The Sentinel=record., 1912-08-06
SAID $5o,ooo IS BEING RAISED BY POLICE OF NEW YORK TO
 DEFEND BECKER.
INVESTIGATION IS STARTED
Mysterious Withdrawal of Attorneys From Becker's Case Causes Com ment-Board of Alderman De-
 mand Police Probe.


 of $5O,O00 is being raised for the de- fense of Charles Becker, the police lieutenant charged with instigating the murder of Herman Rosenthal, ac- cording to information in the hands of District Attorney Whitman tonight.
 The money is being collected, it is said, by the so-called system" which aside from the murder case, is to be | investigated by the district attorney, who believes there is @ corrupt al- i lance between the system" and the gamblers founded on graft and black mail.
 Information of the S50000 fund came to the prosecutor today in con nection with the arraignment or Becked to answer the indictment 1 against him.
 In the legal proceedings, which in- | cluded the withdrawal by Becker of his plea of mot guilty to offer mo tions to invalidate the indictment, the prisoner was represented by three | lawyers, one of whom mysteriously | withdrew, while tine others seemed doubtful of their own status when tho | proceedings were over. 1t was said that the lawyers were not satisfactory to collectors of the defense fund, who
 Whitman heard, have practically en-
 gagged a prominent criminal lawyer 4 to defend the defendant. John w
 Hart, who conducted today's proceed.
 ings. after withdrawing his clients
 plea of mot guilty" made one motion to dismiss the indictment on the ground that it was irregular and an other to review the grand jury min utes and take evidence to show whether the ground for the indict- ment was sufficient Judge Mulqueen refused to hear arguments on the 1 motion today and sent the case over until Wednesday, Hart, in his a2pli- cation to inspect the jury minutes, held that the evidence produced was not legal, in that it was testimony | of accomplices in the alleged crime, Jack" Rose, "Bridgie" Webber and Harry Valon.
 1 The fact that Becker was to appear for arraignment attracted a greac | crowd to the criminal court building | Among them were many gamblers and characters of the underworld. Ine crowd became so dense that corridors were cleared and only persons having | business were admitted to the court | Becker, looking somewhat pale from his week in prison, walked from the Tombs across the bridge of sighs' to the court room with a firm step and maintained a self-possessed but grave demeanor during the proceed 1 ings.
 Although the district attorney says he has evidence that he could use in pressing a charge of extortlon against the lieutenant in connection | with his relations with gamblers as head of the strong arm squad, the prosecutor said tonight he proposed to | press only the murder charge at pres ent and that he would not hasten the trial until his evidence was in shape
 While the police are scratching the Catsklls for 'Gyp the Blood" and Lefty Louie" two of the alleged murderers of Rosenthal private de- tectives employed by the district at torney. are looking for them in Bos- ton. The ulSlTlNl dtlpihcJ irtd a W. untary witness before him today who accused two policemen of failing to arrest the missing men when he pointed them out to the officers in West Forty-second street two days ago. The man said he knew them both. but that the policemen refused to leave their posts to arrest them. Both policemen, McMahon end Phil
 bin, admitted that the witness hal pointed two men out to them as ''Gyp the Blood" and Lefty Louie but
 declared they did not dare to leave
 their fixed posts, for fear of being fined.
 The board of aldermen this after
 noon adopted resolution providing for an investigation of the police de-
 partment. A special committee,
 headed by Alderman Curran, was ao- pointed to conduct the investigation
 while $25,O0O was appropriated to
 bear the expense. Six republicans
 or futionists. and three democrats
 compose the committee 1t was re ported without confirmation. that the committee desired to hear Mayor
 Gaynor as the first witness.
 | DlScOI NE TURK PARLIAMENT