The Penn's Grove record., 1910-03-25
MORE RAFTERs SEEK MERCY
Eight Pittsburg counciImen Con-
fess Their Sins.
Grand Jury Indicts Ofenders-One
Hundred Presentments Expected
Another Convict Witness.

Pittsburg. Pa.-Eight more Coun-
cilmen and ex-Councilmen came to
court and pleaded guilty to having
accepted brides. Sentence was sus-
pended in each case. Those who
came to the confessional and the
amounts which they admitted having
received were: DR.. c. G. Lang, 5000:
w. G. Frederick, 500; Richard Arm
strong, $50; w. H. Harvey, 800;
5000; l.. H. Frederick, 5000, and
Harry Kalson, $50.
This makes a total of nineteen who
have confessed. 1t is expected that
100 indictments will be presented.
District Attorney Blakeley publicly
requested that the Court set dates for
the trials of indicted Councilmen who
are stubborn and refuse to confess.
The Court fixed next Monday as the
time to begin the trials. Blakeley
declares those who won't make public
confession need expect no mercy.
But there is going to be a fight and
a big one. There was a caucus of
indicted Councilmen and Councilmen
not yet indicted but who do not hope
to escape the dragnet, in the parlors
of a downtown hotel. A large sum
of money, almost 100000, was
pledged to make the fight. At least
a score of the older politicians de-
cided to "stand pat"
In anticipation of this fight District
Attorney Blakeley is moving to make
his cases even stronger than they are.
With this purpose in view he got a
writ on which he will bring convicted
Councilman Joseph WATSON from Riv-
erside Penitentiary and put him be-
fore the Grand Jury. WATSON has
much information which Blakeley
wants, especially in reference to those
from whom the graft money was got.
Councilman John Klein for two
days has been in close telephone con-
versation with WATSON. who is wear
ing stripes at Riverside.
Councilman Frederick provoked a
smile from even Judge Fraser by de-
scribing how he got 500 for one OF
his votes. He said the money was
showed into his pocket at a ball game,
where he did not find it for a week.
While out for lunch Councilman
Klein said: Those CouEcilmen sure
ly did come for that graft like flies
when a melon was cut. Once I divid-
ed up a piece of graft and there was
5000 coming to each of the fellows
well. to some of them; some of us
always got more. In this case l
handed all the envelopes to n of our
rich church members in Council, tell
ing him of his good fortune and that
his share was 5000. He opened the
envelope and found the $50 and he
blew me up about the missing ten
cents until I paid 1t out of my own
pocket. l didn't know then who got
that extra dime, but a fellow con-
fessed that he got 5000. That was
ten cents more than was coming to
him and if he hadn't been a crook he
would have returned it to me-"
DR.. Jacob Wolf, family physician of
the Byers family, made a statement
denying that Dallas Byers, the Pitts
burg steel man who fed the country
when indicted for giving brides, was
vet living and that a dummy had been
brought from Europe and buried here
instead of Byers. The Byers family
had added strength to this rumor by
refusing to admit or deny the story of
the dummy corpse" DR.. Wolf said:
Dallas Byers died at Dinard,
France, on August &c last. was one
of the physicians at his deathbed and
was with him three days before his
death. l brought the body back to
America and buried it. There was no
mistake"