The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 23, 1899, Page 25

PAGES 25 vo 32 SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, APRIL 23, 1899. 0000000C2000000000C00000000000000200000000000000000000000000000000000000000000C0O00000000000000C0000000000000000000000000000000 556% 000 %{(fly[}zfi on a 5/}97252&7”0/%0— Did Wdilliam %ur. dock Sign the Prom- (ssory Yote Over Which a Score of j)eop/e IHre .flaz‘z‘/my in Court? OCO0000OO 000000000000 000000C0000000000000002C00000000000000000000000000000000000000000CC0C0000000C0000 ID William Murdock sign and , would carry his own meal in on his two grandsors, Edmond and Qeliver the promissory note for his pocket. Lk Stanle awn's two children. §100,000 dated September 5, 1877, On @ rainy day old Bill's overcoat was ry goes that finally a settle- and made payable twenty years 2 8UDDY sack, and his habits: were all ween the two men, Samuel 3 Y YE4rs n line with this sort of thing. All of . up. They met at after date tc Mary Helen Mur- this time Bill Murdock was acquiri se on the 5th day of Sep- dock, with interest at 1 per cent land, while he attended to his fi 7. Gawn was not at home. per month, or is the signature to that and sold their wool. men talked over their business scrap of paper a forgery? A cousin ¢f William, Samuel Murdock, aictions and it was agreed that p came to California with his three chil- over to Bill the $20.000 dren in 186 / his son and that William | the Samuel’s son, Gawn W. Murdock, is would give a note for a balance of William Murdock and his the husband of the woman who holds $100,000. Samuel then asked to have Three persons are said to have been present when the note was signed. Two of these, cousin muel are dead; the other is the $100,000 note. the note drawn up for that amount the holder and payee of the note—Mrs. Samuel N dock was an illiterate payable to Mary Helen Murdock. to fall Mary Helen Murdock. man and could neither read nor write. due in twenty so as to mature Mrs. Murdock’: i He had inherit frs. Murdock uit against the ex- hu "o oo ecutors of the estate of Willlam Mur- <went into the sheep business on Stony benefit. dock for $340,000, principal and Interest, Creek, near Orland, forming a partne Mrs. is now before the Superior Court of ship. They made money rapidl Glenn County, and twelve good men It is claimed, from 1861-62 until d some money, and with about the time his two grandsons be- 11 he and his son wn ne of age, the money to be for their 000000 0CO000000000Q000000 000000000000 CO0 Murdock wrote the note, Bill signed it—and that’s how and why the o T A e oo C0000000000000000000000000000000000 and true are listening to testimony Samuel loaned his cousin “Bill” large ready given in court arurgock wished to borrow some money The men counted the to the bearing on the validity of the now cele. SUMS of money, the profits from the tells the details > whereabouts of ,n his 100,000 note and he (M son) amount of $20,0( ich 3 aken by from t time to this” and g 3 brated note. wanted to kno in relation to it. The bu with “which money Bill pur- the nc - : sed land. Gawn, the son, objected circumstancs But the history of this paper, which se lcans, and bad feeling was en- — Gawn Murdock, the husband of the calls for over a quarter of a million dol- gendered between father son on holder of the note, ha closely lars, is an interesting one and there has thi nt. It app that no books -d “and his testimony not vet been publishéd a connected 'Were Kept in the matter of the partner- n. He told of meeting 3 ship business and the concern Chico a day or two sort of go f the note. Bill said 1genent between tk u, needn’t be mad - partnership w . I have settled with Gawn agreeing to pay his father . He gave me §20.000 and 000 fcr his interest, $5000 of which given my note for $100.000, pay as then paid in cash: able to M twenty r dat It was then that Samuel left the Gawn returned ho wife William ¢ put into two can- vas sacks, and two notes e handed and wo 1 whe over to Wil them up. ¥ : . One of these \e copled from and other one was for a sn s unsh Muyrdock Murdock and who bes 1. He was in with both Sam as a Justice of and at the time the b m - and Bill testified story of the trans “0ld Bill Murd as’ William Mur- dock was called, was one of the very earliest settle in Northern California. At the time he decided to make his home in the Sacramento Valley no such when the note note she thot another note. Sh question=d