• • • • •

THE PHILADELPHIA INOUTRER. WEDNESDAY MORNING. MARCH 7, 1951 a b d e f K 3

POUCE OFFICERS IN WHOM SAFETY DHIECTOR LACKS FAFTH Police Inspectors John J. Connor (left), Safety Samuel H. Rosenberg as three .of!the de-

Thomas McFarland, now retired, and Michael J. « partment officers m whom he lacked faith. Rev*. Hardiman who were named by Director of Public lation waa made before the Kefauver Committee.

NAMED IN REPORT Police Capt. Vincent Elwell who was

questioned closely by the Senate crime investigators about his assets.

DISTRICT ATTORNEY AND AIDE CHECKING REPORT Dis tr ic t A t t o r n e y John Maurer ( left ) and Ass i s tan t District A t t o r n e y John W .

Tracey, Jr., looking over the Kefauver report in City Hall yes terday. Tracey will study t h e report and t h e n will confer w i th M a u r e r on what action to take, if any.

Gray Says McDevitt Influenced City

One of Philadelphia's foremost criminal lawyers told the Kef au-ver Committee at a closed session here last October that President Judge Harry S. McDevitt, of Common Pleas Court No. 1, who daed

5 ^ ^ ! W * ? ^ ! * - * * 53 u»o** ***** from its upper levels down to the "ward policemen."

The committee disclosed this state­ment by Wti-liam A. Gray. veteran of S3 years at the P h i l adelphia bar. in making public yester­day a mass of hitherto sealed t e s t i m o n y bearing on the p h i ladelphla p h a s e of its Nation - wide 1 n v e stigatton ef gambling.

Qray. w h o asked without apparent hope

im.UAMS.eaAr f f ***• *•*"«•* fcetng granted

that his testimony noi be made pub­lic/ declined to say that Judge Mc­Devitt had ever teen involved in •anything wrong,* or used Influence n o get the police Jores to refrain from arresting certain people," but he cited one Instance in which he believed the judge demonstrated his "control** over Assistant Superin­tendent of Polica Oeorfe P. Rieh-ardson.v

That was when Richardson, de­termined to run a numbers racket suspect out of town, threatened to use physical violence on the man and Iocs: him up as often as Gray got him out of jail, the attorney stated.

Gray saw McDevitt about that threat, and Richardson promptly "laid off" the suspect, William N. Weisberg, though he later resumed the feud. Gray said.

VOLUNTARY TESTIMONY This was the only section of tes­

timony, the transcript disclosed, in which Gray volunteered testimony. The rest of what he said was In re­sponse to insistent questioning by committee members and counsel, chiefly on Judge McDevitt's "repu­tation" in matters concerning police end racketeers. Gray gave his state­ment about the Wetsberg matter In the form of a statement.

"It has been a few years ago," he •aid, "and I cant tell you exactly how loni»— I would estimate prob­ably four to five years ago—that Weisberg came to me and told me that Richardson, meeting him, had said to him he wouldn't allow him in the city ef Philadelphia, in the central part of the city of Philadel­phia; that he would deal with him at any time he found him.

"I went over to see George Rich­ardson, whom I know very well per-tonally, and I said: 'George, what is the trouble between you and Weis-berg? If you have anything against him, issue a warrant for him and lock him up.'

•GOING TO SPLIT HEAD OPEN' "He said: 1 won't issue any war­

rant for him and lock him up. The next tune I see him In the city of Philadelphia, I am going to person­ally split his head wide open. I am going to send him to the hospital, and when he gets out of the hospi­tal, I will lock him up. You will get him out, but the next time I see him after that, I am going to do the same thing to him.'

"Of course. I argued the matter with him. Knowing that there waa a judge in the city of Philadelphia that had some control over Richard­son, the next morning I went to the judge, and I will tell you exactly what I said to him. May I interpo­late that I think that inasmuch as I am giving the committee this in­formation, it should not be made generally public. However, I dont control that situation. •WONT BE VERY PLEASANT

"I told him that the story was about Richardson. I said to him very frankly: If you dont see Rich­ardson, and have him stop this, I am going to take some steps in this matter which wont be very pleasant for a lot of people to the etty of Phil­adelphia.'

