The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 5, 1895, Page 14

14 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, FRIDAY, JULY 5, 18Y5. \ THE STORY OF THE NINTH CIRCUIT COURT, Talds of Piracy and Legal Battles for Millions. JUST FORTY YEARS AGO Hon. Matthew Hall McAllister Was Appointed the First Judge. LAWYERS WERE IN DEMAND. Cases Cropped Up on All Sides and Briefless Barristers Were Unknown. A canvas-covered book containing a few hundred pages of blue-tinted paper, fairly well written up as penmanship goes, is Minute Book No.1 of the United States Circuit Courr, in this City, now stored among the archives in the clerk’s office of that tribunal. On page 1 of this old-time record—the date is July 2, 1855—is to be found a copy of a “‘commission’ which re- cites that Franklin Pierce, President of the United Stetes, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, has appointed Matthew Hall McAllister Circuit Judge for California, all of which is duly attested by ‘William L. Marcy, Secretary of State. The date of the commission is March 3, 1855, and from recitals in the court minutes it appears that his Honor Judge McAllister duly took the oath of office before Jus- tice Nelson of the United States Supreme Court on March 5, 1855, as appears by duplicates of the oath subscribed on file in the Department of State and in the office of the Attorney-General of the United States at Washington. Matthew Hall McAllister, the first in- cumbent of the Circuit bench, was a native of Savannah, Georgi He arrived here in 1850, and up to the date of his appoint- ment as Judge was one of the leading counselors-at-law of early California days. In later years his two sons, now deceased, Hall and Cutler, gained well-deserved em- inence at the bar. The history of the Mc- ‘Allister family is closely interwoven with that of these United States, since the father of our first Circuit Judge was ap- pointed by George Washington as United States ‘Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, and the son filled the same position under the administration of John Quincy Adams. Immediately upon taking his seat as | Circuit Judge, George Penn Johnston, well known among the newspaper frater- nity of early days. was appointed by Judge McAllister clerk of the Circuit Court. Among other officials of the Cir- cuit Court in 1855 was William H. Rich- n, then United States Marshal for lifornia, who_in November of that year was killed on Clay street, near the press- | rooms of the CALL, by a gambler named | Charles Cora, subsequently taken from the | custody of Sherifi Dave Scannell and | hanged by the Vigilance Committee for | hardson’s murder. | It may repay the curiosity of the reader | to inspect the prints of those early days. to pick out the names and number of the then practicing attorneys as compared with those now encountered in practice. | In 1855 there were all told 280 lawyers domiciled in San Francisco. According to the present city directories we are hemmed | in by 970 of the craft. The practice of the law must, in some instances, be conducive | to longevity when one stops to consider | that the following-named barristers have | had their shingles hung out in San Francisco since '55—yes, some of them since 1850, all of whom | are_ now living: David P. Belknap, ex-Juage and Mayor M. C. Blake, John T. Doyle, William Barber, Harvey S. Brown, S. W. Holladay, James C. Cary, Charle: McC. Delaney, H. L. Dodge, A- J. Gunni son, George Hudson; Georg: Knox, the veteran notary; E. B. Mastick, liam T. Wallace and T. Murphy, present | Judges of the Superior Court; John Re Tnolds, now Superior Judge of Santa Clara County; R. R. Provines, ex-Justice of the California Supreme court; W. H. Rhodes and John Curry, Horace W. Carpentier, ex-Mayor of Oakland. To which might be aaded the names of J. B. Haggin and Lloyd Tevis. long since retired from active pursuit of clients at law. In 1855 the disciples of Blackstone and Xent could boast of no such sumptuous uarters as is now afforded by the Mills, ’rocker, Mutual Life and other sky- scrapers. The territory wherein they con- gregated was circumscribed. On the north- West corner of Montgomery and Jackson streets the old “Iron House,” with its antiquated iron-railed veranda, in Mont- gomery block, Bolton andBarron’s building and Naglee’s building, respectively sit- uated on the northwest and southwest corners of Montgomery and Merchant streets, on Clay street from the water's edge at Sansome street up to Kearny—in fact, from Jackson street on the north to | California street on the south were located all the law offices of forty vears ago. Hal- leck, Peachy & Billings, a firm consisting of the Captain H. W. Halleck of those days, afterward major-general in the Union army, had offices in Montgomery block. Therein were also domiciled H. D. Dodge. who afterward withdrew from active law practice, became a merchant of yenown and subsequently had charge as | Superintendent of the United States Mint in this