very to the kind of pens and ink et e RS LWk nistcoulingtBlll At dn fthe eatly itiup casefully.tput it fna viaw which | TSR, SLI RA8 HYIE 10 St o 12 e hoaring ahien the' eXibet terest rate on a so stated he drew up an afiidavit in the form of f a statement, by held testimony is E. L. Robins d that he s: Sam, of the indebted- Sacramento in 1 of Willi him, giving as his duced to Mrs. Murdock by a Dr. Hicks on that he nted” to protect k and he heard the 1 talking to{ hildren. e aflidavit was pro- William Murdock about the note. , ldentified by < H. A. SKiff, at one time in the em< read in court. It res ploy of Gwan Murdock, but no OLIMPO, Colus ductor for the Southern Pacif October 31, 18 William ock say to . Mrs. Mary dock, will m 1 “You ought to ment of the my note for% tions that has est.” myself and a Glover of San Francisco both of Colusz s in September, Californ s the 1so and nly. She left rings in care of in 1, an attorney, testl- he $100.000 note in § He was intro- | Allen € Mrs. Murdock led home sudd her children at the not say ana did continue to loan aid William Murdock m mtil 187 The first 1 ist of Wood- tor Boggs am Mur- ter died. that Wil- - had a big io, in an iam Mur- 0,000 was all he loaned on it. This tifE. the de- he would ery and for from ted to Wi to keep the accou 1 he kept the : ne cou!d uniil the 1as tic the settlement wiih ( Murdack. I loaned him April, 1876, and when 1 stuce ed in evidence Murdock ad- at various ade my final settlement wi Gawn Murdock I-oaned 3 nd the out- dock $ ven up to this which probable I hav E E Murdock note from him for the unt due dated September 1877, and \ry H. Mur- W fit of my two , that old uel and S »ed denied that he ever His he did SAMUEL (X) MURDOCK. f any such Mark 2 the acknowledg- the Ace J 1 affidavit 1 of ick, and is dated Oct is now Trial of the big c: before a_jury at Willows. principal now amount to r 000, and each side is high-priced and cleve Kirkpatrick testified that dock in n old iron . Helen Murdock testified that she § ; - at Allen n 1877. In Sep- Dot i i 5 i in t er of that year she received wor What will the twelve men decide? Mrs. Gawn Murdock Testified That the Precious Note' Was Buried. in. the. Barn for tember of that vear she received word What will the U Snidcseote . return to her home at once. She did »od the esta Bill Murdock Sl , arriving on the night of September will be insolvent lasc will and 4. The next day William Murdock came testament will be just so much waste to the house, The two men discussed Paper. cealed, and aiter bottling the vial, placed the bottle in a powder can and buried it in the barn. After ten or eleven years the note was business matters alone and then Sam- dug up and was shown to several persons in Sacramento and in San Francisco.” uel called her into the roo J On a table were nk blank note ¢ many pil _doliar _pieces. powder 15 gold coin was the tab note had been brought in to the ral muel from the c San uel asked her to write the note, her to make it like another one he at his wife wished showed her, which w for $26,000, on 1 the note from one to make the amount §100,000, the inte He and his w est one per cent per month, the time: 10 : the pavilion at twenty years after date, payable to her- T WOWE PErLo and the matt self. William read the note after she jnear to a cat o Murdock w had written it and he then sig it. have only ““Gawn returned home,” testified the wife, “and | showed him the note. We wrapped itup carefully, put it in a vial, which we some abode, but the ralsing of sheep brought seventies Gawn had married Mary El- large profits to the owners of such len Ashurst, daughter of a farmer who dighe lived in Teh v. Samuel was after bottling the a powder can 1d buried it After ten or was dug un ‘Bill" was a bachelor and as close- "\ Ep0d 1T o fisted an old character as ever owned to]lq Samuel that Gawn had not made rd of sheep. It is not an exaggera- a just settlement with him (Samuel, n to call him a mis He was an ; o sier Gawi aethed however, and paid his $20,000. This was b shand Jla Bill” was a sort of character in notes—$8000 in cash. sl el inginess. He would drive to town time before this $100,000 note was said old rattle-trap of a spring wagon, to 1 with rn them with or go tie his skinny horses to a hitching pos Samuel retur: s son’s house found) Lt hiros I theritstatedlihat-thb. Hote w pull out a sack of hay for the sorry- to live, and it told- that all of the 1 brought 'up