Subscribers enjoy higher page view limit, downloads, and exclusive features.
o - THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 consumers, were privately advised as to how they might get in on the ground floor. Mr. McNear of San Francisco, a very ful operator in commissions and succe: x margins, had 100,000 sacks set aside for him, without presenting at the time either affidavit or deposit. In fact, he did not have an affidavit covering ap- plication for so much as a single sack, but, like Mr. Diggs, he agreed to send ‘out into the country to procure them. This d ,dmittedly made as the re- sult of a private conversation between Mr. McNe yd Warden Hale, left only 150,000 surplus sacks to be dispos- ed of at the prison clearing house. Evi- ntly Mr. McNear, like others, was keeping a pretty close tab on the San Quentin stock to 40 which the board made March 20, when they had nothing but the sale of the output to consider. With Mr. R. Lichtenberg, the San Francisco dealer, similar transactions in larger quantitie: re recorded. He plainly communications acing” th an Quentin sacks. Lichtenberg deals in big numbers— D! 50,000 and 100,000 at a turn. With ref- erence to the sack situation he has a te consultation with Mr. Ellis. kept closely posted on the condi- of the San Quentin supply, and tion sts on having all the “culls” or so- acks saved for him. > orders are regularly idavit and deposit to follow. 1 even to the length le for him in future de- 000,000 surplus sacks y the board resolutions had posed of. Notice to this effect rved on Mr. Lichtenberg Febru- the day before the board met tele and raised the price to $5. Mr. Fitzgerald, present chairman of the Board of State Prison Directors, and Mr. De Pue, the recently retired member, visited The Call office last th gentlemen asserted that unaware of any violation of > Ostrom law, and that the affairs of i mill & been managed to were terest of the State. m have been made, from a business point of view, Mr. De Pue stated that the board had acted ever with the object in view of making the mill successful and self-support- in ¥y intimations of collusion en or violation of the law, y of the farmer, was an out- f the truth d that their trans- re preserved in the records, any one who chooses may read When his attention was called that goods had been sold them to the fact in viclation of Sec. 3 of the law he ad- mitted having labored under a misun- derstanding as to that clause, and thought it related merely to jute bags. Mr. De Pue explained the difficulties experienced by the board in selling sacks direct to farmers when the latter were without the means with which to ke the legal payments, and thought v busir han would approve the course pursued in disposing of the sur- »duct to replen the revolv- lemen were indignant at the intimation of wrongdoing expressed by nator Ostrom, and resented it as wholly undeserved and unjust. CONNIVANCE WITH THE BIG MIDDLEMEN. | An Insight Into the Manipu- and figuring on the rise | on | | that jute 1s sgain a ltte Tawer. Very truly | yours, R. LICHTENBERG. | February 8, 1897. Mr. R. Lichtenberg, San Francisco, Cal | Dear Sir: Your favor of the 2d inst. to hand. | I suppose you know that the directors fixed the price of our bags yestérday at 4.75 cents. course we would be pleased to book Mr. Williams' order for 50,000 bags now, and I en- | cicse blanks for the purpose. I do not know, however, about Koshland's order and do not think it policy, would approve of booking orders for anyone, unless the affidavits are furnished at the time of 50 booking the order. We might do so later | on, during the harvest season in some cases, where bags are wanted in a hurry, but just | now it would not look well. However, Mr. Ellis desires you to meet him to-morrow (Thursday) at the bank at 11:30 | and perbaps you had better talk with him | about ft. | Yours truly, C. J. WALDEN. BAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 4, 1897. J. V. Ellis, Esq, San Quentin, Cal.—Dear Sir: Referring to our to-day’s conversation, I | beg to inform you that I have placed with Mr. B. F. Porter of Los Angeles 50,000 San Quentin grain bags at 4% cents, and I will send affi- | davit and check for 10 per cent as deposit to- morrow or Saturday. 