City; Colonel, afterward Superior Judge, Joe P. Hoge and his partner, Samuel M. Wilson; Superior Judge Murphy of Heard & Murphy, Frank M. Pixley and E. J. Pringle. In the old “Iron House” Colonel E. D. Baker, Police Commissioner Judge Tobin, Judge Joseph Baldwin, ex-United States District Judge of Nevada (who was killed in a railway accident near Pleasanton a quarter of a century ago), Elisha Cook | (father of Carroll end William Hoff Cook), and Charles McC. Delaney hung out their shingles. Banker Lloyd Tevis met his clients there in the old Bolton and Barron building, and in the Naglee building oppo- site W. W. Stow, recently deceased, and Judge Stanly, who is still living and lo- cated on Sansome street, were to be found. In the Wells building on the southwest cor- ner of Clay and Montgomery streets Na- thaniel Holland, ex-Federal Supervisor of Election, held forth from 31850 up .10 the day of his death last fall Harvey 8. Brown, now of the South- ern Pacific law department, was his next door neighbor, and ex-Judge and ex-Manr Maurice C. Blake, now of the Mills building, jostled against Holland and Brown in the narrow corridors of the old Wells block. Eugene Casserly, ex- TUnited States Senator, once occupied the floor where the Consul of France now ives audience, at the northwest corner of Montgomery and Commercial streets, and & former Governor of California, Henry H. Haight, in 1855, practiced law in the office I now occupied by the Consul of Mexico, at the corner of Clay and Montgomery streets. | Notwithstanding the movement south- | wara of the courts and lawyers, E. B.| Mastick still hoids the fort as in 1853, yes, since 1850, at the northeast corner of | Montgomery and Commercial streets, a | building made memorable some years ago | when the notorious cracksman, Jimmy | Hope, and his pals broke into that law- | ver's oftice with the intention of gaining | access to Banker Pedar Sather's treasury | vault below. | Such are the names of but a few of those | whose signatures were appended to the | roll of attorneys and counselors-at-law, | igitors in chancery, proctors and adv in admiralty in the early aays of the | United States Circuit Court. To the auto- ! raph Lunter, the little red-morocco bound gnox. dusty with age and hidden among | the archives of that court, would be a verit- able treasure, containing, as it does, the | names of many illustrious pleaders at the bar, long since departed, side by side with those st:dl left whose fortunes were bound ‘ up with the pioneers. The first term of the California Circuit Court opened in what was then known a the “new,” now the ‘‘old Merchants’ E change,” on Battery street, corner of Wash- | the bark and recovered a judgment for heavy damages in the Circuit Court. Thc noted case of the United States versus John Parrott, H. W. Halleck, the Forbes Brothers and others, involving the title to the New Almaden quicksilver mines, occupied the attention of Judge McAllister and United States District Judge Hoffman, who sat with him. Fraud was alleged in the original grant from the Mexican authorities. From the date of the occupation of California by the Americans up to 1856, when the suit was instituted, $%,000,000 worth of quicksilver ore had been extracted by Parrott and his asso- ciates. The suit was in equity to restrain waste and for aninjunction to prevent further working of the mine and the ap- pointment of a receiver, and one of the allegations of the complaint- was that Captain, afterward General, H.W. Hal- leck, then superintendent of the mine, was extracting ore to the value of $1,000,000 per annum. The suit was stubbornly contested for vears and in the end Halleck and his part- ers won. Among the counsel for the United States in_this snit_was Edmund Randolph of Virginia and E. M. Stanton, afterward Secretary of War during Lin- coln’s administration, when Halleck was | general-in-chief of the United States army. It may not be amiss to allude to another important cause tried by Judges McAllister | and Hoffman before dismissing the subject | of litigation in the era between 185 and 1862, when McAllister resigned. The suit of Edward Minturn versus H. M. Larue, JUDGE JOSEPH McKENNA. [Sketched by a “Call” artist.] Richard P. Hammond, late Police Com- missioner, was then Collector of Customs. The counsel engaged by the accused were two of the best known pleaders in eriminal law in those days, Colonels E. D. Baker and Calhoun Benham. At the outbreak of the rebellion both lawyers went East. Baker was killed while leading his regi- ment in a charge at Balls Bluff.” Benham had been United States Attorney for the District of California in_tne latfer part of the '50's. - Throwing up his practice, then very lucrative, he essayed to reach his native State. Virginia, in 1861, but was captured and imprisoned for a while in Fort Lafayctte in New York harbor. On his release he proceeded South and took up arms for the Confederacy. After the surrender at Appomattox, Colonel Ben- ham, shattered