The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 21, 1898, Page 7

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 1898. T CITY TREASURER WIDBER d BIG 'DEFAULTER » His Shortage Is Esti- mated at About $118,000. Arrested at His Ranch | Whence He Fled Yesterday. Gold Coin Abstracted From Sealed Sacks and Silver Substituted. WAS A PLUNGER ON RACES Makes Entire Responsibility for the a Statement Assuming the Shortage. conveyed to police authorities of their office at It Widber was ar- reek, but, so far as the missing money has weeks it had been rumored urer Widber had been | races, and also that his ot in the condition that Nothing of a tangible | could be obtained. these reports that 1 aused an examination | e of Widber’s books, and a de to him that there was Widber's accounts of | On a further investiga- iber's accounts, however, ortage by ne mj manipulation h: ever, cess of ad e facts that developed yes- terday It appears that there has been ic and wholesale robbery of oney going on from the of the Treasurer's office, and iber is solely and directly re- »een found 1 eral fund. S h n connection with the gen- cks of money which should e contained $5000 in gold have been und to be filled with about $250 in The shortage in this fund d to be § In the col- e tax fund a shortage )0, while the money of trator in the custody is short ,000. reasurer M. de la red the sensational i ing that a seal on a sack of gold coim had been tam- with. He at once suspected that was the culprit, only Wid- nd he had the combination to the n the vault that contained had be mpered with. lver col the matter to the atten- superfor, the latter admitted that he alone was responsible for any deficit. This was on Tuesda Widber had promised Montanya that would come ) to the office yesterday morni g and matters up. Montanya walted until noon, but Widber failed to put in an appearance. Montanya then sc the Mayor in order to In- form h of the state of affairs that existed in the ] Su office. £t W not until after 2 o'clock that he found Mayor Phelan. The latter af once put the police authorities in pos- session of all the known facts. A ch was immediately instituted for ber, and the police took charg: of the T irer’s office. At about 4 lock Mayor Phelan, Auditor Broderick, Deputy District At- torney Hosmar, City Attorney Cres- well, Judge Troutt and Chief Leeswent o into conference in the Treasurer's of- fice. They decided to begin immediate investigation, and statements were taken {n shorthand of each of the of- fice employes. All the moneys were placed under lock and seal, and & thorough examination of the will be made to-day. The news was not made public about the City Hall until after 4 o’clock, but after the first word got out it spread like wildfire, and the threatened war with Spain became a secondary matter of interest. It is a notorious fact that for many weeks Widber went to a certain saloon on Stockton street at about 6 o'clock every evening. A received reports sults of the d placed commi the following day. funds from him of the re- g and to have Widber is also the reputed owner of a number of race horses. Rubicon, said to be one of the animals owned by Widber, won the last race at Ingleside yesterday. He was played he, by McGowan and his friends, and was entered in the name of McGoi*an According to the statement of one of the deputles in the City Treasurer's office, Widber was under a bond of only $100,000, with the Fidelity and Casualty Company of Maryland as surety. The s of the bond occasioned con- comment yesterday, as there s when the City Treasurer has tody of more than $2,000,000. e the shortage discovered thus far is believed to be not less than $116,- 000, it is possible that this amount may be Increased, and materially, when the investigation is completed. With one exception this is the largest loss ever sustained by the city by de- falcation. Alexander Austin, who was Tax Collector of this city many years ago, stole $275,000, which was lost in mining stock speculations. money deposited in bank In his own ame for several years pending the de- ciston of the Supreme Court relatiye to the tax under which this Lean collected. The money had been paid under protest. When Austin’s de- faleation was discovered he committel =uicide byshooting himself. Another no- The greatest shortage has | Here he met Thomas | McGowan and s reported to have He had this | money had | | table defaulter in the city's employ was Chief Deputy Treasurer Cassebohm, who served under Charles Hubert. Cas- sebohm got away with $20,000. He also committed suicide by shooting himself when his erime was discovered. When | Cassebohm saw the experts come into | his office he took his hat, went home and blew his brains out. As shown by the City | Augustus C. Widber and $116,000 were i{ssed from the City Treasurer’'s office Within a few minutes after Directory, Widber lived with his mother at the| Marchioness, 158 Golden Gate avenue. | Inquiry