The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 27, 1896, Page 24

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1896. LLEGED FRAUDS IN LAND GRANTS AND CHARGES OF GROSS PERJURY---THE FEDERAL GRAND JURY WILL SIFT THE MATTER What promises to be one of .the most sensational scandals in the history of California mining operations is now bg:nu investigated by the Federal authorities. It is more than probable that the United R:ates Grand Jury at its session next Tuesday will return an npdnctmem against Lincoln Brodt of Chico, Butte County, charging him with perjury and sundry other offenses against the Govern ment. : The property directly involved is known s the Alki mine, located in Butte County, though there is altogether something like 360 acres which will be affected by the pro- ceedings. The money value at stake will probably reach $200,000, the improvements in the Alki mine alone amounting to over $21,000. 2 The present trouble is of recent origin. On August 19 of the current year Lincoln Brodt of Chico entered at the Marysville Land Office certain properties as timber lands. Brodt was backed up in his claims by one Fred Jones and O. M. Enslow, at one time Surveyor of Butte County. In time all the squatters and miners on the land were notified to move off, under penalty of the law. The warning proved to be somewhat of a bombshell, as there had never before been any question raised as to whether the land was timber or min- eral. It had always been regarded as strictly mineral. When, therefore, Brodt entered it as fit timber property a perfect howl of indignant protests was sent up. At first there was apparently nothing to do but quietly submit. The fact that the Land Office had issued a timber patent on a mining property seemed temporarily at least to put an end to any possible pro- test. It seems, however, that George Parry and M. L. Merry had invested sev- eral thousand dollar: a mine within the alleged timber district and they did not vropose to l@fe their all without a struggle. These gentlemen it seems own what is generally known as the Alki mine, the same having been duly recorded accord- ing to the provisions of the mining act of Congress. The property is located near the village of Magalia, Butte County, and the parties named have been in possession for more than nine years. The mine is in range, and is described as follows: East balf of the northwest quarter and .he west balf of the northeast quarter in section 19, and the east half of the southwest quarter and the south half of the southeast quar- ter, the north quarter of the southeast quarter and the east half of the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of sec- tion 18. Parry and Merry specifically claim that they have mined, improved and developed the above described property for a period of nearly ten year, and that since the original location was made they have never ceased to be in possession of it. They have run an incline into a gold- bearing channel to a length of 1000 feet, the total dip being 225 feet lower than the month. In order to successfully carry on the work they have constructed ditches and flumes over eleven miles long, with a car- rying capacity of 400 miners’ inches of water. This water is brought direct to the mouth of the incline, where the power is utilized by means of a thirty-foot wheel. From this is run a system of pumps and it is also made to hoist the rich gravel from out the tunnel oz incline. Merry and Parry further claim that they do not know either Brodt or his witness, Fred Jones, but that they are personally acquainted with Enslow, the ex-County Surveyor of Butte County. They also affirm that they were not aware of their mining property being entered as timber lands uctil it was too late to file a protest. Parry goes a little farther than this, however. A fewdays ago he made affi- davit before a notary public of Butte County that Brodt, according to his be- lief, procured the timber patentfor the purpose of defrauding Merry and him- self out of their rights in the Alki mine and ultimately obtaining a title to the same. Parry also swears that the patent was procured by means of perjured wit- nesses and that Brodt himself is also guilty of perjury. Parry and Merry are supported in their position by some of the most influential citizens of Butte County. Among them may be mentioned R. D. Jones, a life-loag miner; Uriah Heap, a miner; J. Cohn, merchant; M. Gooday, merchant, and R. M. Ingraham, for the last twenty years a miner in Butte County. These gentle- men, without exception, are willing to swear that the property entered by Broit as timber land is fit oniy for mineral pur- poses, and has been so regarded for more than twenty years. Infactthere is hardly enough timber on it to supply the needs of the various mines. It is defimtely known that the facts as related above have been in the possession of District Attorney Foote for some time. They are in the form of affidavits and will be submitted to the Grand Jury at its next session. Mr. Foote