Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-11
ASSURANCE OF
IMMUNITY FOR
OSWALD NULL
PLEDGE WEAKENED BY WORD
PRIMARILY"
UNDERSTOOD THAT PROMISE
WILL BE KEPT
Attorney Appel, cross-Examlnlng For
mer RedIight Boss, Delays Trial
In Efforts to Break Down
Testimony


to the testimony of Nicholas Oswald
yesterday in the Broadhead trial, con-
tains the only official pledge OF I'M
munity from prosecution which the
dictator of the redlight district has re-
ceived. practically nullihes that pledge,
though it is generally understood the
pledee will be kept. The word 10
aprirnarily," and the letter, as read
into the official record of the proceed
ings yesterday morning, is as tolloWs:
hotel, city:
Dear Sir--If you have any in
fuence in securing the attendance
of Nick Oswald as a witness In re-
gard to the matters now penang
before the grand jury, l would be
very glad to have you exert that
influence to that end.
You may inform him that II he
comes before that jury and before
the courts when required and testi-
fies to the things which he is re-
ported to have said to Mr.. 70. l.
Earl in connection with the bribery
of public officials in Los Angeles,
that he will not be prosecuted Tor
any matters arising out of that
situation or because he may have
sworn to a different statement at
another time.
'In other words, we want him as
a witness, not as defendant
primarily, in order that the things
he has submitted to Mr.. Earl may
be submitted to a proper tribunal
and there passed upon. Respect
fully, j. d. FREDERICKS,
District Attorney"
Further Assurance
Further assurance of immunity from
punishment under the indictment for
perjury, found against oswald by the
last grand jury was given In Ietter
to Jacob M Oswald, a brother of the
redlight chief, by e. T. Earl as
follows:
''Afr. ]. M. Oswald, 225 West Sec
ond street. Los Angeles, Cal,
April 3, 1909:
Dear Sir-If Nick Oswald will
appear voluntarily as a witness In
consideration of his so appearing
before the present grand jury, and
before the courts of Los Angeles
county, when required. and testi-
flying to the things that he told
me- in connection with the bribery
of public officials of Los Angeles,
l hereby guarantee that he Will not
be prosecuted for any matters aris-
ing out of that situation or
because he may have sworn
TO uiHeTenI SldteinGllt at an
other time. Yours truly,
"E. T. EARL"
This letter was signed, as witnesses,
also by ]. G.. Althouse. a brother-in-
law of Nicholas Oswald and by p. L.
Blair a detective connected with the
district attorneys office and working
under the direction of E. T. Earl.
Oswald seems to have been quite
satisfied with these assurances from
distrirt attorney and from a
private citizen. couched in closely
similar terms. for in his testimony yes
terday he declared he was not sure
what had been the charge on which
he was indicted. whether perjury or
bribery, as he had not paid much at
tention to the readin of the indictment
in his presence. and had given it
little thought afterward,
Transcribed "Dear Jake"
An amusing error crept into the Of
fetal transcript of the trial, volume
VIII, page 4S1. line f2, being the pro-
ceedings of the morning session of the
Broadhead trial. Tuesday, August 10.
There Is given the first line of Earl s
letter to Jake Oswald, which actually
was superscribed Dear Sir" In the
record the superscription stands, Dear
Jake" which is something of a differ
ence, all circumstances considered. The
name "Jake" had been used in many
of the questions and answers about
that time, which may explain how it
came to take the place of Sir" in the
mind of the court reporter
Oswald. in his testimony yesterday,
told of his asking r. T. Earl to do
the best he could to prevent the calling
of a special grand jury.
Because knew I had told Mr.. Earl
a different story from what I'd told
the previous grand jury" he explained.
'I was afraid I might be indicted for
not telling the truth"
Questioned as to whether Mr.. Earl
had agreed to make efforts to dispose
of his property in the former redlight
district for him. the witness replied:
"He told me he would do everything
for me he could do legitimately."
The witness was asked If he had
talked with Savage last Sunday, on
San Pedro street, saying to him:
"We've got Tom Broadhead in the
with a little help we'll put him over.
Then I'll get money from Earl and
square up my debts"
Oswald declared he had had no con-
versation with Savage recently and
had not seen him last Sunday He
testified he had received $4,000 of the
$4,000 promised him by Mr.. Earl, and
expected TO get tHe rest Inc IloHey
was paid Oswald by Detective Blair
Trial Grows Tedious
Long waits occurred throughout the
days proceedings, and especially in
the afternoon, while Attorney Appel,
seemingly baffed, cudgled his brains
for his next question More than once
he appeared to lose his temper while
the stolid witness remained always
f-poSseSSed
The spectacle of the cross-examina-
ton was not unlike that of q dog at
tacking a turtle, going round and
round it, confident that there is a soft
body there in which teeth might be
fixed, but confronted always by the
hard shell.
Certainly Oswald's testimony, so far,
has not been shaken, and If the cross
examination of the witness is to serve
the defense in any way it can only be
through the foundation that Attorney
Appel seems to be laying for the intro
duction of testimony for the defense
The trial will be resumed this MORN
ing at 10 o'clock.
Factions Are AmaIgamated
HAVANA, Aug 10.-The amalga' IA