in health and fortune, re- turned to California, where he shortly after died. Of the events which formed part of the i history of the Circuit Court since 1860 to the present time much could be written, since the business of that tribunal has kept pace with the increase of population on the Pacitic Coast. In 1856 California was the only State embraced in what is now known as the Ninth Circuit. Later on Oregon was admitted into the Union, then Nevada, and these three States, up to a few years ago, when Washington, Montana and Idaho were likewise admitted, formed the Ninth Circuit. Now that circuit is composed of the six States alluded to, and of recent years an additional Circuit Judge, Gilbert of Oregon, was appointed. The resignation of Judge McAllister was a drawback to litigation and litigants in California, so Congress enacted a law, ap- proved March 3, 1863, entitled ‘“An act to provide Circuit courts for the districts of California and Oregon and for other pur- poses.”’ Said act authorized the appoint- ment of one additional Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and pursuant to the provisions Hon. Stephen Johnson Field was appointed As- sociate Justice and allotted to the ‘stenth circuit,” as it was then termed in law, comprised of the States of California_and Oregon. Justice Field’s duties at Wash- ington, however, precluded his devoting more than two months’ time in_each year to the circuit, and as Judge Hoffman’s time was well taken up with admiralty ington. Afterward the law quarters were | located in what is now a winehouse on Jackson street, northwesterly from Mont- gomery, and were subsequently transferred | to the building on the southwesterly cor- ner of Jackson and Montgomery, where a disastrous fire, in which some of the court records were consumed, occurred early one morning in 1865. Again quarters were taken up in the 0ld Merchants’ Exchar where both the Federal courts held s | until the completion of the present Ap- praisers’ building, about fifteen years ago, when they were removed thither. From July, 1855, when Judge McAllister | | assumed the duties of Circuit Judge, down to the year 1862, when ill health compelled him to resign the ermine, many notable suits—both civil and criminal—were tried in the Circuit Court. Those early days were prolitic of civil lawsuits growing out of Spanish and Mexican land grant tit alcalde titles, etc.; while upon the criminal | calendar were some interesting cases, now | historic, arising out of matters and things incident to the rule of the Vigilance Com- mittee of 1856. A case in point is that of the indictment and trial of John L. Durkee and Charles E. Rand for the crime of piracy, the pen: on conviction of which was death, pur: ant toalaw of Congress enacted in 1802 and still in force. The facts in those cases wereas follows: In the latter part of June, | 1856, during the administration of Governor J. Neely Johnson, there a clash of authority between the State officers and the militia on the one hand and the Vigilance Committee upon the other. The Governor made a requisition upon the commandant of the Benicia barracks for muskets and ammunition to arm the State militia. The re?uisition was duly hon- ored and while the schooner Julia, upon which the arms were stored, was on her wa! from Benicia to this port an armed body of men, claiming to represent the Vigilance Committee,boarded the schocner in San Pablo Bay and compelled the master and crew to deliver up the arms. Among those who boarded the schooner, it was testified, were Durkee and Rand. Great excitement was caused in this City by the alleged theft of Government arms, and the commander of the United States sloop of war John Adams, then lying in this harbor, it is said by old pioneers, threatened to do a little hanfiing at the yard arm of a few choice Vigilantes if the muskets and ammunition were not im- mediately surrendered at the United States barracks. The upshot of the matter was the indict- ment, as stated, of Durkee and Rand. The prisoners were arrested and. at first, feel- ing ran so high that bail was refused. William Blanding, United States Attor- ney, prosecuted, and J. B. Crockett, after- ward a Justice of the State Supreme Court, pleaded for the accused with such good effect that the jury acquitted the defend- ants on the ground that no intent had been shown of a larceny by Durkee and Rand, it being in evidence that the arms were secreted by the Vigilance Committee to prevent the militia from using them. The muskets were afterward delivered to the Government officers at Benicia bar- racks. Still another case in which the Vigilantes figure was that of Martin Gallagher versus the bark Yankee Blade and Smith, her master. Gallagher in May, 1856, was a night watchman in the Custom-house in this City. He was accused by the Vigi- lance Committee of being a rioter and a promoter of quarrels av the polls. With- out even the semblance of a trial Gallagher was taken at midnight, June 5, 1856, fb;om the prison in the Vigilance Committee rooms, where he had been confined a month, placed on board the bark men- tioned by an armed body of Vigilantes, and the decree of that body read to him, wherein it was recited to him that he *‘was banished from the State of California, never to return under the severest penal- ties.” The prisoner was taken to the Sandwich Islands, but shortly afterward “returned to plague his tormentors.” Gallagher sued the master and owners of Highest of all in Leavening Power.