could not be seen yes- terday, but his assistant, Mr. Schlessinger, was asked to give some information about the proposed criminal proceedings. “Iam not in a position to say anything about the matter,”” he said. “The evi- dence now in the possession of the Goy- ernment is of a strictly confidential char- acter, and any action that we might con- temp!ate conld not, of course, be heralded to the worid for the simple reason that it migat and probably would thwart justice.” Altogether, no case for months past has Township 23, north | excited such intense interest in Federal circles as the action already told. If the affidavits of Parry, Merry and others are correct, then a most gigautic land steal has been attempted. It is said also that others in Butte County will be prosecuted as soon as the present action is disposed of. RENCH CAPITAL for California Mines. Baron de Boufray’s Story of Two Months in the State Gold Mines. The Baron de Boufray, whose estates are in the province of Maine, in the west of France, and who has a winter home in Paris, is at the Palace. At the request of some of his country- men who are interested in mining in Trin- ity County and elsewhere in California he came here two months ago and has since veen in Trinity, Siskiyon and Calaveras counties examining properties. “I am not a practical mining man,” said the Baron yesterday 108 CALL repre- sentative, *and therefore I am not able to judge accurately of the merits of different property that I have examined. However, sofaras I can see, the gravel mines, though paying less for the work done. seem to be more steady and certain than the quartz properties. I may invest in some mines later, and if I do probably a number of my friends will. At any rate, 1 expect to come back to California and spend some further time here. “The free-silver agitation you have here I hardly understand. In France we like to go safe, and we are very careful of our enormous reserve of :old at all times in its vaults. France has never issued a piece of paper money without having the gold behind it. “Our people have grown conservative in late years. They do not like gambling in any form, and they would rather have an investment that would pay 2 per cent sure than have one that might pay 20, but which might pay nothing at all. They do not like to take chances. We have never had free coinage of silver in France, and the Minister of Finance deems it unwise, It does not seem to me that the free coin- age of the white metal here would be zood for business. And it seems to me that it is dangerous in America to have free sil- ver for the credit of America. “The people are wonderiully hospitable in California, and I shall always have a warm re:ard for them. Ilive in the west of France in summer and go to the city in | winter.” The Baron will leave on his way to France to-day. He Sleeps Only When Erect On His Feet Jake Rogers says that he 1sthe only man in the world who sleeps standing up. And most likely he is right avpont it, al- though there are many men living who claim to have done it under compulsion during the last war. Jake also says that the reason he is so healthy is because he sleeps the way he does. Most people, health and a littie more comfort. The place where Jake has his home is not a very well populated one. It is in Mendocino County, ouly a few miles northeast of Los Robles, and the nearest neighbor is some distance from his place. But then Jake don’t want neighbors, so that feature is reaily an inducement for him. In fact Jake says that the reason he took up his present abode was to get rid of neighbors. Heis not of a very good disposition, and an effort to get him to talk about anything but himself will surely result 1n failure. It is safe to say that Jake's house is the only one of the kind in the worid. It is built to sleep standing up in, and it would be impossible fora person to sleep in 1t any other way unless they curled up likea bear. Jake built the house himself ont of boards and logs that he picked up in dif- ferent parts of the country. 1Itis a queer- looking affair, having greatly the appear- ance of a chimney with a roof on it. And a very dilapidated roof at that. But the shanty is a strong one and keeps out the wet, and that is all that is required. Even the latter is not required the greater part of the year in that section. There is only one door to the house and no windows. While the outside of the house may look queer the inside looks queerer. There is only one piece of furniture and that is what Jake calls his bed. It really looks more like a coffin standing on end, for it is asort of box tilted back only a few inches from the perpendicular. It is nailed to the bottom and also at the top 8o that it is immovable. The inside of it is lined with straw, covered with cloth, to give it a little comfort in cold weather, Jake says. ‘When Jake wants to sleep all he does is to lie back in his box and close his eyes. He says it don’t take him long to forget finances. The Bank of France has an | however, would