The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 29, 1896, Page 1

' VOLUME LXXIX,_NO, 151. PRICE FIVE CENTS. FIVE LEADERS ARE CONDEMNED John Hays Hammond and Others Sentenced to Death. AMERICANS IN PERIL.: But It Is Understoed That the Penalty Will Be Com- muted by Kruger. INTERCESSION IS DEMANDED. Congressmen Who Will No Longer Depend Upon England to Pro- tect Our Citizens. PRETORIA, SourH AFRICA, April 28.— Five of the leaders of the National Reform Committee who pleaded guilty of high treason yesterday were condemned to death to-day at the sitting of the court. They are: Colonel Francis Khodes, brother of Cecil Rhodes, ex-Premier of the Cape Colony; Lionel Phillips, George Farrar, Charles Leonard and John Hays Hammond, the American mining en- gineer. Phillips, Rhodes and Farrar pleadea of high treason on Friday last, and nmond, who was ill and not in court that day, made a similar plea. This couse, it was thought, would have an ffect to mitigate severity of their sen- tence. In view of the plea of guilty entered by the defendants, there was nothing .in the way of cross-examination to elicit testi- mony on the question of the ultimate re- Epor for the Jameson movement. Bautcou for the defense read a statement which was signed by John Hays Ham- mond, Lionel Phillips, George Farrar and Colonel F cis Rhodes, the leaders of the Reform Committee, who have pleaded uilty of high treason. This statement reviews the recent his- tory of the futile agitation for redress of the alleged Uitlander grievances in the Transvaal. The statement admits that in the face of romors current that the Boers were going to attack Johannesburg the signers had asked Dr. Jameson to come, bu at they deplored the mistake he had made in coming when there was nourgent need for his presence. They maintained ibat their action had not been hostile to the republie, its officials having been pro- tected end life and property having been generally preserved. They sent officers on December 27, the stalement says, to forbid the movement on Dr. Jameson's art. ; In addition to this signed statement telegrams were read which passed between Mr. Belt of the Chartered South African Company and Dr. Jameson, Colonel Fran- cis Rhodes and others, but not Cecil Rhodes, the then Premeir of Cape Colony. Following the presentation of the docu- ments counsel made a speech of two hours’ duration in behalf of the defense, conclud- ing as follows: “If the edge of the sword is to be used it will cause eternal misery in the republic, but should the flat siie be employed it would usher in peace and good will.” Among other members of the reform committee who were senten ced to-day are four Americans—Captain Mein, chief en- gineer of the Robinson Gold Mining Com- pany, Victoria; B. Clement, assistant con- sulting engineer of the Consolidated Gold Fields Mining Company; J. 8. Curtis, a hy mining engineer who is well known in New York, and a Mr. Lawley. They were sentenced to pay a fine of $10,- 000 each, to undergo two years’ imprison- ment and then be banished from the Trans- vaal for three years. = STRING ON THE SENTENCE. Kruger Will Abrogate the Penalty of Death. LONDON, Exc., April 28.—In the House of Commons to-day Chamberlain, Secre- tary of State for the Colonies, said: “I have received a private telegram saying that five of the leaders of the so-called National Reform Committee at Johannes- burg have been condemned todeath. I thereupon cabled to Sir Hercules Robin- son at Cape Town instructions to commu- nicate the following to President Krueger: ‘The Government has just learned that sentence of death has been imposed upon the chief leaders of the relorm committee. The Government has no doubt that your Honor will commute the sentences. In- deed the Government has assured Parlia- ment that this is your Honor’s intention,’’” A report was circulated and generally credited in the lobby of the House of Commons that Colonial Secretary Cham- beriain advised the surrender of Colonel Rhodes and his comrades to the iegal authorities at Pretoria, and also advised them to enter a plea of guilty upon the assurance that the Pretoria authonties would treat them with leniency. The op- position are framing a ceries of questions to be propounded to the Government with the object of forcing them to make revela- tions showing precisely what part the English Government bas played in the affair. Tke Globe. in an article on the con- demnation of Rhodes, Hammond and the oihers to death, says: This news absorbs the entire interest of the Honse of Com- mons. The