— Latest U. S. Gov’t Report - ABSOLUTELY, PURE Baking | Judge McAllister—deserves Powder { the Oakland water front. Minturn, as old pioneers recollect, was the founder of the ferry tem between this ( medaCounty. I ainst Larue, e proprietor of a ferry across the bay of San Francisco with termini at this City and the new town of Oakland. As assignee of one E. R. Carpentier (brother of Horace W. Carpen- tier) Minturn claimea the exclusive right for twenty-five years from 1858 to runa ferry between the terminal points men- tioned. Thisright. he asserted, was granted Carpentier by the trustees of the town of Oakland pursuant to an act of the Legisla- ture of 185 petual injunction against Minturn from infringing upon his alleged monopoly. Lir , calls np to memory the | and bankruptey business, Congress passed litigation concerning the titleto | a relief bill in 1869, under which Judge | Lorenzo Sawyer was commissioned Circuit | | | | | | Judge of the Ninth Circuit by President Grant, and, taking his seat on the bench February 2, 1870, remained there up to his decease, a few years ago, when he was suc- ceeded by the present Circuit Judge, Hon. Joseph McKenna. One of the most interesting cases, and historical in_point of view, was tried shortly after Justice Field spread his com- mission on the Circuit Court minutes. The case is entitled ‘‘The United States of America versus Ridgeley, Greathouseetal,”” familiarly known to the residents of San Francisco in 1863 as the *‘Chapman piracy” case. From the records of the Circuit therefore he demanded a per- | Court and other data of thirty-two years ago it appears that Greathouse, a promi- nent banker of this City, who had espoused The affidavits on file in the suit contain | the cause of the Confederacy, associated | himself with Ashbury Harpending, Alfred some spicy reading concerning early leg lators and town trustees. Suffice it to say Judge McAllister and Hoffman did not en | | Rubery and others in fitting out and arm- ing (under letters of marque signed by tertain a favorable opinion of the merits of | Jefferson Davis) the fast clipper schooner Minturn’s proposed grab. Ia their de- J. W. Chapman. With intent to hood- CLERE COSTIGAN OF THE UNITED STATES CIRCUIT COURT. [Sketched by a * Call” artist.] cision the court says: “By such contract” (with Carpentier) “‘the authorities of Oak- land attempted to convey a public trust to private and individual use and to place for twenty-five years under the exclusive con- trol of an individual and his assigns all, even future, means of ferry communica- tion across the navigable waters from Oak- land to any other place. Such was never the intention of the Legislature. Such an act it was not in the power of the authori- ties of Oakland to do, and such a trans- action a court of equity cannot sustain.” One other case—a criminal cause and the first tried and summarily disposed of hy assing notice. Within a few days after the Judge had opened his court a grand jury was impan- eled. The witnesses to appear and testify before that inquisitorial body then were sworn in open court—a precedent which it is not too rash to say might defeat the ends of justice in the year of 1895. The Grand Jury immediately found a true bill of in- dictment against one Julius Levy, accused of trying to smuggle goods into San Fran- cisco. The accused was placed on trial, found guilty and sentenced to pay a fine of $5000 and be imprisoned one year at San Quentin penitentiary. An execution was levied on_Levy’s goods, the fine collected ana distributed among the Collector of the Port, Surveyor and other customs officers. wink the authorities that vessel had ob- tained a clearance from the local Custom- house on March 14, 1863, ostensibly for a ran to Manzanillo, Mexico, in the peaceful pursuit of carrying a cargo of *‘hardware’’ to that port. The suspicions of the United States mili- tary authorities as well as of Detective I. W. Lees were aroused, and as the Chap- man was about to be towed to sea. on the morning of March 16, two boats with armed marines put oft from the United States sloo‘p-nf-war Cyane. then lying off Alcatraz Island, and boarded the schooner. ‘The hatches were pried off, and fourteen men fully armed were discovered stowed between ~decks. The consignment of ‘hardware’’ proved to consist of guns, brass cannon, two boat howitzers, an array of cutlasses, revoivers, solid and hollow shot and shrapnel. The stowaways, together with the mas- ter and crew, were then placed in ironsand