prefer to have a little less. his troubles. In the next breath be w1l tell you he has no troubles since he took to sleeping standing up. Jake does no cooking in his house sim- ply because there is no room. His culi- nary department is located under a tree a short distance away. His food con sists of anything he can get by begging, borrow ing or finding. But he don’t do much borrowing since the neighbors have grown to know him. “The wav I sleep is the only right way for anybody to sleep,” said Jake, ‘‘and the sooner people come to their senses and do as I do the sooner disease will be stamped out of the world. The noblest animal of allis the horse, and he sleeps standing Jake i{ogers and His Home up. How did I come to find out that it was the right way? Oh, that is easy enough to answer. “xyou see I was sick asa boy, way back in Massachusetts, about seventy vears ago, and nothing I did done me no sort of good. There always was something the maiter, and as soon as I laid down in bed my head began to ache. But do you | know I stood that for nivh onto half a | century before I got any sense into ma? And then I was out in California digeing for gold. “One night my head ached so had I couldn’t stay in bed, and had t» <iand against the wall to get relief. Without up I felt like a new man. I made up my mind to sleep that way all the time, but had trouble to find a place to do it. That is the reason I moved out to this place. | It's over fifteen yearsago and I have never had a sign of the old trouble, and am con- vinced that sleeping in bed is the cause of all the pain and disease in the world. Sleep standing up and you will be a new man in a short time.” The strane thing about Jake's theory is that he admits that he doesn’t rest when he sleeps standing up. He has to do that under the trees the next day. He says that has nothing to do with his idea, though, for most people do too much work, anyhow. 3 The Hairs of Your Head The number of hairs on the human scalp varies from 90,000 to 120,000; a single hair can support a weisht of two ounces, and is so elastic that it may be stretched one- third of its entire leng'h and then regain its former size and condition. ——————— Between January 1 of the year 1137 and Janvary 1, 189, over 7,000,000 persons per- ished in earthquakes. The greatest mor- tality in any one shock or series of shocks was at Yeddo, Japan, in 1703, when 191,- 000 persons perished in three daysand nights. . ) “I notice the air is full of winged in- sects and has been zll morning,” said John Timmons, the veteran editor, at the Press Club the other day. *I never knew this thing to happen that it didn’t rain. Over and over again bave I seen these bugs floating around in the air. It'sa sure thing that we have a downpour. “This insect is about an inch lone, with sim, gauzy wings, and looks like a darn- inx-needle; is reddish or reddish-brown in color. Iremember a few years ago a lot of local scientists were interviewed about this insect, which is popularly referred to as the white ant. They all said that it came just before the first rain in Cali- fornia.” As a prophet the veteran newspaper man wi success, lor scarcely a day had elapsed when the annual downpour be- ®an. Atintervals since then the insects have been noticed in all parts of the City, and there has been a good deal of curi- osity regarding tihem. In some places they appear in large numbers, flitting hither and thither like the grasshoppers during the grasshopper plazue, and again you will see only a few, and these few probably skimming over mud puddles and bits of water found here and there. *“That insect of which you speak,” said Professor Charles Fuchs of the Academy of Sciences to a CALL representative, ‘‘is oue of the strangest and most interesting of the isoptera to which it belongs. The scientists reduce it still further to what they call the termites, or white ants. But, properly speaking, it is no white ant at ull. These insects are miners. They bore through wood and live on the wood, and in this way they have been known in the tropical couatries, where they flour- ish to a great degree, to permeate the wooden walls of houses unti: they have literally eaten them out and the great edi- fices have collapsed from their own weight. These sirance insects are like the bee, in tha: they have a martial govern- ment and go and come with the exactness of trained soldiers. “Taey live in mounds, sometimes twelve | to fifteen feet high and fifty feet around. | Other kinds have their nesis several feet thick in trees. Although they were originally inhabitants of the tropics they are now cosmopolitan, being found in al- most ali parts of the known world. “Alexander von Humboldt, who, you | knowing it I fell asleep, and when I woke | know, used to be in California, bas stated THE WHITE WINGED ANTS THAT BRING RAIN. that he has known of many instances where these insects have taken pos- session of a house; nobody knew they were there, but in a liitle while crash went the house, and that's all there was