Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-10-12
BECKER
GAVE ORDERS
Witness Declares hs Insist.
Cd on Murder.

New York, Oct. 12,-Morris Luban,
who was regarded as a witness for
the defense, caused a sensation In
the Becker trial by swearing that he
heard Becker In the steam room Of the
Lafayette baths, two or three weeks
before the murder, upbraiding Rose
and threatening to kill Rosenthal with
his own hands.
II know It's the last Of me-" whis-
pered Luban to a court attendant
who had observed bis trembling and
his fright. but there was no tremor
In his voice when he looked steadily
at Lieutenant Becker a few minutes
later and testified:
"Mr. Becker said, If that - Rosen-
thai Is not croaked 1 will croak him
myself"
Bad Day For Defense.
1t was the most telling feature of
a day that had gone steadily against
the defense. The first witness, Thorn
as Ryan, a chauffeur, had blanched
under the vicious looks shot at him by
~ 6AAAACA OF NAv DdI uhu uuu DdlO
in a voice barely audible that he
couldn't identify them. Giovanni Stan
ich, an Austrian, Of good birth, cult
waited manners and keen intelligence,
had not been terrified by the black
looks Of the gunner.
He had looked full in the face Of
whitley Lewis" Drank Muiler) and
named whitley as one Of the four
whom he cav shoot Rosenthal to
death. And then came Luban, fearful
and shrinking at first, but gaining
courage As he went along and not
only Identified all four Of the gun
men and Shapiro, the chauffeur, but
delivered the testimony connecting
Becker with the murder.
When he walked to the bar Of the
court and stretched out his hand to-
ward the gunner their veices sud
denly shattered the dead quiet Of the
courtroom. They rallied against him.
They mouthsd and mumbled. The
voice Of Lefty Louie Rosenberg rose
to 4 screech. He was protesting
against the method Of Identification.
And when Luban had named them
one by one, all ave "DaGo Frank"
Cirofc1, whose name he didn't know,
but whose appearance gave him no
doubts, the retainers of the late Jack
Zelig had lost a Of the de-
f1ance and contsmptuousness that has
them. As for Becker, the
sweat WAS streaming down his face.
He seemed to have aged.
, Recovering from the shock Lu-
bans direct and erful and wholly
unexpected testimony against Lieuten-
ant Becker, John +. Mcintyre toiled
for hours to destroy its effect. He la
bored to discredit the witness. He
sought to bring out that Luban was a
forger. a gambler, a ne'er-do-well who
had %bargained with the defense before
turning to the district attorney. Over
and owe again the lawyer drove Lu-
ban over the trail Of his story of the
Lafayette baths meeting between
Becker and Rose and the story Of the
murder itself. 1t was all to no pur-
pose. True or false, Luban's testi-
mony could not be broken down.
Shock to Seekers Lawyers.
There could hardly have been a more
sensational episode Of a great murder
trial than the appearance OF a wit
ness who told a story directly oppo-
site to what tho defense expected he
would tell. Luban and his brother
Jacob had been since Aug. IL In the
Essex county jail in Newark. They
were charged with being members Of
a gang Of forgsrs. Mr.. Mcintyre had
received letters from M Of the Luz
bans saying that the charges against
Becker were a frame-up. And then
Mr.. Whitman produced in court one
Of tho brothers whose story was q
shock to the defense.
Only the long drawn out cross ex-
animation of Morris Luban prevented
Jack Rose, possibly the most impor-
tant witness against Becker, from be-
Ing a witness. Rose was called to the
witness chair and sworn, but when
Justice Got was Informed by counsel
that two hours at least would be re-
Quired for the direct examination and
three hours or more for the cross ex-