The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 23, 1899, Page 1

VOLUME LXXXV_NO. 54 SAN FRANCISCO, MONDAY PRICE FIVE CENTS. RUN DOWN BY THE OAKLAND A (Gasoline Launch Sunk and Two of Its Occu- pants Dr the Neither Boat Saw the Other Until Too Late-—The Launch Party Was Looking of Two Boys. DROWNED. Frank E. Orr. d. Otis Wattles. William Scabury. Edward J. Finn. NARROWLY ESCAPED DEATH. Charles C. Finn, dJoseph Mathews. Chres Gustafson. The ferry st Oakland and the gasoline launch William D were in yesterday morning. The k and Frank E. Or- d J. Otis Wattles were drowned, e Charles E. Finn, J. Mathews nd Chres Gustafson had a miracu- escape for t! lives. e party in the launch were on to search for the bodies illiam Seabury and Edward J. nn, as they had heard that the skiff h the young duck-hunters left ley had been found .ottom up. mer ¢ n launch was su small Berkeley, do so their s passed trace of th: v boarded which th was a light rwise it was ncerned say learly visible. away nd steamship nchor in the cabin of the a : morning papers W 1 him a few min- s on took place. F k at the t > pilot- <new noth- tened danger until t uck, and Captain ¢ 't see the Will- r looked down out of the pil dow, and then she was 5 d bow. He blew the ¢ rsed the ferry- b was too late to fon young Finn aft on the launch and called down hto the cabin: better come on K, nd is running us out of his mouth when the collision took place. umped from the William D into all boat and then overboard. umped clear of the launch A few minutes later floated out of the cabin, while Gustafson made his way out of the pilothouse window. Both Orr and Wattles seemed to be injured. The made only a feeble effort to save himself, while Wattles did not seem to be able to swim. By this time the steam launch from " the McArthur had arrived on the scene former | | | owned in Bay. ‘ for the Bodies Missing | and a boat had been lowered from theE Oakland. Mathews and Finn went to | | the assistance of Orr, and Gustafson | started after Wattles, who was floating “Come back,” yelled the sail- he boat. “Come back and get | but Gustafson only yelled , “I know what I'm about. Save other fellows.” With powerful | he made his way to the drown- ing man, and had just put out his hand | to grab him when he went down for the | last time. Gustafson swam around for a few minutes, but, seeing no sign of Wattles coming up again, he swam back and was taken aboard the Mec- | Arthur’s launch. Orr and Finn were already in the launch, while Mathews had been taken aboard the Oakland. Orr was in a very precarious condition, and Finn was |more dead than alive, so the launch was headed at full speed for Mission street wharf. On reaching there Gustafson ran to the Ha ceiving Hospital, and told the driver of the ambulance Drs. Fitzgibbon and re in bed, but at once got Dr. Fitzgibbon started out in bare feet, but was stopped. When Orr was brought in the doctors were sure he was dead, but nevertheless they went to work on his body and every- thing known to medical science was done to resuscitate him, but without avail. The right side of the dead man’s head was brui and his hair and clothes were ail greasy, evidently from the ine that had washed back m the engine room into the cabin. nn was undressed and put to bed. was then given a stimulant and 11 a. m. was able to dress him- and go home. tory stories are told about The people who were on William D state positively that the and ran them down. The captain te of the ferry-boat say the Wil- D ran into them. s called to the telephone last v and asked if I could spare a for Sunday morning,” said Peterson yesterday. “The mes- came from Captain Seabury’'s in Berkeley, and I agreed to the William D ready for them at k Sunday morning. At the d four men put in an appear- e and said they wanted to go to e to search for two young fellows ho had gone duck hunting and had Just then one of them | the telephone, and he ving the boys’ skiff had 1, but that there was no trace fter a conference to go first of all to Berke- men who had picked up and find out the best place to > bodies. To assist them in h they took along one of my ats. They left here at 8 t time I saw the ring a course for t Island.” I escaped by the aid Captain Chres | was a light haze on gasc E the water, but I could e Goat Island distinctly and I steered a direct course for the 1 end of the island. As to how t the fainte: idea. swear to—I had a there were no w | first thing I k cident happened I haven't thing I can | clear course and tles blown. The | s that something | | had turned t William D on her side and the water w rushing into the engine-room. I w nearly smothered for moment, and then I remember grabbing the low frame and the next instant I n the surface of the water. I saw the paddie-wheel of | | the Oakland coming down, and, making a dive, I got under it. Then I saw Mr. | Wattles making a2 very