Camden Courier-Post - January 3, 1928

KAUSEL IS GIVEN $4000 JOB OVER HOT PROTEST BY ‘REBEL’ IN G.O.P.
‘Not Fitted for Job and 20 of You Admitted it’ Declares Van Meter
COLLINGSWOOD MAN’S INSURGENCY PUNISHED
Vocational School Incident is Recalled as Democrats Join in Battle

Joseph H. Van Meter, insurgent Republican freeholder from Collingswood, today declared that David Baird Jr., Republican leader, had admitted that Theodore Kausel was “not the man for the job” to which he was appointed by the Board of Freeholders yesterday.

Baird told him, however, said Van Meter, that a promise had been made “to take care of” Kausel because of the latter’s aid to the Republican Organization at the last municipal election.

Van Meter quotes Baird as follows:

“I’ll admit that Kausel is not the man for the job. But you have to help me out because we promised to take care of Kausel when he came over to us in the city election. And it was through Kausel that we got Hitchner and a lot of his crowd.”

“We’ve got ourselves tied up with him. We’ve got to take him, and I want you to go along, and help me out”.

“I know his business record and I know his political record. I know the freeholders don’t want him and our conference don’t want him, but we’ve got to eat crow, and I want you to help me out”

Under the watchful eyes of organization leaders, Republican members of the Camden County Board of Freeholders yesterday took care of Theodore “Teddy” Kausel.

With David Baird Jr. and other chieftains of the party occupying front row seats, the board created the post of “general manager of county institutions and promptly named Kausel for the job at an annual salary of $4,000.

Like ghosts at a feast, Baird and the other party leaders sat silently at the freeholders reorganization meeting. Like actors in a carefully pre-arranged play, a little uncertain of their cues, 20 Republican freeholders cast furtive eyes at the group of spectators.

They said no word, these freeholders. They made no reply when Joseph H. Van Meter, of Collingswood, breaking from their ranks, declared that 20 of them had told him that Kausel was unfit for the position to which he was being appointed. They listened in uncomfortable silence while Van Meter gave voice to a scathing denunciation of their “lack of backbone” and while a running fire of sarcasm from Democratic members fell upon their ears.

Scene Was Drama

The scene was drama. It might have been a revised performance of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” with 28 furtive-eyed Uncle Toms and an impregnable line of Simon Legrees, cracking invisible whips in threatening gestures.

And the scene was also comedy. For of that score of men who, according to Van Meter, had agreed that Kausel was unfit for the job but “had to be taken care of,” none arose to protest against the action. Within their Hearts the chorus of Uncle Toms may have been saying.

The county may own out bodies, but our souls belong to the Republican Organization.”

But if they thought this, they said no word.

Today it was pointed out that it will not be long before freeholders come up for renomination at the primaries. Today, it was also predicted that Van Meter has signed his political death warrant so far as the Republican organization was concerned. But at least he received the ungrudging tribute of the Democratic minority on the board, who joyfully proclaimed that they had found “at last a Republican with guts.”

Van Meter Fights Hard

Van Meter spared no words, took no half-measures. He accused his fellow Republican members of coercion, double- dealing and weakness. He fought the appointment bitterly. He raked up the vocational school matter, in which $85,000 had been paid for the school site on Kausel’s recommendation, a price later declared to be exorbitant.

Democratic members joined the Collingswood insurgent. They charges that the $4,000 appointment was the price of Kausel’s allegiance to the Republican party. They declared that he wasn’t worth it. They recalled, later, that Kausel had shifted from the Republican Organization to the Non-Partisan movement and then back again after being one of the loudest to criticize the Organization. They asserted that after his removal as chairman of the vocational school board, he had sought the appointment as city purchasing agent. They avowed that the Republican City Commissioners had ‘refused to handle Kausel” and had “wished him off on the county.”

The 26 other Republican freeholders- all of those present, excepting only Van Meter- continued to listen in silence. And when the vote came, every one of the 26 voted for the creation of the position of “general manager of county institutions” and for the appointment of Kausel.

A little later the reprisals upon Van Meter began. He was removed from the central plant and county farm committees of the board, shifted to the elections committee and allowed to remain on the printing and agricultural committees, regarded as unimportant groups.

Reprisal Were Threatened.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “I was threatened with it. They told me they’d ruin me. But I couldn’t go back to Collingswood and ask the people to vote for me again if I hadn’t fought against this appointment.”

The defection of Van Meter came apparently as a surprise. The meeting had opened with the passage of the county budget on the first reading, the selection of Leslie H. Ewing, of Berlin, as director of the board, the calling of Frank P. Moles, of the Third Ward to be sworn in and his failure to respond or to appear for the gathering.

Minor matters had been attended to and then Fred W. George, clerk of the board, rose to his feet and began the task of reading a long list of proposed amendments to the rules. Buried far down in the list of revisions was that which, “for purposes of economy”, sought to place all county institutions under a central head to be known as general manager.

George lost his breath before he had more than half completed the lost of amendments, and George Rothermel, pinch-hitting for Walter Keown as counsel for the board, took his place. Then Director Ewing called for a vote.

Schorpp Speaks

Frederick W. Schorpp, Eighth Ward Democrat, was the first to speak

“ I want to congratulate you gentlemen,” he said, “on the wonderful way you have camouflaged these changes.

“ We have heard a long list of amendments to the rules read. But what the whole thing is can easily be seen. You gentlemen of the majority have a lame duck to take care of, and so you create this job. But I can’t see, really I can’t see why it is necessary to create a $4,000 plum for your lame duck and saddle it on the taxpayers.”