taken by order of General Wright, U. S, A., to Alcatraz, where they were locked up. Farther examination of the suspicious craft and of the persons of the prisoners brought to light uniforms and copies of an oath to be administered to those engaged in the undertaking. In the following September the United States Grand Jury presented two_indict- ments against Greathouse and his asso- ciates—one charging them with treason; the other ““or assisting, aiding and com- forting the existing rebellion against the United States.” Upon the latter charge all the defendants, save a few of the crew, were tried in_October, 1865. Justice Field gresided, assisted by United States District undge Hoffman. "William H. Sharp, United States Attorney, and Thompson Campbell, special cou for the Govern- ment, prosecuted, while the prisoners were defended by Judge Delos Lake, after- ward United States Attorney of Califor- nia, and Judge J. B. Crockett. Great numbers of the citizens of San Francisco thronged the courtroom and approaches. The prisoners were escorted to the courtroom by twenty mounted armed men, while a squad of infantry of the provost guard stacked arms outside the tribunal. After a trial lasting many days, gnncipauy in the selection of a jury, reathouse, Harpending and Rubery were found guilty, sentenced to pay a fine of $10,000 each and be imprisoned for ten years in the San Francisco County Jail, “‘until Congress should provide some other Elace of confinement.”’ Before Congress, owever, could provide some other place of confinement President Lincoln pardoned the culprits. It was in proof, so it was alleged at the time, that the conspirators had in mind to seize some of the Pacific Mail steamships, while on a voyuge to Panama, and rob them of the ireasure which in those days was sent East via the isthmus named. J. F. O’BEIRNE. DAN LAMONT N TOMW. Cleveland’s Secretary of War Will Arrive Here This Morning. He Is on His Way to Establish a Great Military Post on Puget Sound. Hardly have the military gentlemen in the Phelan building put away their dress parade suits after doing honor to General Schofield than another and an equally im- portant occasion has arisen to require them to reopen their trunks. To-day Secretary of War Daniel S. La- mont, accompanied by Quartermaster- General Batchelder, will arrive in San Francisco direct from Yellowstone Park en route to the State of Washington, where an important military post is to be established. Secretary Lamont's party consists be- sides Quartermaster-General Batchelder, of Colonel Davis, secretary to Mr. La- mont, Mrs. Lamont and several of her lady friends. From Washington the Secretary of War went directly to Yellowstone National Park, where Lie made an extended stay for the purpose of investigating complaints against the management of the Govern- ment’s broad acres. Upon the arrivai of the distinguished visitors this morning they will be formally received by General Forsyth and staff at the ferry and escorted to the Palace Hotel. Accompanied by Quartermaster-General Batchelder, Secretary Lamont will visit the Presidio and look over the new build- ing plans and the fortifications. il!‘he principal object of Secretary La- mont’s visit to the coast and the one which will engage his attention aiter a few day’s rest in this City, will be the establishment of a military post on Puget Sound. Tt will remain for him to select the location, and in this connection, it is probable that the post at Walla Walla will be abandoned. The establishment of a post on Puget Sound and the discontinnance of smaller posts along the coast isin line with the policy of the War Department to bank the strength of the army at important coast points. To achieve this purpose the small interior posts will be given up and the forces removed to the Presidio, the new | post at Puget Sound and one or two other | posts along the coast. All these will be made permanent, and will be thoroughly foriified and improved. THE FUTURE OF POPULISM No Individual Ticket will Be Placed in the Next Campaign. The Party Will Work Along Its Usual Lines With Many Other Reformers. James Taylor Rogers found time yester- day after reading the Declaration of Inde- pendence to the vast audience in the Pa- vilion to talk of the future of the Populist party and the part it will takein the next | National and State campaigns. He thinks the party will not form a distinctive or in- dividual feature of those campaigns or rather that it will not place a Populist ticket in the field, but will join with other reform movements in the formation of a third party that will endeavor to accom- plish the same principles of opposition to | the Republican and Democratic parties, the latter of which he declares is hope- lessly rent in twain. He said: The Populists in the comin; aign wi orm of three years ago. That platform had three lege—money, transportation and frce land. Those are the planks, if you so choose to call them, that will form the platform for the next as