The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 18, 1897, Page 5

RDAY, DECEMBER 1 5 MACKINES - NOW CLICK MERRILY Judge Cook Overrules Judgei Conlan in the Deutsch | Case. | NICKEL-SLOT BEVICES MAY RUY.| | settor hearn | Lees was ¢reatl | Judze Camppell They are Not ““a Lottery,” and Cons:quently Do Not Vio- late the Law, | THE LEGISLATURE CAN STOP THEM. - x b Is the Remedy Suggested.| Cases in the Police Court ; Dismissed. | Click! whirr! goes the card machine. Judge Carroli Cook decided yesterday morning that the nickal chine is not 2 lottery and -the-slot ma- in consequ: n. | actments. game of chance. It follows, therefore, that until there is en- | uey has | The shaking of dice for 1 been deciarcd by our own Supreme Co to be unlawiu i in this State, although 1t is & acted a law makiug th unlawiul those who use them canuot be pun- isiied or their use prob:bited. After preparing this opinion I consulted With boti of the two other Juages who, with myself, preside over the deparments o! this court, having the criminal business of t court in of these machin and reading o *hem thi- op they botn agre-d with me in as which I have reached. 1 can, therefo y that the views hers expressid Are notoniy my views, but the views of ihis Court iu 1ts “deparuments trylug crimiua The judgment and order apveal>d from are ordered oner disciargad. When Judge Cook’s decision was cailod | to the atten:ion of Judge Campbell in the *olice Court he discharged Messrs. Blas- ower and Dannebaum. cizar dealsrs, Wwho were charged wih cff:nses similar to ibat made against D-uiseh. In dismissing the cuses Judge Campb:ll announced that he would dismiss ali case. panaing b fire him under ihe lottery iaw, and untilsome legislative act had veen passe! to the con- rary he would accept t: Superior Court. From the fact the ca The Cnief s to the police courts to reg cases be kept on the calendar, nis words were not heeded. Ariorneys Levy and Dunne, when they heard of th of Chief Lees, reached 1he conclu: that he was ex!rer mpt hey cailed at his office for an exp anation. ) argument was ihe result which k Dunne ajlaming the oring t> run the cou the police uepartment, wh ved was inconsistent with order as contemplated by the r the Government. RS Lees Powar ess. “I have not curefully read the deci tversed and set aside and the pris- | cision of the | ne | THE END OF ~ TWO BURIED LAWSULTS {Judge Seawell Closes the 0ld Peter Smith Litigation. FIY YEARS 160, | Actions Involved Property Now Worth Millions of Dollars. VALUABLE LAND TO PAY A BILL | Curious Jumble of a Oivic Debt, a ; Long Lease and a Forgotten | Proceeding. remarked Chief Le t ni 1 con- sequently I am unable t press my opinion of it. I have all along felt that | the ordinance wouid not hold and wasnot | | surprised when 1 was told that it had been knsckea out.” “Do you Intend to proceed further?" was asked. “I am powerless to do anything,” he | For nearly fifty years the dust has been ng on the papers in the case of Smith against the city, and the nst Smith, while they waited for | Peter F city THE 7 IF AT FIRST You DONT SUCCEED TRY, TRY i s CIGAR-STORE KLONDIKE IS ALIVE e AGAIN. not come within the provisions of the Penal Code. By 1viction and sentence in f Isaac Dentsch, a cigar- reversed, and the case was sed cc a few 4 been handed down bu were clicking merr.ly awav its of the ci their s smiled, as they kaew the ty had been swept away 3 hand of the law The decision of yes iay is the resnlt ef of Police Lee orts to have the \ine declared iliega Acting under thie Chie’s orders stern action was taken by the police and many machines were seized and their owners arrested. Isaac P Deutseh was the first to be placed on tria! for the offense ¢f ‘‘conducting a lot- tery."” He was tried and, on conviction, finea $20 by Judge Conlan. He did not pay toe tine, however, and appealed to the does section 31 this de- th hours after the ds In ¢ , and Saperior Cour: from the judgment. ¥, Dunne and Waltter H. L were re- secute ihe defe s ¢ Barnes apve: tained 10 pr est, and Dis for the people. The cas» jore Judge Cook lust Monday under advisement until yest ing, when tue deci The opinion W ment and covered 3 vas » i period o relation to gambiing and lo t touched - uvon the gaming devices that used tocheerthe heartsof Ancient Thebes, | 1 by declaring the nickel stot ma a gamiug device and no lot- Jery, bence it violates no law ever passed the people of California. ; 1n bis decision his Houor defined a lot tery in brietasa “gambling device provid- ed for the apportioning of money in whici more than one person is concerned. Such a condiuon does not exist in the menipulation of the siot machine, as only the party who drc nickel 