There was silence in the room. In the seat of the absent Freeholder William A. Robinson sat Baird. At the press table were Sheriff Walter Gross and City Commissioner William D. Sayrs, Jr. Ranged along the front row of the spectators’ section were Mayor Winfield Price and Commissioner Clay W. Reesman. They said nothing.

Louis C. Parker, Gloucester City Democrat, was next to speak.

 “All these changes in the rules accomplish is to create a new job,” he declared, agreeing with Schorpp.

 S. Raymond Dobbs, Fourteenth Ward Democrat, objected and moved that the resolution changing the rules be laid over until the regular January meeting. He was overruled by Director Ewing. Schorpp sought to have the rules voted upon separately, but James Davis, chairman of the committee, refused to accept the suggestion.

The roll call began. In alphabetical order the names were called and the freeholders voted. Republicans voted in favor of adoption of the changes. The three Democrats voted against the resolution. Van Meter’s name was the last to be called.

 “No”, he said calmly, and there was a gasp pf surprise in the room. The clerk recorded the vote on the resolution as 26 to 4 and then began reading again. This was a new resolution. It named theodore t. kausel to the position just created and explained that he was to report to the “Lakeland Central Committee.”

 Van Meter Protests 

Van Meter rose slowly. He obtained recognition from the director and began, quietly but decisively.

“Gentlemen,” he said calmly. “I have studied this proposition. I have known about it for three days and three nights. I have talked to 20 Republicans member of this board and I have done all I could to get then to agree with me.

And they did agree with me. They agreed, every one, that kausel was not the man for this job. After what happened on the vocational school project, when kausel was president of the school board, he is not the man. On his recommendation, the vocational school site was purchased for $85,000. And now you want to send him where he will handle about a million dollars of the taxpayers’ money.” 

Van Meter’s tone was serious as he turned to his fellow members. Most of the latter sat silently in the seats. They did not glance at the Collingswood insurgent. baird, gross, price, sayrs and Reesman listened intently. A few of the freeholders craned their necks towards the windows as the Camden mummers, returning from the New Years Day parade in Philadelphia, marched past the courthouse. But Van Meter went on.

“There is not one of you that has backbone enough to come here and fight this thing.” Van Meter continued.

I can’t see it go through. I couldn’t ask the people of Collingswood to vote for me again if I let it go through without a fight.

“You agreed with me that Kausel was not the man for the job. Haven’t you any backbone with which to fight his appointment now?” 

Slowly, in complete silence that followed, he turned till he faced Horace G. Githens, the majority floor leader.

“Mr. Githens,” he said quietly and in a measured tone, “ if you will throw away your messenger’s cap and wear a leader’s hat, I will follow you.” 

He sat down and the silence continued.

Schorpp Lauds Van Meter

 Schorpp rose again.

 “I’m glad to see one Republican who has backbone,” he said. “I told you there was a lame duck in this and here is the lame duck.

 “Woods (Samuel Woods, Republican freeholder from Haddonfield) and you others criticized Kausel and other members of the vocational school board for their purchasing of the land for the school, claiming that it was an exorbitant price to pay for the land.

“And now these same men who criticized Kausel are putting him in a position where he will handle millions of the taxpayers money.

Dobbs followed on the floor.

 “I don’t want to stand here and talk until 10 o’clock tonight just to give you reasons why Kausel shouldn’t get the job,” he said.

 “In the first place, I couldn’t give all the reasons in that time, and in the second place, they wouldn’t register with this bunch.

 “This is entirely unfair. It’s too high a price to pay Kausel to come back into the Republican ranks. The Republican leaders should pay it, however, and not saddle the price on the taxpayers.

 “Personally, I don’t think he’s worth much politically. We had him for awhile and have had some experience as to the value of his services. I thought he could be bought for less than $4000 anyway.”

 The resolution came to a vote. The Republicans, with the exception of Van Meter, again voted solidly. Twenty-six votes were cast for the appointment of Kausel. Van Meter and the three Democrats did not vote.

 Van Meter issued a statement after the meeting, explaining his stand. He said:

 “The reason I opposed Kausel’s appointment is because the man is extravagant. Director Ewing was one of the 20 Republicans I talked to who were opposed to hum, but were afraid on the floor. I didn’t talk to the Democrats.

 “Ewing and the other Republicans said, “What can we do. We must take care of him. We promised to.’

 Charges Unfair Tactics

“I knew when I went ahead with this that I’d be an outcast, but I was determined to do the right thing. This appointment is not the right thing.

“They told me I’d be ruined if I opposed them. Even up to the last minute before the meeting they came to my desk in the freeholder’s room and tried to throw a scare into me.

“I knew I’d be thrown out of committees and barred from the caucuses. They’ve let me remain on the printing committee. I’ve been on it a year, and it hasn’t met yet. Nevertheless, there is a $50,000 appropriation for printing.

“I’ve always tried to be on the level on this job. Why they had the workhouse slated for $120,000 but I fought and fought, and finally- well look at the budget- it’s cut down to $50,000.

“It’s not the first time I’ve saved them money. I don’t know Kausel personally, but I do know his record. It was because of his extravagance that he was fired from the Castle Kid Company.

And when I say he is extravagant, I can prove every word of it.” 

The new Lakeland central committee, authorized in the resolution appointing Kausel, was announced by Director Ewing at the close of the meeting. Ewing is to be a member, ex-officio, and Horace G. Githens becomes a member by virtue of being chairman of the finance committee.

The chairman of the asylum committee, of the County Hospital committee, of the Almshouse committee, of the Detention Home committee, and the Tuberculosis Hospital committee all will become members.”