"He evidently saw him. because for quite a while Mr. Richardson laid off Weisberg, and then resumed it again."

Rudolph Halley. chief counsel for the committee, asked Gray if the judge he referred to waa McDevitt, and Gray said it was. That ended Gray's volunteered testimony, and committee members and Halley then began asking questions.

Senator Estes Kefauver (D„ Term.) committee chairman, led off by asking Gray for his "diagnosis

Lewis Critical Of Crime

an opinion, and he was doubtful to what extent he was protected by the commitj.ee In expressing an opinion that "might be considered to be defi­nitely slanderous.'*

Halley assured him lie would be "answering a proper question by a member of the committee," but re­worded the question to ask if he knew "anything of the relationship be­tween Richardson and McDevitt."

"Nothing, except that it was re­puted that he was very close to Mc­Devitt and that McDevitt could con­trol him and could tell him what he should do and what he shouldn't do," Oray replied. ALWAYS IN FOREFRONT

On Halley's insistence, Oray gave this reply to a question as to Mc­Devitt's reputation:

"McDevitt had the reputation of being a hard judge. That is one thing, the one that probably doesn't Interest you. He was In the forefront of al­most everything, whether it was baseball, whether It was fights, whether it was horse shows, whether it was a community project, whether it was the ward policemen. He was present and was in the forefront of practically everything. And he had the reputation of being very close to Richardson."

NO LINK TO NVMBER8 Kefauver: Did he have the reputa­

tion of being in the numbers racket? Gray: No. Kefauver: Or in anything wrong? Gray: Not that I have any personal

knowledge of Senator. Kefauver: We were asking you

about reputation. Gray: I know yau were asking

about reputation. Among some people, he may have had a very bad reputation, but it has never been discussed in public,

Halley: Ami he used that alleged) Influence to get the police fores to refrain from arresting certain people?

Gray: I can't say that. Halley: Did he have that reputa­

tion? Gray: No, I won't say that he had

that reputation. Halley: Did some people think he

did it? TELLS STORY OF HOFFMAN

Oray: Some people may have thought so. If you would like, 1 will give you an illustration of the way Richardson and he co-operated re­garding this man Hoffman,

Oray did not identify Hoffman at this point. Only one Hoffman had been named In the course of the committee's Philadelphia investiga­tion, however. That was Samuel Cappy > Hoffman, whom Richard­

son had described as a top lieuten­ant of Harry (Nig) Rosen and Wil­liam Weisberg. Hoffman, who has a long police record, was sent to pris­on for five months when he refused to answer questions last October be­fore the Federal grand Jury investi­gating rackets.

Oray said that, on the occasion he chose as an "illustration,'* Hoffman arrived in town at the 30th Street Station and was grabbed as he got off a train by one of Richardson's men, who took him before Judge,Mc-Devitt, instead of before a magis­trate, "which Is the proper practice here. SENTENCED AS VAGRANT

On Richardson's personal testi­mony, McDevitt committed Hoffman to the House of Correction tor a year as a vagrant, Gray said.

Gray said he got a writ of habeas corpus for Hoffman, which Judge McDevitt accepted because "he had to"—the law on vagrancy was clearly against him and Gray told him "he knew as well as I did that he had no right to commit that man." But in discharging Hoffman, the Judge told him, Gray said, that he was to "get out of the city of Philadelphia and stay out." The attorney challenged that.

WILL NOT GET OUT "I said to him (McDevitt) very

promptly: 'He will not get out, He will not stay oyt. He works here. He lives here. He Is going .to stay here. If Your Honor thinks you can do anything about it, you do it.'"

Halley suggested that McDevitt might haveloeen assisting Richard­son in the belief that he was doing his duty, and Gray said the Judge might have been, but he did not think so. McDevitt, he said, was "a good Judge from the point of knowl­edge of the' law" and knew he had

Charges that the Kefauver Com­mittee, in Its report on crime and corruption in Philadelphia, had "left its task only half performed" were made yesterday by Judge Edwin O. Lewis, of Common Pleas Court No. 2, currently in charge of the March grand Jury sitting in Quarter Ses­sions Court, Room 453, City Hall.