18 at the time directly con: » other per- son who might chance to piay the same machine beiere or afterward ‘0.:1:| be burt or benefited by the other player's success or 1l fortune. This opinion 1s substanti- ated by several decisions which the Judee and all tend to show that a lottery and cl ‘v‘n'. e thing, a mere gambiing device t1éries are gambles, but lotteries,”” said Juage L"v“k. ih this way,is & 1o ¢ cards piayed for money it \ & pubiic piace ora \wou d the shak- { dominoes, or any s ‘whicn conld be <, if tnis can be con- Clhus veen rereiiedly % Wli of such games are gaimnes 0 L o e of chance, however, is it wader our law, and unul the leg- artment o) the governimen: makes its mot for the courts T to be s0. The Legislature has \n enumeraied grm-s payed rdsund with otherimp ements to be ua- and likewi-e ans games which can be Sercentaze or b nking games. It by seciion 332 of the Penal . that ail games played with fraud and cheating wre resorted Such provision eitedly 10, -hall consiitute a crime. virtualiy permits the piaying of all games ‘5' cards which are not in terms prohibited. providing cheating and fraud be mot Induiged in, for the doctrine of the expression | \ was | Peter | replied, “and must wait until another or- dinance covering the case i- adopted.”” Yesterday it was whispered around the | City Hall that the authorities had iound an old ordinan i tended 10 pros as section men. It is known 34 of the Book of General Orders, and is entitied An Act 1o prohibit the thr f dice | nd piaying gamesof chance ces opea to public view. nance reads as foliow No person shall draw numbers game & publ ne ss those engaged retn. No person shall psrmit or suffer the same upou hiz or her premises or place o premises or piace uids © her co gnrmrwnznxxn’nn‘q TO-NIGHT! TO-NIGHT! In Honor of the Installation of THECALL In Its Magnificent New Home, |, THE CLAUS SPRECKELS BUILDING Will be ILLUMINATED BY ELECTRICITY FROM THE TOP OF ITS SKYEY DOME DOWN TO ITS FOUNDATIO TO-NIGHT! TO-NIGHT! 292009000990000200009909 T ISR R LR R R R R R L L R L R R R R R R R R R R R R L R R R R L (200090000200000000000020000RR0200808R00RR2202020222002200029 To Endow Free Eods. There was a meeting yesterday afternoon at Y. M. C. A. building called by the Childrens’ Hospital, Calilornia Woman’s Hospital, Monut Zion Hospital and the King’s D iugh- ter=’ Hom: for Incurables, 10 which ali clergy oi the city were invited. N danominations were representod of this meeting was to £ppoint ax urda- and Sunasy upou which coliections could be tnken in the churches for the benefit of free beds. Theday decidea upon was the ll 01 the one i~ the exclusion of tae other is & Ways (0 be duvoked iu coustruiug statutory eus x. ruuday nearest All Souls’ day iu November. ! them once more 1nto court. me came yesterday when Judgze so the old suits, which have besn | pending since 1851, have finally found est. ; the long sleep of the ancient cases. e searching the title of some property one of ong-forgotter. actions which were } the property included in Mr. Pringle accord Judge Seawell yester { that the | v Alfrel Milhaco et al., | the Peop.e of the State of stings) vs. the City isco and Peter their pleadings. day morn ag and Geary suit 1851, the other ¥in hss has been pending since those dates there b.en a oton, an argument, not even an application to siay continue, to cisturb the sleeping cord. e two suits are the last mber which covered the tities to sev- miliion doliars’ worth of property z the water fron¢ of San Francixco. | Tney were known as the Peter Smith | suits and d late in 1850. Peter Smith w ¥ some work in the'city hospitals and ou its ¢y svstem De presented a bill for This bill the city had no money so he sued, secured a judy then an execution under which he was allowed some property, part of which was along the water front, and the re- mainder was upland property. No s oner had he secured possession | thau he proceeded to seil his iots, and at once suils began to be fited and legal pa- pers to pile up until a great deal of iime and attention of the old District couris were taken up with matters in the case of Peter I. Swith and others. The first result of the litigaiion have it <ettled that Smith had no tit the upland property, a< that was held by the city under the old pueblo grant, and so could not b» alienated. But as to the water front propertv, that had been se- cured by tbe city from the State under a iease for ninety-nine years, and thi- being an intere<t which the city could pass on to anoiber was considered avsolute title, and the sales of water front prop- erty were held legul and binding until, after the ninety-nine years of the lease had elapsed, the property