Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-19
TRIAL ROOMS HISTORY.
Drama Of Bright Lights Is to Be
UnfOIded at McManus Hearing.


UnfOIded at McManus Hearing.
NEW YORK, November 19.-The old
courtroom where Lieut.. Charles Becker
was tried and convicted seems a bit
damp and moldy as the ponderous
legal machinery begins to grind in the
trial of George A. McManus on charge
Of having killed Arnold Rothstein a
The trial Of Harry Thaw for the
murder of Stanford White also was
held in this courtroom. There is no
Dolphin M, DelmaS or William Travers
Jerome to start these proceedings with
the roaring zest which marked these
earlier Broadway episodes.
Lacks an Ingepue.
This Is a drama of the bright lights
without an ingenue, unless the some
what hard-boiled and highly lacquered
Mrs Ruth Reyes of Chicago should
appear later in that role. Further
more it is like an Ibsen drama, with
much of the action off-stage, and
forces. Arnold Rothstein, pale and
bloodless manipulation Of high-yoltage
underworld affairs, was wired" into
every big racket in New York, as these
furtive courtroom whispers have II. he
also was wired into citadels OF power.
His friends and former business aSso-
ciates are watching closely, but most
of them at a distance. Only here and
there among the spectators does one
mark a visitor from the world Of float
ing gamblers, where Rothstein plleo
his trade, garnered 100000 and met
his death.
George A. McManus, bulky, i'm
naculate and fastidiously dressed, steps
into the spotlight easily and unguard-
edlv. He exchanges banter with court
attaches, laughing heartily and natu-
rally, but, under the impressive formal
tiles of court procedure, as the exam
nation of talesmen begins, sinks into
an attitude of studied gravity. One
would nick him for a good poker player.
While the green baize legend Of the
square gambler of the Bret Harte tradi-
ton has been pretty thoroughly shot
to pieces by the trade practices OF the
New York ace-in-the hole fraternity,
there are indications that if McManus'
gambling activities get into the evidence
the defense will portray him as one
of these legendary square shooters.
Such has been foreshadOwed by the
questioning of talesmen by James D. c.
Murray, attorney for McManus.
Case Is Held Weak.
According to the evidence which has
been made public, there is apparently
no very strong case against McManuS.
No witness has yet been named as
ready to testify that he saw McManus
in room $40 of the Park Central Hotel,
where Rothstein was shot. The killers
revolver, thrown on the sidewalk, was
found and identified as the one from
which the RothStein bullet was fred,
but, according to revelations to date,
IN
District Attorney Joab L. Banton, ind
ing the case caught up in roaring po-
litical brawl, bottled it up tight. He
SAYS he has Is witnesseS-most OF them
mystery witnesSes-and give the public
the utmost assurance that he has
solved the killing and that he will con-
vict McManus. Hence, while this Is
melodrama of standardized movie ira
dition, it is melodrama In suspense,
with a vast preponderance OF mystery
over demonstrable fact.
Alvin Thomas, alias Titanic" Thomp-
son, is on the way here from Milwaukee
to tell the district attorney all he
knows. Thompson was supposed to have
been in the room where Rothstein was
shot.
Mrs. Keyes Kept in Hiding.
Mrs. Reyes, wife of railroad brake
man of Chicago, has been kept in hid
ing by the prosecution, but Is now said
to be in New York, ready to testify.
Mrs. Reyes was said to have Joined the
company in room $40 and to have had
a drink with the gamblers assembled
there. about four hours before the
shooting.
The theory of the State is that Nc
Manus plotted to kill Rothstein because
the latter had "welShed" on a gambling
debt; that he engaged the room at the
Park Central, lured Rothstein there by
a telephone call to Lindy's, Coffee
House and shot him. 1t is known that
the district attorney claims to have the
testimony Of German waiter that
Rothstein, answering the telephone, said,
"McManuS wants me at the Park Gen.
trail" and departed. 1t Is also known
that Rothsteins overcoat was found in
the room after the killing.
Mrs. Marian Putnam OF Asheville,
N. c., a guest at the hotel on the night
of the murder. Is said to have seen
Rothstein staggering from room 349.
She refused to discuss the case, but is
in New York and will appear as wit
ness. Whether her testimony will
strengthen the case against McManuS
is not known, but the district attorney
has indicated that he regards 1t as OF
the utmost Importance.
Silent on Victim@ Documents.
There has been long and profound
silence as to what was found among
the 10000 memoranda and documents
of the slain gambler No one now can
say as to whether the colorful and ex-
citing episodes Of Rothstein's danger
Gus activities will be thrown on the
| screen.
The opening session indicated that
the process of procuring a jury will be
! long and tedious. While the members
| of the present panel seem to be un-
| usually intelligent and not averse tc
serving, both prosecution and defense
seem to be having trouble in finding
citizens sufficiently impervious to the
galvanic interest with which New York
was shot through when RothStein was
| killed.
(CopyriRht. 1927