1 will see Judge Wil- liams to-morrow, also my party for the 100,000 Spot at 4.65 cents, subject to confirmation. Very truly yours, R. LICHTENBERG. | SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 5 1897. Hon. W. E. Hale, Warden State Prison, San Quentin—Dear Bir: Referring to my yester- day’s letter I beg to hand you inclosed | F. Porter's arfidavit and check for §: ing deposit on 50,000 grain bags at 4% cents. | Please send me receipt and confirmation of sale and oblige yours truly, R. LICHTENBE Feb. 6, 1897 Mr. R. Lichtenberg, San Francisco, Cal.— Dear Sir: I beg to acknowledge receipt of your favor of the 5th inst. with orders of Mr. B. F. Porter for 50,00 grain bags and check for $237 50 to cover deposit on same. The order s been duly booked, and as requested I hand you inclosed bill for balance due when bags are ordered forward and receipt for the de- posit. Yours truly, W. E. HALE, Warden. (M) SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 11, 18 Hon. W Hale, Warden State Prison, San Quentin, Cal.—Dear Sir: I have lectured on the San Quentin graln bags in preference to Cal- cuttas all day and with good result. I have placed 270,000 at 4% cents, conditions as re- quired by law, and I am treating now for 130,- 000 more. Particulars, checks and affidavits I bring over personally on Saturday. Please ship at once, elther by steamer Caroline or by rail, 20,000 at 4% cents, care of S. Koshland & C check and affidavit will follow to-morrow. Telegraph me after receipt whether the bags will be shipped by steamer or rail and whether Koshland & Co. shall make out check for 90 in your or Mr. J. V. Ellls' name. Very truly yours, R. LICHTENBERG. SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. Dear Mr. Walden: Please find inclose ter and statement in regard to grain bags. I carried these papers back by mistake on Sat- 2 keep me posted about number of bags sold and keep all imperfect bags for me. Yours truly, R. LICHTENBERG. SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 17, Hon. W. E. Hale, Warden State Prison, Quentin, Cal.—Dear Sir: I have placed to-day 25,000 San Quentin with three parties at 4% cents and I am working at present for 50,000 more; checks and affidavits to-morrow. Please inform me how many bags are open for sale now out of the last million. Our market is very firm, and 1t is reported to-day that Bal- four, Guthrie & Co. mre getting 5 cents for June-July. Very truly yours, R. LICHTENBERG. SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 15, 1597. Hon. W, E. Hale, Warden, State Prison, San Quentin, Cal.—Dear Sir: Confirming my terday’'s letter, I beg to ask you to book the following sales at 4% cents as per affidavits enclosed, viz.: rge E. Willlams, 50,000, check 10 per cent, Thomas E. Willlams Jr., 10,00, check 10 per cent, $47 50: Frank S. Johnson, check 10 per cent, $750; Jac Levi Sr., check 10 per cent, $237 50; for which you will please send me bills as usual. | I further beg to state that owing to tele- graph just recelved I have placed 100,00 to different Los Angeles farmers from whom I will have checks and proper affidavits to- | | morrow, and by that time I think to place 000 more, making a total of 200.00. Please | state how many will be left for sale after de- ducting this quantity. Grain bags same as reported yesterday. Very | truly yours, . LICHTENBERG. 18t 50,000, nor do I think the directors | Mr. Hale is gone south for a while. | . | $18,000 profit which The Call speaks of | | even I presume some way would be found to benefit those whom the law never intended to benefit. | “As to the practice spoken of in The | Call on the part of merchants who ob- | tain control of a large stock of grain | in- | seen to-day in regard to the jute bag to restrict speculation in one of the principal commodities used by the farmer. The low price of his grain, coupled with his very small margin for profit, led the Legislature to believe that as long as the convicts had to do something it would be well to effect their employment by directly benefiting the farmer. “Now, when by one means and an- | other, the directors ran the price up to the point it reached last year, they are certainly violating the law and defeat- | ing the purpose of the measure. I sup- pose when their side is heard they will be able to prove that they were acting | in accord with strict commercial prac- | tices; but while that may be true they made profit at the expense of the farm- | er, and the Legislature never intended | that they should manufacture bags for ‘; the purpose of speculation. They should | never have permitted such a surplus of stock to have accumulated. | “If their price governs the market T | do not see why they found it necessary | to unload thousands upon thousands of sacks at a price very much