The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1912-08-29
MOSCOW|Tz INSISTS CIGAR
DEALER WAS AFTER GRAFT
Man accused in Fruit stand
Case Turns ON His Sup
posed Accomplicr.

The evidence aEsins; Abraham VII
tenberg, the cigar dealer OF i3s Fourth
avenue. who il to he ARA gned before
Magistrate Appleton in the jefferson
Market police court to-day on charge
Of extortlon In connection with the trat-
Cur.sn's district. has heen strengthened
by testimony which Chlef Accountants
| Henry NJ. Rice got yesterday from
Harry Moscowlrz
Samuel Gordon, one or the propr!e-
tors sf the stand a. "a West Twenty
fourth street. told Nj. Rice on Monday
how w!rtcnberg had threatened 10 mold
up the license tor sand which Cor
don and his partner. horaiam Wiener.
we're trying 10 get on West Twenty
second street. Gordon said he was
forced TO pay w!rt.nbcrg $50 before he
got the license and that Morcovitz had
sent him To wlrtenberg.
when Moscovltz was asked about
the transaction Tuesday he swore that
he knew nothing about II, After think
ing about II overnight, however. he ad-
, mitted that he knew about It.
Gordon came To me last MAY" said
Moscow,tz yesterday. "and told me hat
he wanted the stand on West Twenty
second street. ! said that | could get
II for him, and then Gordon agreed that
We would go into partnership and he
paid me 5000 Then W!rtenbers came
, Ia me and said that he wanted Ia sec
Gordon.
What for I asked
That's my business. said Wiz
, tenberg.
II then accused Of him OF trying 20
interfere with the license business. but
he insisted SO sent Gordon around
10 see him"
Gordon went 10 see him later. Mos
cowltz testified. and said that W.rtcn-
berg had asked for $50 and had threat
ened to hold up the license. Moscowltz
sa id he advised Gordon not 10 pay the
money because he could get the license
without doing that. Gordon paid Wir-
tenberg. however. and on the same day
ne got the license.
Moscowitz told Mr. Rice on Tuesday
| that although he had received the $500
| TO buy fixtures for the stand he couldn't
remember what he had done with it. His
memory WdS DetttT yesterday Ht1t nv Tet-
! objected that he had paid $l25 To Philip
Juravel. Gordon's brother-in-law TO build
| the stand.
-Moscowitz came to me last night.
| said Gordon in his test timony. "and told
| me that il would say that We had gone
into partnership and that had paid him
| the money for that purpose he would pay
me back the $2s5'
Juravel was then asked to tell what he
knew about the matter and said that
Moscowitz had asked him to testify IA
vorably.
Moscowitz had been up all night think
ing about the case. He wept when Cor.
don and Juravel told how he had asked
hem TO testify for him; Mr.. Rice was in
clined to be'lenient with him, he said. be-
| ca use he had bolstered up the case gainst
Wittenberg,
II was learned from an une1pecte ed
source that Benjamin F. Strauss. the cleo
Z. Becker's district who admitted that he
| took $500 from r. Sehkowtz for a license
for a stand al Eighty-s sixth street and Co.
lumbus avenue. had gone far afeld in
his efforts to sell the privilege at high
price before he finally disposed of it to
Selikowitz,
A newsdealer named Fisher who has
| q stand al Ninety first street and Broad
| way without knowing TO whom he was
| talking. told one OF the inspect ors OF the
department OF Accounts several days
ago that Strauss had come TO him last
spring and told him hat there was going
! TO he a new elevated railroad station at
Eighty-sixth street and Columbus avenue
Strauss told Fisher. the latter said, that
he could get the license for a newsstand
| there for 81, 800. Fisher told him that he
couldn't pay that and finally Strauss
agreed TO take sl,2oO, Fisher said he
would pay $500.
Fisher said that he then went to Herbert
Gruber. a son of Abraham Gruber, the
leader in the Seventeenth Assembly dis
trict, and told him about it, Gruber ad-
vised him not to pay any money and
| II.
Herbert Gruber told Mr. Rice vest erday
that he had not taken the matter up
| with Alderman Becker Immediately be-
| cause the case was not in his district,