The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-04-16
QUIZ SUMMONS
|. FLATLY REFUSED
BY WARRINGTON
Occupant Of X Street
House Defies Quiz
Committee
NEW GRAFT TALES
TOLD BY WITNESS
Kerns Reveals Alleged
Whisky Permit Sales
And Pardon Fixing


/, WASHINGTON, April ia tale
of bootlegging ventures in Ohio with
sidelights on alleged parole and pardon
fixing at the Atlanta federal peniten-
tiary was spread today before the SEN
ate committee investigating the depart
ment of justice while for the second
time witness long sought by its pro-
cess servers entered a flat refusal to
testify.
Howard Manning, once a resident of
the Little green house on K street."
in Washington, who voluntarily re-
turned to the United States from Paris
to accept subpoena service in New York,
was the witness who refused the COM
mittee's behest.
The committee tonight tentatively
prepared papers in a proceeding in
tended at least to enforce his at
tendance. Chairman Brookhart said
that Warrington would be instantly re-
leased il he cared to claim immunity
from examination since he has been
named by several committee witnesses
as being close friend of former At
torney General Harry NJ. Daugherty,
and sharing in payments for liquor per-
mits which got into the hands of New
York bootleggers, who received 20-case
shipments of whisky and entertained
for the Columbus crowd"
Describes Liquor Deals
. Cecil H. Kerns, former head of two
wholesale drug companies in Columbus,
now under parole from Atlanta peni-
Tertiary, but under order to return
there, described transactions in Liver
pool involving both himself and others
which preceded his imprisonment. He
sold to Abe Ungerleider, member of
the Ohio brokerage firm of Samuel
Ungerleider, 100 barrels of whisky in
1922, he said, insisting that it was for
the bootleg trade.
"Abe Ungerleider, Kerns asserted,
''told him that he could deal in whisky
because his firm had contributed $780,
600 to the republican fund in 1920"
He added that Warren Barnett and
William HALEY, two Columbus friends
of Jess w. Smith, the friend of the
former Attorney General, had discussed
with him a project for getting permits
to fake lignor from bonded warehouses
|on payment 6f SRA cart
Where He Made Mistake
Kerns got into trouble, he said, by
buying 10000 gallons of alcohol from
the Old Hickory powder plant in
Nashville, Tenn, and juggling the de-
Fnaturization process which it was sup
posed to undergo. He likewise stood
trial before Federal fudge Killits, he
said, for making a too potent alcohol
liquor compound and had hoped that
the two sentences would run consecu-
lively.
A lot of alcohol from the Old Hickory
powder plant got into bootlegging chan
nels without having poison added to it,
Kerns said. His own sentence, het de-
clared repeatedly, was largely due to
the, enmity Judge Killits held against
him, as he said another associate, also
sentenced, retained Stuart r. Bolin, an
assistant to the Attorney General, for
a lawyer with the result that a motion
for a new trial had been kept pending
before Judge Killits for two years.
Supplied Ohio Trade
Samuel Ungerleider, brother of
Abe, KeYns said, had been before pro-
hibition the owner of the biggest bar in
America and up until the last he knew,
owned a drug concern where all the
Ohio boOtleggers had to buy their gin"
Senator Wheeler connected the wit
ness's testimony with the previous rec
ord by identifying Samuel Ungerleider
as one Of the men named by Roxie
Stinson, divorced wife of Jess Smith,
as being in Cleveland when an attempt
was made to frame her up" Kerns
also said he employed John Todd, a
former law partner of H. NJ. Daugh-
erty, as attorney during his prosecution
"to get influence in Washington"
A principal item in his account of
"use of money with lawyers and poll
ticians'' by Atlanta convicts seeking
freedom was the statement to him by
Fred Grant, alias Gorndoff, a ''con-
fidence man." Kerns said, that a pay
ment Of $4,000 to "a Washington at
torney who knew Slemp," had obtained
executive clenency.