lower than i the farmer was compelied to pay later | on, when it became necessary for him |to buy. I do not know where this | | went, but you may depend upon it no small grain producer in the State of | California received a cent of it. “Now I suppose the claim will be | | made that the cost of production in | San Quentin necessitates this high price charged by the board. My rem- edy for this would be to establish the | jute plant at Folsom, where they have power to throw away, and where they | | could manufacture jute bags at a | greatly reduced rate. In that event bags through affidav different, ignorant men, I am proud to never heard of such a violation of the law in my locality. At the same time I know that the feeling of the farmers in this section is very strong against the practices of the Prison Board, and while before The Call's expose we had no authentic information on the man- ipulations carried on we have all felt that something was radically wrong, and we sincerely hope that The Call made by unscrupul that I have or THE MEETING OF THE WHISKERS. President Dole Welcomed to Our Shores by One Whose Hirsute Claims to Official Preferment Are as Conspicuous as His Own. may bring the relief the people desire. “I am not speaking from any person- al experience, and can only say per- sonally that, if the affair should come up for solution at the next session of the Legislature, I shall take hold of it as I do of all other matters, and try to protect the farmers of the State from any further disadvantage by so amending the law as to remove temp- tation and opportunity from those who have failed to carry out the spirit and intent of the act as it now stands.” MR. WILKINS DEFENDS THE PRISON BOARD. He Disclaims Any Knowl- edge of the Operations of Middlemen. SAN RAFAEL, Jan. 14.—James H. Wilking, one of the members of the Board of State Prison Directors, was soon after the members of the board would know the men applying for the bags and there would be no question about supplying them. We are not supposed to carry on a detective bu- reau. We deal with three and four thousand customers, and to investi- gate every affidavit would require the services of a detective bureau larger than any on earth. “I would not have sanctioned the sale of bags in large quantities had it not been necessary for us to relieve the pressing situation. Our affairs were in a terrible condition, and in common with other directors I was very unwill- ing to go before the public with a rec- ord of a heavy deficiency, which most people would have ascribed to incom- petency or worse. But the sale of the bags carried us over Landsomely, and I think any business man would have done the same under like conditions. “I didn’t understand that the mid- dlemen were buying the sacks. 1 haven't seen an affldavit that didn't comply with the law. There may have been cases of men In mercantile pur- suits applying for sacks, but as we trouble. Said he: SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 19, 1897. | Hon. W. E. Hale, Warden, State Prison, San | lation of the Surplus Sack Sale. [ It was impossible for the prison di- Quentin—Dear Sir: Since my respects of yes- terday I have received Mr. Walden's yester- day’s telegraph and two letters of same date, contents of which have been noted Atfidavits and checks for 100,000 sold to differ- ent Los Angeles farmers, as stated vesterday, are not expected to arrive here before this evening, and will be forwarded as soon as received. I furthermore beg to hand you enclosed affi- davit for 6000 grain bags placed in San Luis Obispo to George McDaniel (February 16) and check for $237 50, Bank of California, covering | | the 10 per cent deposit. Trusting that this sale | rectors to favor the manipulators of the -bag business without leaving a roo tracks in the sand. In an investigation of the letter records of San Quentin enough proof may be obtained to substantiate the charges | by The Call that the Ostrom law juggled desperately in the interest middlemen purchasers and specu- of lators | will be accepted, I am very truly yours, : gl R. LICHTENBERG. Take for example the brief corre- L £ponden between Warden Hale and SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 19, 1597. G. W. M ar of San Francisco, which | Mr- R. Lichtenbers, San Francisco, Cal.— | Dear Sir: favor of eyen date, McDantel for 50,000 bags and check I beg to acknowledge receipt of your with order of Mr. George for $237 50 establishes the fact that 100,000 sacks | were reserved at $5 per hundred, as thei result of a prior conversation, and |to cover deposit on same. Bill for same show- | without affidavit or deposit. This, in | 108 balance due, please find enclosed. 