The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 27, 1898, Page 16

16 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WED GRAND JURY REACHES FOR THE ROGUES The Loot of the School Fund to Be Looked Into This Evening. Five More Contractor P. Swift, Inspector John | has only been partl Brien and the members of the Finance and Buildings and Grounds Committees of the Board of Education will soon have an opportunity to tell what they know about the loss of the school fund through the medium of supplies for repairs. A special session of the Grand Jury has been called for this evening to receive the evidence accumulated by the commit- tee of that body, with the experts who have conducted the investigation into the repairs on the different school bulldings. This evidence, as has been shown by The Call, will prove that not one job of repatrin uary 1, that has been inspected so far, been honestly performed. The lum- ber and shingles have invariably fallen short thousands of feet of the quantity sharged for; the quality furnished has been, without exception, of the very poor- est in the market, while the highest con- tract price has the work itself has been done in the most S iner possible. ssible that O’Brien and the two committees of Directors will -be able to convince the Grand Jury that the sole responsibility rests upon Contractor Switt, but in order to acquit themselves of actual complicity In the job they will ed to set up the plea of gross- est negligence. O’Brien, who is Director Ragan’s brother-in-law, draws a salary of ronth from the department to pre- this kind of work. His duty as Inspector requires him to measure every foot of lumber delivered to the depart- ment and to see that It is of the quality led for. Rut as O’Brien is so closely related to a tor whose influence among the other rs is most potent, he may have ght it entirely ry to devote time to the cit; , his private vhich lumber played an im- anded much of his time ft, the best advice st ardent well wisher can give him trive long and faithfully to lose the fon he lias among the members of \ber Dealers’ Assoclation. ldings and grounds committee of I Directors, as constituted last 1po! of Burns, chairman, sallagher and Drucker. This com- charge o he re- S tigation. It ordered the and the lumber with which to if the members accepted s as correct without any n y will have an opportu- and convince the Grand Jury y to try was the proper thing to do. who is already under indict- in the but still has more to say ings than the other eleven Di- combined, was chairman of the ce committee last year, his associ- g Burns and Armor. Burns and re fast friends, and it was they who_trarn acted all the business of the committee. Armer was thrown in the dis- card soon after the committee was named, and was never given an opportu- nity to attend its meetings. > was noi notified of the call for cetings, and finally he became so dis- 1 with the manner in which the tee was conducted that he re- signed from it. Consequently Waller and Burns will have to tell why Contractor Swift's bills were audited when they had g but O'Brien’s word for it that any lumber at all had been furnished. The committee of the Grand Jury, with | Exper ued Holt, Campbell and Rickard, t its ‘investigation all day , its f Fairmount S been charged, and even | Buildings Where the Shameless Frauds Were Practiced. | in the landings on the |'been thoroughly inspected by during the six months prior to | | Mgs: accomplished. Two thousand eight hundred and sixteen feet | f stepping appears on the bill, but 663 feet are all that is necessary to build all the stairways In the school.. The gooring measure: 371 feet, but the city paid for 80 feet. Sixteen schools, picked at random In section of the city, have already the grund jurors and their experts. and the resul shows the grossest fraud in the repair of cvery one. As the carpenter work on all im- mer vacation, it IS not a remote possi- bility that honesty prevailed in the work on any of the others. Still the jurymen intend to make sure, ana further inspec- tions will be-made to-day. St. Dominic’s Church Picnic. The first pictnic and reunion St. Dom- inic’s Church has had for several years will be held at Sunset Park In the Santa Cruz Mountains on May 21. Judging from the reports of the various sub-commit- tees which have the affair In charge the every the buildings was done during the s it Ipmceeds of the picnic are to be devoted to the organ fund, and with this object in view {Ee committees and all the par- ishioners are using every effort to make the affair not only a social but also a financial succ Acquitted of Embezzlement. Charles P. Harris, a stockbroker, who failed in 1896 and was accused of the em- bezzlement of $1800 worth of stock belong- ing to Mrs. Jeannette A. Jordan, was ac- uitted yesterday by a jury in Judge Wallace's court. After listening to_the testimony for the prosecution Judge Wal- lace instructed the jury to acquit, as the evidence entirely failed to substantiate the charge of embezzlement. — e ee——— Poolsellers Sentenced. ‘W. H. Coleman, who was convicted by a jury in Judge Campbell's court last Fri- day of violating the pool ordinance, was yesterday sentenced to pay a fine of $40. The smallness of the penalty was owing to the fact that the jury recommende Coleman to the leniency of the court. No- tice of appeal was given and the bonds Were fixed In $600 —_————————— Charged With Burglary. Richard Leonard, alias J. D. Lord, and John Leishman were arrested yesterdav afternoon by Policemen Phelan and Mc- Entee on a charge of burglary. They broke into a shed at the Wieland brewery on Second street and stole three monkey wrenches, They had been suspected of stealing before, and a watch was kept upon them, resulting in their arrest. - eee——— New Incorporations. The Golden Gate Cloak and Sult House has been incorporated by Moritz Silver- man, Adolph Sfiverman, Jeseph Silver- man, Raphael Peixotto and Edgar D. Peixotto, I W, Rider, Tessie Stewart, H. R. Os- good, T, J. Greer and E. Stewart haye filed articles of incorporation of the Santa Clara Milk Company. —_——————————— Griggs’ Lectures Ended. Professor Griggs' finished his third course of lectures under the auspices of the Channing Auxiliary yvesterday, when he read his interesting paper entitled, “A Walk in Vienna.” Next Saturday afternoon Alfred W. Martin of Tacoma will speak on “Wagner and the Music of the Future,” and Mrs. Martin will {llus- trate the theme by piano selections. —_——————— chool, away out in the Mi: sion district. It was while the party at t school that one of the experts made asual remark that disclosed a new cha for the drainage of the school Grand Juror Bauer re- | marked that the hauling of lumber must be profitable, judging from the bills paid by the department. xpert Campbell, the "Lumber ation, re- plied th a_regula &chedule or_hruling. ~ He said the city was districted and a large map had béen prepared showing these dis- And no member was permitted to more than the schedule rates, The rate to Ingleside, he said, s $2 2 thousand, and to e county line §2 being the two longest hauls in t he Grand Juror Truman stated that on one bill of 3750 worth of lumber for one of the downtown schools the eity had been charged $240 for mill work and hauling, nearly a third of the cost of the material, It s probable that the Grand Jury wili 80 into this phase of the job to the fullest extent as soon as the present line of in- Quiry is finished. The Fairmount School yard was re- lanked and some additional cla: built during last vacation, con: the bill for lumber was large, follows: ~ 20,000 f; shingles quality), contract $1 9 .per 1000, this being ‘the price pald; 37,926 feet of 3-inch No.1 planking of varying width;10,000 feet of 4x4 redwood. The experts found 15,500 No. 2 common shingles, eontract price 99 cents per 1000; 27,500 feet of No. 2 and 3 planking; 7500 feet of 4x4 redwood. city had been robbed of 1 1 feet of planking and 2500 feet:of 4x4 redwood, in addition to being shamefully swindled on the quality received, Here, as in all the other schools, the experts made exceedingly liberal allowances for waste, and, to quote Expert Holt, any dealer who furnished lumber for the various jobs on the experts’ measur ments would know there would be some- thing left to carry away. _The yard of the Horace Mann School on Vaiencla street had new classrooms built, the bill for lumber as paid by the School Directors calling for 3645 feet of 1%x4-inch tongue and groove flooring; 4l feet of 1x8 rustic; 22,000 shingles; 3433 feet of 2-inch planking, and 940 feet of 4x4 redwood. The experts' figures show 2400 feet of flooring; 1930 feet of rustic; 14,000 shingles; 2000 feet of planking, and 451 feet of 4x4 redwood. A visit to the Buena Vista primary on York street, near Eighteenth, disciosed one of the biggest steals yet brought to light. The city paid for 46,591 feet of 2- inch planking ‘and received 22,000 feet, a loss of 24591 feet; 11670 feet of 4x4, and received 580 feet, a difference of 5520 feet, and 670 feet of stepping, of which no tracé could be discovered. After exploiting this case of robbery the inquisitors made a jump to the down- town district, alighting first on the Whit- tier primary