poor struggle for his life, and, thinking he was hurt, | I went to his assistan Poor fellow, | he went down for the last time as I was | putting out my hand to help him. I | then swam back and got into the Me- Arthur’s launch, after which we raced for the wharf with the injured men.” “It was a little hazy when we left our slip on the 8 a. m. run,” said Captain Wwilliam Clairville. “I could see Goat | Island, however, bfit did not see the | launch until she was down on us, T { cannot for the life of me understand how she came to run into us or how any one of the people aboard escaped. The first time I saw the little boat was | when I looked down out of the pilot- house and saw her under our star- | board bow. T turned to the mate, who | was with me in the pilothouse, and said, | ‘She Is. getting very close.” ‘Too close,’ said he; ‘we’d better go astern.’ With that he blew the danger signal| jand rang up full speed astern in the | | engine room. As soon as they got the | danger signal on the launch she seemeq | to swing right into us, and struck the | Oakland just forward of the paddle- | box. Luckily our paddles began to go | astern and the wash from them threw the boat away from the Oakland, or W W | to help them we resumed our run and | that we should be struck. else everybody on board would have been killed.” “We had run about 750 yards from our slip and the boat had not gath- ered full headway when the accident occurred,” said First Mate J. H. Doug- las of the Oakland. “I noticed that the launch was getting very close to us, and spoke to the captain about it. I then blew the danger signal and re- versed the engines, but before we could gather sternway the William D struck us. The paint on our hull forward of the paddlehox was scraped off when she struck us, and I think that was all the damage done the Oakland. We got our boat out as quickly as possible and did everything we could to save life; when we could not do anything more reported the disaster on our return to this side.” - Joseph Mathews was found at Cap- Fatal Accident on the Launch William D Just After the Collision. tain_Clairville was for years mate of the Piedmont, and some time ago was raised to the rank of captain. Douglas has been on the boats almost from the beginning of the service, and is one of the trusted men of the employ. \ During the afternoon Peterson se- cured wrecking appliances and sent the launch Amy out to grapple for ths sunken boat. The tide had evidently carrfed the Willlam D away, as up to dark no trace of her could be found. The search for her will be carried on again to-day, and the men at work on the job hope that they may also recov- er the body of Mr. Wattles. Bay. The Ferry-Boat Oakland and the tain Sezbury's home and gave the fol- | lowing account of the accident: “T was in the cabin at the time the collision | occurred. It was shortly after 8 a. m. | There were five of us on the launch. | viz., Frank E. Orr, Charles C. Finn, Otis Wattles, myself and the engineer. referred to as ‘captain.’ “The steamer Oakland struck us with | g her starboard wheel and knocked all|¥ the roof of the launch off. We were alli thrown into the bay. The stern of the| launch was, however, above water, and | @ I swam to it and held on there until I| | was picked u» A boat was lowered | from the Oakland and also one from | the revenue cutter. The Oakland's|Y boat picked up Orr and the revenue | cutter’s boat picked up Finn. Orr was | to the Harbor Receiving Hospit- al, but died a few moments afterward. | Otis Wattles was not seen after the|¥ collision and his body Was not recov- | ered. i “With regard to the hopes of picking up William Seabury and E. J. Finn. | they are becoming slendered every mo- | ment. Mrs. Seabury ostrated by | anxiety and sorrow. Several boats and | [] launches are out along the Berkeley | | ghore near Point Richmond looking for | @ any traces of the lost boys.” Charles C. Finn, one of the five in the launch, related his experience as fol- low: “Mr. Mathews engaged the aunch and telephonéd to me to start| 7 for San Francisco by the 7 a. m. train. | 1 asked him the name of the launch, so that if I missed Mr. Mathews on the | train I should know what launch to in quire for, and he told me William D. We had started only a few minutes from Peterson’s wharf at the foot of | Folsom street when we saw ourselves in danger of being run down by the | steamer Oakland, which left the city | wharf at 8§ o'clock. I was on the stern \‘ of the boat, but was not sure at first | 1 called to the engineer (Peterson’s man) and cast off the whitehall towing astern of our | launch. I jumped into the whitehall, but when the paddle-wheel of the steamer struck us I thought I should be crushed by it, and dived down. When I came up I saw a life buoy one of the passengers of the ()aklanrl_had thrown overboard and got hold of it. The rev- enue cutter's launch picked me