and Gaffney for their piers were rea-
sonahle~ ae compared with the prices of other
piers
The Brooklyn Eagle" last night devoted
,earl,, two columns to Deegan's record. In the
.7,cl+ ~ that record it is somewhat surprising
mot Controller Coler ever appointed him TO
the Mace OF examiner. where the initial eXami-
nation Of an account is almost invariably the
one that carries il through the entire depart
nent without further challenge.
REPORT CAUSES CHAGRIN.
Nothing in the way Of a report that has come
FINN +be Controllers Office has caused the
friends Of Controller Grout greater chagrin than
the one furnished by Mckinney. Mahoney and
Deegan giving the old Dock Board a clean bill
Of health Now that the fact is made clear that
ueegan wrote the report that was accepted
without question by the other two officials. there
IS no longer any surprise about what it con-
tains Deegan on the stand before Justice
Keogh and jury swoTe that he was the man
who showed Coombs the ropes; that he had
himself written the names Of bogus witnesses,
and that he saw no wrong in it. II was the Gus
tom Of the office, he said, so he helped Coomhs
10 rerpetuate the custom.
Deputy Controller Stevenson said yesterday
that he knew nothing about Deegan. He said
that the responsibility for selecting an examiner
10 do a certain piece of work rests upon the
head of the bureau. He did not know whether
M. LYON. the former chief of the Law Division,
now dead or James F. Mckinney, the present
head Of the bureau. had selected Deegan to do
The work Mr. Mckinney is away on his yaca-
tioa jeremiah r Mahoney. acting chief of the
bureau. said yesterday that ne did not know
how Deegan came to be assigned to the work.
Deegan also is away on his vacation
DEEGAN KNEW THE ROPES.
When Coroners Coombs and Mason took office
IN January, 1896 they found Deegan in the Of
ice as a clerk. He was an active machine
Democrat in the Twenty-first Ward. where he
still is active. Deegan was allowed TO stay in
the carc,e,.s. Office on HIS representation ti-at he
knew the ropes
.I told Coroner Coorrbs.' said Deegap in his
testimony on March Il. 1898. at the trial of
Coonbs that he (Coombs) was entitled to the
same fee whether there was a jury or not"
Did II ever occur TO YOU asked Mr.. Marean,
that it was wrong to sign the names Of six pre-
tended 5urors?"
No sir" said Deegan. because ii a wei
known fact around official circles that it had
always been done"
Deegan dropped out Of sight after Coombs was
sent TO prison. but Controller Coer appointed
MIN. about three years ago as an investigator
IN the Finance Department. So far as known
the only important Investigating that he has
done was the inquiry that resulted in white
washing TIE old Dock Board. Whether that VIII
stand remains to be seen. AiesSTs.. Mckinney
first and second places in the Bureau Of Law and
Adjustment These are highly responsible posi-
tons
Both men are holdover Democrats. and pre-
suDably looking for retention in their
places. The friends Of both assume that 1t was
purely oversight on their part that Deegan
was intrUSted with such imI ortant piece of
work as passing the straightfo-wa~ ~dDesS OF
The MurpnE-iaffney leases. They said that il
must have been Mr. Lyon. now dead that as
1he leases. The impress on produced all
sides. with the exception Of the Tammany side.
is q thoroughly painful and sagreeable one.
TIE end is not yet.