well as the last campaign. But we are inclined to pay greater attention to the qu tion of money in the next campaign. We recognize the necessity for an active and v orous campaign on that particular plank. That is a subject that is too prominently be- fore the peopie to be overlooked to any degree. While the Populists go further in the matter of & circulating medium than even the silver advocatee do, yet they will no oppose them, 1f the silver men, and others who have most excellent reform jdeas, cannot, see the way clear in 1896 to indorse our platform in its en- tirety, we will do nothing to hinder their work but wait until they do. 2 In the State cnmgaign our chief aim will be the destruction of boss rule. I think there will be no Populist ticket putinto the State cam- aign, but there will be a third party. It will Be a party that will embrace Fopulism as well as some other reform movements. There are several elements of reform that fust find support in the next State clection, snd we beliove tha can be best accomplished by a party that shall be non-partisan in charac- ter, rather than by individualizing the Popu- list party. Our object will be the same as in the late City election, and we shall not re- nounce any of our principles, while we accede to or indorse the principles of other reformers, But the Populist party has not quit business by any means. We will coniinue along the same lines as in the past, but shall do our work to the best possible advantage. .. e National cam- | A Family Jar. GREAT AMERICAN IMPORTING TEA CO.'S Stores are selling MASON FRUIT JARS At greatly reduced prices. 1 dozen jars, pints, in box 1 dozen jars, quarts, in box. 1 dozen iars, half gallons, in bo: Inspect our Improved Jeily Glasses, 5¢ per doz. ; Ice Cream and Berry Sets of 7 pieces, 25¢, 35¢ and 50c per set. Our prices for Teas and Coftees the lowest. Buying directly from us saves middle- ‘men'siand peddler’s profits. s s Seg e A Tivoli Benefit. At the testimonial benefit. to be tendered to Howard Morrison, property master, at the Tivoli Theater, to-morrow evening, in addition to “Tar and Tartar,” Ida Valerga and Kate Marchi will sing a duet from “La Giaconda.” Henry Norman, Alice Neilsen, Thomas. C. Leary, Nellie Young, Marcel Perron and Irene Cook will n{)pl’nl in specialties, and Adolph Bauer will direct an enlarged orchestra. Off for Byron Hot Springs. Great many folks taking advantage of the Friday to Monday excursion rates ($3 round Lrlp) to Byron nownllgs—so easy to ieot there. Perfect climate, superb hotel. Take Los Ange- les Express or Southern Overland. 1 stand squarely on the Omaha plat- | . THE GREAT TIN SWINDLE, A Trlo of Old Californians Fopled by a Clever Frenchman. MILLIONS WERE INVOLVED. The Plot Disclosed to Leland Stan- ford at the Last Moment by a Shrewd Boy. Handsome, brilliant and accomplished, with areputation for scientific attainments, which was almost world-wide, Alfred Paraf was received early in the seventies with open arms by San Francisco society. He was a manof a engaging manner, and Mme. Paraf, his wife, was a beantiful woman, fascinating and genial. The Parafs were invited everywhere. The senior Paraf was known as one of the most celebrated chemists in Faris. It was from him that Alfred received his scientific edu- cation, and he had assisted him in those experiments which had won for both their laurels in the scientific world. The Parafs were extravagant to a degree. Nothing in town was too good for them. Madame’s dresses came from Paris, and Monsieur’s chef of the kitchen was an ar- tist in his line whom Paraf had brought with him from the French capital. They entertained most lavishly, and were in- vited, in return, to all e big houses in town and country. Mme. Paraf’s beauty and musical skill, and Monsieur’s anec- dotes of the gay world abroad, made the pair the delight and ornament of the circles they frequented. One fine evening in August Mcns. Paraf and Leland Stanford were enjoying their cigars they paced up and down the smooth lawn of Palo Alto. “You have great possibilities, Governor, in this country,” said Paraf. “Itis, in my mind, the richest mineral country in the world.” ‘“Yes,"” rejoined the Governor, “we have gold and silver in abundance, but no tin of any consequence.” Paraf smiled mysteriously. ‘“Are you sure of that, Governor?” he said. ‘T ask the question because I beg to differ from you. think I know where I can find plenty of tin within fifty miles of San Francisco.” anford smiled incredulously. “I'm afraid, Mr. Parai,” he said, “that some one has been deceiving you. In the desire to give the Golden State a big name they have imposed upon you.” “What would you say,” said the chem- ist, “if I were to prove to you, to your complete satisfaction and those of "any scientific gentleman whom you might se- lect, that there are millions of dollars’ worth of tin within the City limits of San Francisco?” “I should be very much astonished,” was all that Stanford could say, but his face wore a smile which meant, if trans- lated, “somebody has been giving you a big fill, my French friend.” ’ A week after this conversation a single buggy containing Governor Stanford and Mr. Paraf drove rapidly in from the Po- trero. In the bottom of the vehicle was a small sack holding about ten pounds of mud taken by Paraf’s own hands from that locality. The buggy halted on the southeast corner of California and Mont- gomery streets, and Stanford and Paraf entered the Safe l)e{;o.