at that place revealed the fact that son and mother had moved | several months ago and had taken | apartments at the Baldwin. Their | apartments were upon the second floor. Widber occupied room 132, facing upon Powell street, while his mother had | room 168, which is on the opposite side | | of the house. | Widber and his mother went to live | | at the Baldwin upon December 1, 189 and at the office the head clerk de- | clared that the Treasurer’'s bill was paid in full to date, but that he had | glven no intimation that he was going | to give up his room. He always paid | | his bill promptly and appeared to live | | a quiet and unassuming life. | He was not at the hotel yesterday nor had he been seen by any of the | employes of the house. It was posi- tively learned that he did not sleep | there on Tuesday night, for when the | mald went into his room at noon yes- | terday she found that the bed had not been slept in, but that it was slightly disturbed, as might have been caused by any one placing a valise upon It to pack clothes in. Mrs. J. H. Widber, the mother of the Treasurer, and her sister, Mrs. S. A.| Miller, had just gone into the ladies’ | cafe to dine about 6 o'clock when they | received the first intimation of the big defalcation. The ladles had taken their seats when the waiter told them of the report that Widber had .defaulted. For a moment the mother of the unfor- tunate man seemed hardly to realize the dreadful news; then as the terrible meaning of the words gradually dawned upon her she managed by al- most superhuman control to rise quietly from her seat and go to her room, accompanied by her sister. Once behind the friendly protection of her own door the poor, heart-broken woman gave way to her grief in tears. The severe agitation of her feelings completely prostrated her and she was unable to speak. Mrs. Miller, with sis- | terly solicitude, did everything in her | Treasurer, Montanya, put the money, which was in a hundred sacks, each containing $5000 in gold, into the in- terior vault. The sacks were sealed with the Mint seal. Widber admitted to his deputy that he Is a defaulter and that the defalcations hadoccurredsince that time. The money was last count- ed on March 25 by the Mayor, Auditor and Superior Judge Bahrs. “‘Seventy sacks were taken out and examined and the seals found to be all right. The other thirty sacks were also examined and found correct. In put- ting the sacks back Montanya found | that one of them was light and called Widber’s attention to it. He was told that it was all right and the Treasurer instructed him to put it back into the vault. “This aroused the suspiclons of Mon- tanya and the next day he communi- cated them to one of the other depu- ties in the office. Some days after Montanya made another examination and found silver in the light sacks in- stead of gold. He went to Widber and demanded that the amount be made good and the Treasurer drew his per- sonal check for $5000 upon the Bank of Commerce and the amount was made good. “From that time on until last Mon- day, when Montanya found sixteen light sacks, there was nothing to arouse his suspicions. This fact, however, pre- cip'tated the climax. Montanya ac cused Widber to his face of the theft, and the latter admitted that he was a isfaulter and said that he alone was responsible. “The abstraction of the money from the sixtecen sacks must have beea Jdone si:ce Lecember 27, and Widber admut- ted to Montanya that it was. Much o’ it may Fave been taken from the sacks sinca March 25, as smce that time the Treasurer has been known to have been in the office after office hours and at night also.” Mayor Phelan was very emphatic in the declaration that in counting the money it has been the custom to accept the Mint seals for the amount in the sacks. The commission, he said, al- ways selects one. two or three sacks at hazard and counts the money, but the last time that the money was checked over the Mayor, the Auditor and Judge Bahrs, representing the commission, whose duty it is to count the money, displayed the sublimest faith in the Mint seals and did not make an actual count of any of the sacks and conse- quently they discovered no deficit. Had théy even broken any of the seals they might have discovered the loss, but they did not do so, and as a conse- quence of their neglect the public money was stolen. The exact amount of the defalcation will probably be defi- nitely known to-day, when the officlal count is made. g THE ARREST, Widber Taken Into Custody on His Ranch Near Walnut Creek. WALNUT CREEK, April 20.—About | 4 o'clock this afternoon Augustus C.