The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-05-24

walked with a quick. sDrinEy step 10 th'
witness chair while those IN the court
room and particularly his former lawyer
and their clients. the men with whom h,
had worked for score VI yeATs, sat ~
Il stunned.
sitting there and booking straight into
The face Of the elderly Heike. splitter az
once began 90 tell ~ his work for the
sugar trust Mr. Stanchheld Tor The de-
fence broke m with am objection on genera
grounds. Mr. Silmson insisted that ths
objection be made more specific and then
Mr. Stanchheld evidently remembering
the Federal law regarding the testimony
of conyicts. declared thar the witness was
incompetent
VERY well. said Mr. StimsOn turning
20 Spityer What have YOU to say about
your O,mPe'ency az a witness here Mr..
splitter
Sptzers hands tremhled bit as he
opened h,s coat and pulled out folded
white paper Holding Il up for all to see,
b. said 4 have here a pardon from the
President ~ the United states
there followed one IT those queer
stillnesses ~ court room that fOilOw
generally something dramatic. II was
broken when Mr. Stanchfeh asked 10 see
the pardon splitter handcl q 10 HIM
and he quickly gave u hack. There
WASH any doubt about the signature %
William n Taft and there were no more
objections 10 Spitzer's competency
SpltgerS testimony went ioyer much
that has heen told before. but it filed In
Crevices in the story ~ the frauds which
the Government wanted filed and plainly
led the trail upward a. had not hs'en done
before Ne said that h. had gone Ia
work for the company twenty nine wears
ago and after i've years ~ a checker
hRd been made the superintendent an
the dock and was ueNt m authority to
GerhrRcht the general manager 80 Far
- splitter knew the first frauds perpe-
trated on the Government began la 1894.
when sugar vas taken M the free list
Splitter admitted being the inventor Of
some of the devices used First he said.
thew hung linen hags with lead in them
on the sCales. making a difference Of from
thirty-flve 10 forty pounds on eaCh draft
splitter showed the Jury on model u
the scales Just how this WAS done The
use II this device be- said was stopped
when Deputy surveyor Vail took charge
Of the weighing late IN Tho ~
Did you report the frauds 20 Mr. L.
row. asked Mr. StimsOu az this lunCture.
and splitter said that he had Leroy
was IN the Wall street ONCE Of the trust
and had Charg' Of the sugar lmpOrtatiOns,
Il is said He Is nov dead
After Vail came m the scales were
boxed up - that 10 became impossible
60 lire hays Splitter then irEan a series
a experiments 10 find OW what other
devices could he used For a while he
said. some n the men working under
him succeeded IN getting false weights
by inserting a wad Of newspaper IN the
scales. and then splitter devised the
steel wire springs which the Govern
ment uneaTthed He said that he had
bored the holes IN tho seventeen scales
and had tried heavy wire az FIRST 20 lnfiu-
ence the scale beam THIS heavy wire
made too much difference from the city
weighers scales. and Lest u might be
noticed lighter wire was used This
was continued until the discovery was
made
splitter said also that he himself had
invented the system Of signal lights
used but that Il was on somebody's
orders just who somebody was hs
couldn't remember He had an offoa
near the gate 70 the street. and had an
electric switch there This turned on u
rcd light on the docks near tho weighers
by which the signal was given that some
body was approaching and n discontinue
the use Of the steel spring splitter said
that he frequently reported n Gerhrachl
the weights that were being obtained by
the use Of the device. whsrpupon Ger
bracm frequently complained that the
sugar was too heavy and exclaimed
Were being robbed. We're being
robbed
The men who manipulated the device
Splitter said. he selected himself and then
recommended that they get more wages.
These recommendations he laid on Ger
bracht's desk. The men got weekly
envelopes. on the outside Of which was
marked the regular wages but inside
there was morr money than the regular
waRes splitter said that he mad ar
ranged for this with Bendernagel the
cashier. one ~ the present defendants.
told him said splitter. -that 10
wouldn't be well 10 indicate the rai-e on
the outside ~ the envelopes because
! didn't want the other checkers bother
ing mo about "A raise IN waRe-
mysterious telephone message which
same % Splitter in the fall ~ 1914. one year
hsfore the discovery Of tho frauds WAS
brought in III this point by Mr. Stimson
WITHOUT anything tending 10 show from
WHOM 10 came splitter admitted that
BE- hat received such a message
1t warned me % no careful With the
Wire springs. ~ the Government va-
watching the docks. he -ald
did this cause a letting up 81 the
frauds on the Government th@n,-
who -ent that message.
I don't know. ] inquired. bur cpuldn Q
ind out
After tho Government discovered the
fraud. splitter went on 20 >ay. the koIv
Poly gang ~ Spitzer- wire workers
were called. came 20 him and wanted 60
know u they would lo-e their jobs
Il went 10 GerbraCht aid Sp'Zer
Sand he told me that an the men would
he taken care ~ / asked him II would
BE- taken care of and he said yes
After the men were discharged, he -aid
he paid them their wages every week At
his home m Fatbush
-Mr Gerbrarht -aid splitter, would
visit me- every week az NV garage and
would leave q package with me u"
package contained enough money ~ pay
my wages and the twage- of the SIX
checkers
When did this money cpasa'-
Last February when ] wa sentenced
Splitter aid that he knew ~ his own |
knowledge that the returns NJ the city /
WeiRhers. which were the true returns
were sent 20 the Offices of the trust IN Wall .
street az a basis for the calculations by ]
which the shippers 81 the sugar wore paid
When Mr. Stm-on got through with /.
splitter Mr. MAckear explained that |
neither he nor Mr. LsXOw was In q posi-
ton 20 cross-eNamine and that D. would F.
take Home time 10 engage another lawyer F..
and post hum on the ease N order that he I
could conduct such an examination
II the Government had informed ~
that Il Was gong n call this witness
said he. we could have prepared our [,
selves, a. which Mr Sumson SMILED
Mr.. Mackellar suggested that Mr. ,
Stanchheld or Mr. Graham. Heks'z Law
aask.a