New-York tribune., 1909-05-27
JEROME A VICTOR In
COOPER UNION FIGHT
CHEERED rs HE FENCES
WITH HIS ENEMIES.
Cool and Wary, He 1sks in Tain
That AdUersaries Specify Wherein
He Has Been DereIict.

Cooper Union
The proletariat was there-tense keen eyed.
anxious. fguratively. to see Jeromes blood run.
For more than three hours Jerome. in good
voice. cool. wary. witty. valiant and spiteful IN
turn stood of" tire enemy. amid the cheers
| of his friends and defenders.
II was one Of the most unusual mass meetings
New York has ever seen. and it was fight
where there larger degree OF fair play
than was hoped for either by the Jerome tdola,-
| tors by those who believe that in the last
seven years and p half he has grown a set Of
hoofS and horns.
jerome demanded OF the hostile faction that
It specify wherein he had been dereIict. Il
couldn't specify. and that is why Jerome and
his friends. as they filed from the historic Old
audience room. had reason for knowing that
the District Attorney had had the best OF tho
battle.
Seventeen hundred persons sat through more
than three hours Of it, and heard nearly every
word that said There wasn't dry line
in it. It melodrama. thriller from.
| beginning to end.
William n. Amory. spectacled. lean. vengsfuI
and furious shot Interruptions from the rear Of
the speakers platform. making jerome both
smile and vince
John Cronin political soldier Of fortune in
the jurgles of Manhattan. ex-Sheehan. .ex-
Hearst but pro-Cronin, eloquent and courage
Gus set the crowd wild with a personal attack
on the District Attorney. causing him to looz
/ worried
HENRY CLAY PETERS JEERED
Henry Clay Peters. indicted last year in cone
nection with an important election in the Board
| of Aldermen but finally acquitted had his little
day in court. and sent wrathfUl questions from
| the side of the hall. Finally IT was thumbs
| down for Peters. and the Romans who Rad
| welcomed him with cheers in five brief minutes
| smothared him with jeers.
/ Jerome seized every opportunity to win the
applause Of the great jury When questionsr
/ bIundered Jerome made the most OF it. shooting
back reply that covered the adventurer with
/ confusion.
| He attacked Arthur Brisbane. Of The New
| York Evening Journal: Joseph Pulitzer. Of
| The World and Xessrs. Burton and EaSins,
| formerly OF The Wcrld" staff. whom he
/ charged with using the columns Of The World
To bear" Metropolitan shares for their personal
| profit He Iashed William y AmOry. who first
/ and last has caused him months Of work in
/ investigating the Metropolitan company's af-
/ fairs until AmOry could hardly keep his seat
| He declared that he had followed the trsil'
OF the Metropolitan companys alleged misdoins.
and that he had brought about the indictment
of ffty-six men prominently identified with in
surance irregularities.
He charged Justice Gof with responsibility
for the delay in bringing to close the prose-
cution Of the Ice Trust. and the shadOwy
charges which have been printed and exploited
by his enemies he handled without gloves.
CRONIN WINS ANTI-JEROIE CHEERS
4 tremendous burst Of anti-Jeron1e applause
at one point showed that perhaps the majority
Of the audience felt that he had not done al
that should have been done in prosecuting cor
porations That happened when John I. CrOn11
who had been threatened with expulsion oy tns
Jerome shouters. on the request OF Jerome
walked down the aisle close TO the PLATFORM ana
asked him various questions
Jerome demanded wherein he had been dere-
rct- Cronin could not specify. although he mads
q hard try With the sympathy OF the audiences
surring against him. Cronin. suddenly and WIN
dramatic eIoquence. declared:
81 1,o;ca the sentiment Of a great majority os
,bs nIain people in this county who believe
that under your administration there Is one law
for the rich and another for the poor. and II -
NO answer for you TO abuse every one who
criticises you"
The bIow landed hard and fair. Instantly
mora than half the audience was on its feet
yelling like mad and cheering Mr. Crouin. while
Jerome looked first surprised. then dazed ana
then serious It was full minuts before he sos
a chance to reply. But he did not lose his head
He finally got CrOntn TO ADMIT t1ssI ne CouId hoc
specify dereIiction. and once Cronin admitted
it Jerome was out Of the danger zone
At O'Clock more than two thousand persons
we're standing outside Cooper Union waiting
for a chance TO get in and get seats. A few
were admitted by tickets between and T:1&
HUMANITY FLOODS THE FORUM
AZ 7:f5 the human siuice gates were opened
on all sides OF the old forum and then rush
was made down the stairs The jostlins multi
tude streamed through the doors and headed
for the vacant seats. and almost as quickly
it takes to tell the seats filed and the
doors were closed The police did not allow
the aisIes to be occupied by those standing
There were plenty Of policemen. Every aisls
had at least two. and the Inspector in chargs
told his men that while questions were per-
missible after Jerome began to talk. argument
would not be allowed.
Charles Sprague Smith. the director OF tic
Peoples Institute which stood sponsor for the
heckling Of Jerome last night, was about the
happiest and busiest man there Ex-senator
John - Spooner. Of Wisconsin. was one Of the
earliest arrivals He crowded to the front and
had hard time getting seat
II like to see a good fighter always ready to
defend himself" said the Wisconsin statesman.
He sets good example for public men The
people like a good. fair fighter"
Nearly all Of Mr. Jeromes Office staff was
there. So were William Rand jr-. Howard ".
Cans. julius Henry Cohen. John A. Henneberry.
Jeronle's campaign manager; Magistrats Corri-
gan and Alderman Brown
AMoRY TAKES PLATFORM SEAT
That's Amory." said some one as a good
glasses strobe on to the platform and took
the sneakers