on Harrison, near Fourth, This job was awful, those Tesponsible for it being unwilling even to divide, but in- stead barely allowing the city a third of the rotten material it had Jymd the high- est price for. The bill called for 55,740 feet of 2-inch planking, but only 20,500 feet were used; 15150 feet of 3x6 redwood at $8 95 per thousand, but for which pine at $7 40 was substitufed, and only 9200 feet deliv- ered; 22,276 feet of 4x8 redwood, in place of which 2768 feet of 4x6 and 4722 feet of 4x4, 2 total of 749 feet, was found; 750 feet of stepping, of which but 504 feet was in evidence, and 422 feet of 2x12, which fihrunk to 147 feet under the experts’ tape ne. The Starr King Primary. on Bryant street, near Eighth, concluded the ?;y'u investigation. Heré the city got about half the lumber it paid for, except ste) ing, of which only a fourth could b ound, and all the stairways in the build- ing were measured. The 44,760 feet of lanking charged for actually measured 6,000 feet, with an allowance of nearly 2000 feet by the experts. Twenty-oie thousand Seven hundred and seventy- four feet of 4x4 proved to measure feet. Both of these measurements in- cludeddpllen of material in the yard not yet laid, for the replankine of {ho i who is a member of | le S0 TRANS-ATLANTIC STEAMERS. MOVILLE Glasgow, and proceeded. arrangements are almost completed, and the excursion will undoubtedlv be one of the pleasant outings of the season. The | Arrived—Ethiopla, New York. for e F o 1 o e —— I’I faae EMMA GOLDMAY, ANARCHIST. A little woman—she can’t be five feet tall-her round, slender figure neatly dressed in black, a bunch of carnations at her belt and one glowing vividly. in her brown hair, a white collar at her fair throat and white lace falling over her tiny hands. Her eyes are beautifully clear and gray, her forehead is fine and low, though the head itself seems narrow, the small nose is a bit blunt and the thin lips have an habitual disdainful curl that is far from pleasing. 2 This is Emma Goldman, the ment. In New York for: “inciting > “I didn’t incite to riot,”” she said to me -after last night's meeting was aver... “I merely quoted Cardinal Manning's words: ‘Necessity knows no law’.” “But there was an Implication, wasn’t there? You meant them to riot?” T asked her. Incite to riot? : Why this five feet of feminine anarchy is the most dangerous enemy so- clety has. Had she lived a century ago she’d have been beheaded. Two cen- turies ago. Emma - Goldman, anarchist, would have been given over to the loving "embrace- of "the jungfrau; while in the sixteenth century. she would have been .nicely bolled in oil or beheaded and then neatly broken on the wheel. But this little Russian woman, with her thickened speech, her good roll- ing r’s, her disdain of rhetorical rules, her vehemence of expression, her potent, unstudied postures, is the most interésting woman I ever met. She has life, she has courage, she has brains. She is fiercely consistent, unwaveringly true and, though I can’t agree with her, I belleve her to be absolutely- sincere. You should hear her talk. It doesn’t matter whether you're socialist or anarchist or are endowed with a blessed indifference of isms in general. You can better afford to miss hearing Melba or even Bernhardt than listening to this genuine creature. She fs San Francisco's sensation, as she was that of New York and Chicago; and next to the departure of the soldiers who marched off to Cuba, there is nothing so thrilling as listening to Emma Gold- man. .For nothing cows this woman, who alludes, in her full, strong contralto, to the Deity as ‘“the old gentleman who employs full-stomached idlers, priests, rabbis and ministers to mind his business”; who attacks the Press, and charges it with the responsibility of the war with Spain; who speaks mock- ingly of President McKinley as “a low politician,” and says that it was honesty among thieves that made De Lome so express himself: and ‘who then turns upon the people themselves present and taunts them with their ignor- ance, their helplessness, their gullibility. “You—you—you fools,” she cried, “you slaves, who prate of humanity! Did you interfere in- humanity’'s name when Sheriff Martin and the other murder- ers, his c’pufles, shot the strikers down? O, no, you did nothing o1 the kind! You believe what you're told to believe, you do what you're told to do. You stand like cattle before the bulietin boards with the war news. What for, my friends, what for? That the ruling classes may rejoice; that the yoke may press tighter upon you; that your blood and your body and your purse may suffer. And then you talk of freedom, of liberty!"” O, the contempt in this woman’s voice! O, the power she has over this large audience that shouts bravos and stamps and roars in response to her flery words! “As if a workingman could ever be free! Why, you are slaves, slaves. And ‘the brave boys, the brave boys.’ " she went on, quoting sarcastically. “I say ‘the brave boy’' who goes to offer himself in battle while his father slaves and sweats at home and his sister sells herself in the streets deserves the lash —and I hope he gets it."” I asked Miss Goldman later whether she didn't fear to address men in such terms as this. 5 “Never,” she answered. “I have talked to workingmen at the mines, in Chi- cago, during strikes and never once was molested.” She doesn’t mince words, this flerce, scornful woman. She denounces the present war—all wars—as a relic of a barbarous time. She declares that the men we honor—Washington, Jefferson, and Wendell Phillips—were not patri- ots, but rebels. She deplores love of country because it makes one Intolerant. “Do you mean to tell me, ' she demands, one little hand outstretched and the other braced upon her hip; “‘do you mean to tell me that it is wise and noble to throw yourselves like wild beasts upon the Spaniards, and that you'll believe it perfectly wise and perfectly legal and noble simply because youie told so by the press and the pulpii—the pulpit,” slie sneered, “for war!—and the monopolists and the Govarnment that is not by the people and for the people? They tell you you'd tear ycurselves to pieces if you had no leaders. ‘Who does the lynching in the South ~the white or the black?"” & Miss Goldman's speech is epigrammatic; it is highly quotable. “The world is my country,” she declares. “To do good is my only religion.” Freedom, freedom, is her cry. According to her creed every barrier is tyranny; every Government, all laws, an impesition. And the remedy? 5 “1 may be a fool: I am not a prophet,” she answered a question frcm the gallery. with a’ swagger, the only betrayal of self-consciousness she was guilty of last night. 3 = This small fire-brand will suggest no remedy save this: *“Truth is a dangerous weapon in the hands of working men and women. Your enemy is not in Spain, but in Washington; not in Madrid, but here in San Francisco, in New York, in Chicago. T believe in holding up a looking glass be- fore you, so that you can see and know yourselves. When you are educated, when you realize your power, you'll nesd no bombs, and no dynamite or militia will hold you.” anarchist, who suffered a year's imprison- to riot.” THE MAYOR MAY HAVE T0 PAY Dividing the Respon- sibility for the Shortage. The Company Insuring Widber Is After the Coin Counters. It Contends Mr. Phelan Could and Should Have Pre- vented Theft. NEGLECTED A GRAVE DUTY Widber's Estate Will Be Levied on Firstand Then Those W ho Should Have Counted. It seems now as it the board that should have properly counted the money In the treasury as a guarantee against Just such a combination of circumstances as led to the exposure of A. C. Widber will have to bear more than the mere censure of the public. The surety com- pany in which Widber was insured has declded to make a demand first upon the | estate of the defaulter and then upon the | bt president of the board which should have counted the money, the contention being that had the money been properly count- ed each,month the shortage would never | have occurred. | Edwin Warfield, president of the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Mary- land, which was Widber’s sole surety, ar- rived in the city yesterday morning and left last evening, the object of his flying trip being to investigate and confer and | decide upon the course the company | should adopt. There was a conference in | his apartments at the Palace Hotel yes- | terday at which Mayor Phelan was an earnest and interested member, and the result was a formal demand upon the city to bring proceedings, first against | whatever estate Widber may have and then upon the chairman of the board that should have counted the money. The position of the company was out- lined to the Mayor in the following com- munication, a copy of which was given m: To the City and County of San Franclsco: Although no demand has been made upon us, ‘We, taking notice 6f the fact that one Auyus- tus C. Widber, formerly the “reasurer of the City and County of San Francisco, has de- faulted In the sum of one hundred and | eighteen thousand dollars, more or less, and, that we, the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland, a corporation duly organized, created and existing under and by