Name ‘Official’ Papers 

An earlier vote had been taken in which the Democrats moved to designate The Evening Courier as the newspaper in which the budget was to be officially printed. The Republican majority had designated two weekly papers, the Camden Argus and the Berlin Breeze.

“It’s obvious,” said Dobbs, “why these designations have been made.” 

Parker, Gloucester City Republican, agreed with this view and declared that the newspaper with the largest circulation in the county should be given the official county notices for publication as advertising.

Schorpp ironically suggested that the Christian Science Monitor be substituted for one of the two weeklies designated and the roll was called. The Argus and the Breeze were officially designated.

The appointment of kausel bought the meeting to a conclusion. Of all the Republican freeholders, Davis was the only one to speak. He merely declared that he was one not one of the 20 men who Van Meter had said agreed that Kausel was not the man for the job.

BOXER, SAYRS’ AIDE NABBED IN TIPSY ROW
Bertman Frees Both After Police Tell of Fuss at Brewer’s Cafe

Mickey Blair Camden pugilist, and  Thomas Schneider, secretary to Commissioner William D. Sayrs. Jr., started the New Year by getting drunk and becoming both abusive and pugnacious when ordered away from Horace Brewer’s restaurant on Market street, it was testified by three policemen in Police Court today.

But Blair and Schneider as well as James Borini, who was arrested with them, won their freedom when Judge Bernard Bertman suspended sentence.

“There is no doubt but that you were all drunk” was bertman's comment. ‘Surely, if you had been sober, this would never have happened. I know you are respectable men of the community and I regret to see you here. I will suspend sentence”.

According to the three policemen, however, the trio of defendants acted like anything but respectable men of the community yesterday morning when the New Year was little more than three hours old.

Patrolmen Frank Evans, Charles Bowen and August Fortune testified that Blair, Schneider and Borini had been ordered away from the restaurant by Brewer and that they had become abusive, threatening the po­licemen and calling them names.

Schneider insisted that he entered the argument only because Evans was “beating up Blair," but Evans and the other officers retorted that blair had warned the policemen that they would be sorry if they arrested him and Schneider had boasted that “no cop can pinch me".

All were charged with being drunk and disorderly. Blair, whose real name is Michael Tenerelli, is 19 years old and lives at 833 South Fourth Street. Schneider gave his address as 414 Spruce Street. He is acting secretary to Commissioner Sayrs as a temporary appointee. Borini, 22 years old, gave his address as 324 Pine street.

January 9, 1928

SAYRS IN HOSPITAL, DIPTHERIA VICTIM
Commissioner Stricken After Attending Opening of Legislature  

Commissioner william d. sayrs. jr , director of public works, has been stricken with diphtheria and is a patient at the Municipal Hospital, it was learned today.

Hospital authorities this morning said Commissioner Sayrs was admit­ted to the institution yesterday. He is suffering from a “mild case of diphtheria, they said, and is under the care of Dr. Joseph C. Lovett.

Unless complications should arise, the public works director will leave the hospital in two weeks physicians report. His condition today was termed “good”.

Sayrs entered the hospital after he had consulted with his physician, Dr. Levi Hirst, according to Frank S. Albright, city publicity agent. The commissioner began feeling ill Tuesday, Albright said, when he attended the opening session of the legislature at Trenton.

Albright said Sayrs is directing the work of his department from his bedside at the institution. A phone has been installed at the bedside and the commissioner, Albright explained, is able to keep in touch with the various members of his department throughout the day.

Fellow commissioners remarked on the absence of Commissioner Sayrs from the city commission meeting yesterday, but could give no reason for it, they said.

At the office of Commissioner Sayrs this morning, It was reported that the director was ‘merely suffering from a slight cold.” -

Headquarters of the Sixth Ward Republican Club on Broadway below Spruce Street is shown in the picture. The entrance is to the left, the first floor front being occupied by a barber shop. The arrow indicates the room where the shooting occurred. 

Camden Courier-Post * January 14, 1928

GANGSTER SHOT DURING MELEE IN SIXTH WARD
Joseph Devon Held On Murder Charge After Death Boxer’s Brother; ‘Mose’ Flannery and 4 Others Held as Witnesses; Was Craps Game Says County Police
HOLDUP ATTEMPTED CITY COPS DECLARE

Victim of a shot fired in a melee, the exact cause of which remain undetermined, Joseph Cimini, 31 years old, ‘was killed in the Sixth Ward Republican Club, 908 Broadway.

Cimini, declared by police to be a Philadelphia gangster, was killed before the eyes of two district detectives, Clarence Arthur and Clarence Bunker, who had been summoned to the club by warning that a fight was in progress.

Joseph Devon, 28 years old, known to his associates as “Polack Joe’” and a colorful figure in Third Ward politics, fired the shot that killed Cimini.

Declaring that he had fired in self-defense, after Cimini struck him with the butt of a revolver, Devon was locked up without bail on a charge of murder.

Joseph 'Mose’ Flannery , 26 years old, picturesque Eighth ward political worker, was held as a material witness. Detectives had seized flannery who was to have precipitated the battle by brandishing a revolver just before Cimini was shot. The officers say that flannery fled –after the shooting and was captured afterward at Broadway and Federal Street.  

The name of the dead man was given as Joseph Gannon, but shortly before one o’clock this afternoon, he was identified as Joseph Cimini, 1301 Ellsworth Street, Philadelphia. The identification was made by a brother, William Cimini, a pugilist who has boxed in this city several times under the name of “Billy” Gannon.

