Muncie Post-Democrat, Muncie, Delaware County, 11 May 1923 — Page 1

THE ONLY DEMOCRATIC NEWSPAPER IN DELAWARE COUNTY THE MUNCIE POST - DEMOCRAT

VOL. 3 No. 16 f f ^ * - ' L

MUNCIE, INDIANA, FRIDAY, C MAY 11, 1923

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE $2.00 A YEAR IN ADVANCE

an Acquitted of the Liquor Charge Steered Vsin Ogle Through Red Light

v. LU-’y

Hugh, Berry, Colored Politician and Alleged Booze Hauler Helped Deliver Tenderloin Vote for Ogle and Informants Incriminate Officials in

Liquor Law Violations.

Hugh fterTy,. colored, tried and convicted in the city court for an alleged 'violation of the Hquor law, wap retried in the circuit court Monday on appeal and the jury, after being out a few minutes, returned a verdict -of hot guilty. f The police found liquor secreted in a bam on the Berry premises and his acquittal was based upon his evidence that he had rented the barn to another man and that the liquor therefore could not have been

his.

In. a somewhat similar case a jury several months ago found Court ihshqr guilty and gave him the limit, six months and Jive hundred dollars. The liquor in that case was found in a room in the upstairs of the old Press building at the southwest fcorner of the square. Court did not own the 1 building and did not even rent the room, according to his own Statement, but he was nevertheless credited with the ownership of the contraband booze. It was shown at the Berry trial that a horse and dog owned by Berry were in the barn when the liquor was found, hut the jury was convinced that the mule belonged to somebody else. There’s a neat little story back of the various entanglements of the colored man who escaped the toils of the law. Berry is credited with being one of the biggest imnorters of contraband liquor in Muncic and he is powerful politically. It has been openly charged that he has been operating under the protection of the police and sheriff and the fact is well known that during the primary last spring and during the week preceding the last election, whisky parties which were attended by Prosecutor Ogle, Sheriff Hoffman and other prominent republican politicians were held at his home. Berry is an important cog in the The next place visited by Berry republican machine and in the pri- and Ogle was 'operated by a notori-

mary

, the limit

in behalf of Van Ogle, then deputy prosecutor and candidate for the republican nomination for prosecutor

aghiUst Roll Lehnington.

At the hearing of the nuisance cases before Judge Anderson three weeks ago. when Arthur Logan inquired why a nuisance case filed against Berry in the Delaware cir-

the»underworld. Some one offered to buy a drink and the woman declared that she didn’t have any to which Berry is declared by witnesses to have said* “Come on to my place, all of you, and I’ll show you that I am not afraid to sell drinks, even if the next prosecutor is

in the party.”

The party, including Van, Ogle and

cuit court had not been transferred J the woman mentioned, then went to to the federal court, John Cox spoke , the Berry establishment where drinks out in meetin’ and told the court that j were plentifully served, and everyQgle was not pressrig the case ! body got comfortably drunk, accord-

that Ogle was not pressing the case against the colored man because he had attended drunken parties at his place, accompanied at one time by

a prostitute.

Ogle made no reph r to the accusation and Judge Anderson made no .comment, but the accusation is hardly one that will be overlooked. Witnesses can be produced who are ready to swear that during the pri-

ing to the statements of some who

were present.

Another place was visited which has since been put out of business by the injunction route, but the woman running the house was afraid to serve drinks. A witness said Prosecutor Ogle staggered as he left

the latter place.

It was at the Berry home that one of the celebrated white mule

mary Ogle was escorted through the parties were held during the week “red light” by. Berry and that sev- preceding the last election. Accordoral tigers and houses of prostitu- ing to the testimony of colored men tion were visited by the pair, Berry who took part in these alcoholic high introducing Ogle as a promising jinks, Sheriff Hoffman, Jury Corncandidate for prosecuting attorney missioner John Hampton and two or and soliciting, in behalf of his friend, three other prominent republican the votes of the male and female den- machinists figured prominently in izens of Muncie’s well known under- these before-election liquor parties, world. and furnished the liquor that was

At the fidst place visited, these drank,

witnesses say. Berry introduced Ogle. | Chief of Police Van Benbow, not who bought a round of drinks and | to be outdone by the other Van, left five dollars with the proprietress also seems to have a soft spot in of the place, telling her to buy an- his heart for the negro politician, other quart of “White mule” with On one occasion the chief was given it, as her supply seemed to be get- the information that Berry had five ting low. j gallons of liquor in his house but

