Norwich bulletin., 1915-07-31
TRIPLE TOUCH LOCALLY
 WITH BECKER CASE
Governor Whitman, Jack Rose and Mrs.
 RosenthaI All Once Lived Here.

|
 Governor Whitman, Jack Rose and Mrs. RosenthaI All Once Lived Here. | For a town considerably removed from the city of New York, where were ago that reached a climax Friday in the execution of Lieutenant Charles I'Becker of the New York police force for the part he was accused of having in the murder of Herman Rosentha1. the New York gambler, this city had a rather unusual interest in three of the prominent characters.
 | Governor Whitman, who as prose- cutting attorney secured the conviction of Lieutenant Becker and subsequently as governor declined to commute the sentence of death, was a school boy in Norwich and a graduate of the Free Academy.
 Bald Jack Rose. the informer. whose testimony was largely instrumental in the conviction of Becker, was the manager who introduced league base ball to Norwich in the season of 1899. land it was partly from his name and the city's title of the Rose of New lEngiand that the team was called the Rosebuds. He skipped out and left the team stranded on the Fourth of Lastly, Mrs. Rosenthal, wife of the murdered gambler, was at one time under the name of Dora Gilbert, 1t lis stated by those familiar with some lof the underworld conditions here a humber of years ago. and. the pro- Iprietor of a disreputabIe house on the
 West Side in this city.
 Of the career of Bald Jack Rose in Connecticut. a Hartford exchange said iFriday night:
 His sport activities covered wide field and his adventurings along these
 lines in Hartford were very success ful, putting him squarely on his feet after many weeks of subsistence upon
 the generosity of his friends. He first I came to Hartford after Is years ago and was at that time, in the vernacu- lar, fiat broke" He experimented with lvarious projects with varying success until, finally, with the assistance of
 Moe Levy, now of New York, he suc- Iceeded in launching the Hartford Ath- letic club. The venture was a success and within short time Rose was as
 aff1uent as he had formerly been pow
 erty stricken.
 Hartford was at that time. again
 in the vernacular, wide open," and Bald Jack managed to boost his grow ling pile quite little through the Me-
 dium of secluded poker games. When the tide of success was at its height, Hartford suddenly entered upon a re- form era and Rose. with others of his
 ill, was forced to seek other stamp ing grounds.
 
 for many idiosyncracies and mental
 vagaries. For example, with a head
 literally as bald as an egg. he was a
 constant frequenter of barber shops
 where he loved to enjoy shampoos,
 tonic rubs, etc, declaring they stimu- Hated his brain to greater activity. He
 also had a weakness for silk socks and underwear and always managed to gratify this vanity even when his
 finances were at lowest ebb. Rose was
 
 tingent as the nattiest dresser and the shrewdest card sharp that ever Ifrequented the citys gaming resorts. Later, after Hartford became profit less as a sporting center. Rose be-
 came known to other Connecticut : cities as the shrewd promoter of va rious sporting ventures, most of which
 redounded to the financial benefit of ] Bald Jack. He organized the Danbury
 baseball club, and afterwards held the Norwich franchise in the Connecticut league, when his outfit was known as
 the Rosebuds.
 When Harris and Campbell took Colts band over to help them open , the Plaza hotel in Waterbury. Rose
 was on the train and he remained in Waterbury for several years as an
 habitue of the Plaza. which was main
 tained as a cozy city home for polo players, prize fighters, baseball players
 and travelling burlesque companies. } Among these people Rose bore the } reputation of being square sport and
 his motto or moral code was said to . be, Always keep your business legit-
 innate: don't try to skin anybody. If you are going into a straight game see the police, or whoever it Is that has to be seen, before you start. Be on , the level and you won't have any : trouble.''
 Among the many sporting men with whom Rose became familiar during . those days was James M. Sullivan, then a newspaper man, and who very Irecently won much publicity through his resignation, by request of Presi- dent Wilson, as minister to the Domin- ) Iican republic.
 Rose and Sullivan at one time staged
 a fight in Waterbury between George IMcFadden and Mystery Kerwin of Chicago. The affair was well adver- , tised and the house full. but at the last lthe ring and the sheriff attached the , house receipts. Rose avoided promi- ,-I hence in the affair, but in some man jner it netted Sullivan enough to start
 him on his college career as a law : student at Yale, and was probably re-
 sponsible for the train of events that He'd to his rise in the world, and cul- . minated finally in his resignation, by ireQuest, from the consular service. When Rose was arrested in con- Inection with the murder of Rosen- thaI Sullivan immediately appeared
 to defend his old confrere and at once Imposed upon affable Jack the awful dictum of absolute silence. For once Il Rose was silent and neither the news Ipapers nor the district attorney could , trap him into a hasty speech. Later his alleged confession was largely re- } sponsible for Becker's conviction. lWithin, a year or two Rose has posed 'PS lecturer on nbara1ity -ud has ap-