the to be for the benefit of her sons, b freque: looking animals, and, instead of dining old man's affections seemed centered subject. Megg old Bill that Mrs. grandsons, when they became of age. 00000000000 00000000000000000006000606000000000000000000000000000098000000000PCVOODG GG« 0060600000000 00000000000000000000000000000e " @ ° O s o o . o Lo ik 9.9 ® ® 3 ® & 7 az 74 e onén cvolult. (744 [{ (ltea. ; P > V2200009090 0000000000000 000600000000000600000000068000860000600606060606 D R.CHARLES H. P \l\'KH('RS‘I‘ is authority for the statement that in four of the great cities of this country a movement is organ- {;«'lrkhursl.” E P00V 0000000C0000000000C®O00660 id Mr. Lexow, “what is your case?” T told Mr. Lexow the first comparison. Mr. n, Mr. Croker is a Platt is a Republic: ed and is making rapid progress which will bring about a new era in municipal affairs. This tide has not set against any party. It is h at we were not pr that it v the duty of the Democrat. Ostensibly they are bitter politic: In reality they t, Dr. Parkhurst says, given impulse by any religious organization. It derives its impulse from the people. “l“j i . provided it could secure \\u‘l‘l]( ‘:lnr;:e}t,};a“ Wl‘ll‘xxtlxne 1“?:3‘”}"1‘“}\1"[4;“‘1 m\)! ;11 {1](\7. in )\‘\\ 1““1’& i ment is frankly made by Dr. Parkhurst that he is in personal communication with representative men, citizens of wealth |7 becoasary evidenhe, and we believed that it could. wWhy, do you until Mr. Platt returned from Florida and went to J r. Pls E 1 the places mentioned. = He speaks. therefore, from his own knowledge, and not hearsay. The movement is not in the would be to come to New Yorle and fud the eyideams o veany Go. Croker will be. questioned by the committee: questions e of ted action by the municipalities named. Local reasons have, it is true, given the inspiration; but in every place the aim is place before them, 5 will not be such t8canine hith o 1t any time, n esti ire to be made along fixed lines and not at haphazard venture. In every c ase these inquiries will antedate, and ; I'l‘ln-r(»rur(- 1 say that your ordinary legislative committee is, by this Mazet investigation 1 > either political ctions. tself, tc 1y o, to carry on an investigation of this sort. Its party leaders would be s bsolutely no faith in investigations that are not inspired by popular demand and held because of that demand. members are not familiar with the city. They do not know where less difference about the small f b.l,[ the politic the tide of popular feeling, now rapidly approaching its flood, dates, Dr. Parkh urst says, from the time the actual cor- 0 look for evidence, and if their e sel happens to be as ignorant are sure to receive protection. Mr. Platt will not 5 laid bare to AL of Tocte : 2 ie _ Iy s _ as they it is a ple impc bility that the Inquiry shouid amount to be personally injured. Mr. Platt is in power . laid are to the gaze n_f the people of the Ln:u_rl Sm_tcs. The bcm’ficm]}: e l;!t ‘nf this E.‘(p.v)K‘c was _a‘n y .‘h(\rt to anything.' These investigations must and will be conducted by Mr. Croker will not allow Mr t to be'injured. Mr. Cr ¢ never has been a time in the history of the United States when the polic e forces of the various cities were as men thoroughly familiar with the municipality under fire. The Dower in New York city, injured? to-day. He by no means individualizes in this statement, but he says it applies to every city of over 50,000 inhabitants, counsel must be a man who knows his city, who is familiar with the people, of course. They always are when it comes to a question be- i E ways of the police, and is too shrewd a man to be deceived by the tween them and the bos: subterfuges that are sure to be resorted to. The time to begin an inves t ha igation i an election. Bpe » The Sunday €all. the hordes of unprincipled persons who were conducting the city’s There is more corruption in.big cities to-day than there ever An investigation held at any other time is a to be « ( read has the bleeding of vice become In the great Affairs, within a year it was plain that the example had been felt has been. There always will be corruption while the police are free effect. No matter how much the public learns as to how badly it ¢ § country that the people have at last been stirred throughout the country. Personally I know of a large number of to levy tribute and the criminal and vicious classes generally un- has been abused it forgets all about