should revert to the State. Suits were bronght to test the validity of these sales of water front property, and among them was a suit for an injunction brougut by the State against the city and Smite to restrain them from trans erring the property. and one by John Geary et al, bond commissioner, to whom the city had previously transterred the property to secure payment on the bonds, aguinsc Atfred Milhado et al., who were buyers. The two injunctions asked lor were denied, but still the oid suits huug along, Iike gtiosts & a ieas:, having no existence outside of a drewer in the County Clerk’s oflice, and alive only in the minds of tne older members of the bar. But with the dismissal of the two actions yesterday the ot a large the time when the slow prozess of the law dismissed ti.c last of the number, | i C. F. Pringle is responsivls for distarb- |} his clients he discovered two stitl | i vending, ani so impairing the titlas to ly uppeared before uits of John Geary et al. | and that of | ali‘ornia (by cian, and aiter doing | | article. | | cases may be decently buried, for that ends the suit« of Pater Smith. CALIFOLNIA'S JUBILEE. Execuilve mittee Sanguine of Mak- ing the Entertainment a Success The plans for California’s Golden Jubi- lee are growing every day. A letter was addressd to Secretary Alger of the War Department yesterday, asking him to or- der salutes fired from all points in the bay on January 24. He wasalso requested to order a trial of the heavy ordnance on the biuffs around the harbor. Tt is proposed to ask the Secretaries of War and of the Navy to anchor a flcat in the bay loaded with combustibles and have it fired at by the biz dynamite guns. In addition the foilowing telegram was sent to Hon. Ge orge C. Perkins: “Wrote Secretary Navy asking bim to order Pa- cific Coast squadron in bay week of Cali- ornia’s Goiden Jubiles,” The lund= of the jubilee were increased yesterdav by a sucscription of $500 from Mayor Phelan. 8. K. Thornton and J. H. Grady, repre-entatives of the executive commiitee, called on Governor Budd at nis apartments in the Paluce Hotel, and asked him in reference to the dec.aring of January 24 a holiday. He authorized them to announce that the day would be deciared a lecal holiday. At the meeting of the executive com- mittee Edward Coleman, cbairman of the finance committee, submitted u partisl report of the work don. by his commliitee in the coilcction of funds for the entertain- ment. The shortness of time since the appoint- ment of the committee with the necessary ume taken upn districiing the city and the apuointing of col ors, has made it impossible for the chairman torender even an approximate fizare of how much money mav be coilecied. Yet he is s: guine that a sum suffi- ciently lurge will be on band to cover ail tue exven-e of the week’s entertainment. The foliowing Citizens were added to che finance commitiee: C, Barrington, Barry Buaidwin, Jerem.ah Deasy, W. Freder:ck, E P. Fish, E. P. Herrmann, John Jackson, : . Leach. Joun C. 7 v Montague, William Me- . J. Smith, Michael Smith, onel E.J. Doolittie, Churies Charles 5. Young. ord, chairmaa of the literary and musical commitiee, brought up the question of giving a series of tabieaux representative oi California’s past and present history. He submitted a pros- pective prozramme, which could be given in the Canfornia Theater for theentire week at a_probable expenditure of $3000. 1t was understood that a small admission fee should ve charged, not so much for the object of gain as to keep the place | from overcrowding. The managers of the theater offered the house for five nights and Saturday mati- nee for $1000, inciuding scenery, ushers and such properties as might be needed. At the request of Mr. Ford, Mrs. V and Mr. Dy mittee und tableaux for JAGS WILL BE CHEAP. Rumors That the Price of Beer Will Be Reduced One- Fifth, nch, 1 I A Strong Effort to Be Made by the Brewers' Association to Cripple the Union. If the rumor which is being circu'ated among local brewerymen is true on and afier the 1stday of January jags will be so cheap that it will not be worth the trouble to buy one—in fact, beer will be { cheap eno to wash in, end a!l because | the strong fizhi the Brewery Workmen's Union is making to introduce the union label. About six months ago a label was adopted by the union and all breweries empioying union workmen were given a good supily of them, and organized labor generully was nsiracted to look out for the 1abel and demand it. | Furthermore, a committee was appoint- | ed to interview the most prominent sa- loon-k: s and request them 10 handle | onlv the labeled prodver. Many of them | did so at once, while others waited until | a few demands