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Roeger Found-Catholics Vindicated The police were called out to East Willard street last Sunday morning, shortly after six o’clock, to look for George Roeger, who was reported by his wife as being lost, strayed or stolen. Boeger runs a pool, cigar and card room on Willard street and when he failed to return home Saturday night, after closing his place of business, the aldrm was given Sunday morning and tlie blood hounds of the law put 1 ,on the trail. Rumors'of a dark and gruesome plot Avere piit in circulation by-his relatWes, to the effect that George had probably been kidnaped'by the Catholics and cruci/ied on a fiery cross. Being a one hundred percent American, there could be but one explanation to his mysterious disappearance—he had been boxed up like an alligator by the enemies of the ku klux klan and made away with. Excitement ran high, tears and lamentations filled the air and a neighborhood hunt for the missing martyr of the invisible empire Avas inaugurated. The police began their search for the missing man, Avhen, much to the surprise of everybody, he Avas seen emerging from a residence near his pool room, not more than a half block from his own residence. And then East Wi ’ ird Street heaved' a sigh of relief, the police were called off and the Catholics Avere vindicated. The public and the police Avere left to conjecture Avhat he had been' doing all night, causing his relatives such unnecessary alarm. The explanation made to his family, may, and may not have been satisfactory. Not being in on the secret, avC cannot say. Roeger A\ r as until a' short time ago the Muncic representative of the Eiery Cross, a ku klux publication. The editor of the PostDemocrat is Tinder indictment for libeling Roeger, avIio Avas a former bartender who supplied' blind tiger with “Wooden Shoe” beer, for which his father Avas local agent, during one of Muncic’s periodical “dry” spells.

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THE TRIUMVIRATE TOTTERS It has now come to be a genuine test as to .whether Mayor Quick is to he mayor in fact or only, in name, and Avhen the smoke / of* the present controversy between the mayor and the common council Avill have blown away, there should be' no question avIio is boss. The appointment of Oscar Driscoll as building inspector Avas the spark which has started a conflagration in administration circles which may mean the downfall, clean dOAvn the line, of the cfoAV of high finance buccaneers avIio have been dominating things here for several months. When the coiulcil several Aveeks ago passed, an ordinance ompoAvering the mayor to appoint a. building inspector four or five names Avere suggested. Without consulting the council Mayor Quick named Driscoll and an explosion took place all down the line. A caucus Avas held and it Avas decided that the mayor Avas to be ignored and the city ruled hereafter he ruled by a triumvirate. The board of safety was selected as the duly appointed agency to avIio AVas to be delegated the duties naturally dcA’olving upon the chief; executive. Banking on previous experiences in Avhieh the mayor had submitted, in the interest of “harmony.” to the extraordinary demands of an inner group of self appointed' political bosses, it was confidently believed that the process of bltifg things through could be carried on indefinitely. So, it Avas proposed that the council, at its meeting Monday night, should rescind the ordinance empoAvering the mayor to name the building inspector, and place the appointive poAver in the hands of the members of the board of safety, J. Lloyd Kimbrough, Will White and E. M. Barrett. That the ordinance failed to pass the night the ordinance was presented, was due to the negative A r otes of Councilman Fried ly, republican, and Counci linen Fell and Hines, democrats, on a motion to suspend the rules and finish it thou and 'there. At the meeting Wednesday night the ordinance Avas passed and at an ensuing meeting the council will attempt to pass it over the mayor’s, veto, Avliich is expected. It is an open secret thair the board of safety has served notice on. Mayor Quick that they Avill all three resign if the appointment of- Driscoll is permitted to stand. In other AA'ords, if the council fail to secure the two thirds vote necessary to pass the ordinance over the mayor’s veto, it will mean the rejection of the imperialistic, plot of the board of safety to take over the duties of the mayor, and in order to “save their faces” the three members will have to make good* their Avord and quit. \ Mayor Quick, on the other hand, declares that he is perfectly satisfied with the appointment of Mr. Driscoll and asserts that in case the ordinance is passed over his veto, thus placing the appointive power in the hands of the board of safety, he Avill proceed to fire the present board and select three-men who -seem .-to be at least-Avar in-^yrrrjAathy Arittr his^Tdrnrnisfrntrnn. Tims the prospects seem to be fair for the naming of an entirely ucav safety board. The law empoAvers the mayor to appoint and fire members of the safety board without question by the council or anybody else. This gives the mayor the whip in case he desires to use it and the indications are that he has been fed up on the impudence of a subordinate body which seeks to give orders to its creative head. The troubles of the Quick administration have been wholly due to the fact that at the outset various groups Avithin his own party took it upon themselves to-relieve the mayor of all responsibilities of government. Whenever an appointment AA r as made that suited the mayor, desperate, and in some instances, spectacular efforts wore made to dislodge the appointees, and Avhen he sought to remove from any of his departments men avIio Avere not in harmony with Ids ideas, Well; staged demonstrations in their behalf Avere made by the trained performers and press agents of his enemies. When John Moles Avas named police captain the press agents, and the chosen instrument of the bosses, the Ku Klux Klan, started a hullabaloo which finally drove Captain Moles and three other policemen antagonistic to the klan, from the force. The strenuous effort made to retain Phil McAbee on the hoard of safety, when he Avas removed by the mayor, and the big Ku Klux bluff that went over when the mayor reorganized the hoard and sanctioned the removal of Chief of Police Benbow. stands out as an enlightening instance of the tactics employed to humiliate the mayor and to deprive him of CA r ery vestige of poAver. It Avill be recalled Itoav a committee from the council called on the mayor and threatened him Avith impeachment, Iioav bills were scattered by the ku klux calling an indignation meeting. Iioav petitions Avere circulated by klansmen demanding thnremoval of the mayor, Iioav the latter finally surrendered and fired the entire safety board and appointed the present board, avIio promptly reinstated BenboAv and fired three personal friends of the. mayor from the police force. The various public utilities desiring special favors of the city have been cunning enough to profit by klan control and have secretly encouraged and upheld those aa’Iio have sought to discredit the mayor. A committee, representing “Big Business” carefully selected the three members of the board of safetA r . Lloyd Kimbrough is the head of the Indiana Bridge company, Will White is of the Iuav firm Avhieh looks after the business of the electric light company and Mr. Barrett Is district manager of a big insurance company. All three are members of the chamber of commerce and are extremely active in its affairs. Big Business, fearing to trust Mayor Quick, placed these three men on the job to run the city, and the latest move of the council, which takes orders from the commercial club, is proof of it. Mayor Quick was elected by a large majority of the citizens of Muncic. They elected him Avith the idea in vicAv that he Avas to be the mayor, and not a committee selected by the commercial Club. ■ . .. . The question involved now is not Avhether or not Oscar Driscoll is the right man for building Inspector. The names of five or six other men Avere suggested to Mayor Quick for the job, any one of Avliom Avas declared* to be satisfactory to their royal highnesses, the members of the board of safety. Looking over the list we fail to note Avherc any one of the “eligible®,-’ from the board of safety point of view, has anything on Oscar Driscoll in the Avay of qualifications for the job. None of them have medals hanging on them, except for political service to their bosses and fidelity to the ku klux klan. Driscoll is opposed on the broad general theory that it Avill not do to humor the mayor in even the slightest degree. “Find out what the mayor wants and see that he docs not get it,” is the slogan of the ku kiux-republican machine. What Mayor Quick should do is fire his safety hoard instanter and thert follow up the good work- by cleaning his administration of traitors from top to bottom. Mayor Quick lias a splendid opportunity uoav to rescue his administration from shipAvreck. The people of Muncic have their eyes on Mayor Quick and they sincerely hope that he Avill make the marplots like it-