| ‘Widber, the defaulting treasurer of the City of San Francisco, accompanied by a friend, drove into this city and left shortly afterward for Widber's ranch, hetween this place and Alma. Young ‘Widber seemed very despondent, but the reason for this frame of mind was sensational matter: as a ‘mint’ seal. weighed light. power to comfort her, and finally got her to bed. | Mrs. Widber told her sister that she | knew nothing of the whereabouts of | her son or of his habits, for he was| supposed to be by the entire family a | model young man. The last time that | they saw Widber was on Monday even- | ing. Mrs. Widber and Mrs. Miller were | walking upon Market street when they | passed him, and a few words were ex- | changed between mother and son. He seemed then to be in the best of spirits and there was nothing in his manner to show that he was financially em- barrassed. Mrs. Miller said that Widber's fam- | ily knew nothing abcut his business or of his having any financial troubles. She said: “We would the very last to know anything bad about him, for we had no reason to expect anything of | that kind. We had not seen him since we met him on Market street on Mon- day afternoon. Neither his mother nor | any of us have the slightest idea where | he 1s or has gone to.” | For the present Mrs. Widber will re- main at the Baldwin, as she s said to possess considerable means of her own. She would see no one last night except her sister. Attorney Thomas A. McGowan, who is reputed to be an agent of Treasurer Widber, was rather reticent last even- | ing when questioned concerning any | scheme operated by the Treasurer which could result in such an amount of money being spent tn such a short space of time. “I have handled a few legal cases for the missing man,” said Mr. ‘Mc- | Gowan last evening, “but I have never had any dealings with him on the race courses or other gambling places. It has been reported that he was an owner of certain horses which are run- ning at the present time, but if so I| am not aware of the fact. The only thing in which he has placed his money is in a mine situated in Grass Valley. I am well aware of the fact that he has spent considerable money there, but just how much is a question. I am surprised that he has taken advan- tage of his position and hope that the entire matter will soon be satisfactor- ily settled.” At midpight Mayor Phelan gave out | the following as a result of the investi- gation held last night. FEe said: “The total amount of Widber's defal- cation is not positively known, but so far it has been ascertained that there is a loss of $116,000, of which amount $15,000 belongs to the collateral in- heritance tax fund and $25000 to the Public Administrator, whiletheamount abstracted from the sacks is probably | $76,000. | “On .December 27 last the deputy: PPPPPIPVIDPVIDOIIDDPIDODIDOIDDVIPIPPIVDVIPIDRVNIDONVADDIPIVDIVDIPIPPVPOODIO®S®D®BD G eral fund. & PS @ & @ @ S @ & ® Administrator’s account. feel easy. amount was in them. concealed by the seal. terday (Monday). was probably so. tioned. ing the exposure. blame but himself. tion. office. what induced him to take it. knowing anything about it. remained until about 4:15 p. m. self. to straighten things out. M. de la Montanya Jr., the Chief Deputy Treasurer, who made the discovery of the immense shortage of City and County Treasurer Wid- ber and gave the Information to the authorities which led to Widber's exposure and arrest, made the following statement of his part in the “Some time after they counted the cash on March 25 I noticed that one of the sacks was wrong—that the seal was broken on a sack that was supposed to contain $5000. This seal is of lead and is what is known Made suspicious by this discovery, I examined all the money in the vault and ascertained that there were sixteen sacks that Each of these was supposed count was made by weighing the sacks. sacks I judged they contained silver. these sacks has actually been counted. “Taking for granted that they are filled with silver, there would be $250 in each sack. This would make an aggregate of $4000 in the six- teen sacks, or a shortage of $76,000. “Mr. Widber had sole charge of the money, and also of the moneys belonging to the Public Administrator. These funds were also manipulated so as to $15,000 in the collateral inheritance tax fund, and $25,000 in the Public “The accounts of all the other offices are correct so far as I know. I mention this because this exposure will throughout every department in the City Hall, and the knowledge that no other office than those mentioned is involved will make the men “The sacks of money that were tampered with from banks and those who paid heavy taxes. counted, as the mint seal was accepted as a guarantee that the correct ““My examination of the sacks showed that the seal had not been broken, but that the string around the sack had been cut close to the seal and had afterward been retied in such a way as to leave the knot “I made the discovery of the first broken seal the day before yes- I continued my examination of the sacks yesterday (Tuesday) morning. When Mr. Widber came into the office I demanded an explanation from him. This was about 11 a. m. Tuesday. Our con- versation took place in his private office. “I told him I had counted the money