virtue the laws of the State of Maryland, are the | sole surety from the first of January, 1867, upon the officlal bond of sald Augustus C. Widber for the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, do hereby state that in entering upon sald bond of sald Augustus C. Widber, we ac cepted and became lfable upon the same un- | der and by virtue of the law that required the President of the Board of Supervisors in con- Junction with the County Judge and Auditor of said city and county, every month, to examine the books of the sald Treasurer, and shall be permitted, and it shall be thelr duty, to see and count over all the moneys re- maining in the hands of such Treasurer, and | it appearing to us that sald President of the | Board of Supervisors and County Judge dnd | Auditor have wholly falled in the perform- ance of thelr duties to examine tha buoks of | the sald Treasurer and to see and count over | all the money remaining {n the hands of such | Treasurer. . Now, Therefore, we state for the benefit of the said city and county of San Francisco that we require it under the law of che State of California, relating to the rights of sure- | tles to proceed against the suid Augustus ‘Widber and his estate and to pursue its rem- edy against the President of the Board of | Supervisors and all other persons who may be liable and responsible in the premises and | to take all other remedles which the said Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland cannot, fitself, pursue, and which would lighten' its burden. Thereafter the satd -Fidelity and Deposit | Company waiving all technicalities nerebv de- | clares that it will pay any balances or deficlt for which it may be ilable under its bind and the law and to the full extent thereof. Fidelity. and Deposit Company of Maryland, per EDWIN WARFIELD, President. Another letter demanding that suit be | brought against the estate of Widber was also served upon the Mayor, and also a third letter, in which the position of the company is again outlined and the de- mand is made that the Mayor be made a party to another suit for recovery. ‘“‘We are not raising technicalities,” said Mr. Warfield, in speaking of his company, “but we have a right under the law to seek every means of lightening the bur- den upon us either by recovery from the estate of the persons we guarantee or by suit and recovery against those whose business it was not only to protect him but to protect us. We had what was called a thirty-day risk on Widber—that is, we went on his bond with the knowl- edge that the money in his charge was re- quired to be counted every thirty days by a responsible board or commission, and with the expectation and the tacit under- standing that the officials whose duty it was to serve on this board would attend to their duties. We did not insure them for the performance, consequently we cannot be held responsible for what hap- pened as a result of thelr dereliction. ““We contend that the shortage would never have taken place had Widber known that the money would be carefully counted every month; and we assert that the way In which it was counted gave him the knowledge that he could steal from the treasury with impunity; fur- ther, granting that the money was prop- erly counted every month, it is plain that the shortage would have been discovered long before it had reached the sum it was eventually found to be, and therefore by their neglect the commissioners have ren- dered us liable for two or three times as much as we would have had to pay had they discovered the defalcations as soon as they should have done. “We do not object to pay the loss, and we will not raise technicalities, but we have a right to redress from those who have made such a defalcation possible by neglecting a_duty designed to make such a state of affairs impossible.”” 4 It is expected that Widber’'s estate will be large enough to cover a good part of the defalcation. He is said to own an in- terest in a mine worth $50,000, which has upon its dumps sufficient ore to yield $50,- 00. more. The surety company is entitled to all this, and having obtained it the lability of the Mayor and his financial assistants will occupy the attention of the courts. of =i THE MAYOR RESISTANT. He Charges the Guarantee Company ‘With Having Adoptea Equivo- cal Methods. Mayor J. D. Phelan is much exercised over the prospect of being compelled to make good the ex-Treasurer’s shortage, and last night issued the following state- ment: “I saw President Warfleld of the Fidel- ity and Deposit Company of Maryland by appointment at 4 o'clock this afternoon in his room at the Palace