Evening journal., 1913-11-11

on him and he does not now remem-
Der it.
1T was also testified by Captain
Evans that after Virgins body was
taken to the garage, Chief Black
leaned over and. raising the upper
| lip of Virgins. remarked That is
him. there's the gold tooth" Cap
, tain Evans stated that is the first
time he knew Virgins had a gold
tooth This is corrorborated oy
Royden X. Jones, the city editor OF
the Morning News. Officer Serson
heard somebody make the same re-
mark, but he is not sure who II was:
Many others testify that they heard
some remark about the gold tootn'
but cannot say exactly what II was.
Clarence c. Killen states that the re-
mark he heard Chief Black make was
as follows: There is the gold tooth
He had that done since he got out
That is what threw us off He states
that Mr.. Jones was there before him
and Chief Black may have made tao
remark which Captain Evans and MT.
Jones said he made, but he didn't
hear that and the statement no
heard Chief Black make is that aooVs
quoted. II is also appears from the
testimony Of George T. Maxwell,
reporter of THE EVENING JOUR-
NAL that he interviewed Chief Black
on the following morning, and that in
that interview. Chief Black said Ine
officers he spoke to did not know
that he had a gold tooth, he having
had it put in since his escape from
the prison. ! knew about II, and
when il was DONE
Chief Black denies that he made
-k- T.. t..s1 1-srfa nd
also denies the remark accredited to
him by Mr.. Jones and Captain Evans,
but says that he may have said
Yes. he has gold tooth
1T also appears from the testi-
mony that Chief Black together with
\ Wardle, Schell. Purcell and Devenish
granted the request of newspaper
men Of Philadelphia. to have their
pictures taken for use in the newspa-
pers. This was the morning after
the shooting. Chief Black states, in
] his testimony, that the attempt to ar
rest Virgins was bungled, and that
If certain information had not besn
withheld from him. Il would have
been managed entirely different. This
| information he refers to was that re.
lating to the wigs found in the pos
session of the strange man at Fourth
and Shipley streets. He admits that
he does not know whether this was
purposely withheld from him or not,
and also admits that he made no
complaints. directly or indirectly. to
the officers under him regarding
their failure to make a report Of the
finding of the wigs and their conduct
in attempting to arrest Virgins.
l have outlined above as briefly as
I can, the history of this case as
shown by the testimony taken befors
the commission.
MY conclusion upon the important
points in that history are as follows:
First That Virgins was in VIII
mington from the 10th to the 18th
of September; that he returned again
on the 22nd of September, and was
here until his death on the 29th Of
September; that during that time he
was in and about the streets Of Will
mington without a disguise Of any
kind.
Second. That the failure 70 arrest
Virgins was due to the lack OF intel
ligent direction.
Third. That the failure upon the
part OF Captain Evans to have man
sent Immediately to the lodging house
after the presence OF the man was re-
ported to the police station by Miss
Healing was due to the fact that il
was not suspected that the man was
Virgins.
Fourth That It was not coward
ice that prevented Davidson from
breaking into the room to capture
Virgins.
Fifth. That Captain Evans used his
best judgment in using the sho.zuns
in the attempt 10 capture Virgins af-
ter he was discovered in the room
Sixth. That Chief Black. when he
arrived on the scene, did not disap-
prove Of the use OF the shotguns and
did not. in fact, take charge Of the
situation, and in fact, gave practical
ly no orders whatever
Seventh. That Clifford Crossgrove
a newspaper reporter, did report to
Chief Black the rumor that Virgins
had a gold tooth, and that no efforts
was made to ascertain whether this
was true or not f
Eighth That the information
given by Clifford Crossgrove was all
the information that Chief Black had
With respect to the gold tooth. and
that at the time Virgins was killed
he did not in fact know whether he
nd0 BOlu tOOtn OF not.
Ninth. That Chief Black did make
the remark in the garage accredited
to him by Captain Evans and Mr..
Jones.
Tenth. That Chief Black did give
the interview to George T. Maxwell. 9
newspaper reporter, stating that he
knew Virgins had gold tooth and
that he knew when it was done.
Z Says Men Failed In Duty.
Eleventh. That all the officers Of
the force may ne eliminated from fur
ther consideration in this investigation
with the exception of the following:
2 Pauolmen Sersoh, McGillion, Maloney
! and Davidson. Sergeant Kelleher,
Wardle, Schell and Tucker. Captain
| Evans and Chief Black. I propose
now to show how. in my Judgment.
the officers whom have not elim'nat-
? ed have done or failed to do their
duty and what action should be taken.
"Patrolmen Serson, McGillion and
Maloney can be eliminated quickly. Ny
= criticism of these officers is their ap-
pearance al the police station on an
important matter like this taking or
ders from person that they cannot
, name And my further criticism lie
that in giving testimony to this com
: nilsson they have not, in my opinion.
tried to collect the facts that have
actually occurred. / may be doins
: these men an injustice, but one thing
We must have in this department is
/. discipline and Il NAV he necessary IN