up, however, and the steamer’s boat picked | up Orr. Frank Orr had been away from Portland for about eight years. He came to California at the time of | the Midwinter Exposition and had charge of the concession department. He had been in the employ of Monte- leagre Brothers, the California street commission merchants and coffee deal- elfl‘-he news of the terrible disaster reached Berkeley in the course of the morning and spread rapidly through the town. When it was learned, in ad- dition, that the scow in which young Seabury and Finn started had been found near Alcatraz sympathy for the bereaved families was felt on all sides. Otis Wattles was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Wattles of 2235 Dana street and was very popular among his friends. He was about 18 years of age. He attended the Lick School in this an’t the homes of the other two baoys, Edward Finn and Willilam Seabury, scarcely any hope is entertained for their return and the families accept the conclusion that they must have per- ished. s: ieport was spread at first that the scow had been found without the oars and rowlocks. This gave some hope that the beat had possibly drifted from its moorings, leaving the two boys stranded and unable to obtain assist- ance. The report, however, could not be confirmed and it was later learned that both oars and rowlocks were with the boat when it was found, but had been removed by the man who found it before being turned over to the au- thorities. Captain Clairville and Mate Douglas are two of the oldest and most experi- enced men in the ferry service. Cap- oo o0 - ® . 9@ 0 0000606000000 0060 900956006 60e00 WRIGHT IN ® L] A NEW ROLE Accused of Taking [Money Under False Colors. Another interesting side light has been thrown on the checkered career of Howard E. Wright Speaker of the Assembly. The du- plicity’ of Wright in public life has been proved by his own testimony. His double dealing and false representations in private business transac- tions are established now by the evidence of reputable men who accuse him of having made them his victims. The facts are timely for a double reason, as they show beyond dispute that Wright is insensible to the or- dinary rules of honesty, and as early as last August declared himself em- phatically a supporter-of D. M. Burns for the position which the Mexi- can is now seeking. Wright is accused of having obtained, under the grossest misrepre- sentation, $50 from F. R. Pendergrass, a searcher of records and real estate dealer of Visalia. It will.be remembered that Howard E. Wright was at .ne time secretary and manager of the California Title Insurance and Trust Company. Mr. Wright's peculiar business methods did not meet with the favor of the officers of the corporation and the re- sult was that in May he resigned his position. He asked that the resig- nation take effect on July 1, but the directors, wishing to be rid of an undesirable employe, decided to accept the resignation at once. Wright severed therefore on June 1 all connection with the cor- poration. After that day he had no authority to represent himself as an agent of the California Title, Insurance and Trust Company. It is now charged that Wright, about the middle of last August, falsely represented himself to be an agent of the corporation and through this misrepre- sentation obtained from F. R. Pendergrass of Visalia $50, which sum he has never repaid. At that time Pendergrass had a client named J. W. C. Pogue, who lives eighteen miles from Visalia, and wished to secure a loan. Pen- dergrass came to this city and met Wright. The Visalia real estate dealer claims that Wright represented himself to be an agent of the Cali- fornia Title, Insurance and Trust Company. Upon this false representa- tion Pendergrass says he paid Wright $50 with which to defray the ex- penses of the bogus agent to Visalia and return. Wright promised to examine the security, which Pogue offered for a loan, and to report to the corporation, which at that time he had no authority to represent. Neither Pendergrass nor Pogue knew of these facts until later, when they indignantly denounced Wright for his unscrupulous business du- plicity. The Speaker, however, has not returned the money. While Wright was at Visalia it is claimed that he took Pendergrass and Pogue into his confidence in reference to his legislative aspirations and his prospective action in connection with the United States Senator- ship. Rumors have been afloat in the Assembly District that Wright misrepresents that the Speaker was bound to Burns months ago - and would deliver himself whenever he was demanded by the Mexican. The incident at Visalia leaves no doubt of the truth of the rumors. According to Pendergrass and Pogue Wright himself declared that he was for Burns whenever Burns wanted him. Pendergrass says that while the negotiations in reférence to Pogue’s property were in progress Wright discussed volubly on his ambition to represent his dis- trict in the Assembly. = The Visalia real estate man says that in August Wright told him that he was a candidate for the Assembly and would win the nomination. ~ Wright said that he had an opponent, but ex- pected no difficulty in getting-him out of the way. This conversation, as the public is aware, had reference to the payment of $250 to William B. Pringle. 