Hotel. City and County Attorney Creswell was with me. Representing the company was not only the president, but its attorney, C. H. ‘Wilson of 5% Califérnia street, and for a part of the time Mr. Pelxotto, repre- senting ex-Treasurer Widber, was also present. SDAY, APRIL 27, 1898. quires the Mayor, Auditor and Superior Judge to count the money in the treas- ury and report the condition of the treas- ury to the company, and so far as I am aware no report was ever made to the company, nor did they request any re- port. They simply insured the fidelity of the Treasurer to the extent of $100,000. Mr. Warfleld said that no man was better in- dorsed than ex-Treasurer Widber; that Defore giving the bond they had made a careful _investigation and had reports from leading bankers and citizens of San Francisco as to his honesty. They were in constant communication with him, sending him printed blanks to fill out, so not only before they gave the bond, but during his term of office, they made in- quiries as to his methods of doing busi- ness. Like every other insurance corm pany—fire insurance, accident insurance, elevator insurance, boiler insurance—the companies’ representatives are supposed to keep their company informed as to the condition of the insured. ‘“Hence, when the president said that its. llablllt{ was affected by anything out- side of the dishonesty of ex-Treasurer ‘Widber the City and County Attorney and myself were surprised. ie and Mr. Wilson said that they intended to ask the Board of Supervisors to sue Widber first, and then to sue the Mayor, the Au- ditor and the Superior Court, and if re- covery could not be had for tne shortage from these sources, then they might con- sider the payment of the bond. They said they had letters prepared which tuey in- tended to send to the Board of Supervi- ADVERTISEMENTS. ————— NOVELTY BLACK G0ODS! We have just opened our sors and exhibited copies of them, hand- ing me one. “I explained to the president that the| auditor, Superior Judge and myself | counted the money, that nearly two-| thirds of the money in the vault was al- ways in trays and easily counted, and | that the other third was in cks sealed by the Mint and tagged, s content: that we weighed these sacks taken at hapha counted others, always finding them cor- | rect, and that that was the method of | counting gold coin contained in sacks Pursuvd by all banking and commercial nstitutions. That was our method, and when we did it we discharged our duty. He thought that we ought to have count- ed every coin and locked it up in a safe | and sealed it, and as long as our own| seals remained unbroken fo consider it | all there, which would have flitated | the count and not required three days of our time every month. I told him- that | that method was exposed to the same | danger that we experienced in accepting | the Mint seals, because our own seals | could have been forged. We simply re | upon the universal practice of accepting | Mint seals, a practice which is in daily | vogue in San Francisco. | “He said, cutting off further discussion, | that the company and its attorney had agreed upon a plan of action as outlined | in the letters requesting the Board of | Supervisors to sue, as I stated to you be- | ore. I asked him if he had not con: sidered the proposition of giving all of | Widber's property to a trustee and realiz- | ing upon it for the common beneilt of the | ex-Treasurer, the surety company and | the city. He said that they had con- sidered that. Attorney Peixotto for his client had proposed to City and County | Attorney Creswell, which was agreeable | to the City and County Attorney and to me, to have the surety company s | obligation and then, “all three parties | agreeing upon a_trustee, for the cliy to | release its attachments and turn it_over | to the trustee for the common benefit, to be realized on as speedily as possible. This Is the proposition 1 expected to dis- cuss to-day, but the president and his attorney had evidently d to act without our advice or S ““Then came a remarkable pha interview, which led me to conclude that the company was playing a me in which they expected to Interest me. They intimated that I personally could well afford to pay the deficit. I said Jjocularly that I was endeavoring to bring about an economical administration o the city's s, and that the deficit would serv purpose because the money could not be appropriated out of the treasury that was not there. Then Mr. Wilson said that they did not waive their right to criminally prosecute of- ficers whose alleged neglect exposed Widber to temptation. I asked him very sharply