New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-03-27
Inquest Into Murder of Mrs.
Hilair Is Halted by
States Plea
Employees on Stand
Man Resembling Sternberg
Was Treated for Hysteria,
Policeman Asserts

s,old and apparently indifferent to
g.. abundance Of new evidence the
.r.s saw they have gathered against
-, aBenny" Sternberg, charged with
a. murder Of Mrs. Elsie Lee Hilair at
~. Hotel Martinique, was brought to
~ inquest. held yesterday in the Mu-
final Building before Coroner Patrick
RiOrdan.
Eve Witnesses employees Of the
y.,,inioue-testifed that they had
-, Mrs. Hilair before death and
.,,.rward. Each declared that ne had
,,,sr seen Sternberg in or near the
hotel.
The accused fur salesman's counsel,
,,,,h ]. Goldstein, volunteered the
,,ssietion that his client would be
reed BY the Coroner's jury. This
toreeast put Sternberg's friends in a
,ovisl mood but if the prisoner shared
,lis feeling he gave no indication of it.
Alfred j. Talley, recently appointed
e, Assistant District Attorney, was in
sbsroe of the case for the people yes
,.rdsv. and the friction that had ex-
;'ieS between the Prosecutors Office
Ind Coroner Riordan-Yas not evident.
Workers Repeat Stories
The stories of the hotel employees
v,re merely a repetition of the infor-
nation they had already given the po-
Ice. Several witnesses with new ana
important testimony were TO have been
eeiled By the District Attorney, but
owing 10 the Coroner's decision to call
witnesses in consecutive order" they
we're held over until tomorrow after
loon. -,
Counsel for Sternberg wanted the
innuest continued to-day, but Mr.. Tai
lev explained that important informa-
ton pertaining to the case had come
10 his attention and that Of the police
within a few hours.
Mr.. Talley asked a delay of forty
eight hours. but declined to divulge
he nature Of the new evidence. 1t was
learned. however, that part of it had
come from the Ralph Avenue police
station in Brooklyn, where the authori-
ties had identified as Sternberg man
Who had been treated there on Sunday,
March IS, for hysteria.
Lieutenant Bows, who was on duty
At the time. informed Inspector Cray
Yesterday that the man he believed
70 be Sternberg came in at 6:l5 p. M,
suffering under great nervous strain,
and asked that a doctor be called to
treat him.
Dr. Nathan Wolf. Of the Bushwick
Avenue Hospital, responded TO a call,
and after administering an opiate asked
the patient his name. According to
the police. the man said his name was
samuel Rosenberg and that he had
become nervous through quarrel with
bis brother. Later he is alleged to
have declared that he had been cele-
brating his wedding anniversary.
Not at Hospital
Il was said at the Bushwick Hos
piisl last night that DR.. Wolf was not
on duty and that the hospital had not
his address. One of the internes,
however, explained that DR.. Wolf on
his return from the call had said:
That is 4 funny coincidence. | was
called TO treat a fellow who was a
elassmate of mine at Erasmus High
School. lie was suffering from hys-
ieria.'
Patrolman Sondericher, who attended
Rosenberg before the arrival of DR..
Wolf, asserted last night that he was
positive the patient was Sternberg.
Two men from the Detective Bureau
vent 70 the Ralph Avenue station yes
ierday and showed Sondericher Ben
lsmin Sterhberg's photograph. which
he identified as that Of the man who
had received treatment there.