Omaha daily bee., 1914-12-06
BILLS AGAINST
CHICAGO POLICE
Two Officers and Detective Charged
with Conspiracy, Fraud and
Bribery.
CLAIRvOYANT KING coNFEssEs
Rarney Bertsche Says Ne Paid
Money for Protection Resu-
larly Until Officers At
tempted 60 XIII Him.


CHICAGO. Dec. 6-Indictments were rc
turned today naming two police officer
and a former detective involved In the
sensational graft confession Of Bar
ney'' Bertschc and the brothera, FRANK
and James Ryan. The ee,cndants. charged
with conspiracy to obtain money by
fraud. and with bribery. arc Captain
James J. Halpin. Lieutenant John TobiI
and former Detective Walter o'Brien.
o'Brien was dismissed from the force
six months ago for alleged completely In
the protection OF persons engaged in tho
ciairvoyant swindles conducted BY ;ht
Ryans.
Confession of BertEchc.
G. p. Barney Bertsche. ward politician
and leading figure In chicago's under
world. Friday followed the lead OF Frank
Ryan. leader OF the clairvoyant ring
hers. walked into the Grand jury room
and told what he knew of the relation
between certain policemen and criminals
So did James Ryan, active worker In the
clairvoyant ring.
Their stories. which substantlatcd and
augmented the confession made yester-
day by Frank Ryan. resulted tonight In
nine true bills being voted against MEM
bers OF the detective bureau. ACCORDING
20 MacLay Hoyne. states attorney.
Hoyne said the indictments will not. bc
returned until Saturday.
AZ outs with Police.
Bertsche, who with James Ryan. was
convicted OF having swindled Mrs Hope
l.. McEIdowney OF La Crosse. Wis. to
the extent Of $4,000, has been at outs
with the police department since a re-
volver fight on a busy downtown corner
some time ago. Detectives James Monag-
han and william Egan. Bsrtsche,
Nathan splra. who has Just been con-
victed Of arson and one " two by
ISLANDERS. all went TO hospitals with bull
let wounds as a result Of the fight
After leaving the grand jury room.
Bertsche told OF an agreement he said
he had made with Captain John !. Hal
pin. until recently in charge Of the de-
tective bureau. and Lieutenant John
Tobin. by which Frank Ryan and his
men were TO have monopoly on the
clairvoyant business downtown.
Deny the story.
Captain Halpin and Tobin. both OF
whom recsntly were transferred from the
detective bureau denied Bcrtsche's story.
Beftsche was offended. because no
had been ahot at Il paid those coppers
as high as $1,000 a month" he said, and
what did / get7 A couple OF bullets.
They tried 70 make a Rosenthai out OF
me. They thought ! was in so bad with
the states attorney that they'd get
gold medal for killing me. arrangel
with Halpin and TobIn TO pay them $50
month for each place we opened.
Il paid It 70 them like you pay your
rent, the first Of every month. Then the
price was raised 10 500 month for each
place and that satisfied them for a
while. Then they began sending such
fellows as Egan and his kind down for
what they could get. 500 or 500 al a
time. In spite OF ali that. when was
on trial In the McEldowney case went
onathe witness stand and swore ] never
gave them dollar In my life-'
Not Made Public.
Bertscho's confession was not made
public II comprises i2o type written
PAGES. according 20 Hoyne.
He Is convinced that the Randolph
street shooting was an attempt to murder
him." said the states attorney, "and
his purpose OF confessing was revenge.
He believes the police tried 20 kin him
because they feared he would come to
my office and confess. Both Bersche
and James Ryan made their statements
without promise OF Immunity. They viii
both have to go 20 prison. but l have
promised that when they serve eleven
months. ] win do my utmost 10 have
them pardoned
After we have cleaned up on the clair.
voyant end OF the inquiry we viii take
up the connection OF tho police with safe
blowers. burglars, sneak ehieves. pick
pockets and holdups Bertsehc's con-
fsssion covers Il ali. and ne win be our
chief Witness"
division of spoiIa.
Hoyne tonight made public more OF
the secret OF Frank Ryans two red
Morocco bound books In which the record
Of the clairvoyant trust were kept. The
common method OF division OF the spoil
according to the book was a per cent
for the swindier acting in the case, 20
per cent for the police. 10 FOR the owner
q the place and 5 per cent for the
''fixer'
Revenues are recorded rs receipts" ana
"psy outs" The following figures were
given Cor four months in isi2
RECEIPTS