New-York tribune., 1912-03-12
Will Be Sworn This Morning De-
spite Protest Due to Absence
of J. E. Parsons.
EXPECT END IN TWO WEEKS
Lawyers Question Talesmen as
to Their Feelings Toward
Trusts and the Workings
of the Sherman Law.

! violate the Sherman law by rC CStraining
Interstate commerce closed with the Sc
lection Of "A complete jury, which, how
ever. was not sworn in because of a
protest made by Henry \. Wire. federal
attorney.
/ After both sides. government and de-
I fence. had used their privilege Ot per-
! emptory. challenges and then declared
| themselves satisfied with the twelve men
! in the jury box Judge Hand. Who pre-
sided. ordered the clerk To administer the
J oath to the jury. Mr.. Wise protested.
! He said that John r. Parsons. ono Of the
/ chief defendants, had been absent from
the courtroom during the whole after
noon session. and that the prosecution
WIS doubtful az 10 the propriety and Va
/ lidity II tho procedure. Judge Hand
answered that in the casn of misde
meanor it was sufficient fer a defendan,
+ to he represented during the selection ~
jhry. He added Mr.. Parsons mighl
have had valid excuse for his absence.
! De Lancey Nicoll. counsel for Mr.. Par
SONS. said he saw no objection TO having
/ the jury sworn Mr.. Parson, had tol
him during the recess. he explained, that
/ he had some important business TO at
! tend to in connection with n hospital in
which he was interested and cOunseI
had seen no objection to his absence. Mr..
/ Parsons is president OF the Woman's
, Hospital. at No. III West lG9th street.
| The acquiescence ~ the defence did
not satisfy Mr. Wise. who argued that
no defendant could waive his constitu
tional rights Of pcng faced by his ac-
cusers. Judge Hard then ordered the
jury excused until this morning, when
they will be sworn In.
Expect Trial to End in Two Weeks.
The proceedings of the first day wen;
on with a rapidity which supported fully
the hope expressed by both sides that
the trial would not last longer than two
weeks. Several jurors. impressed with
the recent spectacle OF "A trial in the fed
| eral court that was drawn out over more
than five months, begged 20 be excused
10 their services were required for more
than two weeks. az longer term would
mean great hardship TO them. Mr.. Wise
said he was loath 10 make aEy promises
after his recent experience. but when
Mr. Nicoll assured him that no dilatory
tactics would be used he said the trial
would not last longer than two weeks.
The other defendants in the trial be-
sides Mr.. Parsons and Mr. Thomas are
Arthur Donner. treasurer OF the Ameri-
can Sugar Refining Company; George
II. Frazier. director of the corporation,
and Thomas y. Harmed. Philadelphia,
lawyer. The case of John Mayer. di-
rector OF the company. was severed IRON
the others upon motion Of Mr.. Wise. on
the ground that Mr.. Mayer was too iii
TO attend the trial.
James NJ. Beck appeared as counsel
for the Sugar Refining Company the
corporate defendant in the case. All OF
the individual defendants except Mr..
Harmed were represented by DE Lancey
Nicoll Richard V. Lindabury, John ID.
Lindsay and r. $. Fuller. Leavitt j.
Hunt appeared as counsel for Mr..
Harmed.
The prosecution was conducted bv Mr..
Wise. who was aided by John w. II.
Grim and James Il. Knapp. assistant
federal attorneys.
obtained Control OF Rival"
The indictment on which the defend
ants were brought To trial was found In
July. 1909. IL was based on the trans
actions which. the government alleged,
were induced by the defendants in order
to obtain for the American company
control OF its most dangerous rival. the
PENNSYLVANIA Sugar Refining Company.
This was accomplished. It was charged,
through a loan Of 81 1.2JOWU made by the
American in 1903. through Gustav kis-
sci. as broker, To Adolph Segai who con-
trolled majority of the Pennsylvania s
stock. Immediately after obtaining con-
troll. the indictment said. dummy di
rectors were elected, who decided to shut
down the new and costly Philadelphia
refinery Of the Pennsylvania, which
threatened to make inroads into the
Americans business.
Yesterday laid stress upon the question
as to whether they had any prejudice
against trusts and large corporations.
Mr.. Wise followed up with the question
as TO whether the prospective jurors
were opposed to the Sherman law. One
talesman was excused because he had
told how his cousin was driven out of
the retail tobacco business through the
establishment next door of United
Cigar Stores Company's place.
Geoghegan Grigsby, a brother Of Miss
Emile Grigsby, was examined as a tales
man and accepted by the defence. Mr..
Wise challenged him peremptorily, and
he was excused.
The jury was finally selected as fol-
lows: Fred o. Babb, foreman, insur-
ance; Robert Huntley. real estate; Fred
c. Bonny. secretary; Edward w. Gay,
real estate; Patrick +. Goff, Anton Korn.
jr., builder; Albert Korn. bonds; Fred
Hopper, broker Charles A. Hunter, in
surance; Hyman Kopperl, toys; Samuel
K. Gay. insurance. and Anthony Stock
hammer, superintendent
/ The American Sugar Refining Company
Yesterday paid fine of $500 imposed
on II for contempt OF court In refusing
TO surrender to the grand jury books
and papers which were wanted during
the inquiry that led to the indictment Of
the defendants now on trial. The case
was appealed, and the United States su-
preme Court upheld the lower court.