New-York tribune. [volume], March 21, 1920, Page 8, Image 8

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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Porter Ousted
As Enright Aid
Qn Vice Charge
Third Deputy Commissioner
Removed as He Gives Bail
of $1,000 to Answer to
Alleged Neglect of Duty
He Calls Case 'Frame-Up'
, -
Judge Wadhams's Criticism
of Detective, Who Now Ac
cuses, to Figure in Trial
Augustus Drum Porter, indicted on
charges of neglect of duty by the grand
jury in its inquiry into the alleged
vice graft conspiracy in the Police De?
partment, was removed from office yes?
terday as Third Deputy Police Com?
missioner by Commissioner Enright
The announcement of the removal
was made at Police Headquarters fol?
lowing Porter's appearance in Judge
Malone's chambers, at the Criminal
Courts Building, on a warrant issued
last Friday by Judgo Malone. Porter
appeared with his lawyer, Frank Hen?
drick, of 120 Broadway, and was held
in $1,000 bail for trial. He will be
arraigned for pleading to-morrow.
Porter's indictment was the result
of the testimony of three detectives,
formerly members of Inspector Mc
Donald's special vice squad, to the
effect that in raiding an apartment at
324 West Ninety-sixth Street on the
night of November 12, 1919, after they
had tapped the telephone wire of the
place, they found Porter in a room with
a woman.
Porter Calls Charges "Frame-Up
While waiting in the ball department
of the District Attorney's office for the
arrival of Judge Malone, Colonel
porter issued a statement in which he
denied the charges against him, calling
them a "frame-up." He expressed
confidence that he would clear himself
entirely of the accusations.
Colonel Porter's assertion provoked
Assistant District Attorney James E.
Smith, in charge of the vice investi?
gation and.the official who obtained the
indictment against him. Mr. Smith
issued a counter statement in which
hs asserted that he would not be "in
timidated" in his prosecution of any
member of the Police Department who
may violate the law.
Colonel Porter's statement denying
th** charges against him follows:
"There is absolutely nothing to them.
You cannot say this too strongly. This
is a frame-up, pure and simple. I am
not worrying, as you see, and that is
half the battie. This is a dirty. mean,
rotten attack on an official who is made
thc goat of a fight that is being waged
by an Assistant District Attorney to
further his own ends. However, time
remedies all injustices, and time will
prove that I am the victim of a plot
and not the criminal that certain peo?
ple would like to have the public be
tieve'I am. My friends know my chai
acter and I am sure they do not be?
lieve the nasly insinuation that the
charge contains. That is all I have to
say."
This brought the following reply
from Mr. Smith:
"In September, 1918, two women were
taken in a raid and arrested about 1:30
a. m. outside the Claridge Hotel. They,
claimed that they were teachers in the i
Grand Central Dancing Academy and]
that they were particular friends ofi
Colonel Porter, and that the officers'
who brought them in would be dis-1
missed from the force. Thereafter
certain persons, officers who were
working with me, were brought before
Inspector Her.ry and lined up with
Henry's men for identification by these
women. The detectives who were
picked out were not the men who made ,
the arrests. Tho arrests were made by
Inspector Henry's men at my request.
"There was an attempt made at that
'.ime to intimidate the men in the de?
partment, who were honestly, iaithfully
and conscientiously working with me
in cleaning up the ciry.
"The Grand Central Palace was at
that time conducted by a man named
Grundy, who, when obliged to vacate
the premises, made application for a
license in West Sixty-sixth Street. and
1 and other people on the West Side
opposed the granting of the application
and appeared before Commissioner of
Licenses Gilchrist to oppose it. Com?
missioner Porter. then secretary to Po?
lice Commissioner Enright, appeared as
a character witness for Grundy and I
crofis-examined him. The record of
this cross-examination is on file in
Commissioner Gilchrist's office. Com?
missioner Gilchrist over my protest
granted the license for this dance hall,
which is in Inspector Henry's district.
"I am willing to ro to trial in this
case in one week's time?or in forty
eight hours if necessary. I am not go?
ing to bo intimidated. I am going to
perfoim my duty as I see it.
Declares Men Will Testify
"I want to reiterato that this inquiry
is not aimed at the Police Department
as a whole, but at the individuals who
have brought, and continue to bring,
disgrace and odium on as excellent a
body of men as havo ever worn a uni?
form and done police duty. There was
a time when it was impossible to get
one policeman to testify against a
brother officer, because it was not in
accord with the police idea of esprit
de corps. But that day is passed, and
now the decent men of the department
have determined upon a housecleaning i
from within. These men will assist and I
will testify against-all thoae in the de- I
partrnent who violate the law, no mat
ter how high the rank or pesition may
be. They feel that the people of New !