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Over Shroyer’s Protest Bridge Contest Killed

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$100,000 WORTH OF BASEBALL BRIG A BRAG MAKES FIRST WIDE WORLD PHOTOS /APPEARANCE IN NEW YORK

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By vote of two to one, Shroyer dissenting, the county comissioners Tuesday put the finishing touches tothe Lesh bridge, for which a nineteen thousand dollar appropriation was made last fall by the county 1 council. It will be recalled that the proposed bridge was desired by a few interested persons, and was opposed by ninety nine per cent of the residents of the county. The practically unanimous opposition last fall did not, however, deter the board of commissioners and county council, as then organized, from ordering the bridge built and the appropriation made for its payment. The killing off of the project was brought' about by a petition to close the highway, favorably reported upon by the viewers who were appointed. On a motion to approve the report and close the highway, Jackson and McCreery voted in the affirmative, and Shroyer, committed to the bridge project, voted no. This petion on the part of Commissioners Jackson and McCreery was a practical repudiation of agreement o fthe Billy Williams organization to force a useless bridge on the people, for the benefit of a few political pets in Liberty township, at the expense of all the taxpayers of the county.

Millie Kamm, the Phenomenal j Paris—Sixty-one Paris gendarmes o ird baseman of the Chicago , v/ere injured, one seriously, in a Vi ^ o ^°ti’ was P urc b ase d from clash with May Day rioters near the the San I rancnsco team for $100,000 headquarters of the Laborites. Fifty by Charles Comiskey. Young Kamm , W ere arrested, fifteen being held for

has already * astounded \ r eterans and baseball experts by his wonderful hitting and great fielding, and predictions are rampant that he will be the outstanding star of baseball for ! several years to come. Photo shows

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him on a big league diamond for the

first time of his career, at the Polo

Grounds.