in the vault that contained the $5000 sacks and that I had found a shortage. sacks contained silver, and he said they did. probably about $250, in that case, in each sack. He replied that that I then asked him what his shortage would be. said that his books were correct. but that the amount of cash on hand is not. I since discovered the other two shortages which I have men- “I reported the matter to the Mayor to-day, as soon after noon as I could find him—that is, about 2 o'clock. I did not report it sooner be- cause I wanted to make an examination that would justify me in mak- “Mr. Widber, while I was speaking to him, admitted that he alone was responsible for the whole matter, and that there was no one to 1 went to Mr. Widber in reference to the matter because T knew no one else who would undertake such a large defalca- 1 don’t know as a fact who did it, though Widber admitted that he had made the substitution of the silver for gold. “Mr. Widber and myself are the only two who have the combination of the time lock on the vault that contains the money belonging to the general fund. This lock can be opened at any time by a person who has the combination, and there was nothing to prevent Mr. Widber getting into the vault during the night, after everybody had It will be seen from these facts that the blame for this matter lies between Mr. Widber and myself. led me to be very careful as well as secret in making the investigation and in not reporting it sooner than I did. lish the fact that I was blameless in the matter. “I have no knowledge of how Mr. Widber disposed of the money, or I do not know that he played the races, although he might have played them through some agent without my I know he has spent some money on a mining property that he is interested in near Grass Valley, and I be- lieve that he is interested in several other mines. “I saw Mr. Widber last Tuesday afternoon in the office, where he At the time I spoke to him about this matter he admitted his guilt and said that he was going to kill him- I told him that would not do, as he was young and might be able He then said that he would wait until morn- ing and would then try to fix things up. This was on Tuesday. He was not around the office to-day, and so far as we could learn he was not seen by any one in the city to-day.” 0006’000‘00000000000000000000000000000 HOW THE STEAL WAS DISGOVERED. Chief Depnty Treasuwrer de la Nontanya Tells Admissions and Threats of Suicide. to contain $3000. The From the sound of these light As yet none of the money in This money belonged to the gen- collateral inheritance tax leave a shortage of cause considerable worry came originally They had never been I asked him if those I added that there was He left the It was a knowledge of this that I wanted to clearly estab- B O O SR ORI OROR ORI RORCRCRORORCRCRRCRCRCRCRCECR R RO R R R R R R R R R OR R R R RO R R R R R O R R R X X ol Widber's ! not known by the residents here until | some time after, when Constable C. E. i Palmer left for Widber's ranch to ar- | rest him for embezzling the municipal | funds of the city and county of San | Francisco. The afternoon train from San Fran- cisco brought among other passengers | another friend of Widber's named ! Jordan, who came here to be with Wid- | ber, it evidently being feared that the | absconding Treasurer would take his | own life. Jordan went to the ranch, and a little later Constable Palmer, with Widber in custody, accompanied by the Treasurer's two friends, re- | turned to town in a buggy. | _About 7:45 o'clock the quartet started | for Oakland behind a fast team. It | wag learned that their destination was | the Fashion stables on Broadway, | Oakland. Widber did not make any statement while here. WHAT WIDBER SAYS. Admits His Guilt and Declares He Alone Is Involved. ‘Widber and his custodians landed at | the Market-street ferry at twenty min- | utes past eleven last night and were | driven direct to the City Hall. He was conducted to the private office of Chief i ‘Show"\ how »t)}:@, C}?X’d erm. 5V sl’itud.to?\Po niwrtfofaold. 2~ : | =~/ 4l K lb./// Nt § i ymreugil | he . . ; 4 ©nDeck | Il before weal 15 4 attached. the interview the Treasurer was locked up in room 6, opposite the Chief’s office, in charge of detectives. — ONLY THE BEGINNING. His Friend Tom Sullivan Hints of Sensations to Come. OAKLAND, April 20.