Six Others Quizzed

Six other men who were present at the time of the shooting, or when the argument began, were questioned by city and county detectives

They are Newton Blanchard, 30, 923 St. John Street, former Camden boxing referee and declared by some of the witnesses as the man who conducted the crap game at the club; Michael Dandrea, 26, 1067 Norris Street; Russell Sage, 26 years old, of 1102 Marion Street a taxicab driver who is said to have driven Gannon and flannery to the club in his car; Maurice O’Brien, 27 years old, of 1429 Bradley Avenue, a former New Jersey State Trooper, Harry  Trooper, Harry Waterhouse, 28 years old, whose address was given as the same as Sage’s; and Charles “Chick” Hunt, 27 years old, of 1218 broadway , a former Camden boxer.

Blanchard and Dandrea were released after questioning and after each had made a statement to Chief of County Detective Lawrence T. Doran. The others were held with flannery as material witness.

Differences of opinion between county and city detectives investigating the shooting were heightened during the afternoon.  The county sleuths insisted upon the theory that the shooting had resulted from a feud between flannery and Hunt, with Cimini taking the former’s side and Devon the latter and said that the heat of the argument had possibly been heightened by disagreement over a crap game.  

The city police, on the other hand, declared that the entire affair was the result of an attempt by flannery to hold up the other men. Devon’s statement to Chief Doran made no mention of a hold-up.

Building up a case against flannery , the officers this afternoon lodged charges of attempted hold-up, carrying concealed deadly weapons, atrocious assault and battery and assault to kill against him. The two latter charges were made as the result of identification of flannery as a participant in two recent robbery attempts. J.E. Feinstein, café proprietor of 508 Kaighn Avenue, declared that flannery , Cimini, and Sage were thereof four men who held him up on New Year’s Day. He defied them and they left when he said, “Go ahead and shoot,” he asserted. flannery was also identified, according to police, as the man who had beaten and attempted to rob Henry Mehrer, an Audubon policeman, and his two companions outside the Ringside Inn, on the Black Horse Pike, a fortnight ago. Mehrer and Feinstein were taken to police headquarters by County Detective Howard Smith, who is authority for the statement that they identified flannery .

Cimini was shot shortly after 3:00 this morning and died almost instantly. Doctors at Cooper Hospital pronounced him dead on arrival. He had been shot just above the heart by a bullet from Devon’s gun.

Events preceding the shooting remain, to some extent clouded today. Chief doran said he learned of an enmity existing between flannery and Hunt. Devon appeared to have attempted to quiet “Mose”, the county detectives said. Cimini struck Devon and Devon fired.

Chief John Golden of the Camden city detective bureau stated, on the other hand, that the shooting had apparently followed an attempt to hold up the other men in the room. Golden based his view on the statements of clarence arthur , a city sleuth. according to arthur , when he and Bunker appeared at the door of the room, flannery and Cimini held revolvers and the other men in the room were standing with their hands upraised.

According to the story pieced together by county detectives from the statements of witnesses, a group of men had apparently gathered at the club for a crap game. Blanchard, it was stated, acts as the “stick man,” the term used in gambling parlance to designate the man who conducts a crap game.

City and County agree that flannery and Cimini arrived together in Sage’s taxicab. Whether there was an argument, the result of an enmity between flannery and Hunt, or whether the attempted hold-up theory is correct, remains to be learned by additional official investigation.

Chief Doran stated the witnesses had told him that words passed between flannery and Hunt and that the former had gone downstairs. Returning he brandished a revolver.

Two Flee Place

It was at this point that Blanchard and Dandrea left the room and fled down the stairs. On the street, they encountered Detectives arthur and bunker, who were patrolling broadway in a police automobile.

In describing the subsequent events today, arthur declared that Blanchard had informed him that “two Philadelphia gunmen are up in the Sixth Ward Club holding up a bunch of fellows”.

The detectives did not immediately go to the club, but found Patrolman Frank Del Rossi and followed him up the stairs of the building.

“There were about fifteen men in the room,” arthur asserted. “When we got to the door flannery and Cimini had their guns out and apparently were about to search the others. The other men had their hands in the air.

“When they saw us flannery and Cimini threw their guns down and the others lowered their hands. I went up to flannery and started to frisk him. Bunker went to another man, whom I don’t know, and started to frisk him”.

It was then he said that he heard the shot. Believing that it was Bunker who was shot, he released his hold on flannery and swung around. as he did flannery turned and fled downstairs, arthur declared.

Bunker said he believed that it was arthur who had been shot and he too released his grasp on the man he had been searching. The detectives turned in time to see Cimini fall.

“I did it! I shot him!” Devon is declared to have shouted, throwing his revolver on the table.

According to the story told by witnesses to the county detectives, however, Devon had stepped up to flannery just before the shot was fired and had said” “ mose , you can’t get away with this here.”

flannery is said to have had a gun in his hand at the time.

As Devon spoke, the witnesses say, Cimini stepped behind him and struck him with the butt of a revolver. Just then detectives entered. Devin whirled and, drawing his gun, fired.

Cimini was placed in a police ambulance and taken to the hospital. After he had been pronounced dead his body was taken to the morgue, where it was awaiting identification today. Neatly dressed, Cimini is of Italian extraction. He has coal-black hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion. Coroner Charles T. Murray will perform a post-mortem examination, he said.

flannery Captured

When he fled from the club, according to arthur, flannery jumped on a Public Service bus driven by David Smith, of 423 Haddon Avenue, which was passing at the time.

“Faster! Faster” he is declared to have urged Smith as the latter drove along Broadway in the direction of Federal Street.

At Federal Street and Broadway, Arthur and Bunker caught up to the bus and arrested flannery as he descended from the vehicle.

“Why don’t you give me a chance to get to Philadelphia?” Arthur declares flannery asked him. “I can get bail over there.”