Judge Lewis, who also is chairman of the Committee on Criminal Business of the Board of Judges, said he had read about the report in the newspapers and that "my first impression" is that the task was not completed.

Asked to explain what "impres­sion" he had formed, the Jurist said: "It seems to me the committee set out to discover a nation-wide or interstate connection between poll-tics and organised crime. They have visited many cities and appear to have gathered a great deal of evi­dence.

"However, they merely placed a baby on the doorsteps of Philadel­phia and told us to find **.* who the father is." «

Judge Lewis said he felt It was the committee's task to finish the investigation, especially since the committee had back of it the "full power and prestige of the Federal Government together with practical­ly unlimited funds—with the excep­tion of what little is left in the tax­payers" pockets—and the services of the FBI and facilities of the Internal Revenue Department."

Entertained Richardson Rosen Held Chief Elwell Swore He Knew In New York,Rosen Said Of Local Mob' Of No Police Grafting

Harry Stromberg, alias "Nig" Rosen, who according to Phila­delphia police was formerly the head of the numbers racket here, spent two prolonged sessions before the Kefauver Committee, once in October and again in February. " His reputed chief lieutenant here, William (WiUle) Weisberg, also was a witness at the hearings in October. Both men were accom­panied by William A. Gray, Phila­delphia attorney.' j *

Stromberg was questioned at length 4n February concerning the extent to which he "entertained** Assistant Superintendent of Police George F. Richardson. He couldn't recall how he met the officer-r-"probably in a restaurant or a bar somewhere." - -TELLS OF THEATER VISITS

Alfred M Klein, assistant coun­sel to the committee, drew from the witness the admission that he had been in a New York restaurant with Richardson "once or twice."

"Isn't it a fact, Mr. Stromberg, that you entertained Mr. Richardson at a theater in New York?" asked Klein.

"Yes, it Is." "How many times have you taken

him to the theater?" "Several occasions.4

"Several occasions. From what period to what period?"

"Oh, maybe 1939. 1940, or 1938 to 1941, I don't know."

"Isn't It a fact that you have

Taylor Ran Gambling House, Worked as Tout,He Testified

HEKM4M TAYLOa

Herman (Muggey) Taylor, well-known fight promoter here, told the Kefauver Committee that he once helped to op­erate a gam* bling house in Atlantic City, while #he was staging boxing shows h e r e , and that more recently he worked tor a like establish­ment n e a r W a s h ington, D. C

With the ex­planation that "you meet all kinds of people in our busi­ness," he also admitted that he knew a number of underworld characters, including: Al Capone, Frank Costello, Lucky Luciano, Mickey Cohen and Harry (Nig) Rosen, reputed former head of the numbers rackets here.

Taylor contended, however, "I never made two cents with any of those fellows to my life, so help me God, never, not two cents. I never was in, business with them."

Taylor appeared before the com­mittee in its secret sessions in this city last October. His testimony was disclosed*after the committee's as­sociate counsel, Alfred M. Klein, pre­sented a transcript of the hearings to District Attorney John H. Maur­er yesterday morning.

The transcript showed that Taylor *UM Rudolph Halley, the chief coun­sel, that "16 or 18" years ago, he and a partner, Philip J. Bar, now dead, ran a gambling house at 4 S. Missouri sve„ in Atlantic City,,

CLUB NEAR WASHINGTON From about 1934 to 194*?, he said,

he worked for the Maryland Ath­letic Club, near Washington, be­cause the boxing business was "very bad" during that period. He said he received from "$4000 to $20,000" a year for "covering" race tracks for James A. LaFontatoe. the club op­erator.

Taylor explained that his Job was to meet people at the tracks who might be Interested in gambling and to get them to visit the club.

The witness said he had been "out of the fight game" for two years as of last October, and was just getting back into it. He said he had lived in the meantime on accumulated earn­ings and placed his worth? then at saoooo to $90,000, *

Asked about current gambling conditions at Atlantic City, Taylor said it was "possible" that a casino was being operated at the Surf Club. In answer to questions, he said he did not know whether there was gambling at the 500 Club, or whether bookmaking was an "unrestricted" activity at the resort.