of it. Then it developed that it was this curious little cosmopolitan that had hollowed out the nouse. “In Mexico the insects have destroyed many of the old state documents; in In- dia it is the same. They have also de- stroyed the paper money in some coun- tries. They bave got into the armories and eaten away the stocks of the guns. They got into the palace of the German Con- sul at Calcutta and totally destroyed it. A ship which had for some time been at the wharf at Bombay on being taken to the drydock broke in pieces. *In Africa the natives roast and eat these insects, considering them a rare delicacy. They eat them there just the same as we eat oysters here. They eat other kinds of bugs, too, but nove of them are prized as these are; nene of them are equal to them in delicacy. “In the curious homes which these in- sects construct they form numerous socie- ties. Their dwelling contain multitudes of galleries and chambers, and they al- ways work in the dark. Often if they wish to move from one locality to another they construct tunnels, and it is because of this they are sometimes compared to theants. Iv is in hot climates the insect attains its greatest size. This is why you see them here in California as big as they are. I never go out around the streets of San Francisco and see these remarkable insects that my mind does not revert to their singular intelligence. It is almost human in character, and were there no people on the streets whatever and I en- tirely alone yet I would never be alone with these curious forms of animal crea- tion about me. *“It is said that a third of all the fla country in Ceylon is undermined by themt Ispoke a while ago about their curious houses. In Western Africa they erect these dwellings in the form of pyramids <p UEER INSECTS THAT BRING RAIN TO SAN FRANCISCO. THEY HOLLOW OUT BIG PALACES AND CAUSE THEM TO COLLAPSE SUDDENLY | or cones and flank the edifices with little towers, constructing them so solidly that many men may stand on rhem and not fall through. “There are alot of soldiers on duty all the time; they are very large and have great jaws, and are always ready to attack anybody molesting their homes. Every house or community hasa kingand queen, laborers and soldiers, and there are about 100 iaborers to every soldier. “They begin to emigrate at the com- mencement of the rainy season. As their wings are not strong, for the emigrants are all young, they are only calculated to carry them for a few hours. Many of them get caught in the rains, and the number that perish in this way is enor- mous. It is said that not one pair out of many thousands reach a place in safety, “The queen lays about sixty eggs mn a minute, or 80,000 in twenty-four hours, and they are instantly taken away by the laborers and carried to a part of the ant- hill, where they are natched. And the larvee are tended to and nursed until able to shiit for themselves.” “It appears that the curious insect which now floats about the streets of San Fran- cisco does not here destroy buildings, asin the hotter countries; it is more a creature of curiosity than anything else. The met- amorphosis of the insect is peculiar. Seen at different times during the different stages of development it wouldn’t be rec- ognized as the same thing. Atonetimeit | is a little bit of a bunty, insignificant- looking bug with a couple of antenne, a collar with a flaunting end on each side and a couple of pairs of legs; add to thisa ridgy back, and that'’s the bug as a whole. “‘Seen at another stage the bug has evolved and developed the most striking thing about ir, being a pair of hornlike pinchers, which extend out in front of its eyes. “The first bug is a workman and the second is a soldier, but it is the well- developed male which is a thing of beauty and which attracts general attention. This insect is noted for its beautifully colored wings, which are long and marked by veins like the delicate markings of the most delicate leaf. *The males and females of these insects have large wings, the cross or transverse nervures of which can scarcely be seen Their heads are larze and strong, and there are three ocelli between the larger pair of eyes. Among these insects are the neuters, which never have any wings. It is among these that the workers, or labor- ers, and soldiers are found. The laborers have curivus round heads and short man- dibles. The soldiers all have long heads and large, strong jaws. “In this connection I may say that there is a peculiar insect resembling this, and very often found with them. which frequents mosses and the trunks of trees and old walls, and a very small species frequent houses and are particularly fond of crawling among oid and damp papers. “One of the things that has interested me is the remarkable mounds they buil¢, and to which I have alluded. Think of a house of this kind reaching as high a- fitteen feet, nearly twenty feet throuvgh at the base, and filled with caverns and cor- ridors, halls and avenues, and remember again that these strange abodes are