York will understand that the depart
ment shall be our servants and not our
masters."
Porter arrived at the District At?
torney B office at 10 o'clock in the morn?
ing, as promised by his lawyer. He ap?
peared in a light and even jovial mood,
and spent nearly an hour chatting with ?
reporters and posing for photographs. i
He took particular pains in obligine
H^h.?t0grapher.an('invite<? Mr. Hen- J
drick to poae with him.
Porter declined to eay anything'
>
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? Real ~
! about Hilbert Wheelwright, Frederick
Sorger snd Msthew J. Cushing, the for?
mer plainclothes men of Inspector Mc
Donald's squad on whose testimony the
grand jury brought out the indietment
against him.
Sniith Wanted $3,S0? Ball
After Colonel Porter, his attorney,
and Assistant District Attorney Smith
ieft Judge Malone'? chambers, it was
learned that Mr. Smith asked that bail
be set at $2,500, but on tha application
of Mr. Hendrick the court considered
$1,000 ample. When he left Judge Ma?
lone- chambers ,Mr. Smith said:
"I told Judge Malone, in the presence
of the defendant and his counsel, that
I would like to try Porter on Thursday
of next week?that I would be ready to
go to trial at that time. They did not
indicate whether they would be ready
or not."
Detectives Sorger and Wheelwright,
St was recalled yesterday, came in for
denunciation at the hands of Judge
Wadhams, in General Sessions, on Feb?
ruary 11 of last year, when Judge
Wadhams reversed the conviction of
Emily Hoffman, a Brooklyn high school
girl, sentenced by Magistrate Mancuso
for vagrancy and the violation of the
tenement house act on the testimony of
the two detectives.
The record of the case as presented
before Judge Wadhams showed that
Sorger and Wheelwright had made an
appointment with Miss Hoffman and a
woman friend in Miss Hoffman's apart?
ment in West Ninty-fourth Street. The
men called at midnight, took the girls
to. a restaurant in yixty-sixth Street,
remained there until 3 o'cloek in the
morning and then returned with the
girls to their apartment.
Judge Wadhams called the conduct
of the detectives "scandalous," said
that the men rather then the girls,
should be accused, and directed Asj
sistant District Attorney Smith to in?
stitute an inquiry to see by whose au
thoritythe city's money was being spent
by attachea for taxi rides and drinks
in cabarets.
"It is the officer who approached the
defendant," Judge Wadhams said, "by
calling her on the telephone, by taking
her to a restaurant, by plying her with
drinks until 3 o'cloek in the morning,
who should be punished. This method
of procedure ia known as provocation.
The danger of permitting such convic
tions to stand is obvious. The record'
before me is a scandalous record. Iti
shocks the sense of decency. It ap
pears that this officer was not only the j
initiator and instigator by calling on
the telephone and making an appoint
ment, but, having arrived, he took the
defendant out in a taxicab, remained
with her until the early hours of the
morning, dancing and drinking, and
then returned with her in a taxicab.:
The court will not sustain any judg-j
ment of conviction where it appears |
that the crime was procured to be com-i
mitted by the acts of the police."
Colonel PJrrter is thc highest police |
official ever indicted in New York City.
Only four others in rank above that of |
captain were ever indicted and convict?
ed. They were Inspectors Dennis
Sweeney, James E. Hussey, John J.
Murtha and James F. Thompson. AU
four were convicted and sentenced to
prison on charges implicating them in
a vice and gambling ring, the four, it
was alleged, having furnished "protec?
tion" to hotels and gambling houses.
Each was indicted twice for bribery.
The inspectors were convicted under
the administration of District Attor?
ney Whitman.
The Appellate Division afterward re?
versed the decision against Hussey and
he was subsequently retired on a pen
sion.
Infantry Officer Gets Cross
For Saving His Wounded Men
A belated award for valor was pre
. * ted yesterday at Governor's Island
tt Lieutenant Amory V. Eliot, former?
ly of Company A, 307th Infantry, 77th
Division, When the Distinguished Ser?
vice Cross Was pinned to the officer's
blouse.
Lieu.enant Eliot, who is a native
New Yorker, is a son of Lieutenant
Colonel W. G. Eliot, of the infantry.
He was awarded the decoration for
carrying two of his men from the field
of battle after they had been badly
wounded by ahell fire. During the
war Lieutenant Eliot himself was
wounded twice and gassed three times.