Seek Written Statement

Chief doran stated this afternoon that he was attempting to obtain a written statement from flannery and would also seek to have Devon sign a statement regarding the shooting. During the morning, flannery refused to talk while Devin, although admitting that he fired the shot, declared that he shot in self-defense. He made no reference to the hold-up attempt, according to the county detectives.

Cimini has a Philadelphia police record but, according to his pugilist brother, “was not bad but just wild.” He was recently arrested in Philadelphia after a fight with policemen.

“But he never held up or robbed anybody,” his brother declared this afternoon after identifying the body. “He got into a jam now and then. Yes, I know that he knew 'mose' flannery , but I never mixed with that crowd.”

It was reported at City Hall this afternoon that Samuel Orlando had been retained as attorney for flannery and that Walter Keown, Camden county solicitor, would represent all the other men. The presence of Keown at detective headquarters, during which he had a conference with Captain Golden, seemed to lend credence to the latter report but neither rumor could be confirmed.

flannery for years has figured in police cases and in political warfare in the Eighth Ward, where he was sometimes a lieutenant and sometimes an opponent of “Mikey” Brown, the Republican leader of the ward. Last March he was arrested and indicted on charges of atrocious assault and battery on is wife and her mother. At one time he was held as a suspect is a Philadelphia shooting but later was released.

The accused man, Devon, is a short, slim little man with an air of meek complaisance. He has been a taxicab driver and was last arrested on a charge of drunken driving. In May of 1926 he attempted suicide by shooting himself after he had failed to effect a reconciliation with his estranged wife. At that time, he shot himself but the bullet only grazed his chest.

Joe Devon, long a political power in the Third Ward, first flashed into citywide prominence in 1925, when he was employed by federal authorities as a deputy U.S. Marshal to guard the padlocked Poth brewery at Bulson Street, just off broadway . At the time Devon was thus maintaining the sanctity of the Eighteenth Amendment, he was also operating a bootlegging establishment downtown and had been arrested once or twice for violating the Volstead Act.

The Courtier at that time exposed this paradoxical situation, with the result that the U.S. Marshal summarily dismissed Devon. He keenly resented the political chicanery that had been used to put Devon in office. In explaining how Devon was appointed, the Marshal said that he had been recommended by “prominent Republican leaders” in Camden, chief among whom was William D. Sayrs, no a city commissioner but then a field agent in the office of the Internal Revenue Department.

Sought City Job

Not long after Devon’s dismissal as brewery guard, Sayrs and other Republican leaders made strenuous efforts to secure a city job for him under the Non-Partisan administration. They sought to exact a promise from The Courier that this newspaper would remain silent in the event Devon was appointed to a city position. No such promise was made and Devon remained jobless, politically at least.

Then came a humorous twist to the situation. Sayrs disagreed with some of the Organization leaders and, for a time, walked his own political footpath. Some of the leaders, fearful of what Sayrs might attempt politically, killed two birds with one stone by hiring Joe Devon to shadow Sayrs and to report to them the number of times he conferred with Non-Partisans. Thus, Joe had a job and Billy was watched.

Sayrs knew he was being shadowed by his old friend, and apparently he knew who had hired Devon to do the work, but he refused to take the situation seriously and chortled, frequently, when he would see his “Shadow” trailing about town.

In the last year, however, Devon has again been the particular political protégé of Commissioner Sayrs and also has won the friendship of many other political leaders. Nevertheless, he has not been, so far as can be determined, the recipient of any particular political patronage, though his political influence in the Third and Fifth Wards is said to have expanded rapidly under the new administration.  

CONDITION OF SAYRS IS REPORTED IMPROVED

The condition of C ommissioner William D. Sayrs. Jr , director of public works, continued "good" over the weekend, authorities at Municipal Hospital reported today.

Sayrs was admitted to the hospital last week after his personal physician, Dr. Levi Hirst, informed him that he was suffering from a "mild case of diphtheria". 

CITY ENGINEER CLERK IS AGAIN DISCHARGED
Hanna Serves Latest Firing Notice on Weinstein Who Appeals

COMMISSIONER SAYRS TAKES WALK IN GARDEN

william d. sayrs. jr, director of public safety, who left his bed for the first time yesterday at Municipal Hospital. Since he was admitted there as a diphtheria patient last week was permitted to stroll the about the grounds of the institution.

The director, hospital authorities report is showing marked improvement, but will probably remain there another week.

Veteran Traded Out of Job As Foreman Gets Pay Boost

A Camden war veteran, denied a $6.3S a day city job for which he was civil service eligible, but given, instead, a $4 a day job as a laborer, has been “rewarded” with a raise of 50 cents a day it was learned today.

Patrick McVeigh, the veteran, named a laborer when he withdrew as an eligible for appointment as foreman of grading in the department of Commissioner william d. sayrs , now is receiving $4.50 a day. Until this work, his job as laborer paid $4 a day.

McVeigh was one of the civil service eligibles for the post of foreman and as a veteran was entitled to preference. Commissioner sayrs , however, appointed Harry F. Redding, former sealer of weights and measures, to the job, and McVeigh, promised the job as laborer at $4 a day, withdrew without formal protest.

Increase of McVeigh’s pay to $4.50 a day was reported to the civil service commission today by officials in sayrs' deportment.

McVeigh is one of three veterans who have withdrawn within the past month as eligibles for city posts to which they were entitled. Two of the other veterans- John A. Pennington and John R. Michaelson- withdrew after conferences with city commissioners. Michaelson was entitled as a veteran to preference for appointment as city purchasing agent. Pennington was slated for appointment as custodian of Convention Hall. Neither was appointed.