filled with teeming thousands of colonists, ruled by regsl authority, and think, too, of the tireless laborers in the great colony and the soldiers who move to and fro, ever on guard and ever ready to repulse a foe, however great.” ENCOURAGING ART The story is going the rounds of the press that Sir Frederick Leighton once supplemented words of advice and en- couragement to a struggling young artist by handing him an envelope containing a check for £50, with the remark: ‘‘One day, my friend, I do not doubt that you will be able to draw even better than this,”” This reminds me of the anecdote told of the first visit of old Joseph Gillott, the pen man, to Tarner. “I bave come to swap some of my pictures for yours,” he said. “What do you mean ?” exclaimed Turner, “you don’t paint!” “No, I don’t, but I draw,” said Gillott, unfolding a roll of Bank of England notes, ‘‘and here are some of my pictures.”’ In connection with the bid awarded the Union Iron Works the follow-| ing data of foreign torpedo-boats is of interest. It will be noted as a remarkable | fact that boats built in France, where | wages are the lowest of the three coun-| tries specified, are more costly than in Germany and England, and that the latter country produces the best boats at the smallest comparative cos BRITISH BOATS. Name e 4 Havock. Dariog. . Average total cost per ton. : i 43,425 87,500 Average total cost per ton. FRENCH TORPEDO-BOATS. (88D .600 71590 85,100 25 25.8 25.9 0 160, Average cost per ton of the three boats is 888, against $535 50 of Nos. 91 and 96 in the British Navy of similar design. German torpedo-boats of 140 tons and 22 knots speed average $732 per ton coniract price for hull and machinery. Considering the circumstances connected with the recent bids for torpedo-boats the offer of the Union Iron Works is the low- est of all, and it would seem as if glory rather than gold promptea tne firm to make so low an offer. The building of a vessel of such a speed is an undertaking that requires the highest class of work- manship; it is nearly all labor and the success will reflect more credit to the builders than the triumphs of the Charles- ton, San Francisco, Monterey, Olympia and Oregon. For the first time in our new navy building would-be contractors are left entirely untrammeled as to details, ex- cept speed and cost, to design and buiid vessels of phenomenal speed, and while these boats will to a large extent be copies of similar ones built abroad it is nevertue- IDS FOR THE TORPEDO- BOAT DESTROYER--THE CHEAPEST LABOR PRODUCES THE MOST EXPENSIVE VESSELS THE WORLD OVER England, has built considerably over 1000 boats; -Yarrow, another British firm, num- ber their output by the hundreds; while the German firm of Schichau and Nor- mand in France have likewise contributed large numbers to the torpedo fleets, and now a firm located in a part of the world where wages are higher than anywhere else, and more than twice what is paid by Thornycroft, is ready to build a vessel at an advance of only about 25 per cent on the cost per ton of the Ardent, buiit by England’s most skillful torpedo-boat builder. The naval aporopriation of June 10 last provided for the construction of three 30- knot torpedo-boats at the total cost not to exceed $800,000. The boats will be built and fitted complete for sea by the con- tractors, witk the exception of sea stores, ordnance and ordnance outfits of all kinds, which, however, will be fitted by the contractors, and the latter are to fur- nish small boats, furniture of all kinds, electric plant, anchors, cables, rigeirg, awnings, galleys and furniture for galleys of all kinds. The cost of $800,000 for the three boats inciudes that of ordnance, which amounts to $19,800 for the Union Iron Works’ boat.. On this basis of six 6-pounders and two torpedo tubes, $59,400 deducted from $300,000 leaves $740,600 for the contract price of the boats, or $246,867 for erch. The Union Iron Works’ bid is $19,867 below the average aliowance, leay- ing $513,100 for other contractors, and gives a chance to the Bath Iron Works for two boats of 230 tons and 30}4-knot speed at a cost of $470,000, with a balance of $102,900 to be expended by the Govern- ment on ordnance, etc. The naval appropriation farther pro- vided for boats, not to exceed ten in num- ber, to cost in all not exceeding $500.000, and the Navy Department invited bids on two classes, denominated type No. 1 and No. 2, subject to stipulation of speeds and cost of armament to be borne by the Gov- ernment out of the $500,000 limit of cost. Type No. 1, intended for possible use on the Great Lakes, 1s to maintain an average speed for two consecutive hours of not less than twenty knots. Of the nine bids made by seven firms the Herreshoffs’ offer to build one boat for $40,000 and three for $37,500 each is the lowest. The armament of these boats is to be one 1- pounder rapid firing gun and two torpe- does, the cost of which with fittings is $7140. If the speed falls below twenty knots and exceeds nineteen knots the boat will