Dempsey and His,
Manager Plead Not
Guilty; Give Bail
Released After Arraign
ment in San Francisco;
Champion's Divorced
Wife Before Jury Again
Speeial Dupateh to The Tribune
SAN FRANCISCO, March 20.?Im?
mediately following their arrival from
Southern California to-day Jack Demp?
sey, world's heavyweight champion
pugilist, and his manager, Jack Kearns,
charged with violation of the selective
draft act and conspiracy to violate tho
draft act, were arraigned before Fed?
eral Judge Bean.
Both pleaded not guilty, and their
cases were set for hearing April 3.
Dempsey, whose indietment is based
on the counts charging violation of the
draft act and of conspiracy, was lib
erated on bonds of 120,000. Kearns,
whose indietment rests on the chargo
of conspiracy, was liberated on a bond
of $1,000.
The defendants were accompanied to
court by Ii. P. Henshall, representing
Attorney Gavin McNab. Henshall will
act in their interest pending McNab's
decision as to whether he will take the
case.
"I am innocent of any wrongdoing
and expect to be exonerated," said
Dempsey. j
McNab said that he Waa not at lib?
erty to disclosa the names of the per?
sons who had engaged him to make an
investigation of the indictments, but
said that he was sifting the matter, and
it would not be until nis investigation
was complete that he could say whether
he would be identiflcd with the trial.
Dempsey's divorced wife, Maxine
Dempsey, appeared before the grand
Jury yesterday in a further investiga?
tion. ,
Telegrams received by Mrs. Dempsey
during her recent stay at Yaklma,
Wash., regarding her trip to Mexico
were introduced in evidence.
The appearance of Beulsh Taylor,
Mrs. Dempsey's c.onfidant while she was
at Wells, Nev.. gave rise to the rumor
that the grana jury was investigating
alleged attempts of certain persons to
obtain the letters held by Mrs. Demp?
sey, in which her husband referred to
the draft and his classification.
U. of P. Club Hears Garfield
Five hundred members of the Uni?
versity of Pennsylvania Club here met
at the organization's thirty-second an?
nual dinner in the Hotel Pennsylvania
last night President William E. Saun
ders, of the club, presided, 'and Dr.
Harry A. Garfield, president of Will
ir.ms College, and Lieutenant Colonel
J. G. Faun-Thorpe, military attache
of the British Embassy to the United
States, spoke. Dr. Garfield proposed
that Federal industrial commissions be
established to bring capital, labor and
the public into closeryharmony.
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tudio
@
It Perpetuates the Genius of
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THE WELTE - MIGNON
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This truly magic instrument should he in every
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master's playing?truthful in every nuance,
every ivhisper of mannerism, every pcculiariiy
of tempo?hear it as if he rvas sitting at the
piano. You can also play upon the Welte
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An Extraordinary Silk Sale
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Yards of All-silk Crepe de Chine
inches wide) ln over
enstnlng season, as
of the snuart shades for the
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Chine is one off the perennially f ashionable (as well as one of the most -.
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(Sale on the Flrst Floor)
ser?
An Umistial Monday Sale
will coinnipnse a numniber of
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(about 35? in all) daintily hand=made
and adorned with hand=drawn work,
hand=embroidery or lace; taken from
stock and greatly reduced, for clear=
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. $8.25, 12.50 & 16.50
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Many other Blouses, most of them
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reduced prices.
(Department on the Second Floor)
The Misses' Skirt Departmeot
will introduce to=morrow a most at=
tractive Spring novelty in
The Bedice-Skirt
designed especialfly to be worn with
the new, modish atie=backs"
and overblouses.
These Skirts, ln which are embodied
a number of very clever and practical
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models variously developed in taffeta,
crepe de Chine, satin and tricolette.
The prices (according to material) are
<& 42.00
(Second Floor)
The Inffants' Wear Dep't
Women's
Spring Ointergarments
assembled in readiness for the opening
season, embrace a more than
ordinarifly attractive display of
Coats, Capes and Wraps
embodying the latest developments of
Fashion as to modes, materials
and colors.
Capes and Wraps, which are this year
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from $4?.?<Q> to 46?.<IMD.
Coats for street, traveH and sports
wear, forming in themselves an ex=
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at $45.?? to 211?.??.
A very choice group off new Paris crea=
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representing the most advanced ideas
of the leading French eouturiers, are
at $IS?.?? to SS?.??.
(Women's Coats, Third Floor)
Th? New System
(introduced by B. Altman & Co,) for
the cutting and making ?^
Women's Tailored Seats
which practically reduces to a mini=
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Exceptional Value is now being offered in
New Spring Suits
made by this clever system; incltiding
suits made of all=wooS tricotine, fJnely
tailored; specially priced (in stock) at
$75.00
(Department on the Third Floor)
Vogue Patterns
may be obtained on the Fourth Floor