The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-10-20
NEW YORK GRAFT
 CASE IS HEARD
Legislative Committee Probes
 Deeply Into the Matter
.SLUSH FUND OF s5O0,OOO
Testimony of Witness Includes State ment That Large Sums Were Paid to Certain New York
 Newspaper Men

Paid to Certain New YOrk
 Newspaper Men
 New York, October 9-Representative Otto G. Foelker the man who was car ried from his sick bed into the state senate chamber to cast the deciding vote for the anti-racing bills urged by Cover nor Hughes, took the stand as a sworp witness today and told the Merritt joint legislative committee the details of an alleged attempt In 1908 by former State Senator Frank J. Gardner, who is now under arrest, to buy his vote. Gardner was called to the stand, but refused to testify. Robert Elder, first assistant dis trict attorney of Kings county (Brook- lyn), repeated a conversation which he says he had with Gardner in March, last, and which previously had been referred to confession"
 MT. Elder did not vouch as of his own knowledge for the truth of what he re- peated but he gave for what it might be worth testimony that involved more names of men now living and names of men high In social, business and poltl- cal life, coupled with the distribution of bigger sums of money than any yet heard in either the Aids hearing or any of the previous sessions of the present com mittee of inquiry.
 The narrative told briefly of a. dinner at Delmonicos. of prominent men friend ly to the race tracks, of $500 900 sub scribed to corruption fund of the dis tribution of this fund to politicians and to well-known political correspondents at Albany of the New York newspapers and of the secret grievance of the late Sena- tor Patrick McCarren that worked for the passage of the bill against his own wishes and his own associates.
 Fight on Racing Bills
 'In the month of March," testified MT. Elder, q sent for Gardner through his lawyers who wanted to know what for I told him for personal chat and short ly afterwards Gardner came to my pri- vate office. I told him wanted to know about the efforts made at Albany to de- feat the race track bills. told him that I had indictments against certain men and that his information might help.
 Finally, Gardner sa,s:: I don't mind telling you that there vas meeting at Delmonico's at which i..oney was sub scribed.' He mentioned tlfe naSSss of sev- cral men who were there, including mem bers of the Metropolitan Turf associa- tion and the boolxmakers.
 He said that among the men there that remember--were James R. Keene, David Mitchell, MT. Parsons, Harry Payne Whitney and Charles H. Hyde"
 Charles H. Hyde Is now chamberlain of New York city and was formerly s law partner of Mayor Gaynor. James R. Keen is the well known racing man and millionaire stock market operator.
 MT. Parsons" was not further identi- fled.
 He tGardneD," continued MT. Elder, said there was a dispute about who sh ould handle the money. Finally, he said, s125,0 900 was given to James Calf ney to take care of three or four mem bers of the egislature-Tammany men, he said"
 James c. Gaffney Is president of the Gaffney Construction company, which has handled many municipal contracts.
 Total Amount of Fund
 q asked him the total amount or this fund" the witness resumed and he said, oh. considerable I told him that I had heard s300,000. He said that if I had guessed $500,000 would have been nearer the mark. Of that sum, he said, Senator Grady got only $4000. and I might imagine what the others got"
 Senator McCarren. he said, was angry because he did not have the handling of the fund and because a strange man was going up there, expecting to get away with such proposition He at tributed the passage of the bill to Mc- Carren's displeasure. McCarren was secretly in favor of the bill, he said and wanted to be reyenged because he had not been consulted. Then came mention of the press.
 He (Gardner)," resumed Elder, said the newspaper men were literally taken care of out of the fund"
 Asked as to the names of these men as told to him by Gardner, with the amounts Gardner said they received, the witness named Patrick Relihan of the Press. $3o00; Louis Seibold of the World, $80o0; Joseph McEntee of the Sun, $3O0O; George Jandrin of the Brooklyn Citizen, 5000; George Tyrrell of the Brooklyn Eagle, $3000.
 After MT. Elder finished his testi- mony George Tyrrell, secretary to Comptroller Prendergast and until Jan uery the Albany correspondent of the Brooklyn Eagle, took the stand and testified that Gardner had offered him sS0O at Albany and how he had de- clined It.
 Just before adjournment was taken until tomorrow Mir Bruce, counsel for the committed said:
 Newspaper Men to Testify
 do not Stdle tndl llleSe n6WSDaDer gentlemen accepted the money, but shall afford them full opportunity to tell their stories"
 Toward the close of his long mar rative MT. Elders mtmory began to fall him and counsel for the committee re- freshed it with questions. Little light was thrown on the part taken at Al bany by Chamberlain Hy'le. He (Gard- ner)" said MT. Elder, told me he went to Albany with Hyde because Hyde did not know the ways of Albany and how to approach people.
 'eHe said Hyde had subscribed at the meeting at Delmonico's for William En- german who had failed to pay. and that Hyde had put in a bill for personal ex- pepses to reimburse himself. He said he had an arrangement with Hyde by which he was to be paid for doing the work at Albany, but that Hyde did not pay him and that this made it necessary for him to take $10.00O out of the amount he did get elsewhere to make good on two agree ments. Five thousand dollars of this money, he said, went to the president of the senate"
 The witness was reminded that the then president of the senate, Louis Stuyvesant Chanler. had voted for the bill.
 Money Went to Raines
 Did you understand that he meant Senator Raines, republican leader and president. pro tenn of the senate?" asked the counsel
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