what he meant. He said h meant that the company might crimin: prosecute the officers whose duty it S to count the money and bring the case before the Grand Jury. I turned to Mr. Warfield and sald, ‘Does Mr. on speak for the company when he makes that statement? Mr. Warfield did not | answer, and 1 asked him again if the| company was responsible for the state- ment of Mr. Wilson, and he said yes, the company was disposed to prosecute criminaily an{ one who was instrumental in causing it loss. “I looked upon this as a threat border- ing very closely upon blackmail, and re- alized that they were banking upon a supposed hostility of the Bourd of Super- Visors toward me personally, and you will mark that in their letters to the Board of Supervisors they mention me particularly; and also upon my supposed ability to pay in order to avert the con- sequences of their threat. When this was mentioned 1 retorted hotly that chey were going out of tne bounds of their business, and that they wow.d meet with resistance if they induiged In it. For my part I considered the interview at an end. Of e e, if ‘they prosecute anybody ourse, inally they would have to prosecute fllr-Jltmonl)')lhe Mayor and the Audit)r but most of the Judges of the Superi>r Court, who acted with these officers in counting e money. | lh“The gist of the matter is that the com- pany has decided to ask the Supervisors to sue first ex-Treasurer Widber and then the Mayor, Auditor and Judges of the| Superior Court. and exhaust inem first. | Then if they cannot recover from these | officers they say they will probably pay. | My lawyers advise that the proposition | is” apsurd; that. they have insured the fidelity of the Treasurer. He uas proved unfaithful and the city can.recover from the Treasurer and his bondsmen as’prin- cipal and surety, and I believe that suit should be brought at once and for that | urpose. | A will call a’ special meeting of the Board of Supervisors for next Thursday, at 2-o’clock, to act upon the communica- tlons of the company. There is great ur- gency, for this reason, that unless this money is recovered from thik foreign cor- poration in the Federal courts speedily, | the business of the city for the balance | of the fiscal year will in many respects come to a standstill. No street work can be done; Market street can not be paved: | bills for subsistence of prisoners and other expenses of the city government can not be met, and as no money can be paid ‘out of the next fiscal year for con- | tracts accruing in this fiscal year, the machinery of the government will stop unless provision is made by recovery on | this bond. The .Board of Supervisors are | entitled to_early legal advice as to the | methods of proceeding, and the city's at-| torneys should have the suit on the bond immediately instituted. We can not af- ford to trifle with a company whose methods, to say the least, are so equl\--! | | ocal. They are evidently trying to avold their liability, after assuming it with a full knowledge which they independently acquired of the reputation and character of the ex-Treasurer, and after charging him $500, which probably came out of the city’s strong box, as the price for the ond. The Treasurer never did, nor could he, refuse them the privilege of investi- gating his office, and they must pay for thelr neglect. Widber was a good risk when they took him, and now that he is a total loss, they must pay. “I will use every effort, officially and otherwise, to compel them to meet this obligation, and I shall not flp})rnve any | bond of their company hereafter, now that I have an insight into their meth- ods.” GUS GARSON, 238 Kearny street, near Bush, sells “STANDARD" shirts. - i — FELL INTO A WELL. | A Child Killed While Playing in His Father’s Yard. s While playing in his father's yard at' Twenty-fifth avenue and Texas street| yesterday afternoon Walter Leslie Korch- | nick, a two-year-old boy, fell into a well | and was instantly killed. | The boy had been amusing himself out | of doors while his mother kept watch of | him through a window. He went to an| unused well which had been dug recently, | but abandoned because no water was found, and removed the boards which covered it. His mother missed him from the yard and went in search of him. When she saw tne cover had been taken | from the well she surmised that the boy had fallen into it, and found that her supposition was correct. Neighbors were summoned and the child taken into the house. Dr. Simpson was called, but the | child was dead before he arrived. The | doctor signed a death certificate. so the | body was not taken to the Morgue and an