Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-13
Hotel Employees Said to Have
Confessed TheftS.
EVIDENCE BEFORE POLICE
Results of Sweating" Process Ap-
piled by Detectives.
ALL ARE RELEASED ON BOND
Each Furnishes Surety in the Sum
of $1,000, Pending Hearing
in Police Court

The five men. employees of the Raleigh
Hotel. arrested on a charge of conspirins
to defraud the management by suppress
ing bar and cigar stand checks and pock-
citing the cash they represented have
made full confessions. according to the
police. They admit. it is stated, that an
organized plan had been followed for
many months by means of which large
sums of money were appropriated by at
least three and possibly four of the quin-
tet One Of the accused men denies that
he was associated with the others in the
scheme more than two months. but dur
ing that time. it is said. he confesSes hav-
ing received an average of 81 day
Illegally.
After the arrest of Jerome J. Rafferty,,
bar cashier: Frank S. Mahoney, clerk at
the cigar stand, and Henry Berger, a bar
tender, they were subjected to sweat
ing by Detectives Pratt. Hewlett and
Cornwell. who worked up the case. From
statements by the trio and additional in
vestigation at the hotel the other two
men. Guy c. Wines and N. P. Read bar
tender and newsstand clerk. respectively.
were arrested as they were preparing
yesterday to go to work
Undergo sweating Process.
With five men In custody the detectives
renewed the sweating and in a COM
paratively short time were successful,
they say, in obtaining the confessions
Rafferty,. the cashier, the police assert.
was the first to admit the charges against
him, and it was from him that an ex-
plnation Of the method the defendants
are accused of employing was obtained.
According to Rafferty, and, it is stated,
affirmed by consequent statements by the
others, the pocketing of the cash was
begun when customer of the bar handed
his check to the cashier with the neces-
sary cash. which was supposed to be en-
tered on ledger leaf Instead of making
the entry. 1t is asserted. the cashier pock-
eted the cash and placed the ticket aside,
later handing 1t to a clerk at the cigar
stand, who. in turn, passed it to the bar
tender.
From IS to SIS a Day.
In this way sums ranging from s. to
s1o each day were appropriated by the
men in question when they had tricks
OF duty together. The cash and ticket
accounts were apparently correct when
they were examined each day.
Rafferty, and one Of the other defend
ants were trusted employees of r. J.
rally. the proprietor. and had been re-
garded as permanent fixtures in tho
hostelry. All of the defendants were
popular, and great surprise was ex-
pressed when it became known that
each had made confession Of guilt.
1t had been suspected for a year past
that something was wrong at the nnan-
cial end of the bar and newsstand by
the hotel management. and it is said
several Investigations were made with
out result. The climax was reached a
few days ago, 1t is stated, when a
trivial irregularity was discovered Pri-
vate detectives employed by the hotel
We're put to work. and later the assist
ance of the detective bureau was asked
The detectives were engaged several
days before the arrests were made.
Arrangements were made late yester-
day for each of the prisoners to furnish
bond in the sum of $1,000 for his
appearance in the Police Court, and last
night all but Rafferty, and Berger had
been released. 1t is not known when the
defendants will appear in the Police Court
or what will be the exact charge