Star Chamber Inquiry

New York, 1895

The Legal Persecution of Emanuel Miller Gets Under Way.

Of all the unlicensed liquor dealers in Jamaica, but one, it seems, is to be prosecuted by the excise commissioners, Emanuel Miller of Ozone Park, against whom Excise Commissioner Bauman has a grudge. The commissioners have cast a stigma upon the justices of the peace in Jamaica by declaring that they could not get justice here. They induced Justice Seaman, of Hempstead, to take a complaint against a fictitious person, and they are now hunting for evidence behind closed doors against Miller. Just how Justice Seaman is going to get paid for his services is a question. The town of Jamaica can refuse to pay him.

The star chamber inquiry was held on Wednesday in Counselor McLaughlin's office. THE FARMER learned something of the nature of the testimony from the several witnesses. Louis Vacheron, a brother of the Assemblyman, said he had never seen liquor sold in Miller's saloon.

Testimony was given that Miller's place was open on election day, and that he kept an unlicensed place at Woodhaven before he moved to Ozone Park.

Constable Swift never drank anything stronger than ginger ale in Miller's. Other witnesses testified that they drank tea that was poured out of a black pot.

No warrant has been issued.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Feb. 8, 1895, p. 12.