When Halley asked him if he thought "anybody is paying off the police in Philadelphia." he replied: "I think there is a little bit of cor-

talk about organized crime and all that, I don't believe it, as far as Philadelphia is concerned."

In holding that as a boxing pro­moter he met all types of 1?eople, he declared that racketeers are great fight fans and that that fact led to his meeting with Capone and others of his ilk.

He said he first met Capone about 20 years ago, and that when the no­torious gangster was released after a short jail term here, he went to the North Philadelphia Station to see him off to Chicago, just as "every­body went to see him, just to say good-bye or something like that." ON MAILING LIST /

Taylor also said he never had oc­casion to correspond with Capone, except to send him a Christmas card, but Halley retorted that Taylor's name appeared twice on Capone's mailing list, in the committee's pos­session.

The witness next stated that he had met Frank Costello, New York's reputed slot-machine king, "prob­ably twice," and knew Nig Rosen "very well." When asked if Rosen was a good friend," he answered: "I wouldn't say a bad friend. I wouldn't say an intimate friend."

In answer to the query, "Do you know any members of the Philadel­phia police force?" he replied: "I'm glad you asked that question."

Noting that he was a committee witness because Assistant Superin­tendent of Police George F. Richard­son had submitted his name, he told of a dispute with the police official six years previously which resulted in his suing Richardson. (The suit subsequently was withdrawn.)

"Richardson told me he was going to humiliate me and drag me into this and connect me up with all the numbers and gangs and everything else, but I am as Innocent of any­thing like that as a newborn babe,'' he declared. •KNOW LOTS OF PEOPLE*

"If It is a crime to know people. I am guilty. I know a lot of people. I know doctors and lawyers, I know supreme court justices. I know, yes, people of the underwdrld. I am in a business that brings me in contact with all elements of people."

He then held that he "never made two cents" out of his association with any racketeer or member of the underworld.

Taylor claimed he associated with such men as Luciano and Mickey Cohen only because of their interest m various fighters. He met Cohen, he testified, about two years pre­viously, when he went to California to stage a fight. , "I was in a restaurant,Nand who came in but Mickey Cohen," he re­lated. "What am I supposed to d o -run away from a fellow because he has the reputation of being a bad fellow? We sat down and we had a drink together—I couldn't run away from the fellow.

"I had just given him $9000 for one fight, and $6000 fpr another. My God, I don't sleep with them; I am not in

taken Superintendent Richardson to night clubs?"

"Yes." * TOOK HIM TO DINNER'

Further questioning brought out that Stromberg had taken Richard­son to such clubs "three or four times," as well as to prize fights.

"As a matter of fact," asked Klein, "you have done a lot of entertaining

o r Superintendent Richardson, haven't you?"

"I wouldn't say that," countered Stromberg. "I was to New York and happened to meet him, and I took him to dinner."

"You mean these were just chance meetings, when you took him to the theater?"

"Most of them." "And chance meetings when you

took him to the prize fights?" "No, not at all the times." "Chance meetings, when you took

him to night clubs?" "Not all the time." "Weren't they all pre-arranged

meetings?" WE GOT TO BE FRIENDLY'

"No, t h f y weren't a l l pre­arranged."

"Well, how many were?" "Probably maybe two or three." Klein asked the witness why it

was that Richardson, a police offi­cer, should be wined and dined by someone like Stromberg.

•Well, we got to be friendly." said the witness. "I used to meet him in Philadelphia and have a few drinks, and I invited him over to New York." SAYS HE GAVE TIES, SHIRTS

Stromberg also testified that he "got some ties" for Richardson, and had shirts made for him at Sulka's, New York shirtmaker. He admitted they were "pretty high priced," and that he gave Richardson at least a dozen of thera, as well as a $150 living room clock. He insisted that Richardson did nothing for him in return.

Weisberg, who at Grays advice refused to answer a number of ques­tions because he might incriminate himself, talked freely about Rich­ardson. He claimed the latter was using him as a "smoke screen," and was consistently "persecuting" him.

