Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-04
SINCLAIR MAY MISS
LUXURLES IN CELL
ONCE GIVEN TO RICH
Wealthy New York Broker in
1897 Had Persian Rug
in Jail Here.
HOTEL MEALS SERVED
IN HIS PRISON "SUITE"
Rrn Things Differently Now, Says
Maj, Peake, Who Awaits
Oil Magnate.

If presidents count for anything,
Harry F. Sinclair, now headed for jail
for contempt of the Senate, might be
justified in asking for all sorts of favors
during his 90-day sojourn at the Dis
trict Jail.
The oil millionaire could cite the i'm
prisonment in 1897 of Elverton r. Chap
man, wealthy New York broker, as a
case in point. Chapman, like Sinclair,
refused to answer certain questions pro-
pounded by Senate investigating COM
mittee. and his punishment was IS
days of luxury in the same Jail which
Mr.. Sinclair is due to enter Monday.
A Persian rug, Sumptuous furniture
and hotel meals, served in his special
two-cell suite" contributed to the COM
fort of Mr.. Chapman while he was a
guest of the Government. In view
of the Juror created at the time by
these special courtesies," however. Mr..
Sinclair well might ponder over the
advisability of seeking similar favors
for himself The treatment of Chap
man precipitated inquiries by the grand
jury and the District Supreme Court,
to say nothing of protests from other
prisoners.
jail NOW nun inherently.
, Maj. william L. Peake, superintendent
of the District Jail, said today he had
heard of the Chapman case, but added
that the Jail is being run differently
today than it was in the gay COS.
Our Jail down here is not like it
used to be-" Maj. Peake explained. I'VE
are running it along modern lines, al
though we still have the same old
buildings. AS for Mr. Sinclair, can
only say have never met him, have
never seen him and haven't heard one
word from him or his representatives.
I have made absolutely no arrange
ments to receive him here and don't
even know what cell I shall put him
in when he comes. The cell situation
changes daily. I'll have to wait until
he gets here.
II cannot discuss how Mr.. Sinclair
will be treated in advance of his ar
rival. I am not crossing bridges until I
reach them. In this connection might
point out that we had millionaire here
for three days recently, and 1 never saw
him from the time he entered until he
left. I refer to Jack Shields, who was
sent here before starting a tl1ree-yeaT
sentence at Occoquan. The fact he was
millionaire didn't arouse my curiosity
enough to single him out from among
the other prisoners But I'm not saying
anything now about Mr.. Sinclair"
Order Is Due Today.
The order of the Supreme Court I'M
der which Sinclair will be committed to
jail will be issued late today.
The order will be signed by Charles
Elmore Cropley, clerk of the Supreme
Court, and will be mailed to Frank E.
Cunningham, clerk of the Supreme
Court of the District of Columbia.
The mandate directing the trial court
to enforce the sentence it imposed on
Sinclair will remove the last obstacle
to Sinclairis commitment.
The time at which he must begin to
serve the sentence will be determined
by the lower court.
Chapman Case Recalled.
Chapman refused to answer questions
put to him by special Senate COM
mittee regarding speculations by GER
tain Senators in American Sugar stock.
He was sentenced to 80 days, begin
ming May II, 1897. On the morning
of his commitment he went to the jail
for preliminary inspection, in COM
pany with a United States marshal, the
warden of the jail and Frank v. Ben
nett, manager of the Arlington Hotel.
Chapman was shown the cell assigned
to him and he pronounced it very
satisfactory" It had in 1t only the
usual iron cot.
When he reported at the Jail late in
the afternoon, however, marked trans
formation had taken place. The cot
had been removed and the cell had been
luxuriously finished. An adjoining cell
also had been fitted up as an office"
In the first cell were fine Persian rug
a brass bedStead with hotel linen, chif-
fonier with mirror and chair. It was
stated an offer was made to drape the
stone walls and curtain the windows,
but Chapman declined the offer with
thanks. In the Office cell were rug
writing table, easy chair, two other
chairs, reading lamp and a refrig-
orator for cooling water.
Manager Bennett of the Arlington as
signed waiter to bring Chapman his
meals, which included fancy dishes"
from the hotel. The hosiery also sup
piled all the towels. crockery and sill
verware, according to cotemporary ac-
counts.
Caused Court Action.
The alleged 'favoritiSm" shown Chap
man resulted in the filing of an action
in the District Supreme Court by a
fellow prisoner. Lawrence Ball, who de-
manded similar privileges. The court
called on the jail warden for an -ex-
PLANTATION. and about the same time
the grand jurors mace an Inspection OF
conditions at the jail. The warden
defended his action by citing as prec-
edent the case of one Hallet Kilbourne,
confined there several years before for
refusing to reply to questions by a
House committee, and he pointed out,
moreover, that Judge Cole. in sentence
ing Chapman, declared the court did
not regard the broker as a criminal.
The warden said he felt that he had
done his full duty in merely combining
Chapman.
Apparently the matter blew over and
Chapman walked out of jail on the
twenty-fifth day, free man. He had
been given five days of his term for
stOnod hah1