1 have | " z rder, although it exceeds the | espite of the provision of section 3| Pooked this order. & e 2,000,000 limit, and have wired to the Board of | Directors, who meet at Folsom to-morrow, for | instructions as to the 100,000 you placed in Los | Angeles. The limit being reached, all orders at 4% cents will be refused hereafter until we e Ostrom act, which says *“all or- for jute goods must be accompa- nied by an affidavit setting forth that | “I took my office as a member of the board In April, 1896, and at that time we had a large supply of bags on hand, but though the season was advancing we were getting no orders for them. We sent out circulars and posters broadeast, but they failed to have the slightest effect. We then resorted to an expedient never before attempted. Four drummers were sent throughout the State, one in the Northern Sacra- mento Valley, one about Stockton, one about Tulare and Bakersfield ond one in the Salinas and Santa Clara Val- leys. “They sold, all told, as nearly as T can say about 1,000,000 bags, and I think it is safe to say that they inter- viewed one-half to two-thirds of the farmers who raised wheat in commer- cial quantities In the State of Califor- nia. Many of the farmers could not take the bags, as they were unable to raise the necessary 10 per cent cash payment, and in a number of Instances the middlemen came to their rescue by knew that they used them for farms of thelr own wea supplied thelr demands. “I- believe that now the situation is relieved and the affairs of the jute mill are on a satisfactory basis, that the Ostrom act will be complied with in the strictest sense of the law. “The orders for sacks for this year's crop will soon come in; at the next meeting orders will be received, I be- lleve, and we will supply them. If ever the law has been violated except by persons presenting false affidavits | I do not know of it personally.” |REPORTS FROM THE FARMING COMMUNITIES. Small Wheat-Raisers Fail | to Derive Benefit From | the Ostrom Act. chased earlier in the season he could have done much better. Mr. Manor argues that the prison di- rectors forced the prison bags on the market early in the season, and later raised the price to a potht above that asked for Calcutta ba, PETALUMA, Jan. 14.—Owing to the fact that Petaluma and vicinity abound principally in poultry and dairy farms the farmers are not greatly inconven- fenced in the purchase of their grain sacks. The fact of the requirements of the Board of Directors at San Quen- tin of payment in advance and the usual red tape deters the mills or small farmers from patronizing prison-made sacks. It is estimated that not more than 20,000 sacks are purchased here in a year, the farmers using their old bags as long as possible. The Golden Eagle Milling Company state that they have never handled any of the San Quentin bags. In the first place the law pro- hibits any but actual consumers pur- chasing bags from the prison, and sec- ondly, firms here have been able so far to purchase the Calcutta bags with less difficulty and sell them in this market | as low as those of San Quentin make | were quoted. The difference in quality is but little, and as long as Calcuttas answer the | farmers' purpose they will not pay| more for the San Quentin convict-made sacks; especially as in several notable | instances they have had cause to com- plain of unfair treatment, where they should only have received the fair deal- ing they expected. | HOLLISTER, Jan. 14—San Quentin | sacks are used exclusively in this coun- ty. The large farmers deal direct with | | the prison. The small farmers are fur- | | nished the sacks at the prison price, | | plus cost of freight. The farmers here | | have no complaint concerning midale- | men, but naturally suffer from the fluc- | tuation in prices of the San Quentin | product. | | VISALIA, Jan. 14.