"You believe that he is doing it for some improper purpose?" asked Senator Herbert O'Conor (D„ Md.), a member of the committee.

"Yes, I do believe that," said Weis­berg. BUCK' MAYER MENTIONED

"You think he is not doing it just for devotion to his duty?"

"Excuse me." said Weisberg. "Why doesn't he arrest me? Why doesn't he arrest me and prove something?"

"You think the thing he is trying to cover up is his failure to enforce the law against other people?" ask­ed Rudolph Halley. chief counsel.

"That is what I think; yes, sir." "You thmk there is some connec­

tion- between that and his relation­ship with 'Buck' Mayer?" asked Halley, referring to a well-known sporting figure

'That I can't answer," said Weis­berg, "You keep hounding on 'Buck* Mayer. I haven't been around . . . The only thing I am- telling you is what I heard, that he is very friendly with 'Buck' Mayer, very friendly."

"And that there is something im­proper in that relationship?" asked O'Conor.

"I think there is."

Assistant Superintendent of Po­lice Oeorge F. Richardson, in testi­fying before the KefauverCrtme In­vestigating Committee last Oct. 13, declared that Harry (Nig» Rosen was the undisputed underworld leader of the "local mob."

Richardson, who appeared before the committee, with his secretary, Detective John J. Kelly, questioned by Rudloph Halley, chief counsel for the Senate group, said Rosen was commonly known as the "Big Ma-hoff" of the underworld.

CAME HERE IN 1934 Richardson was asked about a let­

ter he had written to Sheriff Dan Sullivan in Florida, naming "Willie" Weisberg and Samuel (Cappy) Hoff­man as Rosen's chief lieutenants.

Halley: "You said that Rosen, who is now a native of New York, came to Philadelphia during the prohibi­tion era?"

Richardson: "That is right." Halley: "And established himself

as the kingpin of gangsters, bootleg­gers and rum runners?"

Richardson: "Yes. That wasn't until 1934 that he was around here. In 1934, in the company ot my part­ner, Jimmy Ryan, we raided a house out there half a block from police headquarters."

Halley: "Out where?" , Richardson: "In Delaware coun­

ty

Continued From Find Page

apartment house on a 11300 lot at Wildwood. N. J., which he built In 1949; about $1000 in a bank account and a $3145 auto he is buying.

The captain said he paid $1000 cash down on the rented house and $10,000 on the seashore home, taking mortgages for the balances. He tes­tified he had no safe deposit box and no cash other than in the bank

Halley said: "Captain, do you mind if I ask a personal question? Do you have a scar on the pinkie or your left hand or do you habitually wear a ring there?"

Elwell: "This hand?" Halley: "Yes." Elwell: "Yes, I wear a ring." Halley: "Do you have a reason for

not wearing it today?" Elwell: "Yes, 1 had a sore finger." Halley: "What kind of ring do you

ordinarily wear?" Elwell: "A little gold ring." Halley: "Does It have a Jewel in

it?" Elwell: "No" Halley: "You had no particular

reason for not wearing it before this committee?"

Elwell: "No, I did not. In fact. I forgot it. I washed my hands and left it off.!'

Halley: "I was Just wondering, be­cause apparently you wear it cus­tomarily. There Is a very noticeable ring mark on your left finger."

Elwell: "It could be, and it is."

sf situations such as this. Gray re- no right to set as he did. business with them. I never was and

ruption in every town, but when you X never will be."

N. Y. Bill to Probe Divorces Killed

ALBANY, N. Y., March 6 fUPl .— A State Assembly committee today killed a bill to investigate New York's strict divorce laws while a grand jury in New York City was recommending a study of "wide­spread fraud, perjury, collusion and connivance" to administration of the laws.

A New York county grand jury in­vestigating the State's "divorce scandal" recommended creation of a State commission to study the ad­ministration of matrimonial law.

Halley: "Where was this?"

7 FOUND IN BASEMENT Richardsop: "Just a half block the

other side of the headquarters out there in Upper Darby, below Garrett rd."

Richardson then told how his raiders entered the basement of a private home, where seven men were found operating adding machines, "and they had a couple of bushel baskets full of numbers slips."

