The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 22, 1898, Page 14

14 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 189S. WIDBER’S SHORTAGE IS NOW XKNOWN Indicted by the Grand Jury for Felony Embez- zlement. Mayor Phelan, Auditor Broderick and Judge Tro for a Part of the Defal- cation. Pl |2 ‘With the exception of a few details, | unimportant when placed in compari- son with the main fact, the story of City Treasurer Widber's downfall has been told. It is an unvarnished tale of common- place thievery, unenlivened by a single circumstance that suggests a feeling of pity for the criminal or that would be considered by any member of the col- ony at San Quentin to furnish a justifi- able motive for the crime. There was L4 L May be Held City Attorney Creswell, two representatives of the Fidelity and | Trust Surety Company and several | others. The work of the day was con- | Agency, i versy. fined to the counting of the money in | the general fund. At 5 o’clock $420,000 had been counted. Work was then sus- | pended until this morning, when it will | be taken up again and continued until | all of the money has been counted. As has been told, the greater part of | the missing funds -vere abstracted | from the vaults by Widber, who cov- | ered up the fact of the abstractions by | the $100,000 bond. For the balance of the shortage recourse will be had to the property now standing in Widber’s name. This property is very consider- able and will also probably furnish a pretext for a very bitter legal contro- The surety company has al- ready taken steps which it hopes will result in having the property turned over to it for the purpose of indémnify- ing itself for the amount of the bond in case it should be compelled to make good the full amount. The city au- thorities are also taking steps directed to the same end. As to the amount and value of this property there can at present be no definite data, and will not be until Jer- ome Deasy, who acts as Widber's financial agent, can prepare a state- ment of assets. It is known, however, that Widber owns a valuable ranch at ‘Walnut Creek, the place where he was arrested, and another at Mountain View. These ranches, together with what real estate he ow: are valued at about $50,000. To this may be added about $10,000 worth of personal property and a mine at Grass Valley, the value of which is variously estimated at from $50,000 to $100,000. Widber himself believes that the mine could be disposed of at the last- named sum. He says that there is a great deal of ore on the dump and that as soon as new machinery which is now being set up is in working order the mine will turn out a great deal money. The proceedings of the Grand Jury | that led to the indictment of Widber were exceedingly brief when the grav- ity of the event was comsidered. The examination of witnesses was begun about 3 o’clock and was concluded shortly after 5. The witnesses were Deputy Treasurer de la Montanya, Chief Lees and Mayor Phelan. The facts of the confession made Wednes- day night by Widber in the office of the Chief of Police were also laid be- fore the Grand Jury. At 5:30 o’clock an adjournment was taken until 8, at which time the Grand Jury went before Superior Judge Belcher and presented an indictment charging Widber with felony embezzlement. The form of charge made {s as follows: The said A. C. Widber on or about the 20th day of April, A. D. 1898, at the sald city and coun of San Francisco, State of California, s an officer of the said s in this city, | of | | mon knowledge that McGowan occu- pied this enviable position. and it is also asserted that one of two other gentlemen well known in political and sporting circles profited very materi- ally because of the gambling predilec- tions of Widbcr. It is known that since March 25, the date of the counting of the funds - the Commission, Widber abstracted very considerable amounts from the treasur- vaults. During the count of the money yesterday, one of | the sacks that had been refilled with silver was found to be filled with dol- lars of the coir ~~e of 1898. It is known | that these coins came from the local | Mint since March 25. In connection with the count made on March 25 there is now recalled an in- cident that in the light of the revela- i tions of the past few days appears to be particularlv significant. All of the | members of the Commission admit that | the count of tle city’s funds was little more than a nretense. When it was completed Mayor Phelan asked the | Treasurer for the money on deposit | with him from the office of the License | Collector. Widber brought out a tray | of gold in response to this inquiry, and | the money was duly counted and the | amounted” noted. The commission then left the Treas- urer's office, but Mayor Phelan, who | had been struck with the thought