for unicn beer, whica they could not supply. re-uited in the loss of good customers, and then made the | change. i Now, the non-union brewers are all memopersof an association and are piedeed o fight unicnism in any shape, and when last week two of thcir best customers | 2@ Lands with the union a basty meet- | was called to lay outa plan of cam- | palgn. | | Justwhatthis scheme is is not definitely { known, but Secretary Walters of the Brew- {ers’ Union reported at last night’s meet- 10g of the Labor Council that be has veen ablv informed thaton the 1st of Janu- | , 1895, the price of sieam beer will be 0 $1 per keg, and wili be furiher it necessary, to break up the iorce other breweries 10 dis- rge their union help. The present eof steam beeris §5 ver keg. The union is neither surprised nor alarmed at this move, as in the first place, the members szy, union men will prefer paying a b ice for union beer, and aven i they the local union has » fund set aside for just such an emer- scv which it will not hesitate to u.e ely. Letters wiil be sent out by the secretary of the Labor Council to afliiiated unions | warning members to keep a sharp lookout for union beer. i & Their Mother's Will. Amelia and sherman Bornheimer, daugh- ters of Catnerine Sandell by a former mar- riage, bave filed a coute will on the ground of und 3 the woman au induced her to gall save him ali her money Government Guarantee It is seldom that the Govern- ment guarantees anything in the form of a manufactured It is true, however, that in one instance at least it does. Every bottle of 0. F. C. Whiskey has a Government stamp at- tached to it, stating that it was | bottled under the supervision of the Government and is guar- anteed 100 per ecent proof. This fact alone should recom- mend this valuable whiskey to those who wish to have those things which are desirable and land you know the most- | —also the glass hiated at. morning. jenough. We don’t promise NEW TO-DAY. GIFT - MAKING HELPFULNESS! These are the busiest days of the year. Christmas buying on every side and the mountain of gifts for Christmas delivery grows higher and higher. _express wagons instead. You like furniture, your friends like it—do you know anybody who doesn’t like it and who wouldn’t enjoy some dainty furniture bit as a Christmas gift ? Comfort chairs. A few dollars spent here would insure grandpa’s comfort the rest of his life. Adjustable back chairs, cush- ioned with downy softness, $14. (Not like picture.) Come as soon as you can.| Each day lessens the list,! Music and music-cabinets. wanted things go first. ~ilbout | Can’t have Christmas {music, and music and music- | cabinets are twins, | The open-face sort, §6350. Like picture, $1450. Hall furniture was never so pretty as it is to-day—so pretty, Bookcaces in fact, that we’ve put it on the list of givables. A generous gift for yourself See picture. We’ve the settee | O another. Every sort, size, shape and color, Name your price and we’ll fit a bookease to it. And bookcase desks. | this | This is desk time—and 1is the desk store, decidedly. 143 sorts by actual count this, Th> p ciure shows a preity shape. We have it in three woods—oak, mahogany | color and green. You’d would run out of shapes for parlor tables. Each year they’re different. Hundreds of makers, we take think the makers Our delivery system satis- fies everybody. It’s simple| what we can’t do. the prettiest shapes from each. Our men are careful not P P Some for $1, some for $30; like picture, $10. to mar your walls. N.P.COLE & CO,, good. 117,119, 121, 123 Geary St. The store looks as Christmassy as pos- sible-—-everything except Santa Claus and his nimble team. No use for them. A dozen Open evenings until Christmas. | | And here’s our offering for those unable to join the family round the Christmas spread. An invalid’s table. Thbe base goes under the bed, top above— right in front of tue sick one. Then pile on the goodies! Christmas the year through. | Take time in. buying. | Don’t hurry. What you want is here, ‘jand we want you to have it. Now, don’t go out till you’re satisfied. | Here’s a desk we got for the fschool girls and boys of San Big enough | papas and mammas, too. | Francisco. for i o 8 Genuine mahogany (veneered), $3 50. Don’t blame a woman for wanting to look her best. Help her out. She probably won’t ask you to get her a dressing-table—but she wants one. Cost less than usual this year. Mid all the busy bustle of buying, don’t forget that you're welcome JUST TO LOOK. | We believe in good-will as well as in giving good gifts. Of course, we deliver free in Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley. California Furniture Company, Carpets, Rugs, Mattings.