‘Santa’ Pays Fines of Numbers Pawns
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Or Maybe His Brother Helped 2 Who Changed Testimony in Klosterman Case
There IS a Santa Claus—at least for numbers racketeers—and he pays off their fines in scrip.
Three convicted numbers writers have had their fines paid by unidentified persons. In two such cases, the same man paid both fines. And curiously enough, the fines this man paid were those on two recanting witnesses at the Klosterman trial. One of the fines was paid the day before the surprising trial and the other fine was paid a few hours after the trial. All of which may be a coincidence—.
The payment of the fines was revealed yesterday afternoon by Frank Tyson, chief clerk of the county jail. Tyson stated that all fines were paid in scrip but that the donors' names were not recorded.
"We don't keep any record of the names of persons who pay fines for prisoners," Tyson averred. "If someone wants to pay a fine, we take the money. I can't even say whether the same person paid all the fines. I believe they were different persons."
And so Santa Claus—and maybe a brother or two—went to the rescue of Arthur Woodridge, 7910 Park avenue, Pennsauken; Crawford Smith, 702 Carman street, and Thomas Kirk, 935 Carpenter street.
Smith and Woodridge were two of the "state witnesses" at the trial Thursday of Fred and Joe Klostermen [sic] who "thought" they had been employed as numbers men by the Klostermans but weren't sure—resulting in acquittal for the Klostermans.
Previously, Woodridge had been sentenced to two months and fined $100 on numbers charges, while Smith had been fined $100 and sentenced to three months. Both are still serving time at the county workhouse.
But on Wednesday, Santa Claus paid Woodridge's fine. An hour or two after Thursday's trial concluded, Woodridge's unknown benefactor also paid Smith's fine. Kirk's fine was paid on January 3 by Santa; he had been fined $100 and sentenced to three months.
Meanwhile, Miss Geneva Harden, beauty shop operator of Chapel avenue, Delaware township, was arraigned before Judge Frank F. Neutze yesterday afternoon following her conviction of numbers charges on Jan. 2. She was given a suspended jail sentence and then fined $200.
It was first reported that Miss Harden's fine was also paid by "Santa Claus," after Tyson had said no record was kept of the doner's [sic] name. After this report was published, Joseph W. Cowgill, attorney, telephoned the Courier-Post and said:
"I'm the man who paid Miss Harden's fine, but I'm not Santa Claus. I obtained cash from Miss Harden's mother and took it to the sheriff's office where they all know me. And I didn't pay it to Tyson; I paid it to 'Happy' Glenn.
"Furthermore, I had cash, but someone in the sheriff's office asked me to trade it for scrip as a favor to them."