that | the amount of the License Collector's | deposit seemed to be unusually small, went to the office of that official and | made inquiry as to the amount of | money he had on deposit with the | Treasurer. The amount named by the | License Collector exceeded the amount counted in the Treasurer's office by the | commission by $16,000. Believing that | he had discovered a very serious short- | 2ge the Mayor hunted up Auditor Broderick and Judge Troutt and in- | formed them of his suspicions. To- gether the Commissioners went again | to the Treasurer’s office and told Wid- | ber that the amount of money he had | on hand to the credit of the License | Collector was $16,000 short of the amount that should be accounted for. “Did you say the License Collector?” said Widber. ~“I understood you to say the Tax Collector. the License Collector’s money.” He accordingly brought out some more trays of coin, which, upon being | counted, amounted to the sum named by the License Collector as the correct A C WIDBER WWHO Now ENJOYS THE HosPITALITY OF THE CARIEF OF POLICE. THE FRANK S GILBERT WHO WAD PRESENT AT TRE COUNTING OF THE FUNDS AS AGENT FOR WIDBERS SURETY- BRODERICK Discuyges WIDBERS DOWNFALLZ I will bring you | DENENTED THROLCH [IER LOVE Sad Fate of an At- tractive Young Woman. Katie Powers Arrested on a Charge of In- sanity. Became Enamored of an Opium Fiend Against the Wishes of Her Mother. PLACED IN A PADDED CELL ‘Will Be Examined by the Commis- sioners of Lunscy To- Day. Miles of Torpedo Cable Rush plete system of coast defen has been placed with the Washburn & of a peculiar kind of cable which is us was extremely reticent,» as he said A rather attractive young woman | named Katie Powers was arrested lost | night and charged with being insane. | The complaining witness is her mgther, who lives at 819 Howard street. According to the latter's story Katle, | | who fs only 18 years of age,several weeks | ago hecame enamored of a young man, who she says is addicted to the use of | opium. Mrs. Powers forbade her daugh- ter to keep company with her depraved | sultor, and threatened to invoke the pa- rental rod if she insisted on going with | him. The girl promised to forget her | i i i e i i ) DOWNFALL OF AUGUSTUS C. WIDBER. Some of the figures In yesterday’s proceedings at the City Hall following the dis- covery that Treasurer Widber was short in his accounts to the extent of more than $114,000. Tyrey OF INTERE STED CRAND _}UROB) no ylelding to a momentary tempta- | emptying the gold from the sacks and | tion, followed by after regrets; no| great and pressing need that overcame the dictates of conscience; no set pur- pose to betray the trust imposed in him with intent to profit thereby. It was sim the steady and tematic appropriation of other people’s money | to satisfy the intemperate needs of the moment while he waited for the in- evitable discover: Investigations made yesterday by the authorities lead to the conclusion that ‘Widber’s shortage amounts to $114,- 199 80. Of this sum the greater part has been abstracted from the treasury vaults since the beginning of the pres- ent year. Jvery dollar of it, with the exception of such small sums as were necessary to keep up his reputation as & “good fellow” among the denizens of the tenderloin, has gone into the pock- ets of the bookmakers at the race tracks and to a few of the select mem- bers of the horde of sharpers and blood-suckers who use the racing game as a means for the prosecution of their nefarious trade. Having fallen among thieves he fell y vietim. more than intimated that the rs who handled the money he stole from the city’s strong box traded on the supposition that his seemingly inexhaustible supply of ready cash was stolen from the treasury vaults, and that he dare not call a halt. By this means they were enabled to compel him to make good bets that were never made and to enter into gambling ven- tures that had no existence except in the minds of the sharpers who were fattening at the expense of the dis- honest official. On the other hand, Widber admits that his peculations cover a period of more than a year, and that some of the money went to cover unprofitable in- Vvestments in real estate and mines, and that the balance was scattered through the tenderloin and dumped at the race- track. He has no excuse to offer and offers none. He simply says that he has stolen the money, and that of the vast sum so procured he has not one dollar left. As he sat yesterday in the room at police headquarters, where he has been confined since his arrest, he appeared to be broken in body and spirit, and was but a semblance of his former self. His eyes were swollen and bloodshot from the effects of recent dissipation and the tears shed and the sleepless hours nassed since his arrest. His hand trembled Jike that of an old man, and