He testified that the men were arrested, pleaded guilty and were sentenced in Delaware County Court.

Senator E s t e s Kefauver <D„ Tenn.), chairman of the commit­tee, asked: "When was that?" Rich­ardson replied it was in 1934.

Halley then asked: "What kind of a sentence did Rosen get?"

Richardson: "Rosen wasn't there, but it was their headquarters." «• Halley: "Rosen then moved to New York, is that right?"

Richardson: "During -the probe there, there was a probe of numbers racket by the" lawyers of the bar association, and he fled this juris­diction. We brought him back from New York. As a result of our informa­tion, he was arrested to New York, and we went there and brought him back here." ROSEN ACQUITTED HERE

Richardson said Rosen was tried here and acquitted. Halley asked if Rosen moved to New York then and stayed there.

Richardson testified that "he has-not been around here, to my knowl­edge—maybe he might get to and out. We hear he gets to and out during the night; that he comes over here and sees different people."

Halley: "You wrote to Sullivan that although Rosen went to New York, he retained control of the local mob and personally directed its ac­tivities through 'Willie' Weisberg, isn't that right?"

Richardson: "That is right." SAYS HE WAS TRUTHFUL

Halley: "You were telling the truth when you wrote to Sullivan?"

Richardson: "I believe it to be the truth from my knowledge ot this outfit." , ,

Halley: "Then you said in your letter to Sullivan last November: Rosen has connections with the un­derworld throughout the entire Na­tion. So far as the local mob is con­cerned, he is their undisputed leader and is commonly known as 'the Ma-hoff."

Richardson s a i d yesterday he knew what he was talking about when he wrote the letter to Sulli­van and another to the committee in which the Philadelphia police of­ficial stated: "Among Rosen's fol­lowers, his word is law. and an un­fortunate accident is likely to befall any member who flouts his author­ity."

French Bakers Strike PARIS, March 7 (Wednesday)

(AP).—Bakers throughout bread-loving Prance went on a 24-hour strike today. They are protesting that too big a gap exists between the price of flour and bread that sells for 38 francs (18 cents). Fore­warned, most housewives bought large supplies of breed yesterday.

h :'f

ASKS FOR EXPLANATION Halley: "Would you have any ex­

planation to the committee of how you accumulated enough money for, as I total it up, $10,000 for a house, $1400 for bonds, $1300 for a lot, $1000 in the bank. $1500 in cash for an­other house? That alone would be approximately $15,000 plus an auto­mobile which you say you are pay­ing for, which must cost at least $3000."

Elwell: "Yes; but I didn't pay that much for it. I had another car that I had in 1940 that I turned in. I had an allowance on that car. Then when I lost my other car (in a wreck) the insurance company—" PRICE OF AUTOMOBILE

Halley: "What did the Chrysler New Yorker cost you?"

Elwell: "You mean the selling price of a Chrysler New Yorker? I think it is $3145."

Halley: 'Just in general, would you state how you accumulated those funds on your salary as a captain?"

Elwell: "I have been in the de­partment since 1923. I have been 27 years in the police department, and I have lived a pretty good life and taken care of myself and my money." T H E MCDONALD C A S E

He gave his account of the events of May 3. 1950. when McDonald ar­rested J a c k R o g e r s on numbers a n d b o o k m a king c h a r ges and later arrested M i chael C a-serta on a dis­orderly c o n ­duct charge.

Elwell said M c D o n aid's arrest sheet for R o g e r s was " n o t c o m-plete," and he called McDon­ald into his of-f i c e to- "get h 1 m straight-e n e d u p." Some time later, he said, he heard Rogers swearing in the rollroom:

"No cop is going to rob me!"

Elwell continued: "The street ser­geant was Leo Brodenck. Captain.' he said, 'this man Is hollering that he lias been robbed; that he has been short-changed." BRIBERY CHARGES

McDonald produced the money of which Rogers said he had been "robbed," and Elwell suspended Mc­Donald, the captain recalled

Onlv then, he said, did McDonald allege that Rogers had tried to bribe him not to arrest him and that Caserta later ohered him another bribe to reduce the charges against Rogers, whereupon McDonald ar­rested Cassertta on a disorderly con­duct chaiRe Elwell pointed out that McDonald had booked neither sus­pect on a bribery charge 'Such charges were made against both later in warrants obtained by Capt John T. Murphy > ELWELL AND CASERTA

Halley asked Elwell if he knew Caserta.