inquest was waived. Fell Down the Elevator. Adolf Seecke commenced suit yesterday against Hart & Co., occupants of a store at 521 Kearny street, and W. H. and George S. Crim, owners of the premises, to recover $5000 damages for injuries al- ““This is the first time I bave had any communication with the company, the bond having been approved by Mayor Su- —_———— tro. ’l’hg}‘eunolhlnll_nm_hondthptr&, . Try our $§1 Eyeglasses, 110 Market & 11 Geary. leged to have been received on January stE last, by falling down an unprotected sldewalk elevator. | planned be carried out. last shipment for this season of HIGH NOVELTY BLACK DRESS GOODS. and will ex- hibit this week the choicest variety of FRE LISHNOVELTI in this city. NCH and ENG- ESevershown In the assortment will be SILK and WOOL MATLASSE, FIGURED PIREOLAS, CREPE CHEVIOTS, FIGURED POPLINS, BENGALINES, SILK SILK and MOHAIR FIGURED MOHAIR BAYADERE GRENA- DINES and FIGURED CANVAS ETAMINES. The above goods are on exhibition in our show windows, and our c ustomers are asked to take advantage of this special offering of Ele- gant Black Fabrics. REVIVES THE CARNIVAL IDEA San Rafael Will Have a Floral Festival After All Decision Reached at a Mass- Meeting of the Town’s Citizens. Heated Arguments and Sensational Charges Result From a Difference of Opinion. Special Dispatch to The Call. SAN RAFAEL, April. 26.—At a mass meeting held to-night at Coch- rane-McNear Hall a Strenuous effort was made to reanimate the corpse of the proposed rose festival. Attorney Cochrane was elected chairman and a free discussion followed. Judge Duf- ficy spoke warmly in favor of.the pro- posed festival and H. Phillips came to his support with a resolution to the ef- fect that the executive committee go on with the carpival. Others also snoke in favor of holding the Festival. After the proponents had their in- ning the “cold water’” brigade- took the meeting in hand. W.-M. Anderson, the chairman of the executive committee, said the carnival could not be carried on. Professor Collins said that if the ladies’ committee refused to act enough school children could not be got into line to make the American flag in the procession. Director-General Newhall gave a statement of the finances in the hands of the executive committee. He said he was in favor of waiting until the fall,and then holding a chrysanthemum festival. Bitter feeling was engendered by T. H. Rush stating he could not see where some of the money paid- in had gone. Director-General Newhall took the remarks as personal, and, advanc- ing to the platform, where Rush was acting as secretary, threateningly asked if any insinuation were intended regarding himself in the statements madé by the secretary. Newhall stated most emphatically that Rush was a member of the executive committee and knew where all the money had gone and that it had been judiciously ex- pended. Rush replied that he had meant nothing reflecting on the integrity or ability of Mr. Newhall, but he adhered to the original assertion. Rush’s explanation brought mors heated talk, but it gradually coolea down and a motion was carried by a fair 'majority that the festival as When the result was announced I C. Gieske, one of the executive commit- tee men, handed in his resignation. While the majority of the citizens be- CASTORIA | For Infants and Children. ™ friing ka vz lieve the carnival can be carried to a successful issue the members of ths executive committee have a different Opinion. It is thought that most of members of the committee resign. Many citizens side the executive committeemen and the feeling in the city over the proposed festival is so bitter that it is thought if it is carried to an issue it will receive but feeble support, ana that it will not be a succe: ——————————— ADVERTISEMENTS. AN ASSAULT UPON SPANISH HONOR fs what Sagastn calls this. You can fool people some of the time, but not all the time. Regular standard, high grade work year in and year out fis what tells, and you can always depend upon artistic and beautiful finish and color on any work turned out at the United States Laundry. Office 1004 Mar- ket street. Telephone South 420. THE SMITH PREMIER Used Everywhere. We Rent All Makes. Send for Samples and 2 Prices. L. & M. ALEXANDER & CO., 110 Montgomery St:, S. F. POSITIVELY The Last Week. ANTIQUE, RARE AND FINE RS PERSIAN B. H. PAUL'S entire stock, before his depart- ure to Alaska, WILL BE CLOSED OUT AT UNRESERVED AUGTION COMMENCING DAILY AT 2 P. M., At 106-108 Grant ave., between Tost and Geary, As every rug will be sold out cost, a life-time chance 0 buy Eenulne maogt &t your own prices. N. B. CLARK. Auctiopeas,