New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-06-09
MRS. ELlAS'S DEFENCE.
Jerome Says Plat KnouciRgly Gaze
Her Honey for Biackmaiiers-

rest Tor eXtOrJ1On, gees on the stand IN Fer Own
defence Tomorrow afternoon. she viii tell. e
Is expected. story of how she was blacSmailed
for years, and how threats of exposure Of the
relations between herself and John T. Piatt
drew thousands from her a great part OF which
money Piatt furnished knowing for what u
was 70 be used Following her testimony, two
warrants win probably be issued for persons
who have rendered professional services to the
negress. one of them physician the other a
lawyer.
The District Attorney has ipforration showing
that persons ''tled Platt and the Elias woman
to the words he used IN court yesterday.
He will not say n word about this Information.
nor will his assistants Mr.. Rand NJ. Lord and
Mr.. Kernochan August c. Nanz Who was Mrs.
Elias's lawyer for tine. has told a Tribune re-
porter that Mr. PIatt consulted arm about let
ters threatening exposure if money we're not
paid to the writer's.
The full extent Of this bleeding process. u
is believed. amounted TO a round 100000 II
will probably be easy TO prove the procedure
because part OF the money was paid by checks
The allegations are that the I-ssress Was made
the tool of unserupulous men. who. knowing that
she was unwilling to bear exposure, and reatlz-
ing her influence over PIatt figured that by
playing on her fears they would be able to ac-
cumulate a snug fortune from her and Piatt-
The scheme began. it is declared, by a bill fIon
the physician out of all proportion 70 the ser
vices rendered. This. being PAID, paved the
way for other demands. In turn these were met
and others succeeded them
Between them these two men knew every
phase of the wOnlans record from her birth.
through her Checkered career in Philadelphla.
including the sOjourn in the aimshOuse and
Moyamensing Prison. to her arrival here. her
term on BlackweIrs Island. her trouble with her
negro husband Davis. and most important her
meeting with Platt and her subsequent relations
with him.
The woman paid. She continued to pay until
her fears overcame her the demands grew
larger and the attitude of her tOrmentors more
menacing. Finally she refused to pay. Then a
suit against her threatened She told Fiatl
of the demands. of the impending suit. which
would in all probability disclose more than he or
she desired. He gave up"
Such is the groundwork on which the negress
will build her defence, it is believed No names
of other prominent men, will be dragged into
the case for according to the information OBJ
tanned yesterday. no other prominent men ex-
listed From Platt came the money on which
Hannah Elias lived: from her and from Platt
came the money 70 prevent exposure
Hannah Elias spent all yesterday in the
Tornbs in default of $4,000 bail. This her law
yer Washington Brauns. considers outrageous
and excessive" He has obtained a writ of
preme Court returnable at 1880 a. m to-day.
In the argument on this he expects to get the
bail materially reduced
His client gave out yesterday afternoon a
statement the first word coming directly from
her as to the case. Said she:
I wish the public know that do not fear the
INV name will be vindcated when my side has been
heard I will talk when the time comes. and then
or e gRt Rpi have never backmaiied any one in my
ss1 Ie. 1r d = me- = hut viii not answer his charses
row II is not true that the names OF other men
intention to have made public Nj PIatts relations
with me. 1t is his own doing.
The woman spent the night following her
rest in a chair in her cell in the Hercer-st sta
tion She refused to the hard cot, sat
UP all night, reading the newspapers and writ
ing letters. Yesterday morning she bought all
the morning papers. read them. and ready
to go to court when her lawyer arrived at 9 a.
m. He had a triie of difficulty in getting
her but his insistence Won When she left the
Mercer-st- station. accompanied by Mr.. Brauns
and Detective Sergeants Fogarty and Flannery,
there had assembled outside throng CT thou
sands. packing the sidewalks. filing the win
dows Of the business houses and climbing over
cabs and trucks which were jammed progniscu-
ously into the roadway. She was frightened
but the people. while curious and trifIe broad
70 mOIest her.
In the TOnhs court another dense throng packed
the room Mrs. Elias was taken before the
rail. where she stood, stold and apparently in
different TO staring eyes. District Attorney
Jerome insisted that high bail be fixed BY
extortion, he said. the woman had obtained
about SI00OOo and in her statement to Assisr-
ant District Attorney Lord had admitted thar
she got 100000 from Platt The bail should ha
in proportion to the gravity of the charge ba
maintained
Mr. Brauns protested against high bail Hs
said IT was true his client had some prope~tv
but II was not as much was generally sun
posed. and was tied up by the lis pendens pro-
ceedings. He thought that. as the charge ON
which she was arraigned involved only 81 JOO
the bail should be low he said Mrs Elias had
been fair in her dealings with the District At
torney's Office since the Green tragedy: she had
remained in the city in the face of grave chargas
against her and had told honestly every facC
on which the District Attorneys Office had re-
quested Information. He thought 5000 would
be reasonable bail
This woman has plenty of money your hon.
question that she get SsOUpO il she wa nts
IL The case of this woman has become a ptabli,.
scandal The circumstances of hast week.-Mrs.
crowd IN 'front.' or the defendants hOuse and ha~
eyading service Of legal papers-tended 70 bring
Justice into contempt. 1t is absurd TO saw she
should not be punished
irrespective of what this woman obtained
she and Platt were bled by a lot of other peo-
pie, who divided the proceeds Of bIackrrau
among themselves. But with all this biack-
mailing 10 which the woman had been subjected
she Is IN possession of considerable property
and can furnish 100000 bail If she wants no
Maslstrate Ommen then fixed the bail az
s9o.ooo. and set Tomorrow afternoon for the
examination He said then he would consider
an application for reduction of bail