he greeted all comers, straroars and friends alike, withhanging headand avertea eyes. 1L Wis « d.glic i0al not good to see and one that carried with it a more vivid conviction of the guilt of the man tha. did the words of his confession, made to the authorities some hours before. Yesterday afternon the facts of the case, or such of them as are now known, were presented to the Grand Jury, and at ¢ o'clock that body re- turned an indlctment against Widber charging him with felony embezzle- ment. Early in th® morning steps were taken to ascertain the exact amount of the defaulting Treasurer's shortage. As this could only be done by counting the cash in the treasury vaults it was decided to begin the count at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. The entire office force was called upon to assist in this stu- pendous task, which was superintended by Mayor Phelan, Auditor Broderick, District Attorney Barnes, Chief of Po- lice Lees, Superior Judge Troutt, Cap- _tain Callundan ~of Morse's Detective | sux | had tampered ;, arrest and disgrace. | refilling them with silver coin. This fact was fully shown vesterday, as was the reliability of Deputy Treasurer de la Montanya's estimate of the amounts s0 abstracted. The general fund as represented by the cash in the big vault was contain- | ed in eighty-four sacks, each holding 7000 in gold. It appears that Widber with sixteen of these sacks, taking out the gold and replac ing it with silver dollars. Just $250 of | silver coin was required to fill each | sack that had contained $5000 in gold coin. By this substitution Widber re- | alized a net sum of $76,000 from the six- | teen sacks. Of the balance of the shortage, ac- | cording to the statement as prepared | by the Deputy Treasurer, $2! taken from the escheat fund belonging | 21 to estates about to revert to the State. | D In a cash box was found $39 50, and on the floor of the vault where the money in this fund had been stored was found | $500 in goid. The shortage in this fund | therefore amounts to but $25,838 2 The other fund selected by Widber as a convenient means of replenishing his private purse was the collateral in- | heritance tax fund. This contained $15,391 56. Of this amount the Treas- urer was entitled to 5 per cent for col- lecting it. If the five sacks each con- tained $250 in silver in place of the gold coin originally in them the short- age in this fund will amount to $13,- 364 56. Besides these various amounts the books show upon investigation a cash credit of $360 90 in Widber's favor. This leaves a total estimated shortage of $114,199 80. Auditor Broderick and Deputy Treas- urer de la Montanya, who have a more intimate knowledge of the affairs of the treasurer’s office than any one save Widber himself, say that they do not anticipate that the shortage will ex- ceed this amount. In fact Widber fur- nishes corroboration of this belief by the statement that what his deputy says regarding the shortar - is probably the truth. He admits that he does not know the exact amount of his pecula- tions and declines to make any approxi- mate estimate. As to ‘the responsibility for the amount of money stolen by Widber from the city treasury, there is a wide divergence of opinion and every pros- pect of a long legal controversy. The legal proceedings will probaviy be inauguratcd by the Fidelity and Trust Surety Company, which is on Widber's bond for $100,000. It has al- ready been intimated by the represen- tatives of this company that they do not consider themselves responsible for any money feloniously taken from the treasury by Widber subsequent to March 25. 1898. On that date the money in the vaults was counted by Mayor Phelan, Auditor Lroderick and Judge Troutt, the commission authorized to perform that service for tl.» city. They then pronounced the city’'s funds to be intact, though it is now known that such was not the case. At the present time there is no means for knowing how much money Widber ga.s taken from the vaults since that ay. It will be claimed by the surety com- pany that their continuance on Wid- ber’s bond was dependent upon the re- ports made by this commission. The commission having reported everything to be correct and the surety company depending upon the truth of the report and having no means of informing it- self to the contrary, it Is tontended that the members of the commission can be held personally responsible for the loss incurred by reason of the laxity of their methods in counting the cash. On the other hand, the city and coun- ty authorities will seek to hold the urety, company for the tfl Eq}{x};_n}l city and county of San Frandisco, State of California, to-wit: The duly elected, qualified and acting Treasurer of said city and county of San Francisco, State of California, and there by virtue of his said trust