—The publications ‘ln The Call regarding the jobbery in | grain sacks have elicited much interest pecially have been unable to have that amount on hand at tne time they need- ed the bags. Hence it has been the rule for the farmers here to depend on a few | of the largest dealers in grain bags for | what they wanted in that line, knowing | that the dealers would advance the | sacks until the grain was sold. I have been assured that not more than one out of ten farmers in this part | of the county makes it a custom to or- der grain bags from San Quentin. It has been whispered that a large lot of grain bags was secured last summer from the San Quentin mills by a few | dealers who expected to do an immense | business in that line on account of the | flattering prospects for wheat. How they obtained the sacks is not exactly known. It is said that a good many bales are being carried over. Prices of sacks have varied here from as low as 5 cents to as high as 8 or 9 cents In the past four years. Most | farmers agree that either the law or | the management of the State product | has not been entirely satisfactory. | SONOMA, Jan. 14.—Some of the grain | farmers here purchase their supply of sacks from San Francisco commission out as intended, and the unanimous voice of the tillers of the soil here de- mands an investigation. MARYSVILLE, Jan. 14.—To the charge of harboring unscrupulous mid- dlemen or bankers who are in league with the directors of the San Quentin Prison in the violation of the Ostrom act, Marysville is one city that can plead not guilty. This for the reason that the dealers here have never taken kindly to nor admired the red tape fea- tures of the purchase ot jute bags frory the prison. They are modest in their confession that they never have yield- ed to the temptation to make false af- fidavit “that the amount of goods in the order were for individual and per- sonal use of the applicant.” Instead they have been and are now handling the Calcutta sacks, supply- ing for the most part the farmers of Yuba and Sutter counties, whom they carry on their books from year to year. One of these merchants said to your correspondent that he knows of scarcely any San Quentin bags having been used by the ranchers hereabouts last season. When the San’ Quentin bag was from an eighth to a quarter cheaper than the Calcutta article a few of the farmers found themselves financially able to purchase the prison bags. But as the prison directors re- quire cash down for the goods few farmers in this section heve been in position to deal with them in three sea- sons past. Hence the sway of the Cal- cutta bag, which is this season quoted lower than the San Quentin article. NAPA, Jan. 14.—During the year 1897 very few prison made sacks were pur- chased by our farmers, though in 1894- 95-96 the quantity was quite large. A. Hatt, one of the largest grain men here, says: “The reason that last season Calcut- ta sacks were almost exclusively bought in this county was that they were cheaper than those made at the prison. I think, too, that they were | better and stronger, for the prison sacks brought here the year before were miserable quality, breaking often in the seams. “The Ostrom law was’ supposed to have been enacted in the interest of the farmers, to enable them to get at a minimum cost bags made at an in- stitution which they help to keep up, but the good obtained from it amounts to near nothing. At least such would seem the case when farmers cannot afford the extortionate prices at the prison and must buy for a trifle less, but still high, of a private corporation. “I don’t charge the Prison Directors | with corruption. T know nothing of the | allegations, and have given the matter no attention, but I do know it does not appear that the jute department of San Quentin Prison is run much in the in- terest of the farmers of California. The prices of Calcutta are high yet they are lower than San Quentin. Why is it?” F. E. Johnston, one of Napa's most prominent attorneys and owner of one of the largest farms in the county, | thinks much as does Mr. Hatt. Since the passage of the Ostrom law in 1893 | Mr. Johnston has purchased only one | season’s sacks at the prison. That was in 1894, when he paid 5% cents for five thousand sacks. The following year he bought none, but in 1896 preferred Calcuttas. Also in 1897. In 1896 a | thousand Calcuttas cost him 41-5 | and in 1897 two thousand 5 cents each. | This was better than he could do at | San Quentin. The Call's probfng of | this matfer is attracting much atten- tion in Napa. merchants, while others place their or- | ders with the home merchants. Owing to the relatively small amount of wheat raised there is no business house which keeps sacks on hand or makes a specialty of them. The price paid by the farmer for the prison-made sack, which is supposed to be 1 cent above cost, is the same as they pay for the imported Calcutta sack. No orders are sent direct to San Quentin Prison, as it was intended they should be when the