Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-02-11
FORGERY ALLEGED
IN NEWBERRY TRIAL
Witnesses Deny Signatures on
Nominating Petitions in Sen
atorial Campaign

Grand RAPIDS, Mich, Feb. 1T BY
A. PIN the election conspiracy trial
In which United States Senator Truman
H. Newberry and 123 others are de-
PENDANTS in the Federal Court William
Osborn. an automobile dealer of this
city, today was shown a nominating pc
tition for Helme as a Democratic can
didate for United States senator ir
'91S. u ted States Assistant Attorney
Genefal DaHky asked the witness:
"Did you Isign or authorize any one
to sign that petition
1T did ndt. It"is not my handwrit
ing" said the witness.
Williams Tolsman, also of this city.
made similar answer when confronted
with petition bearing his signature.
Other witnesses who repudiatcd their
signatures on Helme petitions were
George Adams, of Kalamazoo. and Er-
nest K. Baxter. of Grand RaDidS.
Benjamin o. Bush, who lived in Kali
amazoo lover fifty years. testified that
Merrill. one of the defendants. had in =
troduced him to Thomas Biggar. state
boxing commissioner.
''Mr. Merrill said to me- declared
the witness, here, do you want To
friend, Mr.. Bigger. He wants these
petitions circulated for James w
Helme."
Bigger offered the witnesses $50 fol-
$3.50 names. Bush said he asked then
IL they were trying to beat Ford bOtf
ways"
He said Bigger told him "they have
Ford beat in the Republican primary
now and are going after him on thu
other"
Bush said he put dozen Helme pc.
titions in his pocket, had four or five
friends sign and later destroyed all th'
petitions. A few days later Merrill
asked about the petitions and Bush tolC
him he had lost them
\ Andrew Van krimpen. of Crane
Rapids, found his name on his petition
but said he did not sign it.
be was not voter in July. 1918, h
said.
''Are you foreign born?" asked Judg
Eichhorn.
mo, 1 was born in Holland, saic
Van Krimpen.
George E. Mckinley. of Flint, sal,
Fred Henry, defendant, offered hin
800 to get twenty Helme petition
signed with in that week He ncve
turned the petitions in, witness ad
mitted.
On cross examination Mr. Littletol
brought out that Mckinley was a Dem
ocrat.
Edward ]. Jeffries, judge of the Su
perior Criminal Court in Detroit, tes
tiled that Fred W. Castator, de
fendant. asked hi INTO use his infuenc
to get Helme into the race.
al replied said the judge. that
was for Ford and thought Helme ough
not to get into that race. | asked hir
how he, a Republican, was intereste
in Helme's candidacy. He only smiled
and told hi mthat / did not think h
ought to get mixed up in deal lik
that
A check for $3.50, which Claude Ham
ilton, chairman of the Kent county Re
publican committee, received froT
Truman II. Newberry last October, wa
read into the record by the defense
This check was first mentioned in tn
testimony when Hamilton was unde
cross examination regarding the Col
Star Club, of Grand Rapids.
q. Sherman Collins, of Munising, tes
tifed that he received just before th
primary an envelope from Detroit con
tanning a check for $500 The govern
ment brought out that he gave tn
money to III. s. Jennings, deceaseC
mayor of Munising. Collins said tn
was pursuant to a previous arrange
nent