—The team that brought the party into Oakland made very fast time and arrived in town nearly an hour before they were ex- pected. As the party sat in the Fashion sta- bles waiting for the narrow-gauge train, Widber refused to talk. He was, protected from the little crowd that gathered as much as possible by his friend, Tom Sullivan. Tom, however, told enough of a story to suggest that the defalcation and arrest of Widber are but an opening chapter in a sensa- tional series of events yet to be devel- ored. “Widber and I have been friends for years,” said Sullivan, “‘and perhaps I know as much about his affairs as he knows himself. We went to school to- gether and our companionship has never been broken. I had no idea it wonld come to this. It is not new to me, and I was told in the city that it would all be settled and no one would be any the wiser. I believed those who | called themselves his friends, but I now find that they were not to be trusted. ““Widber is not to blame. There are others in this affair. He has a story to disclose that will astonish San Francisco. He has been hounded for the past five years, but he has endured everything and has not said a word. The reason I am with him now is to save his life. Had I not been his com- panion for the past twenty-four hours he would now be in the hands of the r-Cal!undan were two of the first officers on the scene, and they alded in making the arrest. When they found Widber he was making preparations to start for San Francisco in company with his friend Sullivan, who said: “Widber spent his money in mining, racing and real estate transactions, being a ‘sucker’ for almost everybody who wanted to work off a feasible scheme. He spent about ten thousand on the races. Though he has about $60,000 in property, he cannot make good the defalcation. He did not spend his money on women, as was reported.” Captain Callundan said: “We made the arrest without the least trouble. The man was on his way here. I got word from the i'idelity Company, which was on his bonds, that he was wanted and I started for him. The arrest was easy and the man talked when he was first taken. He had evidently been drinking a great deal and said that he owned a string of five race horses on which he had lost a great deal of money."” “NOTHING TO SAY.” Chief of Police Lees Seems De~ termined to Shield the Dis- graced Treasurer. For some unexplained reason Chiet Lees endeavored in eve way last night to prevent Widber's confession from reaching the public through the press. After Widber was brought back ta this city he was at once taken to the office of the Chief, where he was closet- ed with him for over an hour. After the interview the scheming head of the Police Department coolly Lees, who at once went to the Treas- urer’s office to notify Mayor Phelan and the others of Widber's arrival. Messrs. Phelan, Broderick and Cres- well and Judge Troutt hurricl down the long corridor and were soon closeted with the defaulter. Besides | these gentlemen and Chief Lees there | were present at the interview Constable Palmer, Thomas Sullivan, who went to Walnut Creek with Widber and was detained as a witness, and a stenog- rapher. Mayor Phelan conducted the exami- | nation, Widber answering such ques- | tions as he saw fit promptly; others he | ignored or turned aside. though entirely sober, bore evidence of having been drinking heavily, from the effects of which he had not yet fully re- covered. He was exceedingly nervous and seemed to hold himself together with an effort. “Are you aware of any shortage in the funds in your custody?” asked the | Mayor. ‘I am,” came the prompt reply. “Who took the money?” “1 d1d.” “Is anybody else implicated?” “No; I alone am responsible. was nobody in with me.” “How much did you take?” “I have no idea. I kept no account of what I took. When I wanted any money I watched my opportunity and helped myself.” “Mr. Widber, it has been stated that you have been seen in’ your office at night and that you probably took the money there. Is that true?” | *“No; I took it all in the daytime. did not take any at night.” “But how did you manage to get away with so much money when the clerks were present?” “It was very risky; I had to watch for an opportunity and slip into the vault unobserved.” “How long have your peculations been going on:” “‘Oh, the money has all been taken within a year.” “But can't you tell when you took the first money?” “No; it has been within a year; that's near enough.” ‘Widber then described, in response to the Mayor’s questioning, how he man- aged to abstract the coin. He would | trke a sack containing $5000 in gold, | and, sealed with the Mint seal, which covers the string the sack is tied with. Deftly cutting the string he would work it through the seal without in- juring the latter. Then abstracting the gold he would refill the sack with silver, and with the | aid of a needle he would run a new | string under the seal and fasten it so | that a casual inspection would never discover that the sack had been tam- | pered with. The needle Widber used for this work was found in the vault by Chief Deputy Montanya. Mayor Phelan next questioned Wid- ber as to how he had used the money taken from the treasury. In reply he said he had sunk some of it in a mine at Grass Valley, more went into the Walnut Creek propert?, some was used to purchase property on Castro street in this city, and at Moun- tain View, while the races absorbed a considerable share of it. “What induced you to first begin this work?” asked the Mayor. “Hard times. I had