Sworn to before me this 24th day of September, 1900.
FRANK MOSS, Notary Public, N. Y. County.
(The case of Hopson, Myers, and Scott is substantiated by fully twenty
witnesses.)
----
_City and County of New York, ss._:
John Wolf, of No. 347 West 37th Street, being duly sworn, deposes and
says:
On Sunday, September 30, I was visiting a female friend, and two
officers came in with a woman I had known, and who claimed to be my
wife but was not. The officers ordered me to leave the house, and I
did so. I asked the officers, "Why?" and one of them said, "If I catch
you here again I will lock you up." I never had any experience in
court or in such matters before, and I went to the station house for
advice. I went to the sergeant at the desk, and told him that I was
in trouble, and without experience, and I wanted to be advised. He
said, "What is the matter with you?" I said, "Can a woman that I have
lived with have me arrested because I don't want to live with her any
more?" He answered, "What are you talking about? You get out of here!"
I was surprised, and didn't move quickly enough to suit him, and he
ordered an officer to arrest me. The officer stepped up to me in front
of the desk, pulled a billy from his pocket, and suddenly struck me a
hard blow on my right jaw, which broke it and caused my chin to fall
down. The officer hurried me back to a cell. I suffered terrible agony
and walked up and down my cell all night calling for relief. I paid
thirty-five cents to send out a message to Mr. Young, who was not at
home. His son came, but was not allowed to see me. I had no attention
at all, and in the morning was arraigned in court. The officer was on
the bridge close to the judge; I was down on the floor. I couldn't hear
what charge he made or what he said. My face was swelled and mouth
almost closed, and I could not make any statement. The justice fined
me three dollars on the officer's statement, and the police attendants
hustled me along. I had no money to pay my fine, and was sent back
to the court prison. I was in an awful condition. I lay down on some
boards, but couldn't stay still. I moaned, and cried for help, but
could not get anyone to notice my case. The night man who came on duty
on Monday night was a humane man, and asked what was my trouble, and I
told him as well as I could. He rang for an ambulance, and I was taken
to Bellevue Hospital. I reached there 9:30 P. M., Monday, and
was put to bed, and remained there till four P. M., Wednesday.
I was unable to take nourishment while there. When I was discharged I
went to the station house for my personal effects, and the officer then
in charge asked me my trouble (for my head was swathed in bandages),
and I told him, and he caused me to remain and identify the officer
who hit me. He scolded the officer, who answered nothing, and he sent
me to Police Headquarters to Inspector Thompson with a note, and ever
since that time they have been investigating my case, and I have gone
back and forth a good many times. Inspector Thompson, in my hearing,
complained bitterly of the ruffianly conduct of the officers in the
20th Precinct. He told of a case where one had beaten a colored woman
eighty-one years of age, and was afterwards found helplessly drunk in
a saloon; he said they were bringing disgrace on the police force. He
seemed to try to get the evidence in my case all right, but the trouble
is that six policemen and the sergeant swore that they were in the
room when I was arrested and that they did not see any blow struck,
but they could not account for my broken jaw. This perjury was awful.
I am feeling very badly--have just now come from the hospital. I go
there every day for treatment. My jaw is still loose, and will not hold
in position without the bandages that almost cover my face and head.
The doctor at the hospital says that the blow must have been a very
hard one, for the bone is crushed. I am poor, and cannot work now. I
suffered also in the riot on the 15th of August. I was going to my
home, which was then at 245 West 32nd Street, and was pulled off an
8th Avenue car by the mob, and was pelted with stones and beaten with
sticks. At first the police who were near by did not interfere, but
after I was severely hurt they came over, and as I was down on my hands
and knees, trying to get up, one of the officers struck me three blows
on my body with his club, and ordered me to get up and get out. I was
then quite near my home, and I ran over there, and was pulled in by my
friends. The mob and the police chased me. The police hurt me more than
the rioters. I had a friend with me, and the police clubbed him also.
He ran into my house with me, and stayed there. When the policemen
ordered me to get out I was surrounded by the mob that was beating me,
and they made no effort to interfere with them. I have always been a
hard-working man, and was never before arrested.