as said officer of sald city and county there came into his possession and undi thousand, one hundred and eighty-one-hundredths dollars,” law- ful money of the United States, of the value of $115,199 80 lawful money of the United States, and of the moneys and and ninety-nine | personal property of said city and county of San Franciséo, a public corporation, formed, organized and existing under and pursuant to the laws of the State of California, and the said A. C. Widber, Treasurer as aforesaid, while said mon and personal property was in his po: sion and under his control by virtue of his said trust as aforesaid, then and there, to-wit, on or about the 20th day of April D. 1898, at said city and county ranci; felonious ate the s ., did willfully, unla and fraudulently aid money and personal property to his own use, contrary to the gue and lawful execution of his said Upon receiving the indictment Judge Belcher made an order for a bench warrant for the arrest of the accused, and fixed his bail at $50,000. The warrant was placed in the hands of Detective Seymour, who in turn took it to police headquarters and handed it to Chief Lees. Contrary to all precedent the Chief declined to serve the warrant on Wid- ber, who was at that moment confined in the detectives’ room across the hall. The Chief said he would make an effort to find the Sheriff and have the war- rant served last night, but intimated that the chances were against finding that official. Widber has been very tenderly treat- ed by the Chief since the torm]ér‘s ar- rest, and it was more than likely that the head of the Police Department was not at all averse to accepting an ex- cuse that would permit him to allow the defaulting Treasurer to pass an- other night outside of a prison cell. It was remarked around the City Hall yesterday that had the police arrested some one who had stolen ten dollars instead of an official who had a, pro- priated more than $100,000 the culorit would have been bundled into a prison cell at once and with scant ceremony. In the present instance Chief Lees has gone out of the way and stretched his authority to its fullest limit in order to shield Widber from theé ignominy that is the legitimate fruit of discover- ed criminality. The head of the police department has even taken it upon himself to ad- vise those who know something of ‘Widber’s official nothing and ¥ ~» their knowledge to themselves. In one instance threats were made against a witness .who had a very intimate knowledge of the de- tails of the wide swath cut by Wid- ber in the tenderloin. The witness was a woman and she was threatened with all sorts of persecutions and prosecu- tions if she permitted he-self to allow her knowledge to become public. Thomas A. McGowan, the attorney, who is creditcd with havin handied the major portion of the money lost by ‘Widber at the race tracks, was sub- penaed as a witness by the Grand Jury yesterday afternoon, but was not called upon to testify. As soon as he was excused from further attenlance he went to police headquarters and asked and obtained permission to see Widber. ‘What passed in the interview between the two men is not known. McGowan now admits having been interested with \ .dber in matters per- taining to the race course, but declines to state to what extent. ‘Widber on hi. part declines to men- tion any names. and positively refuses to disclose the identity of the man who acted as his race track commissioner. It is, however, a matter of very com- misconduct to say ! his control one hundred and fifteen | | and probably | Widber against the charge of felony | fessed his guiit. amount of his deposit. All suspicions in the minds of the commission were lulled and the {ucident was forgotten would not have been thought of again but for recent devel- opments. The city and county authorities do not propose to be made the victims of any sharp practice on the part of those | who are interested in protecting them- selves from the consequences of Wid- ber's criminality. As an evidence of this City and County Attorney Cres- well last evening filed a suit against ‘Widber for the recovery of the money stolen from the city. This was done for the purpose of forestalling any contem- plated action by the Surety Company, and also for the full protection of the city in the effort that will be made to recover any money not made good by the bondsmen. Widber has not yet selected legal counsel to undertake his defense, if he contemplates making any. Yesterday he sent for Attorney Peixotto for the purpose of asking his advice on matters relating to his immediate detention. Peixotto at once advised Widber not to talk to newspaper men, but declined to say whether or not he would defend embezzlement in the face of the fact that the Treasurer had publicly con- Prior to Peixotto’s appearance on the