consensus of opinion is that the condemned men are in no real danger, but the feeling is unanimous that in the event of the contrary there must be in- stant war. It will be impossible for even the present Government to hold office for a day if any other course were taken. Though the news of the death sentence passed on the five leaders of the Joban- nesburg Government was a surprise and shock to those here who have watched the case, politicians inside and outside of Parliament admit that the sentence is the patural complement of the plea of guilty. Nobody here believes the sen- tence will be executed. It is thought that under the law under which the N Y DO RN i 4 =] ' \ ' oh A~ o & San Mateo County’s Floral Queen and Her Maids of Honor. The Coronation Ceremonies Will Be Held This Evening in the Alham bra Theater at Redwood City, to Be Followed by the Grand Floral Ball. The Festival Will Last Until Saturday Evening. accused were tried there was no course open to the court but to impose the death penalty. It is believed now that the arrangement between the prisoners and the Transvaal authorities provided for the passage of the death sertence, while at the same time the five men knew that the President woula exercise the power with which he is invested, and later commute the sentences. What the general feeling among the Boers is toward the prisoners is a matter of doubt. Before the trouble at Johannes- burg they were all very popular, but there was a significant incident in connection with their arrest that is not generally Known. Shortly after they were lodged in the jailat Pretoria a number of Boers took to that city a beam on which some years pre- viously the British had hanged several Boers for treason. When the attention of the Government was called to this fact a prompt disclaimer of any implied threat to hang the prisoners was made and i* was asserted thut the beam had been taken to Pretoria to be usxd for building purposes. 8ir Charles Dilke, M. P., and Sir Donald Currie, M. P.. the well-known owners of steamships plying to South Africa, both of whom are personally acquainted with President Kruger; Henry Labouchere, M. P, and Henry M. Stanley, M. P., the African explorer, expressed the opinion that President Kruger woula exercise clemency and abrogate the sentence of death, Ex-Minister Lord Rosebery, in a speech at Rosedale to-night, made an attack on Mr. Chamber!ain for his treatment of the Transvaal difficulty. A greater diplomatic comedy of errors, he said, had never been performed. He | hoped the Secretary of State for the Colo- hies would now exercise patience and dis- cretion and curb his tongue. Then the ne- gotiations might be satisfactorily con- cluded. A representative of the United Press to- day tried to obtain an interview with Dr. Jameson, the leader of the ill-fated raid into the Transvaal, on the subject of the sentences imposed by the High Court. Dr. Jameson declined to discuss the matter be- vond saying that he was astounded at the | severity of the sentences, which rendered the position very serious. The trial of Dr. Jameson and his com- rades was resumed this morning. A mo- tion to dismiss the case was refused by the court. —_—— REGARDED AS MONSTROUS. Rather Pointed Comment on the Severe Sentence. JOHANNESBURG, SoutH AFRIcA, April 28.—The most intense excitement was caused here when it became known that the leaders of the reform committee had been sentenced to death and extremely severe sentences pronounced against the other members of the commitee. A pub- lic meeting has been summoned to give expression to the popular disapproval of the action of the court. LONDON, Exa., April 28.—Late reports from Pretoria indicate that four instead of five of the leaders of the committee were sentenced to death, unless Mr. Leon- ard, one of those who signed the invita- tion to Dr. Jameson to go to the relief of Johannesburg is included. If he is the fifth the sentence will be of no effect in his case, for he is now in Enxland. No expla- nation is given in the dispatch of thedns. clusion of Mr. Curtis’ name among the lesser members of the committee who were condemned to fine, imprisonment and ban- ishment. Itis thought, however, that the dispatch stating that his trial was post- poned was erroneous. The Morning Post will say that the sen- tences will stir rzeial feeling and undo all the conciliation of recent years. The Daily News witl say that the start- ling sentences of the leaders of the reform committes and the hardly less startling ones of the rank and file will inevitably immediately