be accepted at a reduction of $10,000 per knot below twenty knots. If the speed falls below nineteen knots the Secretary of the Navy may in his discre. tion reject or accept the vessel at are- duced price to be mutually agreed upon between the Secretary and the contractors- Type No. 2is on the Cushing design of about 105 tons displacement, to maintain a speed of twenty-two and a half knots for two hours and to carry an armament of three l-pounders and to have three tor- less a bold undertaking. Thornycroft, the world-known torpedo-boat builder, in pedo tubes, the cost of said ordnance being about $11,640. If the speed falls be- low twenty-two and a half knots and ex- ceeds Lwe’nty-one and a half knots the boat will be accepted at'a reduction of $10,000 per knot speed below twenty-two and a half knots, and if it falls beldvy twenty-one and a half the boat may be either rejected or accepted as the Secre- 1ary may decide at a redaced cost. In the absence of detailed combinations of bids the number of boats of gach tyu'e cannot be accurately determined; it would seem, however, as if six boats may be awarded, three of each type, and a pos- sibility of a fourth one of either type, making a total of ten boats. These torpedo-boats are to bev cumpletgd within the following limits of time: Those of thirty knots in eighteen monihs, the others in twelve. The torpedo flotilla of the Uaited States. navy is of slow growth. Only three, the Stiletto, purchased in 1883; Cushing, built 1n 1889, and the Ericsson, contracted for in October, 1891, and completed 1n 1896, are ready for service. Three boats of 142 tons . - and three of 182 tons were contracted for in May, 1895, to be completed by August 2, 1896, but only one boat . has been launched. The contractors lay the blame of non-delivery to the steel manufactur ers. Asitisten years since the new navy ouilding began in earnest, it would seem’ to have given steel manufacturers suffi- cient practice in turning out the requisite’ material in a reasonable time, for the de- : iay is both humiliating and expensive to . the builders and annoying to the Govern« ° ment. . In a couple of years we may reasonably. count on having nineteen torpedo-boats, - which, however, is but a beginning and cuts but a small figure as compared-with .~ the 1026 torpedo-boats owned collectively by Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Spain. S O DISCOURAGE . the Bicycle Thief and Drive Him Out of Business—The Newest Nickel-in-the-Slot Machine The latest nickel-in-the-slot machine of practical utility is a coin-locking device for the safe keeping of bicycles. Every wheelman dreads the bicycle-thief, and when compelled to leave his wheel at a public place has his enjoyment marred by the fear that it will not be there on his return. The bicycle-thief and the horsethief have both the advantage - of being able to make their plunder serve them as a means of speedy escape, and with a little paint and trouble can disguise their spoils beyond identification. In many places not long ago the horsethief paid the penalty of his crime at the end of the rope, and the wheelman of to-day whose bpicycle has been stolen thinks Nickel-in-the-Slot Bicycle Lock, lynching ebout the proper punishment to fit the erime in his particular instance. - The nickel-in-the-slot bicycle lock is in« tended to place difficulties in the way of the bicycle-thief that will arive him out of the business and give every wheelman who leaves his wheel at a public place for a few moments a sense of security that he has heretofore not enjoyed. The lock isa handsome and neat affair. It is the ine vention of M. Philbrook and George J. Kelley, both of 8an Francisco. It operates by dropping a nickel in theslot, when upon pressing a button an arm swings into place securely locking the machine oun the removal of the key, which remains in the possession of the wheelman. When the box is unlocked and the bicycle re« moved it fastens the key in the lock until it is operated again. It is intended to place these locks at such places at the Cliff House, park, road- side resorts, depots and ferry landings; in fact, wherever bicyclists most do con« gregate, and in bicycle repoisiiories, or any place where wheels are in danger of being stolen or used by parties without the consent of the owner. Steps are being taken toward organizing a stock company to manufacture and oper- ate these locks on this coast. It is pro- posed to put them in on the same terms as nickel telephones and other nickel-in-the- slot machines, the company putting them in gratisand the vroprietor of the place where they are put sharing in the proceeds. FEEL "~ This Vessel Will Have a Speed of at Least 30 Knots, Will Carry a Battery of Six 6-poun-der Line and Only Twenty Feet Beam, With a Draft of Six Feet—The Contract Price is $227,500. Guns, SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE NEW TORPEDO-BOAT DESTROYER TO BE BUILT AT THE UNION IRON g— WORKS. and a Crew of Fiftysix Men All Told—She Will Be 210 Feet Long on the Water