scene Widber showed an inclination to discuss his downfall, though he was ad- verse into going into details. He said he had begun his peculations more than a year ago and that all the money he had taken was abstracted from the vaults during office hours. His plan was to remove one sack of coin at a time and after substituting silver for gold return the sack to its place in the vault. He said that a shortage in the ac- counts in his father's estate at first in- duced him to take money from the treasury and that calls upon his purse caused by unprofitable real estate in- vestments and speculations in mines had led him to continue the abstrac- tion. He finally began to bet on the races and after that the money went very rapidly. It may be that one result of the prospective trouble in collecting the amount of Widber’s bond will result in some action being taken requiring Au- ditor Broderick to furnish a new of- ficial bond for himself. The same surety company that was on Widber's bond is on that of the Auditor, and it is not at all likely that those who have charge of the affairs of the city will continue to consider such a bond adequate. Read in next Sunday’s Call what President Patton of Princeton Uni- versity has to say about the Pigmy Poets and second-rate statesmen of the present era. ——————— Assault to Murder. Harry Thomas, a racetrack tout, was yesterday held to answer before the Su- perior Court by Judge Joachimsen on a charge of assault to murder in $1000 bonds. While drunk on April 14, at the race- track, he fired two shots at James Mad- dock, a stableman in Corrigan’s stables. e | ter, after an examination, gave it as his | to_any member c Tnmnmmm-uuamg._,_g{'s. Barih lover and told her mother that she | would never speak to him again. A few days later it was noticed that | the girl acted strangely, and her parent, becoming anxious about her condition, called in the family physician. The lat- opinion that the unfortunate young wo- | man was fast losing her mind. | Rather than have her sent to an insane | asylum the broken-hearted mother de- termined t take care of her in the hope | that she would regain her mental equi- | Lbrium. | Several days ago the love-stricken girl became violently insane while eating din- ner, and started to destroy the crock- | ery. On being prevented she placed her | hand in the tea pot, and taking out a handful of tea leaves proceeded to eat | them. Subsequently she seized a broom and after declaring that she intended io 0 to the front for the United States in ase of war with Spain, threatened to shoot” her mother and sister. Yesterday morning Mrs. Powers, real- izing that her daughter was mentaily de- ranged, appeared before a Superior Judge and swore to a complaint, charging her with insanity. She was taken into cus- tody by a Deputy Sheriff after a short struggle and conveyed to the Receiving Hospital, where she was placed in a padded cell. Late last night she became violently in- sane and vainly endeavored to butt out her brains against the cell door. In or- der to keep her from injuring herself it | was deemed advisable to place her in a ! straitjacket. FIREMEN MAY GO TO THE WAR Resolution Granting Leave of Absence Passed by the Commissioners. On Their Return They Will Given Their Old Positions if Not Better Ones. | Be The Fire Commissioners, at their meet- ing yesterday afternoon, showed that they | were imbued with the prevailing war spirit by passing the following resolu- tion: | Resolved, That leave of absence be granted | this department who may | desire to offer his services to the Government | in the coming contest between our country and Spain, and all members who avail themselves of the opportunity shall upon their return be given as good a position, if not better, than | the one they left. | D. F. Buckley, driver of Engine 8, was | fined three days’ pay for carelessness in | driving. The resignations of homas | Dolan of Engine 2 and Patrick O'Donnell | of Engine 10 were accepted. O'Donnell | was appointed at the previous meeting, and one fire was enough for him. Phillip | Bannon was appointed hoseman of Engine | 8. Dennis Toomey of Engine 6 was re-| tired on a pension as he is over 6) years | of age, has bad eyesight and bad hear-| ing, and has served over nineteen years in the department. The commissioners were surprised to re- | celve a claim from the Olympic Salt| ‘Water Company for $124 for salt water and coal used in assisting to extinguish | the fire at the Golden Gate Villa, Ocean Beach, last week. The claim was referred to the Chief Engineer. It was announced that a member of the department could go to any tailor to have his new regulation suit made, provided it answered the requirements. ——————————— MISDIRECTED PATRIOTISM. Young America, Unable to Find a Spaniard, Attacked a Chinaman. A burst of misdirected