3 Wright, according to Pendergrass, declared further that he would not only be elected to the Assembly, but would be chosen Speaker of that 0900000 600606000 body. He boastingly announced that he had obtained the assistance of D. KI. Burns in his candidacy for the Speakership. In his capacity as Speaker, Wright said that he would exercise considerable influence in the selection of the next-United States Senator and in that .contest he announced himself most emphatically as the supporter of Burns. These facts are now extremely significant as they reveal the exist- ence of some of the dark political by ways through which Wright passed to win the station he has disgraced.” Long before his nomination Wright was a political chattel of Burns, held in reserve and under a mask of honor. The mask at the proper time was withdrawn, but the play was too palpable. ~While Mexican Dan tried to use the dishonorable occu- 000000000 0000000000060 000 006006 0 pant of an honorable place to create a.stampede he simply exposed to ublic shame the man he used. Wright carried only himself to the pil- Fory of public scorr. GRANT'S MONEY WAS USED IN HIS CAMPAIGN Siskiyou's Assemblyman Re- ceived the Benefit of Four Hundred Dollars. TO SECOND HIS NOMINATION Had a Masterly Prepared, but Speech Already Destroyed It When He Went Over to the Burns Camp. CALL HEADQUARTERS, SACRA- | MENTO, Jan. 22.—The people of Slski-} you County will have te blush again‘i for their representative in the lower | house of the Legislature. The Call is in possession of facts to prove that C.| B. Jilson received the benefit of $400 from one of the promoters of U. S. Grant’s campaign for the Senatorship. The proof that Jilson received the| benefit of the money and that it was money paid in the interest of Grant| will be presented to the committee of | investigation. Jilson started out to vote for Grant, | and did cast his vote for the San Diego | statesman on the first ballot—the bal- | lot taken in separate session. It was on | the programme that Jilson should make a speech ir the Jeint convention, sec- onding the nomination of U. S. Grant, but*within twenty-four hours after he voted for Grant and promised to make the speech indorsing Grant, he changed his mind and voted for Burns. The preparation of that speech lends a touch of humor to the situation. The Siskiyou statesman prepared it with infinite care and patience. The ora- | tion, for such it was called, was elo-| quent and inspiring. It was a classic | for fireside reading in Siskiyou. It was | pure and lofty in tone, suitable in all respects te the home circles. It was a thing of beauty and would have been a | joy forever had not the author decided | to destroy it after he changed his mind i and resolved to cast his vote for Burns. The Call is in possession of the es- sential features of the remarkable ef- | fort. In his prepared but undeliveredi speech the Siskiyou Assemblyman said: | “Mr. President: I rise to second the | nomination of U. S. Grant Jr. for the | high position of United States Senator in Congress. Among all the worthy candidates whose names have been pre- sented to your consideration there is| not one who stands as high as Grant. He bears an illustrious name and in| many of his traits of character. as well as in his physical features, he bears ai striking resemblance to his noble father. “Speaking for Siskiyou County, I can say that the people of that region | heartily indorse the candidate whosei cause I have the honor and privilege | to advocate before this joint assembly of the Legislature of California. The magic name of Grant will give to Call- fornia a position and prestige in the Senate of the United States which no other name could secure. The gentle- man whose claims I present is a resi- | dent of the southland, but his fame extends to all regions of the State. | From the eternal snows of Shasta's| crest to the waves that kiss the beach of Coronado the people sound the praises of Grant.” There was more of the same kind of eloquence in Jilson's flight of oratory. This evening Mr. Jilson was asked to allow The Call to publish the text of the remarkable oration. At first he modestly denied that he had prepared a speech, seconding the nominatian of Grant, but subsequently added: “If I had prepared a speech you could not get a copy of it now.” ‘When assured* that The Call had in- formation that it was one of the ablest nominating speeches of the session, the author observed that