some property and to save it I had to ralse money; then other demands on me were made and I took more.” “Did you visit the race tracks?” | “No; I sent the money out.” | “Whom did you send it by?” “Now, that doesn’t make any differ- ence. I took the money and am respon- sible for it; I don’t propose to drag anybody else into this affair.” All attempts to get anything further out of Widber were fruitless, and after There 1 | The prisoner, | Coroner instead of the police. I took a contract, as a friend, to keep him alive in spite of his own desires, and I have carried it out. I have kept my part. Why did not the rest of his friends keep theirs? “I know more of Widber than any one else, and he is to be pitied, not blamed. He is at this time the under dog, but his time will come, and if he be not exonerated the facts will show who {s really to blame in this matter. Widber has been a tool, but if he is a criminal the fault lies with others. “Yesterday I met him at the City Hall and he was depressed. I had some conversation with him and he said, ‘Good by, Tom, I am going to leave you.” Although I knew something of his trouble I was surprised, and asked for an explanation. He said, | ‘Tom, I am going to die to-night.” T took an oath that he should not, and I determined to stay with him. I did so. I brought him over here, and our plan | informed the reporters that he had “nothing to say.” When asked if Wid- ber had made a statement to him the self-imposed Czar of the department shook his head and walked away. On account of his friendship for Wid- ber it is strongly believed that Chief Lees will do all in his power to save the disgraced treasurer from spending a long term in the penitentiary. It is said that he knew for some time that Widber was going the pace that kills. HERE ARE PEDIGREES FOR YOU. The Grosvenor family (Dukes of West- minster) trace their pedigree in England back to 1066, having come over with Wil- liam the Conqueror, while the family in Normandy from which they are directly descended flourished there for at least a century and a half before the Conquest, so that the family pedigree goes back for THOMAS A. was for him to stay on his mother’s ranch, about two miles from Walnut Creek, until this business was straight- ened out. . “ 1 was to stay with him, and, as I said, keep him alive. How many times I have prevented him ending-his career the world shall never know. We had not been at the ranch long before we were made aware of the fact that his friends had gone back on their word and that the whole business was made public. It was planned that he was to keep out of the way until every- thing had blown over, but instead he returned in the custody of officers. “Widber has a history, and no one knows it better than I. It is a ro- mance, but so long as I live the world shall never know it unless he makes it public. This is but the first chapter, but there is much to follow. He has suffered for years silently and uncom- plainingly, but this is too much. He will never take this dose. T have talked with him and know how he feels about it. .blame. I feel the same way about it too. Things will be lively enough when the whole truth is known.” As the party drove in from Walnut Creek they were met about six miles out by Detectives Wren and Cody, who had gone from the city to get Wid- ber from Constable Palmer. They all crossed to San Francisco on the 10:45 narrow gauge ferry. g WIDBER A GOOD THING. Constable E. C. Palmer and Captain He will let those suffer who are to | close upon a thousand years. The most anclent family in Great Britain is that | of the Earl of Mar, in Scotland. Lord | Hailes, speaking of 'the title, says: “It existed before our records and before the era of genuine history, being an earldom | whose origin s lost in antiguity.” The Gampbells, to whom belongs the present | Duke of Argyll, began in 11%. Of the | 400 barons in the British peerage only | about a_dozen actually date back years. The most ancient family in the world is that of the Mikado of Japan, which_has had an unbroken line of de- scent for more than 2500 years, the pres- ent ruler being the 1224 of the line. —_—ee——— Special Notice. To those troubled with itching scalp, dandruff and falling hair, cut this out | and mail to Smith Bros., Fresno, Cal, who will send free sample of Smith's Dandruft Pomade, which is for sale by all druggi — ee————— In proportion to its population the United Kingdom has a greater number | of women workers than any other country, and among them no fewer than 616,000 are set down as dress- makers. R. Pahl's $3 Shoes always on hand. | Agency W. L. Douglas’ Shoes, 824 Kearny® prlle St Soad ot mtatl o During the last fifty years Great | Britain has been at war more fre- | quently than any other nation. The total number of large and small wars waged during that time amounts to about fifty, or one a year. Ladi sive atest d taflor-made suit esigns: Rothschild, 211 Sutter, r. § it M. I we ot