New-York tribune., 1921-10-24
ClarkCondenl11s
SWann's Action
I'm Hettrick Case
Charges Tammany District
Attorney, With Evidence
of Building Scandal, Did
Nothing but Write Letter
Assails Hylan's Part
Lays Brindell's Power TO
Support of kenneally
and Commissioner Nugeni

John Kirkland Clark, Republican-co-
alieion candidate for District Attorney,
yesterday attacked District Attorney
Swami and Mayor Hylan in connection
with John T. Hettrick and the lime
stone building material scandal brought
out by the Lockwood committee.
After describing Hettrick's connec-
ton with the organization of the cut
stone and the plumbers and steam fit
ters' rings, organized for the express
purpose of mulcting the city and build.
ers of excessive profits, q practice
which was not broken up until the
Lockwood committee exposed the
crime, Mr.. Clark said:
"Hettrick has always been Tam
many Hall man and very close to the
powers of Tammany Hall, particularly
with Vice Chairman Kenneally, of the
Board of Aldermen, who was a power
full factor in Tammany Hall, and with
Deputy Street Cleaning Commissioner
Nugent, both of whom misused their
power as representatives of labor to
coerce decent, respectable contractors
into Hettrick's nefarious gang. Through
those two men Hettrick made his close
association with the Mayor. 1t was
Kenneally who, in the interests OF
Hettrick, gathered together crowd of
respectable, decent, iaboring people to
Nv +Io; \ 81 !.
the awarding of the fraudulent bid
for the limestone work at the court
house, which job was entirely handled
by Hettrck, and on which job Hettrick
was to receive a commission of one
per cent of the bid. The total. amount
of. the bid was in the neighborhood of
$750,000. For this one job Hettrick re-
ceived $500.
The Famous Hettrick Letter
"Hettrick's connection with the
Mayor was directly shown by the ia
nous Hettrick letter. Terra Gotta is
very much cheaper commodity than
limestone, and the Board of Education
was about to award a number of con-
tracts for the schoolhouses to terra
Gotta concerns, but Hettrick arranged
with the Mayor that he, Hettrick,
should write a letter to the Board of
Education that in all schooIhouses
limestone be installed. 1t was Het-
trick who had the Mayor sign that let
ter and send it to the Board of Educa-
ton. Yet the Mayor claimed that he
did not know Hettrick. That testi-
mony was given under oath.
"The District Attorneys office, had
it been vigilant and aggressive, could
have got at the root of the relationship
between Hettrick and Mayor Hylan.
"The courthouse job, whereby the
City of New York, as Mr.. Untermyer
showed, was defrauded out of hundreds
of thousands of dollars, was an en-
tirely closed transaction, the Mayor
having thoroughly approved it; and it
was only the disclosures of the Lock-
wood committee which prevented it.
Hettrlck made a crooked arrange
ment with the delegates and president
of the plumbers union, who now rest
in jail, that they should bulldoze and
blackjack the decent plumbers in New
York into this Hettrick ring. This mat
ter was brought to the attention of the
District Attorney by the firm of Stod-
dard & Marks in an instance where
strike had been called by these crooked
labor representatives in order to shake
down money from respectable con-
tractor. The Tammany District At
torney did nothing but write a letter
attempting to have the strike called off.
Backed by Kenneally
"Brindell owed his power primarily
to the support of people like Alderman
William P. Kenneally, who, as | have
already pointed, out is one of the most
powerful factors in Tammany Hall.
The activities of Brindell in extorting
money were also brought to the atten-
ton OF the District Attorneys Office
long before the Lockwood investipa-
ton, and Tammany- dictated assistant
in that office, a young man whose father
really made a reputation as prose
cutor, had laid before him some of the
activities Of this man, Brindell. He
was so incompetent and so inexperi
e.nced, as he has himself admitted, that
ne ne dId not realize the significance of
the Brindell case, and NOTHING was
done until Mr.. Untermver did rs,