Elwell: "Yes. I have known him for a good many years He lives only three or fou/ blocks from where I do."

TROMAS M. MCDONALD

relationship!! with him'1

Elwell: "No social relations with him.''

Halley "Any buMnes* relations''" Elwell "No business of any kind "* Halley: "How did you know him'

Would you see him on the street">' Elwell: I knew him when he »».«

a little boy. I have lived out there all my life. The whole family of them lived there " IN LOTTERY BUSINESS1

Halley: "What business is Mike Caserta .n')"

Elwell- 'He has the reputation of being in the lottery business this horse "

Halley: "Policy business''" Elwell: "The numbers business,

horse business " Halley: "Do you behpve he is in

the numbers business. Captain'1

Elwell I have never caught him. I have never .seen him "

Halley "What other known form of making a living has Mike Caserta, to your knowledge?"

Elwell: "I do not know " •ANY MEANS I P SUPPOBTr

Halley: "Would you say then that he has no visible, honest means of support?"

Elwell. "I wouldn't say that be­cause I don't know anything about it other than what others say "

Halley: "You are the Captain in that district, or were, and ha»e known this man since you were both boys "

Elwell: "I knew his whole familv " Halley: "Is he a man with a visible,

honest means of making a livelihood or isn't he?"

Elwell: "I dont know him that well." THIS NUMBERS RACKET*

Halley: "Is it not your duty as a police captain to have some idea of the people in your district who ap­parently have no honest means of earning a living?"

Elwell: "It is my duty, and 1 would say only from information that I have that he is in this num­bers racket."

McDonald, who testified immedi­ately before Elwell. said Rogers of­fered him a $100 bribe and Caserta offered $200, threatening after he spurned it to "frame" him. 'THIS EX-CONVICT"

When Elwell suspended him Mc­Donald said, he asked the captam: "Do you mean to tell me you are going to suspend me on the accuse* tion of this ex-convict here who has 18 felony arrests, plus aggravated-assault and battery on a police offi­cer?"

Whereupon, the ex-policeman said, Elwell demanded "What are you doing, checking up on that man* record?"

Alfred M Klein, a committee at­torney, asked McDonald "Is Caserta tied up with any particular numbers bank in West Philadelphia"'

McDonald "He is assumed to be tied up with Blinky Palermo's gang "

Klein: "Is he tied up with the Jimmy Singleton group''"

McDonald: "That is supposed to be one consolidated bank ."

Klein: "Are there any policemen out there, to your knowledge, who are paid by numbers operators ?" WALKED BEAT ALONE

McDonald replied that he aalked a beat alone and had no opportunity to "be with any of them who were being paid," but he added "The only one as far as my investigation was that there was one man who did the collecting, and that was Bitting, Earl Bitting."

Klein: "Who is Earl Bitting' " McDonald "He was listed on a per­

sonnel sheet as in charge of the boys' club . . . He U now retired

Klein: "For whom was he a col­lector?"

McDonald: "He was assumed to be the collector for Captain Elwell "

C. of C. Protests 2 School Taxes

Inquirer Hamsburg Bureau HARRISBURG, March 6 —The

Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce protested today against making permanent the emergency personal property and business grass receipt taxes imposed by the Board of Edu­cation.

In a letter to Representative Rav-mond D. Sollenberger 'R. Blair>, chairman of the House Education Committee. J. Harry LaBrum. gen­eral counsel and legislative chair­man of the C of C . said that if the Legislature saw fit to reunpose the two levies they should be labeled as temporary and continued only for another two years

The Chamber registered no opposi­tion to the plan to make permanent the increase in school taxes on real estate from $1 17;, to $127-, per

Halley: "Have you ever had social $100 of assessed valuation.

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Thomas M. Tryniski 309 South 4th Street Fulton New York 13069

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