Ostrom law was passed in 1893, and | it appears as though the wholesaler is reaping the benefit instead of the farm- er. The business men of Sonoma said to-day that the sack business did not justify them bothering with it. F. T. Duhring, the largest dealer here, hand- led but 2000 sacks last year. Mr. Joseph Tate, who is connected with his father, Mr. F. Tate, on one of the largest ranches in this valley, when speaking about the purchase of sacks, said that there was no difference in the the amount of goods contained in the order are for individual and personal | putting up the amount. “Well, we reached the end of the fis- | hear from the directors. Yours truly, W. E. HALE, Warden. WILLIAMS, Cal, Jan. 14.—The bank | here, both among dealers and farmers. | here i8 owned by the Stovall Wilcoxson | It seems to be the prevailing opinion use,” and in section 2, “that 10 per cent | SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 20, 1597, of the purchase price shall nc(‘nmpan}"‘ Hon. W. E. Hale, Warden, State Prison, San each order. Mr. McNear's informal | Quentin—Dear Sir: Confirming my yesterday's and illegal application was as follows: | letter I beg to hand you enclosed check for 75, London, Paris and American Bank, to | March 6, 187. | .,ver deposit on 100,000 grain bags at 4% cents, Mr. G. W. McNear, San Franciseo, Cal.— | placed in Los Angeles as per my letter of the : Dear Sir: F ing to our conversation by | jsth fnst., and the affidavit herewith. Very | telephone t I now beg to confirm, that | ¢ruly yours, R. LICHTENBERG. we have reserved for you 100,000 grain baln‘ Tt oraers with aenaacte on ve. | SENATOR DOTY vhich yo v (¢ i | which you say you will furnisa TALKS TO THE y law, Our sales have been limited i | days. since February 20 to quantities not exceeding cal year 1896, barely managing to get | through and keep things on a level keel. We couldn’t sell the bags. All the working capital was tied up in the bags—about $150,000. “It took about $5000 a month to run the jute mill, and this sum must be realized from sales of sacks, for the general appropriation was only suffi- clent to pay the salaries and subsist- ence charges. The appropriation for that year was $147,000, but we could only draw one-twelfth of that amount Company, who farm nearly 10,000 acres, and they buy San Quentin bags through members of the corporation for their own use, consuming annually from 30,000 to 60,000 sacks. Last year they paid $4 They do not sell any. D. Levy is the only dealer in this vicinity who sells bags. L. G. Manor, another large farmer, last year purchased 34,000 bags, buy- ing from the Calcutta combination at the | that the grain sack business of State has not greatly redounded to the | benefit of the average farmer. | A good many San Quentin grain bags | | have been purchased in Tulare County | by the wheat growers, but far more of | the Calcutta product have found their | | way to this part of the valley. There | are reasons for this. One is that the | San Quentin bags have been slightly | smaller than the others. Again, the law | price of prison sacks and those im- ported from Calcutta. Last year they purchased their supply in San Francis- co, and the price for the two makes was the same. By the passage of the Ostrom law it was intended to protect the farmer against the high price of the imported Calcutta goods, and also give the pris- oner a chance to earn his living, but when goods, upon which there is a tar- iff, and in the manufacture of which | WOULD PRINT SCHOOLBOOKS IN THE STATE PENITENTIARY. DES MOINES, Ia., Jan. 14—Senator | Wilson to-day created a storm by intro- ducing a joint resolution providing that | all schoolbooks used in public institu- tions of the State be hereafter printed | and bound at the State penitentiaries. | Already members are being flooded with | remonstrances by mail and wire. Whils | most of them are from leaders -of or- ganized labor, many are from citizens, in- | dependent of labor influences, who be- | ieve the adoption of the resoiution by a Republican Legislature would have a demoralizing effect on the party at large. S S . nos SPECIAL SATURDAY ONLY TELEPHONE SOUTH 292. RESH CREAMERY, BUTTER, EXTRK FOINT Reves, sauares 456 | EGGS, Best Petaluma - - . 