it in a comparatively short time. ty of action. The methods changes in various municipalities that were the direct result of this derstand they can buy protection.. New York has been held up to, The probe is felt when it is inse y tribute from the N » by, $he £ ol action on the part of New York city, and it is only by a continuation the country as the most vicious case. I say that what is true of' only the scar remains. Therefore the time for pun chmvm of those have been changeq e IRl s police of these methods, 'first one city and then another, that cities can the police of New York is true of the police of Philadelphia, Chicago, Who have wounded the body politic should be immediately after the B 5 joontnEed somewhat, but the principle is still there. be made officlally clean, the officers of the law really to enforce it Detroit, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and In fact of every injury is discovered. It is useless to conduct an investigation that The fact that blood-money js demanded and received is capable of and not to compound felonies. . city in this country in which 50,000 persons live. s not going to produde results that will benefit the people. We know demonstration In every city of the United States whose population I recall when the Lexow Committee came to New York city, its I am not making a general arraignment. What I say is the at New York's police are upt. We know that criminals buy 00. counsel was Mr. Sutherland, a very good man, I do not doubt, in result of information which has been communicated to me from immunity. We know that vice is shielded because the police are I am in communication with gentlemen in Philadelphia, Detroit. his own section of the State; but he knew absolutely nothing about unquestioned sources. I doubt if people in general have noticed the paid for shielding it. A really bona fide and arching investigation Cincinnati, Chicago—all showing dectdedly that the ti i l; Ptk New York. Why, if you had put him in the streets of New York signs of action in the various municipalities. These signs are in the would prove this to any one’s satisfaction, because proof is plenty. tng when in munici irs then Y. Laat AR s " after dark I am sure he would have immediately lost his way. How form of meetings of one sort and another, all tending to give ex- But, as I say, though all this may be laid before the public, there = rs there is going to be a temporary ex- could this man guide the committee in securing evidence of the pression to popular objection to existing municipal conditions, ob. is no remedy which would be effective that will be applied as long D! and a tidal wave ‘that will engulf the uni- evils that bound New York city hand and foot? Nor was it until Jections that are bound to bear fruit, and fruit that will not be 2s the municipality is under the control of the people who are now vice. Vice and veniality have too often won the John W. Goff, the present Recorder, sunk his harpoon in so deeply nipped In the bud. It is not a question of politics or of religion. in power. There would simply he a change of methods. The cor. and common decency. Now the case is going that people got alarmed that the investigation amounted to anything. beyond the fact that religion enters more or less into every question. ruption would be as great as ever. That committee had no idea what it was going to do, of what it was The residents of every municipality must take a lesson from the I believe the city and country have had their fill of being ruled erted form; that is, no two necessary to do. . bosses. When strife narrows down to a personal interest, the bosses by vice because of their own inaction. There never was any neces- . ¥ se that the cleansing When it began its sessions here some of us appeared before it. put party aside, really, and agree to act according to their personal sity for it, and there is none now. The revolt is coming. It will be eforms ca "b A St _the only way in which municipal Mr. Lexow said to arles.Stewart Smith, “Mr. Smith, we are ready interests. This is exactly what the people must do, and it is just an uprising of the people, and it will include every one of our great reforms can be brought about. When New. York city swept away. to hear your case.” “But,” said Mr. Smith, “I have no case.” “Dr. what they are going to do. Take New York city as an instance of cities. . 1lizing sense of the ne rted, but the wound soon heal d numbers §