Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-30
GRAB INCLUDES
PLAN TO SEIZE
CITY HALLSUITE
Rooms Occupied by Police
Coveted by Municipal
Court Pending $2,OO0,OOO
Land Purchase.
Project terminated Last April
When Custer of State Fenci-
bles From Armory Appeared
Imminent.

Not content with their land-grabbInr
plans for S20O0.OOO court buildings a.
2Ist and Race streets, officials of ths
Municipal Court, through the Penrose-
McNichol- controlled Councils. will at
tempt the seizure of the east corridor
on the sixth floor of. City Hall to ac-
commodate them while the grabbing
plans are being jammed through
If the State Fencibles are ousted from
their armory on Broad street below Racs
and the Central. police station takes that
place, the Municipal Court will get the
east corridor, according to those with
their eyes on the courts plans.
President Judge Charles L.. Brown ad-
mitted the truth of this to Emanuel
Furth, attorney for the Fencibles. when
Furth. who had heard the rumor, taxed
him with it two weeks ago. Those
familiar with the situation say City
Halls east corridor Is coveted by the
Municipal Court as a shelter until the
fate of the land grab Is decided.
PLAN AND IT'S ORIGIN
The courts plans to seize the sixth
floor corridor have double Significance,
hpwever. 1t developed today that tho
| Municipal Court and the Penrose-Mc-
/ Nichol Councilmanic leaders mad their
eyes on a site for the Municipal Court
as long ago as last April, more than
a month before Mrs. Richardson and
! Mrs. Jurist thought Of the Magdalen
| Home property and passed on the idea
to Judge Brown.
That the bacilli of a plan the size Of
! the land scheme appeared first in the
| minds of Mrs Richardson and Mrs.
Jurist has surprised those who know
the longheaded politician and his habit
! of searching the horizon for the main
chance. Mrs. Richardson and Mrs, Jurise
resent any suggestion that the thought
of the land scheme was not original with
| them.
But there was plan to care for the
Municipal Court before Mrs. Jurist and
| Mrs. Richardson set 1t in motion. Coun-
cilmen told EMANUEL Furth last April
that he would do we'll not to press his
| fight against dslodglng the Fencibles,
They said he ought to wait until the
| fall.
Only last Saturday. when he read that
| the Municipal Court planned a grab at
! 2lst and Race streets, did he see why
| he was advised to wait until fall Even
now. he believes, the Municipal Court
may want the sixth floor corridor at
! City Hall until there is a better outs
look for the land-grabbing scheme.
FENCIBLEs' PLEA IGNORED.
The state Fencibles lease on tho
armory expired March l. Furth APP
pealed to the joint Councimanic Com
mittee on City Property at a meeting
| April . and secured recommendation
! for renewal of the lease for two years.
Then he looked to Councils to act upon
| the recommendation. But the recom-
mendatIon remained buried in commits
| tee.
Through April Furth went about ask.
| ing Councilmen to bring the reneWai
matter into the meeting,
| He was told that 1t would be better
| to let the business lie quietly until ram
! "You'll do better then" they told him.
/ But meanwhile the City Solicitor had
| begun an amicable ejectment action ana
the Fencibes' tenure in their armory was
! growing more and more shaky.
Then Councils adjourned without act.
ing on the lease for the Fencibles'
the City Solicitors action was enectWs
the Fencibles could be saved from eject-
ment only by the action of Councils re-
newing the lease.
Last Thursday Furth met John p, Com
nelly, chairman OF the Councils Finance
Committee. lie asked when Councils
would do something about renewing the
lease. ,
I'VE don't want your old armory' said
Connolly.
'BQt the CITY SOllcllpT dtil''
going to have us out II you don't DO
something" Furth protested, on mo
following Monday Judge f. Amedee
Bregy was to have heard a second APP
peal from Furth for the Fencibles;.,
TELL DE MOLL TO SLOW UP
tell DeNGoll that said for him TO slow
up" DeAToll was the Assistant CITY
Solicitor in charge of the ejectment pro-
ceedings.
IF / tell him that he'll think I'm rep
resentlng myself" Furth objected -,
Well then. send him TO me ana III
toll him." Connolly asserted.
Furth wrote DeMoll, asking him 10
see Connolly. But when he met peAoh
I'm court on Monday he learned that inc
Assistant City Solicitor and Connolly
had not discussed the ejectment.
I'VE don't want TO be mixed up In tha'
kind of a thing" was DeMolfs eNplana-
ton
1t was two weeks ago that Furth went
To Judge Brown and learned from M"
that the Municipal Court had been plan
ming To install itself in the sixth hoor
corridor
THE LAWYER AND THE JUDGE
The conversation was heated at iirsI
1t ran like this. according to Furth'
"Now look here, Charlie, l know you're
anxious to take that corridor for the
court I've heard it on good authority
and there's no use saying that isn't the
idea"
"Nel look at the court here, sa'a
Judge Brown, with AN air Of eXtenuation::
We're crowded and every one knowe IL
I'm not interested In what the court
does except as citizen" FuTth replieu,
but the building on Race street oeloE
Broad. that is being used now as JuhH
shop. would be very much better for tnS
police than the Fencibles' arnlols;,
Then he explained that the police Sou-t
throw a bridge across from the rear "a
The building on Race street. which used
to bs hre headquarters. TO the Fehti-
b!es armory, which would then be aEStt- L,-
able as a gymnasium for the aepe'
ment. a.
being a good idea, according 20 tuItns
and talk grew less heated. Then I1ssS
Brown admitted freely that the slAs'