he intended the people should judge what he could do | in that line. | Further inquiries regarding this re~§ markable production bring to light the interesting fact that Jilson dictated the speech to a stenographer and that after the first dictation he had the speech typewritten and revised. He went over the revised speech, correcting one Greek quotation and polishing some of the sentences which seemed to be a little too crude for this Legislature. Perhaps the revised copy was submit- ted to Jim Brown. It is not improbable that Grant himself, who is a college man and a scholar whose intellectual attainments are vouched for by Sena- tor Perkins, added a few graceful and classic touches to the effort., No difference what was done In the way of finishing touches the speech and the shorthand notes were destroyed. In order that no record should be left of Jilson’s intention to eulogize Grant the Assemblyman tore from the stenog- rapher’s notebook the shorthand notes. The typewritten copy was then de- stroyed, apd Jilson now believes that all the traces of the dictated speech have been obliterated. In a general way at first, and sub- sequently in a detailed manner, Jilson explained how he got into the Grant camp and how he took shelter in the Burns fold. He related that Senator Perkins wanted a southern man elected Senator and was favorable to Grant. Jilson wanted to oblige his friend Per- kins, and so consulted with Milton J. Green. & The assurance came from Green that Grant was very strong, so strong that he would be elected United States Sen- ator on the second ballot. Comment- ing further on this information, Jilson | said: “I voted for Grant on the first ballot and did promise that I would make a speech in the joint Assembly, second- ing the nomination of Grant, but when I saw that he only received twenty- seven votes on that ballot I concluded that he was not in the race. Now, my people in Siskiyou want something, and as I found that Grant was not in the favor of the State administration I changed my mind after the first ballot and voted for Burns." Regarding the statement that $400 was placed in his district in the inter- est of Grant, and that a person would testify that the money was paid to him (Jilson), the Assemblyman replied: “Wait until he testifies before you publish that statement. He will not testify that the money was paid for Grant, or that it was Grant money. Be- fore you publish any statement of, this | character wait until he testifies to the conditions of the payment of money. There was no monev --~‘d to me for my canvass or for my support of any can- didate. Yes, I know that he is a truth- ful man and will tell the whole story straight.” PROMINENT ARRIVALS AT THE CAPITAL CALL HEADQUARTERS, SACRA- MENTO, Jan. 22.—Judge C. N. Sterry, chief counsel for the Santa Fe road, ar- rived this evening. The Judge will appear before the Committee on Corporations to explain the full intent and purpose of the bill which provides for the consolidation of railroad corporations, both Federal and State, in California, and their operation as one road. Among the other prominent arrivals are Luther Brown of Los An- geles, president of the Young Men's Re- publican League of Southern California, who is here to help Senator Bulla, and G. 'W. Kingsbury of San Francisco, proprie- tor of the Lick House, who is here as a looker-on. LITTLE ACCOMPLISHED BY THE SENATE TO DATE CALL HEADQUARTERS, SACRA- MENTO, Jan. 22—Up to date the Senate has passed and finally disposed of three Joint resolutions and passed finally three bills. The Cutter bill, repealing the Belshaw act and enacting a substitute for it, is ona of the bills passed, and the other is the act appropriating $50,000 for the State Printing Office. The committees have hardly got down to business yet, but during the next two weeks the chairmen announce that they propose to have sessions almost daily. This will clean up a great deal of com- mittee work. M. J. GREEN IS STILL CONFINED TO HIS BED CALL HEADQUARTERS, SACRA- MENTO, Jan. 22.—Milton J. Green will not be able to appear at the bar of the House to-morrow to answer to the contempt pro- ceedings which- have been instituted against him by the Investigating commit- tee. Mr. Green’s condition to-night is not fmproved. His doctor has directed that no one shall seee him and that politics n no form shall be the subject of conversa- tion In his presence. His condition is not serfous, but his physician states that for a few days he must have absolte rest. Wright Did Not Go Home. CALL HEADQUARTERS, SACRA- MENTO, Jan. 22.—Speaker Howard E. ‘Wright did not go home according to his usual custom on the Saturday adjourn- ment of the Legislature. He received word that his presence in Alameda County would not be welcomed, 80 he pre- ferred to remain here in Sacramento, where the wrath of his outraged friends ;’ng neighbors could not be visited upon