Manchester Democrat

MACHEN DEFENSE BEGINS
Mrs. Lorenz Breaks Down and Cries in Court—Miss Liebhardt's Testimony for the Defense.

Washington, Jan. 29. - The defense in the postal trial has opened. Maddox, on behalf of the Groffs, said he would prove that George E. Lorenz in 1905 had purchased for $500 a one-half interest in the Groff fastener. He was followed by Kumler, for the Lorenzes, who asserted that as far back as 1898 Machen, George E. Lorenz and his brother engaged in the oil business in Ohio, and that as a result of their various transactions George E. Lorenz owed Machen $25,000, and that whatever money Lorenz paid to Machen was in settlement of an honest debt. Conrad Syme, on behalf of Machen, agreed with what Maddox and Kumler had said, and added that he would prove there was no conspiracy.

When Kumler, in the course of his opening remarks said that Mrs. Lorenz had been scandalized by the government, which had treated her with cruelty, Mrs. Lorenz broke down and wept bitterly. The first witness for the defense was Miss Ina S. Liebhardt, chief clerk of the rural free delivery system. She said she had put Machen's initials on 500 papers a day, as a matter of routine, many of the papers relating to the Groff fastener, because the Groff fastener had become a fixed supply, and that many postal officials were aware that she did so. She was still on the stand at adjournment.