aggravate the situation. The Chronicle assumes that even mo- mentary alarm is causeless and adduces its reasons for the assumption. It thinks that the prisoners are likely to eventually escape with punishments in proportion to the gravity of their offense. The Standard holds that whether or not the extravagant and vindictive penalties were intended to be effected they ought not to have been passed. The Times will say: The, death sen- tences are regarded with equanimity here solely because it is perceived that they cannot be executed. The same applies to the monstrous penaities imposed on the rank and file of the committee. The pub- lic does not rely on President Kruger's magnanimity, but common -sense. To carry out the sentences would be a politi- cal blunder as well as a crime. This fact is-so obvious that it must suf- fice to induce a. man. much more fanatical and less humane than President Kruger to commute the penaities without delay. The Times and other papers dwell upon the likelihood of a revulsion of the feeling against the Afrikanders everywhere in fa- vor of the Uitlanders, if the penalties are en- and most of them were proved guilty of little more than sympathy with the objects of the reformers. CONSUL KNIGHT CABLES. Announces the Sentence of Hame mond and Five Others. WASHINGTON, D. C., April 28.—Sec- retary Olney to-day received a cable dis- patch from C. H. Knight, United States Vice-Consul at Cape Town, South Atrica, announcing the sentence of John Hays | Hammond. It said Hammond and five others had been condemned to death, but that it was “understood that the sentences would be commuted.” The subject formed a topic for discussion at the Cubinet meeting to-day. It is asserted here that the State Department bas official information to the effect that Hammond and the other leadersin the movement pleaded guilty under the agreement that they would not be pun- ished severely. It is likely the leaders will get off with heavy fines and perhaps small sentences of imprisonment. Hammond is possessed of considerable property in the South African Republic, and there has been a disposition on the part of the Boers to con- fiscate it. So far the attempt has been frustrated, and sufficiently strong repre- sentations from this Government may prevent its accomplishment. T INTERCESSION DEMANDED. Statesmen Act Promptly in Behalf of Hammond. WASHINGTON, D. C., April 28.—The . More than half of the -m% lesser, | news received in cable dispatches from members of the committee are ders | Pretoris, South-Africs, to-day, to the effect that John Hays Hammond and four others of the National Reform Committee hdd pleaded guilty to high treason and had been sentenced to death, created great excitement at the Capitol. Representative Mahany of New York immediately introducea the following res- olution: Resolved, By the House of Representatives, that, whereas, a cable report announces that John Hays Hammond, otherwise described ss Eugene Hammond, an American citizen, has been condemned to death for treason in the Transveal, the Secretary of State take immediate action to safeguard the interests o said Hammond and exert the friendly offices of the depactment in his behalf, if the Secre- tary of State. in his judgment, deems such in- terposition advisable. Representative Bartlett of New York asked Mahany if his resolution had been considered by the Foreign Affairs Com- mittee. In reply Mahany explained that it was urgent, and that any delay might be fatal. It was a matter of life and death with the prisoners. Hammond might be executed at any time. Bartlett asked if Secretary Olney was not competent to deal with the matter and what necessity existed for Congressional intervention. Mahany replied sarcastically : ““Of course the State Department is com- petent to deal with all diplomatic matters, but with the House of Reprefentatives to spur him on, his action will be more vig- orous. ‘I desire to say in this connection,” he added, “‘that the whole power of English diplomacy is being employed to safeguard the interests of subjects of the Queén who are being tried at Pretoria. Some one will Continued on Second Page, l REDWODD CIYS HOSE CARNNAL Queen Lillian’s Coronation at the Alhambra Theater. HER MAIDS OF HONOR Initial Ceremonies Begin With the Grand Ball This Evening. BEVY OF SAN MATEO BEAUTY Superb Floral Display at Germania Hall—The Entire County Enthusiastic. REDWOOD CITY, Car.,, April 28— San Mateo County’s floral festival promises to be a splendid success. It will open to-morrow night with the coronation