Evening star., 1940-04-24
Five Teamster
Heads Placed
On Trial Here
Non-Union Jury Is
Chosen to Hear
Conspiracy Charges
BY ]. A. FOX.

By ]. A. FOX.
A non-union jury was selected In
District Court today as the Govern
ment went to trial with the case Of
five union officials and Teamsters'
Local 639, indicted last October on
q charge OF conspiring to tie up
building operations here in a fight
with the International Union OF
Operating Engineers: ~
Both organizations are affiliates
OF the American Federation of Labor
and the indictment was the first of
the kind obtained by the Justice De-
partment in the Nation wide drive
to clean up abuses in the building
industry by invoking the provisions
OF the Sherman Antitrust Act
which prohibit restraints of trade.
AS the result of the examination
through which prospective Jurors
were put by opposing counsel-Wal-
ter r. Hutchinson, special assistant
to the Attorney General, and Joseph
A. Padway for the American FEEDER
alton of Labor-more than an hour
was required to select the all-male
jury, Expressing the opinion that
the trial might be protracted, JUS
tice F. Dickinson Let's directed that
TWO alternate jurors be selected to
NIL In in case any of the regular
jurors became incapacitated, there
by averting the possibility of a mis-.
trial from this source.
Warned on Radio Comment.
Justice Let's warned the Jurors
against discussing the case, against
reading about it in the newspapers
and, unusually, listening to anything
about 1t that might come over the
radio.
Il ask you to turn the dial and
avoid hearing what is said" if the
trial is broadcast, Justice Let's told
the jurors.
On trial are Thomas OBrien
OF Philadelphia, a representative of
the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen
and Helpers of America, and these
four officers of local 639 of Wash
ington: Stuart M. Keyser, record
ing secretary and business repre-.
sentative; Charles j. Bell, president
and business representative: Lin
wood A. Trainham, secretary
urer and business representative,
and Aubrey w. Stream, business
representative. The indictment also
names the local itself.
According to the indictment. the
union used coercive measures to get
It's own men on concrete-mixer
trucks, which were operated by
members of Local n of the. operat-
ing engineers. The dispute between
the two unions has since been ad-
justed.
Violence Charged.
The indictment alleges that
strikes, boycotts and the threats and
use Of force and violence were en-
ployed to get three concrete com.
panies to break their contract with
the operating engineers and hire
teamster members and to force op-
Grating engineer members to join
the teamsters. The strikes were de-
signed to halt the delivery of con-
crete to building and private projects
here over a period of about five
months.
The jurors were closely questioned
for possible bias, and the Govern
ment excused the lone member of
the original panel, who admitted
belonging to labor union. That
was the sole challenge exercised by
the Government but the labor group
used six.
Mr.. Pathways questions were di-
rected particularly to getting the
views of the jurors on "jurisdictional
strikes" He said the Government
would contend the trouble here was
q jurisdictional strike, but that the
defense would be that 1t was not.
The court dismissed two panel
members who expressed the possi-
bility that they might be prejudiced.
+. Members Of Jury.
Members of the jury are: Noel
T. Compton, 49-year- -old barber Of
1921 Eleventh street NV; Donald
j. Cronan, II, reviewer, Veterans
Administration, 1924 Fort Stevens
drive NV; William K. Norwood,
Al, telephone company employe,
1921 Patterson street NV; John w.
Ebert, 81, cashier-clerk at the WASH
ington Gas Light Co.. 641 Fifth
street NE; James H. Ellis, so, night
foreman Of Conger's Laundry, 223o
Nicholson street Sc; George r.
Galleher. Is, note teller, Lincoln Ma
tional Bank, 5519 Ninth street NV:
John F. Lancaster, So, laborer. Gov
ernment Printing ONCE, Is Ninth
street NE: John H. Long, IS, Treas
ury Department employe, 2124
Eighth street NV; Wesley H. Low
ing. So, credit employe, Palais Royal
department store, 1340 East Capitol
street; John r. Magill, 50, head
stenographer in the law department
OF the Southern Railway Co., 823
Buchanan street NV; Clarence v.
Niedomanski, 40, salesman of the
General Electric Supply Corp, 5727
Third place NV, and Claude B.
Fenton, So, salesman, 5427 Thir-
teenth street NV. 49,
Chosen as alternate Jurors, in case
some of the regular IL should be-
come III during the course Of the
trial. were: Leon H. Ristig, 40, not
employed, 1910 Girard street NE.
and William L. Wheeler, 50, painter,
125 Sixth street Sc.