The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-03-27
g||klIMS SMITH
TRIED DAILY TO
OBTAIN MONEY


for ~ County.
That Alfred H. Smith. . detective
employed By the county to secure
evidence against liquor law viola
tors. made strenuous efforts to Sc
cure money from Dix men under In
dictmsnt IN county court for alleg-
q sale Of intoxicants In considera-
ton Of his leaving this locality and
failing TO appear against them Is
. witness, WAS testified TO yester-
I day afternoon by Joseph Merk, age
1 -, IN the trial Of william Rice and
Forrest Fox.
Merk, It appears. acted for the
defendants In carrying on the nego-
ttat!ons with Smith. which Merk
claims were for the purpose OF in
eliminating the latter on charge
zof attempt to extort, but which
Smith stated while on the witness
stand Thursday was to involve the
defendants in = bribery charge.
Merk, who ID also under indict-
ment, was the first witness sum-
rnoned by the defense and his story
OF the negotiations was related by
him as follows:
Merk's Testimony.
Smith came to my place Of bust
ness at $50 Twenty-first street,
known as the Sanitary cafe, on
March / and asked to talk pri-
vately.
Here's my proposition he said.
81 am working for the sheriff.
have made reports of you fellows
selling whisky but these reports
are not under oath. They will come
to trial soon and will then be put
under oath.
"Now il you fellows want to
keep me out. give me $500 and
will 20 to Canada. I'll meet you
at the Rock Island depot in Daven-
port al 5 o'clock Wednesday. This,
according to Merk, was the date OF
March 81.
Meet In Davenport.
The witness related that in COM
pany with Lou Meumann, William
Gabel, Clarence Clifford, Phil
Schwab and William Rice, all OF
whom face trials, he went to Dav-
export that Wednesday afternoon,
the trip being made in an automo-
bile. to fill the appointment. This
was done for the purpose of trap
ping Smith. Merk stated.
At the station platform Smith
met the automobile party and Merk
got out to talk with him. The two
walked to far end Of the platform
out Of hearing Of the other occu-
pants Of the machine.
Merk stated that Smith renewed
his offer to leave this locality. The
pair arrived back at the machine
where Merk says he offered Smitl
= a check for $1,000, but that the lat
ter declined to accept it. holdin,
out for his original demand.
Threaten Beating.
What did Gabel say at this juno
ture," he was asked by Attorne,
Cyrus Dietz.
He said, Let's beat him up
"What did Smith do?"
HE backed away a short dis
lance"
did you have any more CONVEX
sations with Smith after that?'
Eyes
Were they over the telephon
or with you personality
HE came to my place of bushes
several times after that. or calle
me on the phone practically ever
day."
What did he want?"
He continued to ask when b
vas going to get the money"
What did you say?'
Il told him he was no. going t
get any money"
What was his reply to that?"
He said that he was going t
testify"
In the course of your converse
tons what did he tell you?'
Dlminishes Demand.
HE said that he had been dow
& TO Rockford on similar cases an
had made piece OF money, an
that he was willing to cut tn
amount OF his demand. 1t wa
practically the same story ever
day."
Confederation Of what Merk ties
tilted to was given by subsequeu
witnesses, which included Lou Meu
mann. William Gabel. Phil Schwa
and Clarence Clifford. Mrs. 10
Merk was on the stand for a brie
period and she testified to the visit
of Smith with her husband.
Malone on Stand.
Ed Malone was placed on tn
stand by the defense to testify tina
he was the owner of the soft drin
business at 2107 Fourth avenue, re
puted to be conducted by Rice.
soft drink license issued by the cit
OF Rock Island to Malone to cor
duct an establishment of this ma
ture at 2107 Fourth avenue was e1
hibited as evidence Of this cor
tention.
Court was adjourned at the cor
{ clusion of yesterdays session unit
Monday morning.