jury

A decent summary of the Charles Becker case is available from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Becker

Regarding rockcreek's note about the swastika symbol on the car--the use of the swastika as part of the logo of the KRIT Company is mentioned in the Wikipedia article and this article from The Detroit News, 16 January 2000. And here is a photo of a KRIT car with the symbol from another Flickr user. Looking at the photo large, I can see a similar logo above the radiator on this car--seems to identify it as a KRIT car. Perhaps some car fanatic out there can tell us the exact model. This use of the swastika symbol, of course, predates its adoption by Nazi Germany--it was a widespread symbol in many cultures, see, for instance Wikipedia and history1900s.about.com/cs/swastika/a/swastikahistory.htm. The latter has a good summary of its use at the time of this photo: Even in the early twentieth century, the swastika was still a symbol with positive connotations. For instance, the swastika was a common decoration that often adorned cigarette cases, postcards, coins, and buildings. During World War I, the swastika could even be found on the shoulder patches of the American 45th Division and on the Finnish air force until after World War II.

The swastika is a symbol which predates the third reich by a millennium or two. It's an ancient buddhist symbol, and many aboriginal American tribes used it.

I don't believe this is a K-R-I-T motor car. It's an open-top bus. K-R-I-T didn't make unusual vehicles like this. They made mainly small automobiles, like Roadsters and Runabouts. Their cars had small swastikas on their bronze hub caps, with the word K-R-I-T in large bronze letters across the front of the radiator. The top of the radiator shell was peaked, not flat, like the one on the bus in this photo. See the photo of the 1910 model in the Detroit News article mentioned above. The 1912 models were almost identical. Moreover, car makers didn't paint large corporate logos on the sides of the hoods. Something else is going on here. This bus has a number 10 on the side of the front seat, suggesting it's part of a fleet. The swastika could be the logo of a local transportation company.

Here are some scans of genuine K-R-I-T trade literature from around 1910: [http://www.flickr.com/photos/15283643@N04/3964040987/] [http://www.flickr.com/photos/15283643@N04/3964041145/] I don't see any connection.

The Carman jury at the Nassau County Courthouse. See: query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40615F63D5C13738... Carman Jurors Quickly Chosen Not a Bachelor in Box, Which is Filled in Less Than Five Hours October 20, 1914 New York Times The Carman Jury of Married Men Foreman - ROBERT F. LUDLAM, oyster dealer, married; Oyster Bay. No. 2 - ALOIS ANGLER, barber, married; Central Park, L.I. No. 3 - FRANK D. MOUNT, builder, married; Oceanside. No. 4 - WILLIAM G. HOVEY, traveling salesman, married; Woodmere. No. 5 - MARK GOTTSCH, gardener, married; New Hyde Park. No. 6 - ALVIN W. SMITH, painter, married; Cedarhurst. No. 7 - JAMES V. GIRAUD, gardener, married; Merrick. No. 8 - JACOB ANTON, retired, married; Mineola. No. 9 - JOHN H. MOLYNEAUX, liveryman, married; Port Washington. No. 10 - JOSEPH H. ASHTON, manager, married; Port Washington. No. 11 - EUGENE E. CARPENTER, builder, married; Port Washington. No. 12 - CHARLES D. STRYKER, seedsman, married; Floral Park. "They all look to be intelligent men," Mrs. Carman said, "and I am sure I shall receive a fair trial. Personally I would have selected any twelve of the list and would have felt sure that they would find me innocent."

TVL 1970: Thanks for the New York Times article identifying the members of the Carman jury. Possibly the foreman Robert F. Ludlam is standing in front of the others. We will add some more details to the image description.

Arden Given Ludlam's style of mustache, shirt collar, and the number of buttons on his coat (four), I suspect Robert F. Ludlam (or, more accurately, the person identified as Ludlam in the other LOC Bain photo) is the first man standing on the left in the front row, rather than the man standing in the foreground on the right side of the frame (three buttons on his coat, different style of mustache than Ludlam has in the photo LOC Bain photo below.) Of course, given the gentleman on the right's prominent position in the photo of the Carman jurors, another possibility is Bain misidentified the juror in the photo below as Ludlam.

Bain's photo of the Carman House (scene of the crime):

There are 13 men in the picture, and 12 jurors, unless one is an alternate juror. I think a better guess is that the man with pride of place at right is the bailiff, who would have accompanied the jurors. I think it is indeed Ludlam on the left.

Presumably the trial of Charles Becker, which took place in 1912. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Becker Charles Becker (July 26, 1870 – July 30, 1915) was a New York City police officer in the 1890s-1910s and who was tried, convicted and executed for ordering the murder of a Manhattan gambler, Herman Rosenthal in the Becker-Rosenthal trial. Becker was the first American police officer to receive the death penalty for murder. The scandal that surrounded his arrest, conviction, and execution was one of the most important in Progressive Era New York in the 1890s to 1910s.

They used to publicly transport and convey the jury?

Well hey, those guys had to eat something . . . .