The status of a fourth veteran, John W. Powell, who has neither accepted or withdrawn appointment by sayrs as foreman of ash and garbage collection, had not been determined. Powell has until Monday to answer a letter from the Civil Service Commission answering if he is interested in the appointment. .

January 28, 1928

April 2, 1928

John A. Pennington

George Jones
Ennis Neuman
Marvel Passwater
Thomas Schmid

April 3, 1928

Camden Courier-Post
June 30, 1928

dr. david rhone
William D. Sayrs
Clarence M. Scull
Urquhart Ward
Kaighn Avenue
North 32nd Street
Farragut Avenue
Collings Road
Tuckahoe Road

…continued…

Robert Brennan - Marie Mackintosh - William H. Heiser - Mary McCready
James Corea - Susie Marchiano - James E. Tatem - Mary A. Ivins
martin a. mcnulty - Madeline Salvatore - Howard B. Dyer - Mary S. Hartung
Edward A. Kemble - mary d. guthridge - Edmund A. Walsh - Mamie F. Piraine
Edward Holloway - Deborah Schuck - Henry I. Haines - Lillian M. Walker
horace b. beideman - Etta C. Pfrommer - Carlton M. Harris - Mary E. Hamel
Henry Knauer - Louella I. Whaland - Jesse M. Donaghy - Lottie B. Stinson

Plans for a campaign to raise funds to cover the budget of the Salvation Army Corps here were discussed yes terday at a meeting of members of the executive board at hotel walt whitman .

William D. Sayrs, chairman of the committee presided and requested that a successor be appointed. The nominating committee selected Earl Lippincott, chairman; Mrs. Arthur Casselman and John J. Robinson, vice chairmen.

Brigadier James A. Harvey, com manding the Philadelphia region of the Army reviewed the Work accomplished at the Camden headquarters, under direction of Captain Charles W. Schafter.

An itemized report of receipts and expenditures together with a budget outline were submitted by Captain Schaffer.

Included among the members at the meeting were Reverend John Pember ton, Mrs. Charles A. Wolverton, Mrs. Casselman, Mrs. Mary W. Kobus, Herman Hensgen, Joseph Tweedy, Frank C. Propert, and Robinson.

Other members of the committee include Howard Hemphill, George C. Baker, Patrick Harding, Dr. James Rodgers, Dr. F. William Schafer and Dr. Albert Pancoast.  

Earl R. Lippincott, real estate broker, has been named chairman of the advisory board of the Camden unit of the Salvation Army, succeeding william d. sayrs .

Elections of officers for the group were held yesterday following a luncheon meeting at hotel walt whitman. Vice chairmen of the organization include John J. Robinson and Mrs. Arthur J. Casselman.

Other officers include Mrs. Charles A. Wolverton, treasurer, and Miss Elizabeth Magill, secretary.

Members of the executive committee selected the following committees: Woman's committee, Mrs. Arthur H. Holl and Mrs. Wilfred W. Fry; finance committee, Dr. F. William Shafer, william d. sayrs , Frank C. Propert, Mrs.  Wolverton and Mrs. Holl; property committee, Howard Hemphill, John J. Robin son, Herman E. Hensgen, Arthur J. Casselman and George C. Baker; public relations and publicity, Rev. John Pemberton, Joseph G. Tweedy, Mrs. Mary W . Kobus, Dr. Albert B. Pancoast and Patrick H. Harding; program committee, Dr. James Rodger, Propert, Robinson, Tweedy and John L. Shannon.

Camden Courier-Post  - June 29, 1933

STATE G.O.P. CHIEFS SPEAK HERE TONIGHT
Stokes, Kean, Barbour Listed for Fete to Reesman and Mrs. Verga

 A testimonial dinner will be given tonight by the Camden County Republican Committee in honor of party leaders with former Governor Edward C. Stokes as principal speaker.

Those to be honored are Mrs. Elizabeth C. Verga, vice chairman of the county committee and state committeewoman; Assemblyman Isabella C. Reinert, former vice chairman; Commissioner clay w. reesman, new chairman of the county committee, and joshua c. haines, register of deeds, the retiring chairman.

Other speakers will include Mrs. Edna B. Conklin, national committeewoman from Bergen county; Congressman Charles A. Wolverton; former U. S. Senator David Baird, Jr., U. S. Senators Hamilton F. Kean and W. Warren Barbour and E. Bertram Mott, state chairman.

State Senator Albert S. Woodruff will be toastmaster. Carlton M. Harris, chairman of the dinner committee, said last night that reservations have been made at the Hotel Walt Whitman for 500 guests and the committee is swamped with applications.

Other members of the committee in charge of the dinner are William D. Sayrs, Jr., treasurer, and Mrs. Pauline Caperoon, secretary.

Camden Courier-Post - August 4, 1933

ELECTIONS BOARD NAMES REA TO POST
Fifth Warder Formally Made Registrar as Successor to Sayrs

The Camden County Board of Elections, in special meeting yesterday unanimously elected Leo B. Rea as the new Republican registrar in the Permanent Registration Bureau.

Rea, the choice of G. O. P. leaders, was elected by the bipartisan board of elections after it had accepted the resignation of William D. Sayrs, Jr. as the Republican registrar.

Sayrs, a former city commissioner, assumed a new $5000 post Tuesday as director of the new real estate division of the reorganized State Highway Department. He was appointed formally to the job by the State Highway Commission.

Rea is expected to begin his new duties this afternoon after familiarizing his successor as a deputy county clerk with details of that job. His successor in the county clerk's office is Edward J. Wintering, of Westmont, former Haddon township tax assessor.

