The Sentinel=record., 1912-06-01

 TOOK BRIBES
ATLANTIC CITY ALDERMEN SAY IT WAS "EASY MONEY" AND
 THEY TUMBLED.
One Holds Onto Brbe Money and Is Being Prosecuted-others Give Back Loot and Make Full
 Confessions.

Atlantic City, N. J., May S1.-City l Councilman Harry F. Dougherty, ar l rested on a charge of having accept
 ed a bribe of $500 for voting for the | passage of an ordinance providing for
 a concrete board" walk along the beach front designed to cost a mill | lion dollars or more, was given a hearing today He pleaded not guilty
 and was held in S3000 bail for the
 grand jury
 The hearing was expected to be sensational, but few developments
 were brought out. William F. Wahl, citizen who made the complaint
 a@ainst Dougherty, said he obtained
 the information on which he based
 his complaint from William J. Burns,
 the detective,
 MT. Burns testified he had been summoned here to investigate alleg ed corrupt acts and dishonesty in civic matters He began his investi-
 gation in April, 1911, and continued
 until August, when he evolved fake" board walk scheme to catch
 certain officials. One of his opera tors. posing as "Mr Harris" a New York contractor, became familiar with councilmen, offered several of them $5 ,000 each to pass the ordinance, providing for the board walk, and paid $500 apiece on account. Later, Burns said, these councilmen were informed of the trap into which they had fal- | len According to his story, all but one of them confessed and returned the bribe money. Dougherty, he said, refused to give back tho money or to confess and was arrested. Smiley, a Burns operator, testified
 to installing a telephonic device in
 the hotel of William Malia, one of the
 counclmen, who is said to have con fessed. by which two stenographers took down an interview between him. self and the eouReilmen. at which ths payment of the bribe money was ar ranged
 | Councilman Samuel Phoebus, former owner of big hotel, who is said tc have been the first man to break
 down under questioning, was in Burns room today. Phoebus talked freely about the case.
 "I feel better than I have felt or | months, he declared T am thank ful I've got this thing off my chest. I only did what practically every one
 else did at one time or another in
 council"
 Asked to confirm reports concern ing a "job" in which other city off,
 cials are said to have been caught,
 Phoebus declared he knew only of the
 garbage plant and the sewer transac- tions.
 'G know they are working on these
 two things" he added, 'and have ey-
 idence against the men they want As far as the paving jobs and the saloon holdups are concerned, 1 have as yet not been asked for any details. | blame my downfall and that of my colleagues on the fact that it has been generally understood that councilmen who served without direct pay must get theirs out of the contracts and other jobs. It seemed so easy to take this money that it was hard for any man to refuse. It got so that any body who wanted anything saw somebody
 Phoebus said he had given evidence against men higher up" to the de
 tectives but declined to discuss it's nature. Gustave Kessler, one of the city councilmen who are said to have
 confessed today, said:
 What is printed about this matter is substantially correct, There are
 some things about my admissions that
 | would like to change but this is in minor respects" Kessler is said to
 be worth quarter of million dol
 lars.