of Queen Lillian at the Alhambra Theater. A grand floral ball will follow the ascent of her Majesty. The flower festival will be formally opened at Germania Hall on Thursday afternoon. This will continue in session until Saturday night. Germania Hall is now undergoing the decorative process. It will ke a veritable fairy’s bower when completed. Mrs. M. E. Adams, who is chairwoman of the decorative committee, and to whose skill and genius the great festival owes many of its prettiest set-pieces and floral displays, has been selected to place the royal crown on the head of her Majesty. The coronation ceremonies will be brief— very pleasingly so, it has been decided. There will be a procession of the royal blood. This will be the opening grand march of the floral ball that is to follow. ‘When the procession, headed by the Queen, reaches the throne Lord Cham- berlain James T. O'Keefe (editor and lawyer) will wave his hand to the multi- tude and silence will fall. Then the coronation, the exact details of which may not be made public at this early hour. Miss Lillian Neuman of Woodside, the Queen of the carnival, is the daughter of the ex-postmaster and proprietor of a large store at Woodside. She is well known in the county and has a host of friends and admirers. She is a tall stately brunette, very dignified and graceful in carriage. Of the maids of honor, Miss Henrietta Lawlor was born and raised at Menlo Park, one of many very pretty sisters, Sheisa pronounced blonde, of the tall, slender, willowy type. Miss Lizzie Powell is the belle of Bel- mont, the daughter of the proprietor of the American House. She is neither a decided blonde nor brunette, butiscon- ceded to be one of the very prettiest girls in all the county, and that is sayinga great deal in a county where pretty girls and women abound so plentifully as in BSan Mateo. Miss Emma Shine is one of the accom« plished young ladies of Portala Valley, and a graduate of the Notre Dame Col- lege at Redwood City. She is a decided brunette and is noted far and wide in the county for her pleasant and agreeable manners, as well as for her beauty of face and figure. Miss Nanette Neuman is a sister of the Queen and some young men of the county think she is even prettier than the Queen. But, of course, this is largely a matter of individual taste and tender feeling. Like her Majesty, is a brunette. Miss Belle McArthur is another of the belles of Woodside. She is decidedly a brunette and rather the opposite of the willowy type. She is reserved and digni- fied, and 1s known as one of the most amiable young lzdies in the county. Miss Sallie Nelson is one of Redwood City’s most promising, popular and hand- some schoolteachers. She is a blonde of medium height and has a host of admirers throughout the county. Miss Lizzie Kuck is another of Menlo's favorite daughters. She was born and reared at Menlo Park and her father was formerly proprietor of the Menlo Park Hotel. Bhe is a blonde, tall and very dig- nified. Miss Nellie Hammerson is known througzhout the county as one of the prat- tiest girls who ever became a school- teacher. She is of the intellectual type, and as a kindergarten teacher has been a decided success. The officers are: Mrs. Geraldine E. Frisbee, president and manager; Mrs. S, M. Saunders, vice-president; Mrs. J. H, Mansfield, secretary; Mrs. A. J. Thatcher, treasurer. Directors—Mrs. Frisbee, Mrs. Saunders, Mrs. Thatcher, Mrs. Mansfield, Mrs. M. E, Adams, Mrs. E. D. Jones, Mrs, Charles F. Josselyn, Mrs. J. Small, Mrs. L. J. Frank, Mrs. L. P. Winne, Mrs. E. Cooper, Mrs Fred Glennan, B. A. Rankin and James T, O’Keefe. Reception committee consists of the al- ready-named directors and Mrs. George C. Ross, Mrs. George Holden and Mrs. James Curran. Committee of arrangements—B. A, Rankin, J. T. O'Keefe and Mrs. 8. M. Saunders. Decoration committee—Mrs, M. Adamsand Mrs. J. Small. Committee on entertainment—Mrs. J, P. Winne and Mrs. L. J. Frank. Committee on ball—George W. Lovie, P. P. Chamberlain, Mrs. C. Jacobus, Miss Sophie Offermann. Floor manager—Charles Jacobus. Committee on awards of prizes—Henry W. Walker, Mrs. W. D. Crowe, Mrs. E, Coover, T. H, Ramsay, Davia Tuttle. The floral festival this year is for the benefit of the free kindergarten, and Rede wood City’s inhabitants are sufficiently in- terested in this excellent institution that the festival is sure to be 8 success on this score alone. The Free Kindergarten is under the supervision of Miss Nellie Ham« merson, assisted by Miss Marie Heiner, These young laaies have worked very hard E.