The elections board meeting opened at 9:30 a. m. and lasted three min­utes. Sayrs' resignation was addressed to the board, attention of Mrs. Emma E. Hyland, chairman.

Rea's new position pays $2400 a year, minus 30 percent under the county economy program. He was nominated for the post at the meeting by William A. E. King, a Republican member of the elections board.

Rea did not attend the session, but appeared after its conclusion.

He has been president of the Fifth Ward Republican Club seven years and is a member of the G. O. P. Speakers' Bureau.

Sayrs' resignation follows:

"I am tendering my resignation herewith and request that it take effect immediately as registrar of the Permanent Registration Bureau of the Camden County Board of Elections.

"I regret exceedingly to sever my connections with the Permanent Registration Bureau because of the pleasant associations which I have had with my office associates and members of the board, particularly those of the opposite party,

"I feel that I must take this occasion to comment on the spirit that prevailed among the members of the Camden County Board of Elections on the part of both parties and that while, at times, there may have been honest differences of opinion, as there must necessarily always be in such bodies, all the members have consistently acted in accordance with the principles which they thought were best for the voters of this coun­ty, whom they must at all times represent."

Camden Courier-Post * May 10, 1934

Camden Courier-Post - August 29, 1935

… continued…

… continued…

Albert S. Woodruff - Elizabeth C. Verga - Emma Hyland - Harry L. Maloney - Hotel Walt Whitman
Firmin Michel - Carl Kisselman - Mitchell H. Cohen - Edward V. Martino - John J. Crean
Clay W. Reesman - William D. Sayrs - Pauline Caperoon - Abe Fuhrman - Harold W. Bennett
Mary Kobus - George E. Brunner - Frank J. Hartmann Jr. - Frank T. Lloyd - Frederick von Nieda

Camden Courier-Post - June 1, 1939

POLLS AIDES, OWNERS WILL GET PAID TODAY

A total of $7380 will be paid today to election board officers and owners of polling places in the recent city commission election, it was announced yesterday by Deputy City Clerk William B. Sayrs.

Each of the 456 district officers, four from each of the 114 districts, will be required to present his certificate of appointment and the 54 owners of properties used as polling places must return the flags loaned for the election. The owners will receive $10 each. The remaining polling places were in school buildings.

Payments will be made from 9 a. m. to 4 p. m., Sayrs said..

Camden Courier-Post - August 26, 1941

Henry Magin Laid to Rest By War Veteran Buddies
TRUCKS OF FLOWERS IN FUNERAL CORTEGE

Funeral services for City Commissioner Henry Magin were held today with his colleagues in official and veterans circles participating.

Services were conducted in city commission chambers on the second floor of city hall, in charge of Rev. Dr. W.W. Ridgeway, rector of St. Wilfrid's Episcopal Church.

The casket was carried by war veteran associates of the public works director, who died from a heart attack Friday. A color guard from the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion preceded the casket, followed by the four remaining members of the city commission, Mayor George Brunner and commissioners E. George Aaron, Mrs. Mary W. Kobus and Dr. David S. Rhone .

A guard of honor lined both sides of' city hall steps, 22 policemen on one side and 22 firemen on the other, representing Magin's age, 44 years.

Hundreds of men and women waited outside the building to pay their respects as the solemn procession filed by. Mayor Brunner had declared this morning a holiday for city employees. The casket was borne by Thomas Jackson and Samuel Magill, both past Legion commanders; Leon McCarty, past commander of August Walter Chapter, Disabled American Veterans; Richard Jermyn, past commander of Post 1270, Veterans of Foreign Wars; Benjamin P. Thomas, past captain of Sparrow Ship No. 1269. V. F. W.; and William Miller, past State commander, D. A. V.  

Three trucks were required to carry the floral pieces from the scene of the services to the National Cemetery at Beverly, where burial took place.  

An estimated 8000 persons from all walks of life paid their respects to the late official by viewing the body as it lay in state in the commission chambers.

The throng of mourners of Camden city and county was the largest to converge on a public building since the funeral of Fire Chief Charles Worthington, who was killed while fighting a fire almost 20 years ago. His body was placed on public view in the rotunda of the old county courthouse.

File Past Bier  

A continuous progression of people filed past the flag draped bier for more than three and one-half hours. Scores of Republicans and hundreds of Democrats joined in the tribute.

Services were conducted by Camden lodges of Elks and Moose. Military rites were conducted by the Fairview Post, American Legion, of which Magin was a founder and past commander. The tribute was led by Mitchell Halin, post commander, and C. Richard Allen, past department commander. 

James W. Conner, chief clerk of the city water bureau and past State Commander of the V.F.W., conducted rites at the grave.  

Mayor Brunner and Commissioners kobus, Aaron, and rhone came early and remained throughout the hours of viewing. Mrs. Helen Magin, the widow, and daughter Helen, attired in deep mourning, arrived shortly after 7:00 PM.

Embraces Widow, Daughter  

Commissioner kobus , who knelt in prayer before the bier, arose and went over to Mrs. Magin and her daughter. Mrs. Kobus embraced and kissed the widow and daughter of the late commissioner. They were in tears.  

Three firemen and three policemen maintained a vigil as a guard of honor. They were Patrolmen Jack Kaighn, George Weber, and William Deery and Firemen Arthur Batten, Warren Carter and William Reed.

American Legion and V. F. W. members in uniform alternated as members of the military guard of honor. A detail of 50 policemen was under command of Acting Lieutenant John Garrity. Fifty firemen, under supervision of Deputy Chief Walter Mertz, assisted the patrolmen in handling the crowd, which at times choked the stairways leading to the second floor.  

