The Washington times., 1911-11-02
! MAYOR OF MODEL
TOWN TO Be TRIED
ON GRAFT CHARGE
Revelations Looked For AT
The Trial Of Thomas
E. Knots.
VICE OF CITY OF
GARY TO BE SHOWN
Evidence Connecting Grafters
With Gambling And The
White Slave Traffic.

VALPARAISO, Ind, Nov. 2.-To the
court records of Porter county there are
about to be added several interesting
chapters that might be appropriately en-
titled THE Troubles of Model Town."
The cases Of Mayor Thofnas K. Knots
and several other officials of the city
OF Gary, against whom serious charges
are pending. are on the docket for next
Saturday, and 1t is expected the trials
viii begin here early In the coming
week. II half that has been printed
concerning the alleged corruption in the
model city planned and dominated
BY the Steel trust, is true, then reve-
lations may be expected at the trials
that will relegate the political grafters
in some of the big cities to the shelf
reserved for "pikers."
The city Of Gary has yet to celebrate
Its tenth birthday, but despite its youth
It ts q city In all that the word implies
where scarcely decade ago there was
nothing but the long sweep of sand
dunes on the shore Of Lake Michigan
mills In the country, together with nu-
merous other industries that have been
attracted By the excellent transporta-
ton facilities and other advantages Of
fered by the new city.
But with the virtues also came the
vices OF metropolis. For several years
the newspapers have told of the moral
and political corruption alleged to -four
ish In the model town" Many of the
vicious element driven out of Chicago
from time to time are said to have
found In Gary a most desirable haven.
Gambling houses are said to have been
rests by the. Federal authorities have
given rise to the belief that the little
city also has been a center for the
white slave" traffic.
Was Long, Hard Task.
Efforts Of the better element to clean
up the place long proved nnavailing.
The authorities were unmovable. A,
the head Of Affairs was Thomas E.
Knots. who held the mayoralty, 1t is
alleged, by virtue of an election in
which thuggery held the winning hand.
Knots came to Gary a few years ago
from Hammond, where he conducted a
newspaper and was prominent in town
politics. So far as Is known. he was
not overburdened with worldly goods
Ens he aax of the he train M renutes en- tss
to- be IN the near-millionaire class, with
heavy interests In realty, manufacture
ing. public utility, and banking cor
poratdons in and around Gary. :, 49,.
Failing to make any progress In the
crusade against vice, the reformers in
the town turned their attention to the
political corruption alleged to exist.
Their progress along this line promised
hit the trail. The climax came early in
September. when Mayor Knotts and
several members Of the city council
were placed under arrest. charged with
II is charged by detectives. who have
carefully worked up the case. that the
mayor and those arrested with him
solicited a bribe Of 5000 from repre-.
through heating franchise which
would have entailed an expenditure Of
many thousands Of dollars by the city
bictagraph records will play stellar
part in the coming trials. It is said
that dictagraphs were connected up In
the hotel room occupied by T. b. Dean,
the applicant for the franchise, and also
that one had been installed even in the
mayors private office.
Dictagraph Extract.
One extract from the dictagraph rec
ords made public purports to be a con-
vcreation between Dean and Alderman
b. l.. Bowser. The conversation is
thus recorded:
Dean--What did the mayor say about
my matter, Mr.. Bowser1
Bowser-I started to tell You that
t0lo MIN there was S,OO IN IL Tor us.
Right here 10 where he got interested.
He wanted to know what / knew about
YOU personally, and II you were all
right, and II you had the money to go
ahead and build the plant. l told him
you were. and asked him how he stood
on the A. F. franchise. Tom said: "A,
-, he don't get me any money. There
Is nothing in this matter for me- II
Dean and his franchise are all right,
we. will put II across" s'
Mayor Knots was arrested in the city
hail just after Dean came from the ex-
ecutive's office with the heating fran
ph1se In bis pocket. Dean alleges he
paid the mayor 5000. Before entering
the mayors office Dean had himself
that he had the 5000 in his pocket
when ne entered Mayor Knott's room
When he left the room he had himself
searched again. He told the deputies
to serve the warrant, and they would