New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-09-24
TRIED AS SLAYERS
SEVEN MEN SMILE
Union Labor Leaders I'm
daunted by Charge OF
Killing Workman.
JUSTICE HASTENS
CHOICE OF JURY
Defendants Accused in Comics.
sion of "Dopey Benny Declare
Indictment a "Frame.Up."

Never has q manor a group Of men
so pleasantly accepted the role Of de-
PENDANT. or defendants. in a first de-
gree murder trial as the seven union
labor leaders who went on trial before
Justice Arthur S. Tompkins in the
Criminal Branch Of the Supreme Court
yesterday. charged with the murder
Of LYMAN Liebowitz. a garment worker
Justice Tompkins, who comes from
Nyack. which is so close 10 the New
Jersey line that the influence Of the
swiftness Of justice idea reaches ef-
fectively into that section Of this state,
decided at o'clock last evening. when
nine jurors were in the box. that he
would hold court until the full jury
had been selected So. with a venin-
ute recess. the work was continued.
The jury was complete az 1880 o'clock.
Liebowitz, on August 8, 1910, was as
saulted at 50 East Fourth Street, head
quarters Of the Garment Workers
Union, during the strike The next day
he died from his injuries in Bellevue
Hospital A union man, he left this
city early in the summer Of 1910 70
work IN the Catskills. where. 70 &c u
job, he had 10 accept work as non
union man. There he told Of some Of
the operations and methods Of the
union leaders and, the District Attor-
ney asserts, when union men here
learned Of this they lured Lebowitz
back to New York and murdered him
Call it "Frame-up."
The defendants declare that their in
dictment was effected by 'frame-up.'
The seven men Max Sigman, Morris
Stupnicker. Sol Metz. julius Wolf, Max
Singer, Isidor Auspitz and Abraham
Weidinger- represented by as IL
lustrious counsel as if each defendant
were a beautiful woman on trial for
killing a Don Juan. Their attorneys
are Abraham Levy. William VI. h. Oh
colt, Abraham Gruber. George +. Simp-
son, Henry ". Unger, Max Levine and
Morris Hillquit. 1t has long been ru-
mored that the union raised fund Of
s25O,OOO TO defray the expenses Of de
fence.
There was heavy atmosphere Of
unionism in the courtroom throughout
the day. Two or three women, appar-
emily related to persons Of union labor
affiliations. attended the sessions.
The seven labor men sat together at
a long table near their counsel and
turned around each time new specta-
tor entered the room. They smiled at
the slightest provocation. assuming, at
times, the air Of martyrs whom a dis
eliminating justice nad picked out for
a public faying TO hush cry against
general union outrages.
"Dopey Benny" a Figure.
The strength Of the case against
these men is drawn from the cOntes-
sions Of "DOpey Benny" Fem, the gang
ster, who has told the District Attorney
Of numerous instances where workers
and employers opposed 10 the union
were tllHtl hl4ltu VI boNA9 4'4J N''
Max Sulkess, a private detective who
worked ostensibly as a union man, Will
be another important witness for the
prosecution.
The jurors are: George Walsh, presl-
dent Of the Herman Tappan Company.
living al 445 Fort Washington Avenue;
John J. Cronin. apartment house super
intendent, % Livingston Avenue; Hale
S. Very, bonding and insurance, S54
West 1Slst Street; Charles j. Campbell.
song writer. Gil West 177th Street;
Thomas s. Somers. president Of Bird
Somers Company. 2S3 Fifth Avenue;
Burton Scott, New York Telephone
Company, 81 Hanover Square; Rudolph
Sommer, woollen importer, 1850 Madi-
son Avenue; Seamon Sylvester silk i'm
porter, 40 East Twenty-second Street;
Henry Ruschmeyer, real estate. ia
West l05th Street; Theobald n. Roalka'
grocer. 500 West l59th Street; Hugh l.
Clifford. insurance. 43i Audubon Ave
nue.. and William c. Pepper, broker, OF
$50 West Seventy eighth Street.
The defendants, who had been out
on bail since their Indictment, were
committed 20 the Tombs last night
This morning AZ 1920 o'clock James A.
Delahsnty, Assistant District Attorney
will make the states opening address.
charging that the union leaders pro-
cured. by hiring gangsters, the killing
81 Liebowitz.