27Jc Doz. FLOUR, Best Family - = = =$1.10 Sack 1324-1326 Market St. and 134 Sixth St. NEW TO-DAY. LE labor has to be paid, is offered for sale | 18510, saving above the cost of prison | required that 10 per cent of the price of 10,000 bags for any one farmer. After book- ing your order, we have now only about 150,- 000 bags left for sale, out of our stock on hand, and when they are sold further action by the directors will be necessary to deter- mine how and at what price to dispose of the bags we shall manufacture from now on. I enclose a number of blank orders. Yours truly, W. E. HALE, Warden. Thus with the surplus almost ex- hausted, and without affidavit or de- posit, 100,000 were set aside as sold for future delivery, when the price had been raised by the directors from $5 to $540. Mr. McNear made due acknowl- edgment of the favor as follows: San Francisco, March 8, 1897 Mr. W. E. Hale, Warden California State Prison, San Quentin, Cal.—Dear Sir: 1n receipt of your letter of the 6th inst., advis- ing tkat you have reserved 100,000 grain bags for us at 5 cents. the country to be signed by our customers, and as soon as we receive them wiil forward them to vou, together with the necessary de- posit. Thanking you, I remain, yours very truly, G. W. McNEAR. Mr. R. Lichtenberg of San Francisco does a thriving business with the board, both in the matter of selling raw jute and in buying bags as a middleman. An idea of the extent of his transactions | in the latter respect, and the profit he ! reaped, may be gathered from the sub- joined correspondence copied from the files: San Francisco, Feb. 2, 1897, Hon. W. E. Hale, Warden State Prison, San Under the usual condi- tions and 10 per cent deposit, payable at once, I can probably place here 250,000 grain bags, viz: 50,000 with Mr. Willlams (Williams es- tate), 200,000 with Messrs. S. Koshland & C first party signing affidavit now, the latt binding themselves to deliver farmers' affd vits later on. Delivery to be taken any time between now and June next. 8. Koshland & Co. may want some bags 8s early as this month. Kindly advise me what I am author- ized to do in this matter. Our market is very firm: the rain of the Jast days has been all over the Staté; so, especially the south has been benefited and prospects for large crops have never been bet- ter. There I8 Do news from Calcutta except I am | ‘We have sent affidavits into | PRISON BOARD. | He Says They Are Violat- ing the Ostrom Law and Defeating Its Ends. ELK GROVE, Jan. 14—The stand taken by The Call on the side of the | farmers of the State and against the | manipulation carried on by the Prison Board has become a subject of general discussion throughout Sacramento County. Senator Gillis Doty, who is recognized as the most dauntless cham- | pion the farmers of California have ever had in the State Legislature, in | speaking of the expose made by The Call, said to The Call correspondent | to-day: | “In general with the farmers of the | i State T have always felt that the true | | purposes and design of the Ostrom bill | | have been defeated. The only motive | which lay at the bottom of that act of 1893 consisted in a desire to benefit the | farmers of the State and thereby, in a | measure, atone for the employment of | convict labor in the manufacture of | grain bags. But wherein have the | farmers profited from it? “If the recent publications of The Call be true, I am sure instead of there being a profit or advantage to the farmers, there has been a distinct loss inflicted on them, besides a very serious disadvantage. I have not given the matter much thought since Robert T. Devlin, the Prison Director, ran for Su- perior Judge in this county some few years ago. I remember then that his record on the jute bag proposition was very thoroughly discussed among the farmers, and, if their vote on his can- didacy is any indication, I am sure the Sacramento farmers were very emphat- ic in condemning the course of the Prison Board. “The purpose of the Ostrom law was i .| the Board of Examiners allowed us to | However, we had relieved the embar- | | cal year began. a month, or a little over $12,000, which | barely paid the salaries and the sub- | at the same price as the prison-made sacks, as then quoted, laid down at| the bags accompany the order, and 1 article, where the labor is not paid, it | ‘Willlams, the sum of $277. Had he pur- | many of the smaller wheat growers es- | is evident that the laws are not carried sistence charges. We had no money for the running of the jute mill, and A~~~ overdraw the one-twenty-fourth act, we overdrawing a little over $5000 a month for several months in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, “Shortly after we relieved the situ- ation, securing orders to manufacture 1,600,000 sugar bags and