People Try Schemes to Gain Entrance

Many Persons Attempt to Fool Police in Order to Reach Court Room.

     Never in the history of the City and County Hall, with the exception of the Sunday on which the dead President lay in state in that uilding [sic], has the official building of the city and county been so hedged about and gaurded [sic] by such numbers of patrolmen as it is today.
     There are about eighty policemen on duty at the Hall under the personal command of Inspector Donovan, and city officials, newspapermen, jurors and lawyers have to run a gauntlet, in which they are challenged three times before they finally reach the inside of the building.
     Ropes are stretched across the walk at each end of the hall on the Franklin Street side where the first challenge is made. At the street entrance in front another challenge is exacted and another at the front entrance of the Hall itself. Outside on the Eagle Street side a half dozen of the mounted police division, dismounted and with horses tethered within easy reaching distance, are resting and waiting for orders in case of emergencies.

Police Form Lines.

     Inside the building the police form a line stretching across the hall to the Delaware Avenue entrance, which today is closed and barred. At the head of the stairs leading from the basement and at the door, which is the outlet from the tunnel which Czolgosz will have to traverse on his way to the court room, are groups of patrolmen. The second floor is simply flooded with police officers.
     Signs on the elevators state that no stops will be made at the second floor, and this morning even the District Attorney had to walk up to his office on that floor.
     City officials had to be identified to gain entrance and other people who stated that they had business were accompanied by a policeman to the office designated and as soon as the business was transacted accompanied back and quietly dismissed into the outer world again.

Some Wanted to Argue Legality.

     There were several citizens who were inclined to put up an argument on the legality of the police shutting the public out of a public building such as the City Hall, but they got little satisfaction.
     One gentleman, well dressed, presented himself for admission to the building, stating that he wished to make a payment of interest on a mortgage. He finally had to go to Supt. Bull’s office to get a permit to pay his interest. Many similar cases were reported, and even J. W. Ryan of the Corporation Counsel’s office, and Assistant District Attorney Ticknor had their troubles.
     An official who attended the trial of the Anarchists at Chicago some years ago says that the arrangements for the present trial far surpass those at Chicago, both in the placing of the police and also in arranging for the comfort of and convenience of the newspaper men [sic] and spectators.
     While many people tried to gain admission in the early hours of the day the crowd was not as large as might be expected, probably on account of the announcement made by the papers that none but those having a permit would be admitted.

Policeman in Basement.

     By 10 o’clock the lower floor of the City Hall was well crowded by clerks and citizens anxious to catch a glimpse of the assassin as he was led from the basement of the hall to the court room. About 10:15 o’clock Capt. Regan, Capt. Kilroy and a posse of police disappeared into the basement, the police shoved the crowds back into either end of the hall, and a minute after, those below reappeared amid whispered announcements of “Here he comes.”
     The criminal was handcuffed to Detectives Solomon and Geary and was surrounded by policemen. He wore a white soft felt hat and with his clean shave was hardly recognizable by those who had seen him in court during his arraignment. He walked with a careless swagger that might denote abandonment. He did not hold his head erect but he gave no intimation that he feared the police or the curious crowd that watched him with bated breath. There was no hissing as had been the case when he was led out from his arraignment.

Police Vigilance Never Relaxed.

     Even after the prisoner had been deposited in the court room by his guards the vigilance of the police on the lower floor was not relaxed.
     The outer door leading to the basement from Church Street was still locked and the City Hall clerks who have been accustomed to storing their wheels there sent up a loud wail of protest to Supt. Fisher.
     The first paper filed in the County Clerk’s office this morning was the motice [sic] and order of transfer of Czolgosz’s case from the County Court to the Supreme Court.