KAS IMPORTANT PART IN CHICAGO PRODUCTION

Marian Binkley Takes Part in Enterment Given Saturday Before

Notables from Abroad as Well as This Country

The Drama League of America gave Monday in Chicago for the first time under the direction of the Chicago branch exact reproductions of life and art of ancient Greece when Athens Avas in the height of its glory Marian Binkley of this city had a very important part in the production. The entertainment was knoAvn as the Hellenic Arts festival. Notables from abroad as Avell as from this country were present for the en-

t tertainment.

examination. London—French officials have arrested Gustav Krupp von Bohlen, head of the Krupps Munitions Works, according to a Central News dispatch. London—One person was killed and several were wounded in a May Day demonstratijon a*t Regensberg, Germany, according to a Central Ncavs dispatch. Workers clashed with the German Fascisti, it Was

said.

Southampton, Eng.—Premier Bonar Law left for Genoa on the Dutch liner Princess Juliana for an extended vacation. I He will reach Italy May 9. Berlin—The new German peace plan offers the Allies 30.000.000,000 marks, with the establishment of an international commission, as suggested by Secretary Hughes, to determine the amount Germany can pay. It also grants France political and economic guarantees. London — British steamship officials immediately moved for collective action against the decision of the United States Supreme Court barring liquor from foreign vessels within the American three-mile limit. Chiefs of British lines were indignant.

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the chief did not order the officers AVho informed; him of' the alleged ❖ j presence of the liquor to make a i^aid. Instead of doing this the officers Avho gave him the information de-

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court against ten different defendants and his press agents made considerable capital of the fact that the

places wera all closed.

But Avhat the people here would like to know, is what became of the

Avho told him about the liquor. That the chief, however, at least had some doubts about Hugh Berry, is evidenced by the fact that it was upon his affidiavij: that former Prose-

clare that the chief told them they cutor Clarence E. Benadum filed the

had better not bother around Berry’s information in the circuit court, 1 charges against Graves and Berry? place: That his house had been raid- shortly before the expiration of his Other defendants openly declared heed and searched befofe and nbthing term of office, declaring that places fore Judge Anderson that the prosefoundi and that Berry had complain- operated by Berry, Bob Graves and cutor hesitated to act against them ed severely of the manner in which several others were public nuisances, because of the liquor parties held the raiding officers had torn up and and should be put out of business. at their places which were attended disarranged his hodsehold effects. “He Later the cases, with the exception by public officials sAvorn to uphold might make trouble for us if wj of those against Berry and Graves, the law, and Ogle did not deny it. bothered his place again,” the chief were filed in the federal court. Pros- He merely gasped a time or two, is alleged to have said to the officers ec-utor Ogle appeared in federal (Continued on Page Two)

Their Annual Religious Bath A great effort is being made to keep the kuklux spirit alive in Muncie and vicinity and witb the arrival of Avarnl Aveather the sheeted brethren have again resumed their calf lot gatherings of 'disguised harlequins. Sunday night a large meeting of kluckers Avas held at the C,ecil farm, much to the disgust of the self respecting hogs atid sheep Avhose rest Avas disturbed by the ridiculous buffoonery of the tAvo thousand or more who assembled to give their nighties tbfir first '.1923 airing. The occasion, according to the Star, Avas “the annual religious service of Muncie Klan No. 4, Knights of the‘Km Klux Klan.” - We have all heard of the felloAV taking his annual bath, but annual religious service is something ucav and decidedly refreshing. Most of us manage to get by, and expect to fool St. Peter some day by being religious an hour or so, one day each Aveek, and ;then flirt with Satan and his imps the other six, but it remains for the membership of “Muncie Klan No. 4” to retain their sanctity and God-given purity for a Avhole year at a time Avithout renewing the covenant during the interval. It must be a fine thing to put your head in a sack and your foolish earcase in a sheet, and stand out in a Avoods pasture squinting through your eyeholes at a burning cross and soak up enough religion and Avood ticks to last you a Avhole year. The ordinary alien, meaning by that, of course, one who does not belong to the invisible empire, and Avho is therefore not a one hundred percent American, seems to be sadly handicapped in bis race up the straight and narroAV path Avhieh leads to the pearly gates of the celestial city. These foolish aliens plug along under the theory that you must live your religion every day and every minute, while the favored “citizens of the invisible empire,’’ at an expense of only ten dollars a head, have a dispensation to play hell for three hundred and sixty four days of the year. Let’s all join, since it’s that easy to fool the Almighty.

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