Freeholders Arrive  

Albert H. Molt, director of the Board of Freeholders and Freeholders John J. Tull, oscar moore, Ventorino Francesconi, Stanley Ciechanowski, Earl Armstrong and Emil J. McCall arrived shortly after 7:00 PM. Moore and Tull wore American Legion overseas caps. Albert S. Marvel, clerk of the board, accompanied the freeholders.

Employees of the various bureaus in the department of public works, headed by Commissioner Magin, came in delegations with the highway bureau having 150, the largest number.  

frank a. abbott , acting director of the department, accompanied by James P. Carr, superintendent of Streets; led the highway bureau employees. abbott is deputy director of revenue and finance and first assistant to Mayor Brunner. He was named by Brunner as acting director until the City Commission elects Mr. Magin's successor.

County Clerk frank j. suttill, city clerk clay w. reesman , fire chief john H. Lennox and James A. Howell, chief of the city electrical bureau, attended, as did Albert Austermuhl, secretary of the board of education. Every city department sent a flora l piece.

Outstanding Floral Tribute

Outstanding among the floral tributes was a six-toot broken circle of varied flowers, an offering from Mayor Brunner and Commissione rs kobus, Aaron, and rhone.

A floral chair was sent by the Camden Police and Firemen’s Association. The word “Rest” was made up of flowers. The offering of the Veterans League of South Jersey, an organization formed by Commissioner Magin and of which he was the first president, was a large floral pillow.

The freeholders and county officials gave a large floral basket. Floral tributes came from the employees of the board of education, the RCA Manufacturing Company, the police and fire bureaus, Pyne Point Athletic Association, the elks , Moose and several Democratic clubs.  

The floral tributes came in such numbers yesterday afternoon that Funeral Director Harry Leonard and his assistants could not find room for them in the commission chamber proper. They were banked on both sides, in the rear and over the ca sket.

Among prominent officials and citizens who came to pay their respects were Congressman Charles A. Wolverton and his son, Donnell, Assemblymen Joseph W . Cowgill and J. Frank Crawford, Sidney P. McCord, city comptroller, Thomas C. Schneider, president of Camden County Council No. 10, New Jersey Civil Service Association.

Others at Bier

Others were Sue Devinney, secretary to mrs. kobus ; Fred S. Caperoon; Henry Aitken, city sealer of weights and measures, Horace R. Dixon, executive director of the Camden Housing Authority; George I. Shaw, vice president of the board of education.

Sgt. Ray Smith, chairman of the Elks Crippled Children Committee and commander of East Camden Post, V.F.W.; Albert Becker, commander of Camden County Post 126, Jewish War Veterans; Dr. Howard E. Primas and Wilbur F. Dobbins, members of the Camden Housing Authority; Postmaster Emma E. Hyland; Samuel E. Fulton, member of the Camden local assistance board.  

Also former Assemblyman Rocco Palese, former Freeholder Maurice Bart and wife, County Detective James Mulligan, Deputy City Clerk William D. Sayrs, Mary King, secretary to City Clerk reesman , Charles W. Anderson and John W. Diehl Jr., former members of the housing authority, Walter P. Wolverton, chief clerk of the public works department; Thomas J. Kenney, Maurice Hertz, Isadore Hermann, chief of the city tax title bureau; S. Raymond Dobbs; acting chief of city property, John Oziekanski, building inspector, Harry Langebein, city assessor.

Oliver H. Bond, hou sing manager of Clement T. Branch Village; former Judge Joseph Varbalow, acting city counsel John J. Crean, assistant City Counsel Edward V. Martino, Paul Day, secretary of city board of assessors, former Assemblyman William T. Iszard, Harry Roye, district director of NYA; Victor J. Scharle and Martin Segal, Democratic and Republican registrars, respectively, of the Camden County permanent registration bureau.  

Mrs. Marian Garrity and Mrs. Mary F. Hendricks, vice chairman and secretary respectively, of the Republican City Committee; Dr, Ethan A. Lang and Dr. Richard P. Bowman, members of the board of education; Edward J. Borden, Carl Kisselman, Harry A. Kelleher, Samuel T. French Sr., former Freeholder Walter Budniak, Coroner Paul R. Rilatt, County Treasurer Edward J. Kelleher, William Shepp, of the city legal bureau, Marie Carr, stenographer, mayor's office; Samuel T. French Jr., member, board of education.

Also John C. Trainor, member of the Camden County Board of Elections; Antonio Mecca, funeral director; Alexander Feinberg, solicitor of the housing authority, former Freeholder John T. Hanson, Sterling Parker and Paul Reihman, member of the county park commission.  

James O’Brien, commander of the Camden Disabled American Veterans, was in charge of services by veterans at the cemetery. Former Freeholder Edward J. Quinlan, county vice-commander of the American Legion, directed last night memorial services and was in charge of the firing squad at the grave.  

Camden Courier-Post - November 8, 1947

Wm. D. Sayrs Funeral To Be Held Monday

Funeral services for Deputy City Clerk William D. Sayrs will be held at 2:00 p. m. Monday, in the Holl funeral parlor, 811 Cooper Street. Mr. Sayrs died in his sleep yesterday. He was 74.

Pallbearers for the former city commissioner will include City District Court Judge Edward V. Martino, Advisory Master William R. J. Burton; Thomas C. Schneider, secretary of the County Board of Elections; Mayor Soren A. Tollefson, of Oaklyn; Andrew Mazur and Dominick Palese.

Surviving Mr. Sayrs are his widow, Jennie, an adopted daughter, Mrs. Sarah Thompson, and a brother, Frank, of Haddonfield, a Masonic leader in New Jersey.

Friends may call tomorrow night. Burial will be in Harleigh cemetery. .