Evening star., 1948-01-13

the practicabilftYeof an outdoor
sonic speeds. b 6m at the front
-AP Wirephoto.
specifically prohibit swearing and
that if common practice" can be
pleaded here it could excuse the
violation of any regulation.
Will Consider Circumstances.
The board ruled with Mr.. Maher
as to the exclusion of the specific
evidence on common practice" in
this case. Chairman Austin F. Can
field, however, indicated the board
felt it should consider the circum-
stances in which the alleged profane
expressions were uttered.
Pvt. Raymond L. Boatman OF No.
fire truck company was the fourth
fireman to testify that Chief Muir
ply was intoxicated at the fire at
Fifteenth and L streets.
Pvt. Boatman said he based his
opinion on the fact that Chief
Murphy appeared to stagger as
he walked across a sidewalk to
enter the burning building. An ad-
ditienal suspicious circumstance, he
said, was that after entering the
building Chief Murphy refused to
leave. although he had no gas mask
and the smoke was thick.
The witness, whose company re-
sponded to the first alarm at the
fire in beauty shop, said he him.
self had been forced to withdraw
from the building because the smoke
was so heavy he could not work
without gas mask.
Refused to Leave Building.
Returning to the cellar of the
blazing structure, Pvt. Boatman
related, he found Chief Murphy
with several other f1remen fitting a
hose to a cellar pipe" special
nozzle for fighting basement fires.
He said an officer in the group
was trying to induce the chief to
leave the building.
"All Chief Murphy answered was
no dice." Pvt. Boatman said, adding
the chief repeated that phrase sew
eral times.
"You base your opinion that he
was intoxicated in part on the fact
that Chief Murphy wouldn't leave
the building?" asked Mr.. O'Donog-
hue. .-.,-.-.
Pvt. Boatman said he did, since
Chief Murphy was doing mo ap-
parent good" in the building.
"He's got a reputation as cour-
ageous fire fighter hasn't he? Mr..
O'Donoghue asked. a
Yes, he has" Pvt. Boatman an
swered, as the board overruled
Mr.. Maher's objection to the ques-
ton.
He had a lot of CUTS to stay
in there without mask, didn't
he?" asked Mr.. O'Donoghue.
"Yes," said the witness, "he did
Questions Held. Proper.
Mr.. Maher objected again, on the
grounds that Chief Murphy's repu-
tation as fireman had nothing to
do with the case. The board, how
ever, held that the questions had
been proper.
The three other witnesses who
have voiced their opinions that the
chief was under the influence of in
toxicants at the fire were Fire Capt.
Raymond E. Hunt, now retired, and
Sergts. Alvin E. Davis and Willis
E. Lancaster.
The three firemen asserted that
Chief Murphy walked unsteadily at
the fire, that his speech was thick
and his eyes "starey" and bloodshot.
All agreed, under cross-examina-
ton, that the chief had spent some
time in the smoky interior of the
burning building and that exposure
to smoke sometimes produces effects
similar to intoxication. None would
alter his judgment, however, that
Chief Murphy was intoxicated rather
than smoked" and two of the men
said he exhibited drunken symptoms
before he went into the building.
Battalion Chiefs John L. Werhelm
and Carlisle S. Peterson are sched-
uled as witnesses for later sessions
today at which the prosecution may
wind up its case on all but one of
the 10 charges.
Mr.. Maher told reporters, after the
first trial session yesterday, he hopes
to dispose today of all evidence
against the chief except that in
volveo in a charge that Mr. Murphy
hurt his departments morale by
establishing system of transfer
ring men from one post to another.
Outgrowth Of Conroy Charge.
The charges against Chief Murphy
grow out of statements made last
June before a Congressional COM
mittee by Capt. Joseph w. Conroy
that the chief had contributed
nothing but decentralization" to his
department.
At yesterdays session, the board
received testimony purporting to
show that Chief Murphy was in
toxicated on duty twice since he
took over the Fire Department, that
he used rough language to subordi-
mates on three occasions and that
once he was disorderly at restau-
rant in Washington's Chinatown. "
! Chairman Garfield and his, two