patriotism, dur- ing which a Chinaman was assaulted and badly beaten, landed Frank Johnson, col- ored, Malcolm Dunn and Ed Kirby, three newsboys, behind the bars of the Cal- ifornia street police station last even- ing. The mnewsboys had been crying war | extras so long that they had imbibed con- sicerable war spirit and wantel to do up some foreigner. Seeing no Spaniard handy they fell upon Moy Jui Mun. Spec- taters in large numbers were attracted to the scene and some of them rescued the unlucky Mongolian and hid him in a neighboring store. The newsnovs called for reinforcements and when a suflicient number had responded to the cali tne retreat of the Chinaman was bombarded. A squad of police under commani of Offcer Frank Engle quelled the riot and carried the three belligerent young Amer- fcans to the station. ———————— How to Succeed as a Detective, by ex-Chief Thomas Byrnes of New York, in next Sunday’s Call. —_———————— Delegates Elected. The California Society of Sons of the American Revolution held a meeting on Lexington day and elected the following | delegates to the National Congress to be held at Morristown, N. J., on the 30th inst.: Colonel John C. Currier, Hon. Hor- ace Davis, Major Willlam McKinley; delegates at large, Hon. L. Deming, d K. Townsend and C. C. Upham; alter- nates, Horatio S. Manning, General J. T. Cutting, Willlam M. Bunker, Sidney M. Smith, Frank L. Brown and S. C. Mas- tick. The _following-named applicants were elected to membership: C. Hellyer, . 8. Moseley, W. S. McClure, W. A. Robinson, W. H. Christie, W. G. Fuiford, W. Cralg, F. H. Beaver, C. W. Hunt, L. C. Clark, W. McK. Alexander, George B. Bush, W. N. Bush, Rev. D. McClure, H. olomew. Bradiey, J. B. Whittemore Jr., and J. Lln::m the water or from possible br pling hook. The rubber core is mored. This m The United States Government is making elaho 5 by means of subn wires to submarine mines or torpedoes. Manager Frank L. Brown of the local branch, when as ge by de at Worceste is a much better distributing point t FOR COAST DEFENSES. Being Manufactured on Orders. rate preparations for a co e torpedoe: rush or¢ cturing Company for mile the conveying insulating Moen Man d only for 1 about the order, while there were no instructions to keep it quiet, it might not be the best policy to make such facts public. admit that we have received a heavy order,” he said, “but do not feel at liberty to make the exact extent of it public. The order is for what we term torpedo cable, and it is exactly the same kind of cable as was attached to the e that blew up the Maine. We do not make the cable complete here, but simply armor it. Tt consists of a rubber core containing the copper wires, and around this are several strands of heavy steel wire to protect the ca from contact with be caught v an \d shiy E anchor or grap- 1 here to be ar- t, so it Is much cheaper to finish the cable here. We do not know as t where the cable is to be delivered, but as fast as it is finished it will be shipped wherever de: Much of it will be shipped to points along the coast. Some will be deliverec here and the balance shipped to Galveston for distribution along the Guif and Atlantic seaboard. The order is large enough to keep our factory running full force night and day for some time. Our orders are most imperative. A BOTS TALE OF A CRIME Eddie Keefe Claims That His Mother Was Murdered. Says His Father Cut Her Throat During a Quarrel. Weighted the Eody and Threw It From the Bay Farm Island Bridge. OAKLAND, April 21.—Eddie Keefe, the son of Patrick Keefe, told a remarkable story to-day to Detective Ferrin, an offi- cer of the Humane Society, and several others. He says that his father is re- sponsible for the death of his mother, and that after her death her body was weighted with rocks and thrown into the bay from Bay Farm Island bridge. The mystery of Mrs. Keefe's sudden disappear. ance was told in The Call in November last, and an attempt was made by her husband to account for it by saying that she had run away from home because their married life was one continual dis- cord. It has always been thought that the boy Eddie, who is as smart as 2 whip, could tell something that would tend to clear up the mystery if he would, but he has, up till to-day, been as silent as an oys- ter. This afternoon some one gave Eddy some beer, and for the first time he be- came talkative. He admitted that he had told his story a few days ago to Mrs. Ives, the school teacher in Alameda, with vhom he had been stopping, and has oc- asionally dropped a hint to others. ie's story in brief is as follows; “On the 5th of last July my father, mother and I went out as usual to gather driftwood on the beach. My father and mother quarreled at .ne time and on the beach they had quite a fight. Finally father took a knife that he always car- ried and cut my mother across the throat. She did not live many minutes, and father covered the body over with wood and told me to watch it till he came back. He was not gone long, but returned with some sacks we had brought with us to the beach. The body was afterward dis posed of by being thrown from Bay Farm Island bridge into the water, after it had been weighted with rocks. I was fright- ened into silence by my father and have not told the story tili a few days ago when he beat me severely, and I told Mrs. Ives.” Young Keefe was supposed to be sick when he told his story, but the doctor who was summoned at once w that he was under the influence of liquor. 