«it building, Paraf carrying the sack. Two gentlemen, who had evidently been waiting for them, fol- lowed them upstairs. One was Henry F. ‘Williams and the other Edward L. Gould, who was one of the most prominent law- yers in San Francisco at this time. The quartet knocked at the door of a room on the top story and were admitted by a keen-looking lad of some 16 years. The room was fitted up as a laborator; and the furnace was going as if prepared for some experiment. With the assistance of the boy Paraf made an assay of the clay from the sack. His companions watched for the re: with breathless interest, and well they might, for millions, nay billions, of dollars were in the balance. The retort was taken from the furnace, and Paraf, with a shout of joy, held up a small nug- get of tin. Stanford, who had removed his coat to assist in the business, embraced Williams, and the grave and usually sedate Gould performed a dance around the room in the exuberance of his joy. The problem was solved: wealth untold was theirs and with all the power which unbounded millions could confer. Science in their eyes at that moment was godlike, for had it not wroughta miracle of the most astonishiug character? And Paraf, the agent, through whose intermediary this wonder had been wrought, was their benefactor. And now how to work and use the proceeds of those colossal possessions? Monte Cristo was a pauper compared with those multi-millionaires. “I,” cried Stanford, exultingly, “will build in San Francisco a conservatory of music which will bringall the artists of the world to these shores. I will offer prizes for merit which will send the foremost artists of the universe hither, and have Dresden, Paris and Munich at the feet of San Francisco supplicating the loan of our professors. My conservatory will cover acres, and I will surround it with beautiful homes for the reception of those who are ng 1ts benefits. said Williams, “have one purpose w which I shall carry out to the bitter end. I shail be the avenger of Ralston. I will buy up all the stock of the Bank of California, and when the quarterly meeting is held I will walk in and vote that stock and tell his enemies to get out— that I have no further use for them.” Schoolboys on the threshold of a summer vacation were not more frivolous than those middle-aged men laying out their plans for the future. Edward Gould alone was cool. “What are you going to do with your money, Gould 2"’ shouted Stanford. ©L will wait till T get it,” rejoined Mr. Gould, without enthusiasm. The next thing was to form a company. Here was a difficulty. Stanford had all the money necessary jor the acquisition and opening of the mine. It was nota ques- tion of sinking shafts, because this won- derful yield of tin was all found on the sur- face. To perfect the necessary papers was the first instruction that Lawyer Gould re- ceived, and then the billionaires washed their hands and put on their coats and went to dinner. For over a month those experiments were almost of daily occurrence. Every test proved more successiul than the ;‘a\ - Mr. cedinf one. But it was noticed by Gould, who was the coolest-headed of all, that the results were invariably re- moved from the retorts by Paraf himself. Voluminous papers were drawn up and all the formule of the company prepared. But while the interests of the organization were to be looked after by Governor Stan- ford affairs of immediate importance called Mr. Paraf to France. ‘While they regretted the unavoidable absence of Mr. Paraf, his associates as- sured him that no time would be lost in carrying out the details of the scheme. Furthermore, he was instructed to act as a sort of advance agent for the conservatoty and make out a list of the available artists of Europe who would be induced to make their homes forever in the Jand of the set- ting sun. A great dinner was given a few days before the departure of the Parafs, for Monsieur was going to take his charm- ing wife with him. Or the guests bidden to this banquet, only those who had been present at the first experiment knew of the great secret. Mysterious hints were dropoed as the wine flowed, which the un- initiated failed to understand. The names of famous people were mentioned with a familiarity indicating that they might be met at any moment the day after to-mor- TOW. The intoxication of the possession of | secret which would make - them: famous :ll the world over filled the vemil of the initiated like fire. They grudge Aever{\; moment not spent in’ the dxsenssxo}r: 0 their prospects. They. wanted fo-be W ege they could go on and oly‘,_ml‘t’lt_mz ;le marvelous pictures of Jife with ‘which s future was to be embeilished. . When le feast was over they slipped away. fmr; t! 1? guests to enthuse ‘over their plaps. Paral alone was cool and cqllec‘tcd_. ‘His ap- proaching departure to France had ane: ceptible effect upon: himy am_i Mme. Paraf was the gayest of the "gay. She ex- pressed her sorrow at having {o -leave her good friends for a short time, but _she would bring them all ‘Sorts “of nice little presents from Paris. 