Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-08-02
THE NEW YORK cAMMoRA.
All the Startling Details of tho Rosen-
that Murder Are Coming Out.

| SNdt fNt0 SStu'hS WV
Police Lieutenant Chas. A Becker
OF New York city was on Monday
afternoon indicted by a grand jury,
arrested, arraigned and entered plea
of not guilty to the charge Of muir
dering Herman Rosenthal, gambler, on
July 18th, and was committed to the
Tombs without bail to await trial.
kecker was indicted on the strength OF
| evidence contained in the confessions
made to District Attorney Whitman
by Jack Rose, Bridgy Webber and
Harry Vallon, which confessions
point to Becker as the instigator of the
murder.
The arrest and indictment Of Becker
rocked the New York police depart
ment as 1t has never been rocked be-
fore and promises a scandal such as
has never been known in American
police history. Following the confes-
sions broad hints are made that the
trail of graft will lead to men higher
Iup," some of them prominent in So
cial and business circles.
From the time that Rosenthal was
murdered District Attorney Whitman
has worked tirelessly on the case, and
when he had reason to believe that
the city police were not giving him
proper help, he employed detectives
from private agencies, including the
Burns bureau. He intimated all the
while that he believed Rosenthals
disclosures previous to the murder
were we'll founded and each day since
added to his faith. One after another
he was able to cause the arrest Of
parties who had a hand in the assas-
sination. First, he got partial con-
fessions from Shapiro and Libby, own
ers Of the murder car" and these i'm
plicated Billiard Ball" Jack Rose, al
| legged collector Of graft for Becker,
and Bridgey Webber and Harry VAL
lon, who were more or less at the
command of Rose. Whitman contin-
ued his work, putting his clues to-
gether piece by piece, until finally he
had sufficient evidence, he believed,
to indict Rose. He urged Roses at
torney to advise Rose to confess. He
showed his evidence against Rose and
finally Roses attorney advised him to
tell all he knew and this Rose proceed
ed to do, or at least he told enough
to make a good case against Becker.
With Roses confession, Whitman
went after confessions from Weber
and Vallon, and their attorneys final
| ly advised them to confess. This they
did and then the district attorney laid
his evidence before a special grand
jury and this body promptly returned
an indictment against Becker, charg-
II ing first degree murder.
Becker was arrested on a charge OF
extortion and did not know Of the in
dictment for murder until arraigned
| in court. He pleaded not guilty with
the right to later change the plea and
was locked up in a cell in the Tombs.
"A remarkable feature Of the case
is the fact that every person who has
given evidence in the investigation
so far has done so with fear and
trembling. Each one fears assassi-
nation Of either themselves or men,
bers of their families. Rose, Vallon
and Webber expressed such fears to
the district attorney and in order to
insure. their safety he had them guard
| ed in his office by special detectives
and finally locked up In special jail.
The three especially feared to be lock-
| ed up in the Tombs, which Is large
ly. under police control.
Another remarkable feature Of the
case Is the attitude Of Mayor Gaynor,
who from the very first of Rosenthals
disclosures all the way through has
strongly defended the police depart
ment against charges Of crookedness.
He persistently and vigorously de-
Tended Becker and maintains that the
Rosenthal disclosures were but the
efforts of a gambler to gain sympa-
thy. After the indictment Of Becker
the mayor has reluctantly consented
to an investigation Of the police de-
partment by the board Of aldermen.
The confessions of Rose, Vallon and
Webber are alleged to have disclosed
the fact that the gambling houses,
houses Of ill-fame and other law
breakers have paid Becker and the
higher ups" more than $2.400.000
during the past year, and that when
Rosenthal became too troublesome
that Becker ordered Rose TO get him
out Of the way, and when Rose de-
INJURED at the suggestion Of murder
ing Rosenthal, Becker gave him to
understand that II murder was neces-
sary, 1t must be done and done quick
ly, and further gave Rose to under
stand that he (Becker) and his "high-
er up pals could and would take
care of those who did the murder.
Becker, in the Tombs, Is posing as
a prosecuted victim Of popular clamor
and maintaining his innocence Of any
wrong doing. expresses himself as
being certain of exoneration. But
whether Becker is finally convicted or
not, it is certain that all Of the scan
dal growing out Of the murder Of
Rosenthal will make for a cleaner
police force in New York.