0- night the lad was quite sober, and when questioned on the matter by an officer he repeated the story, mentioning the names otpsume people in connection with other than his father. Those who heard his two storfes are inclined to believe that there is something in them. This afternoon one of the girls in Alameda told of some incidents that seem to bear out some portions of Eddie’s story. Noth- ing has been seen or heard of Mrs. Keefe since the morning of the 6th of July of last year, when she left home with her husband and Eddie to gather driftwood. The girls were left at home because they were going to the city later in the day, to_see the procession (the Fourth be1n§ Sunday), but since their mother left home they have not seen her. 1t is but right to Keefe to say that he made a very full denial of all sugges- tions of foul play last November, and said that his wife had often spoken to him of running away and she had car- ried out her threat. The Keefes came from Australia in April of last year and settled in .lameda. —_————— LOOKING FOR HER FATHER. Chesla Barnam, a;Yrm;ng Girl Aged 11 Years, Found by the Police. Chesla Barnam, a young girl aged 11 years, was sent from Grass Valley by her mother to seek her father in this city The child traveled all over the city in search of her parent without being able to find him, when at last, after despair- ing of finding him, she applied to a car conductor, who turned her over to police officer. This officfal tonk her to the Central Station on Tuesday night, and kept her there until yesterday, when she was turned over to the Society for the ® | Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Colonel Parnell learned from the way- ward child that she had been cruelly treated and wronged by both her father and mother. From the little one’s state- ment it appears that her father and moth- er got divorced some time ago. The mother was awarded the custody of the little girl, but her subsequent marriage to a miner named:Browning caused her to send her daughter to her father in this CASTORIA For Infants and Children, i e every it, | 0 city. He placed the little girl with her aunt, but having_failed ay | keep'the aunt, | her sent to th | ciety, from which place she esc ter this she d her way to her moth- er's home but only for a time, | as he her to this city from « 3 ate her father. In this | she w ul and, as stated, fell into the care of the kind-hearted car con- ductor, who handed her over to the au- thorities. Colonel Parnell took the child in charge s p her with the | Ladies’ Relief Society. —————— Press Censorship a Good Idea. The Oliver Wendell Holmes Debating | Society held its regular meeting in the | rooms of the California Hotel last even- ing. The subject under discussion was “Should There Be a Censorship of the Pre: There was one speaker on the affirmative against two on the negative, y_one managed to get odds that wers | again : decision was that censo; press would be a very | excellent thing. ADVERTISEMENTS. CLEARANCE SALE 2nd=-Hand | BICYCLES! | ALL MAKES! ALL SIZES! ALL PRICES! rron $10,00 ve. Send for descriptive list. Wheels sent by express on approval. LEAVITT & BILL 303 LARKIN STREET, COR. McALLISTER, 8. F. B. H. PAUL’S NEWLY ARRIVED COLLECTION, ANTIQUE, RARE AND FINE ERGS PERSIAN With his last stock, before his departure to Alaska, WILL BE CLOSED OUT AT UNRESERVED AUGTION COMMENCING DAILY AT 2 P. M., At 106-108 Gren! ., between T'ost and Geary. As every rug will be sold out regardless of cost, a life-time chance to buy genuine goods at your own pricei E. CLARK, Auctioneer. THE PRICE OF CROWN FLOUR HAS THIS DAY BEEN ADVANCED 25c PER' BARREL. San Francisco, April 22, 1508 1697- Taxes-1819 The second Installment of real estate taxes will be delinquent April %, at 6 p. ‘which 5 per cent will be added The office will be open fro April 22 SATURDAY, April 16, post receiving checks. JAM m., after 7t 3 p. m oon last day for BLOCK, Tax Collector. San Francisco, April 14, 1898 W. T. HESS, NOTARY PUBLIC AND ATTORNEY-AT LAW, Tenth Floor, Room 1015, Claus Spreckels Bidg. Telephone Brown 931, g Riesigence, 831 California street, below Powell, S;H;FBHTER THAN PILLS