'She. would convey to them the latest fashions, and -then she kissed them an affectionate goed-night and, with her good -husband, returned to the hotel, for they l1].«{(1 given up house- teeping some time before. Lcfi‘;xfl?“ns to leave on a.Thursday. On Monday he politely intinrated to Mr. Stan- ford that he should require sore money. Stanford assented gladly, During all those negotiations Paraf had not asked him for a dollar, and he felt anxious to. show his appreciation of the great chemist’s skill i How much will you:want, Mr. Paraf?’ sked the Governor. 5 “:\\'ell," rejoined Paraf, ‘‘as I've got to clear up some of my debts‘in Europe and make a final settlement of my affairs there, I think you had better give me a check for §100,000: or say,” he added, after _some re- Hection, “*I think seventy-five will do. At this critical moment a messdge came for Governor Stanford. .He had not yet made out the figure on the face of the check. The visitor was waiting for him in the next room. As he passed out, the boy who used to as: Paraf at his experi- ments touched him on the shoulder and whispered in his ear: “Don’t sign that check. Paraf is a a2 g : ir“‘\\“\'hat do you mean?’ whispered the Governor. “T mean,” replied the boy in the same Iantune, L lm;pthc Frenchman has been doing you all right along. He hasn’t got any tin in that mud. I've seen him palm the nugget and dropitinto the retort every time we put it on the fire.’ 40 Stanford made short work of the visitor and went downstairs with the boy. It did not take long to disclose the entire plot. Paraf was a swindler of -the first mag- nitude. There was no tin in the. Potrero clay nor in any other clay in that vicinit The Frenchman. was playing for a bi stake and he was on threshold” of winning it. He must have enjoyed the castles in the air erected by his deluded. associates. Mme. Paraf, who was in her way: just as clever as her husband was, played-her part in the conspira with' consummate art. Her husband’s discoveries: and suceesses were the constant theme of her: conversa- tion. When Mr. Stanford returned to the labo- ratory there was no scene. In a minute he had weighed all thepros and cons of the situation, He had saved $100,000, and that was something for which to be thankful. Exposure meant ridicule and therefore it would not do to quarrel with® the arch conspirator. S “Monsieur Paraf, I cannot sign ‘that check to-day,’” he said. coldly to the smil- ing expectant Frenchman. “Ah, but Mr. Stanford,” replied Paraf, “the {ime is shortand:madame and my- self must make our preparations.for-de- parture.” et “I cannot sign that check to-day,”’ reiter- ated Stanford with a wrathful glitter in his “and if you force me totell you, Mr. Paraf, I shall do so on the spot.” An air of surprised politeness ‘rested on the Frenchman'’s face as he said.: v “Monsieur Stanford bas -grown sus- picious.” = “I have,” rejoined Mr. Stanford, “but,” he added, “if you can reassure nie by hav- ing that clay assayed with the same result that you obtained we will go on as before.” Paraf laughed merr “The game is over,” he.said. pleasantly. “A few moments more and I would have taken the last trick.” And this was thé end of Paraf’s grand effort. He went to South America shortly afterward and cleaned up about $25,000 on some plausible swindle, huthe died of a fever contracted in that country bafore he could enjoy his booty. - WE MUST VACATE OUR PREMISES, OUR LEASE EXPIRING, And we have concluded rather T0 SACRIFICE THANTO MOVE Our Large ¢ and Complete Stock of LADIE AND GENTIENEN'S SHOES We ask you to give us a-call at.your earliest convenience to be convinced that we are disposing of our brilliant and well: assorted stock at prices never before. heard of in this community : DEASY BROS,, 875 Market Street. F™ WATCH THE BLUE SIGNS. ARASTT - DREE} = 2% CARTE BLANCHE, EcLipsE, . Cineaié The present outpnt of these brands ias reached a very high degree of excellence.” .. - Show your local pride. Try” thém. and you. wil surely be pleased. Gl OBDONTUNDER DENTAL PARLORS 815% Geary, bet. Larkin and Hyde. . + RL.WALSH, D. D. S, Prop'r, directly opp. Sur- atoga Price: list:" Extractioa (painless)25e Bone filling_50c:. .4 Every operation guncantesd.. - B3 On entering our parlors be sure yo WALSH, personally. A GO TO THE 8 to 14 O'Farrell Street. B E REMOVED THE « L W UV from the old b i " P Rl asement under the Phel i R occny the dnet Qunice b UDOLPH HAGEN, FELIX EISELE, "