New-York tribune., 1922-02-08
Police Spies
Fail to Ou~t
Aged Tenant
Charges Dismissed Against
Lonely ,'lsi sIan v ho Had
Apartment in House Once
Paril, Owned by Hearst
Rent Increases Barred
Detective Tell cf LAYING
Snare FOR Ociogcnarian
in .'!n,moraiits" F;ascO


before tho congregation Of Chelsea
#. t. Church Sunday rigA: that nc did
rot hsvc enough men properly to
patrol the hundreds Of miles Of New
York streets Before Magistrate Peter
Mating dismissed the case against
eighty .ycar.old William Durrcll
smi.h Yesterday it vas revealed shat
80 ,onmiss .oner ma with reasonable
'aicty rcassiS1. ~ icast three OF his
,uen 10 patrol duSy. On cight-hour
shift trey are 'a.lng turns watching
tne apartlacn. o. Mi Smith
1Jr. Smiths landlord Is tho Veronica
Realty Corporation. Of which William
Randolph Hearst has been ono Of the
principal oVrc.s. Martin 7 iIubcrth.
president g the company. said ycstcr-
day thai Nir. Hearst ls no lougcr
stocbloiicr Bui he wou'i not say
euc hod bought his holdings. iIubcrth
& Hutorti faadle an Of NcarSt's New
York rca estate. ara an Autographed
photograph % the newspaper publisher
rang over Martin Eluherth's desk.
Charge Dismissed bv Court
Mr. smith. since the death Of his
wife last September. has lived alone In
his sovcn-room apartment on the frat
l(Or Ci N40 - est I'll t-tItIln NJTt'A
ne has no childrcu. \ week ago Mr.
Smith was arrested by Detective Con
:rcy. OF the ith inspection District
Inspector Bolan commanding
complaint. signed by Confrey. which
charged The defendant with "vagrancy'
based on alleged "rcnting Of rooms for
immoral purposes. That was the
charge diSris ed n tho West Side
eour, Yesterday afternoon b. Maeis-
.rstc 5attinr.
il is not the fret time Mr.. Smith
i,.s hocr in count this year because o.
h's occupauev of this apartment owned
Is the orCnica Noaltr Corporation.
ID iantarv IS the agents instituted
"f~ro- --"~> rftccedINes against Smith.
4 month before they had increased his
i"ut +llp When he and his wife
'Asca II. four Years ago. the rental
was Ssa. II Vas SEQ i'm December. when
..lo aecr'. informed the old man it was
- lc raised 10 St1N. lie paid the lu-
crease for Necomhor and then consult
ed lawyer, James l. Moore. of 2O6
Nrs' F-ft1 Fourth Strert Mr. Moore
advised Nl. smith 70 teudor 500 for the
succeeding month. Tho disposScss pro
,eed,ngs followed.
Whom this case vas brought before
Municipal Court Justice Murray the
petition Of tho agents was dimissed
'i' -.'f N'VNAit ltfHN ti'' va t'i NetN ift
reasonable and tho contract oppressive,
a moved hy Alr. Moore
Couple Dupc Aged Man
Although the charge dismissed yes
'"rday Wa based on alleged "rentiug
rf rooms 1or immoral purpoSes.' the
only time Nr. Smith ever succeeded in
venting h,- parior bedroom was a.t
Wednesday, vneu couple appeared
and rcprcsentod theusclvos to no r,af
and wife Tho "bushNnd" Was Dcter-
tive Confrey. Tho wife" VAS Ada
loHsy. who wa also arrested later by
'he detective.
On the witness stard yesterday Mr.
smith. his bands shaking with ual sy
testified that he had told the detective
That the rent for the room was SIS 81
week. The detective profTered 500
bill. but he could not change it. Then
ne was gwen $40 and told that the
other s. would he Forthcoming the fol-
lowing morning. "vhor their baggage
would arrler.' Nftcr his arrest. Mr..
Smith testified, the $40 was taken away
from him.
In dismiss'uG tae case Magistrate
Hating >a'o.
"Therc are 'vo itiugs to be con
~iercl a. establishing the defendants
l'roc"Nco. IL the first place, he is
nighty-six years OLD and has led 3
hi9m,ics lfc- Good character alone
Sufficient evidence o. Innocence IF
euch Il cnar~o
"ln tie crond place 1t La boeu es-
tahl'shcd tnat II was agreed that the
rroi0 wis being rented for Sio and $40
actually was paid Inat seems 10 dis
pose of the ca9us lncss tNat IS supposed
- attach 30 the of}ense charged am
disposed t. give the defendant tho
i,o--f|Itt q is f4i-
missed
lhc mag trafc said also that he Wa
rot disputns any of the statements
'f thc arrc@tng officer whose tcsN-
idonv va supp rlemcnted b, that or De
foctlNe Nilliam O'' onnell. Who fol
loved hls partner from the Pcnnsyl-
1ania. rhore he had met the Noman
Ida Young. 10 the apartment Of Mr..
Smitn. lie Rad he y d mono Of the con
Hersat'on between the rontor and
rontee. But he testified that he had
ego IN answer to an anonymous com
plsirt Nr Smith testified that he
never had seen O'Conneil before Such
comrl~iNt had been made. he said
afterWsri, bv Leonard Kaufman. col
lee. and agent Of Nubertn E, Huberth
hicctiors voiced by Kaufman, he
said. we've concerning a young woman
H."s COOKS and clean, for
~ Smith, VINO said he had known
her all her lie
Martin HNherth president of ltu
berth { lluher.h, vas quoted Monday
as having said; II don't want to make
sny charge against tho old man
merely want to get him out Tie oasi-
6. WAY il the best way. Unioss there
& convection We cannot got him out
All know of the case IT, that re
re'vcd letter to-day from CAPTAIN
Thomas Dorahoo. of thc 96.N Pre-
cinct. calling l0e attention. % an sr-
rest made or Fohrps ry lest OF one
Ala ioune. and that the apartment
was beng used for immoral purposes
The letter, iu part advised drastic
steps should be taken by you to pre-.
ven. q recurrence.
Tie cid rsan. -! understand. has not
heen very careful iu ren.jag rooms
With this housing shortage. he docs
not need such a BIG apartmcnt'
Mr.. Huborth supplemented this
statement yesterday. lie SAID:
II want to get the old man out be
cause he does not take the right kind
of care
Last night 4 policeman was stl sit
ting in old man Smiths parlor bed
room. The policeman SAID he would
remain until relieved either by order
or hy another policeman.
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