Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-01-22
Murphy
Continued From First Page0

sponded in almost exact detail with
that of Chief Murphy yesterday.
Three other witnesses who testi-
fed this morning that the chief was
sober at the fire are Battalion Chief
Nelson E. Bowen, Capt Morris
Clarke and Acting Precinct Detec-
tive Francis Davis, who was present
at the fire.
Since January II, the special
panel has been hearing charges that
the fire chief, through his actions
and policies, has injured the morale
of his department and lowered its
efficiency. The charges grow out OF
statements made last June before
congressional committee by Capt.
Joseph w. Conroy, president OF the
Washington local of the Interna-
tional Association of Fire Fighters
(AFD.
Testifying late yesterday, Chief
Murphy admitted he had had two
or three" beers before being called
to the Fifteenth and L street beauty
shop fire.
Murphy Denies Intoxication.
Were you under the influence
of intoxicants?" Mr.. oDonoghue
asked.
mo, indeed" Chief Murphy an
swered...
By late afternooff,1having spent
most ~ the day on the witness
stand, the fire chief seemed tired
and a little impatient. He had had
only one hours sleep in night
spent fighting two multiple alarm
fires,
on the night Of sthe beauty shop
FIRE, Chief Murphy recalled, he had
attended o stud poker game at the
apartment of Matthew F. Tobin, a
member OF. the Fire Department.
That was where he drank the beers,
the witness explained, adding he
was informed of the fire when the
third alarm was called at l am.
Describes Actions.
In minute detail, the chief de-
scribed his actions at the fire. He
confirmed the statement Of prose-
cution witnesses that he spent about
20 minutes in the heavily smoked
interior of the building, without a
gas mask, helping to handle equip
ment with which the firemen were
attempting to extinguish blaze in
the cellar.
The fact that Chief Murphy re-
fused to leave the building until
he was on the verge of passing out,
together with the fact that he al
legedly Staggered" on his way into
and out Of the building, was cited by
prosecution witnesses as the basis
of their opinion that the chief was
intoxicated.
Chief Murphy said he probably
did stagger slightly as he came out
of the building. He said not all
firemen are affected in this way by
an overdose of smoke-that he had
not been so affected when he was
younger-but that, of late, he had
found himself "a little unsteady"
after prolonged exposure to smoke
and heat.
Chief Murphy admitted the truth
of statements by prosecution wit
nesses that he was the only man IN
the building at that time not wear
ing gas mask. MIR. O'Donoghue
asked him if he ever wore gas
mask.
Chief Murphy Objects to Question.
Il don't like that question" the
chief replied. II teach them and
I advocate them. But old flremen
as a rule do not like to use them,
although they are certainly of great
value"
The days hottest legal argument
took place when Mr.. Maher drew
from Sergt. J. c. Varah, a defense
witness, an admission that he had
done some repair work on Chief
Murphy's house on days of in June,
1945, and that the chief had al
lowed him to take three-week va
cation in Nebraska the following
month in compensation for over
time work performed previously by
the sergeant.
Two counts charging these Incl
dents had been included in Mr..
Makers original charges against
the chief. The board. however, had
ordered them dismissed because the
incidents occurred before Mr.. MIR
ply was named to head the fire
department.
Over strong protests from Mr..
ODonoghue, the prosecutor was
permitted to question Sergt. Varah
on the subject. Mr.. Maher asserted
his only purpose was to show that
Sergt. Varah was biased in Chief
M,,rY,hv,s fav0r