received cash for them. This eased up the state of affairs existing, yet we were away| This is the verdict of the people in short on the one-twenty-fourth act. | regard to Hood's Sarsaparilla. Wher- rassing situation. Otherwise the mill it is given a fair trial it demon- must have closed shortly after the fis- | strates its absolute intrinsic merit. | ever It because it “On the close of the 1896 calendar | makes friends easy year we almost determined to close | Makes people well. S down the jute mill, for the sugar bag| As its sales are rapidly Increasing, bus;:es: was exhausted and we | fts volume of praise grows greater day couldn’t see our way clear fo make | = both ends meet, yet we determined to | *_9a¥: It 1s now generally recog- | run along in the hopes that something | nized as America’s Greatest Medicine. would turn up, and it did. In January, | ItS use is prescribed by physicians, 1897, the boom began, and it purely | druggists, and even the great influen- | arose over the scare among the farm- | tial newspapers advise correspondents ers about the McKinley bill. A com- | guffering from impure blood to “take mittee had formulated a tariff bill and | gooq's guupnrlll:" the tariff on bags was run up to 2% cents, and this meant that the price of | 1t D'a8 cured the worst cases of scrof- bags would reach at least 6 cents, | W& Salt rheum, sores, uicers, boils, There was a rush to get the San Quen- | €tc., simply and solely because it tin bags, as there were no Calcutta | thoroughly purifies the blood. bags on the market at all. It cures catarrh and the pains and “Inquiries for our bags came In thick | aches of rheumatism, neuralgla, mala- and fast and we fixed the price at $4 75. traliz Of course we were anxious to straight- ki xSt en out our affairs, and we desired to put the jute mill again on a business is. “We directed the sale of a millio bags, as we had the right to do, a; regarded the sale as a perfect godsen relieving us, it did, from a mo: embarrassing position. “I never heard of Diggs before. Very ' NEW TO-DAY. blood vitality and strength. virtue of its qualities as a true stom- ach tonic, appetizer and aid to diges- tion. It cures nervousness, nervous dyspep- | sia, that tired feeling, weariness of mind and body, because it feeds the nerves, muscles and tissues upon pure blood, and thus gives them the tone and strength they imperatively need. | It prevents fevers, the grip, colds, | ete., because it fortifies and strengthens the system to resist these attacks and the unfavorable effects of changeable. damp, stormy weather. This is simply what Hood's Sarsa- parilla has done for others, and what, if you are in need, it will do for you. In Yyour necessity give Hood's Sarsaparilla the opportunity to do you good. Fairly tried, you will find it a faithful friend. | pels the germs of disease, and gives the | It relieves dyspepsia, indigestion, bil- | fousness, torpid liver and Kkidneys, by | A Good Medicine “My little boy was taken with in- flammatory rheumatism when he was 2 years old. He was in a serious condi- tion. We did not know what it was for all of us to get a good night’s rest for many years. Some one had to sit up with him. We tried every means we could think of to effect a cure, but nothing helped him. At one time we thought he could not live from day to day. He had a heart trouble caused by the rheumatism. I had about given up all hope of his recovery, but I thought I would get a bottle of Hood's Sarsa- parilla. Before he had taken one half the contents he began to improve. He kept on gaining as I continued to give | him the medicine, and now he is well | and strong and goes to school every day. I owe his life to Hood's Sarsa- parilla.” Mrs. P. S. Lockridge, 1328 ‘West Second street, Los Angeles, Cal. | N. B. If you decide to take Hood's | Sarsaparilla, do not be induced tc buy |any substitute. Be sure to get only | Hood’s. Hood’s Sarsaparilla Is America’s Greatest Medicine. Sold by all druggists. $1; & six for 5. Prepared only by C. I. Hood & Co., Lowell, Mass. The Weekly Call. News or the Week and MANY ATTRACTIVE AND ORIGINAL FEATURES. BEST WEEKLY IT IS THE s PAPER ON TH& PACIFIC COAST . 7 — T The Best Mining Telegraphic News That Service on Is Accurate The Consc/ v N\ & up to datu: | Not a Line of it Sensational or Faky, and Not a Line of it Dry or Uninteresting, | i Bright, Clean, A Champiod of Thoughtful. Truth, 3 —_— e CALIFORPIWSPAH] | 3 ALL THE TIME. m :'%VWTFS SENT BY MAIL, $1. INDUSTRIES A YEAR e X } 1t Publishas the Cream of the ¥