The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 10, 1899, Page 1

The Tall VOLUME LXXXVI-NO 102. SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY., SEPTEMBER 10, 1899—THIRTY-TWO PAGES. PRICE FIVE CENTS, DREYEUS Unjust Ver Military Finding Treason Counsel for the Persecuted Captain Wiill Appeal From the Judgment, Claiming That if Al- lowed to St of Hebrews in France Impossible. ] BNNES, Sept. 9.—The pected has happened. Drey fus has been condemned, a majority of those in the court room this afternoon fully expected the verdict, they were stupefied when it was g ex- but though completely n, and IS CONVICTED BY THE COURTSNARISL dlCt Rel’lder’ed by the§¢¢¢¢+¢¢o¢+4¢++¢++¢ 3 TEXT 0F JUDGHENT 2 (5 FINDING DREYFUS Tribunal at Remmes s 50 the Accused Guilty OI: s sm as Charged. S TR ber, 1899, the court-martial of the Tenth Legion Army Corps deliberating behind closed doors, the president put the following question: “Is Alfred Dreyfus, brevet captain, Fourteenth Regiment of Artillery, probationer on the general staff, guilty of having in 1894 entered into machinations or held relations with a foreign power or one and It Will Make the Existence| | SIS The first sign of trouble manifested | . 0T (OLONEL JOVAVST itself immediately after the verdict be- of "SA:‘%E“:,S].EO "_’d“cd“ it li" | | came known. The streets leading to |, commit hostility or undertake war against France, or procura it the means therefor by deliv- ering the notes and documents mentioned in the documents called the bordereau, accord- ing to the decision of the Court of Cassation of June 3, 18999 The votes were taken sepa- rately, beginning by the infer- ior grade and youngest in the last grade, the president hav- ing given his opinion last. The court declares on the question by a majority of five votes to two: ‘“Yes, the ac- cused is guilty. The majority agreed that there are extenuating circum- stances, in consequence of which and on the request of the Commissary of the Gov- ernment, the president put the question and received again the votes in the above men- Lycee were at that time filled with crowds of people awaiting news from the courtroom. The announcement of the prisoner’s condemnation was agree- | able to a majority of these and cheers and of “Vive l'armee!” were | raised, the gendarmes and troops look- ing on without any attempt at inter- cries | MAJOR PROFILET + 5 + + + S + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + < + + - 2 + i 3 o m + + + + + + SCHOOL DIRECTOR GEDGE ADMITS HE WAS BRIBED He Was Paid Two Thousand Dollars to Allow a Stationery Firm to Alter Specifications and Thus Bar Competition. His Co'league, J. J. Conlon, He Asserts, Received Eight Hundred Dollars as His Share for the Crooked Transaction. Dornn J. ConiioN DR+ E.GEDGE THE TWO SCHOOL DIRECTORS WHO ARE ALLEGED TO HAVE ACCEPTED BRIBES. San | HERE are members on the At the critical moment Kemp fell down | equal division of the spoils was made Francisco School Board who are on his men. He conveniently absented | it is more than likely that he is telling not honest. There are men di- | himself from the meeting when final | the truth in this instance. recting the educational depart- | a n was to be taken. He did this. No money was paid to Gedge until it is asserted, at the request of Phil Crimmin The crooked work of the crooked out- ment of the city who have ad-| | mitted that they accepted bribes to after the contract was awarded. The | agent apparently knew that a man who N 2 (APTAIN PARFAIT > which prevailed in the room | 1 the way men turned pale and | ference. The : 2 'rrace in front of the Cafe de la thetr breath was m Anb ht e 2 im Paix, the leading cafe in Rennes, was i e P RIS JU D4 f:> filled with the people taking their after- | 1 o noon drinks and aparients. When the tion could have P verdict of the court was announced the | + tioned form. As a result the | + court condemns, by a majority |+ of five votes to two, Alfred | + Dreyfus to the punishment of + ten years’ detention. ‘s DR R R R R R R o o S e e e e R R R A AR SSSSSS R 4+ttt sttt bbb e b b on the point of breaking out a detach- ment of gendarmes arrived, and, after a scene of intense excitement, put the men who had ca 1 the disturbance into the street. his, however, was but the beginning. The men proceeded to the terrace of the Cafe de la Paix, which was now crammed with anti- Dreyfusards, and there gave their own version of the row, and in a few mo- ments an anti-Dreyfusard demonstra- tion was in full swing. The people sit- ting at the tables rose with shouts of “Down with the Jews!” and “Vive I"Armee!” and demanded that the band play the “Marseillaise.” The band was obliged to comply with the demand and the crowd bawled the at the top of their voice words to the Jews. Iarseillaise” , altering the “March on, march on against Sticks, canes and hats were waved and then the crowd chanted ‘“Vive I’Armee, vive I’Armee, conspuez les Juifs. ally one man waved his hat and out “Let us march on the Hotel Moderne.” The crowd showed a strong disposition to follow this ad- vice, and as the hotel is within 100 yards of the cafe the situation began steer contracts in the direction of the | bribe-givers. In one case the specifica- | fit might have remained a secret had tions unon which bids were invited to | not Dr. Gedge confided in too many furnish the school supplies were so al- | friends. After the deal had been con- summated and public indignation over the looting of the school funds had in a measure cooled off, this man told his friends the part he had played in the deal. He repeated the story to too many. The result is that The Call is able this morning to expose the whole tered at the request of one of the bid- | ders that he could secure the contract | | at his own figures. Money was paid to | members of the Board of Education for | that privilege. Hints, vague assertions and rumors to this effect have been in the air since the school supply contracts were | deal. % awarded. To-day The Call is in posses-| When bids were first invited Dr. sion of positive proof that all these | Gedge and J. J. Conlon were ap- proached with a proposition to allow a certain firm to inspect the specifica- tions and insert in them the name of a particular brand of stationery, for which this firm was the sole agent and which could not be procured on the coast except through it. Gedge and Conlon agreed to the deal upon the promise that they would be well paid for their crookedness. Conlon made Gedge his agent in arranging the finan- cial details. The ecifications were changed as requested, and after the little joker had been inserted they were recommended for adoption by the com- mittee. Kemp had not been taken ‘nto the arrangement and did not “catci rumors are based on absolute facts. This paper is in a position to prove that Dr. H. E. Gedge, chairman of the Com- mittee on Supplies, has admitted to at | least one reputable citizen that he re- | ceived $2000 from the agent of one of the bidders for betraying the people and allowing the firm to inspect the specifications and make alterations | that virtually gave it a cinch cn secur- | ing the contract at its own figures. | More than this, Dr. Gedge has admitted | that $800 of this amount was paid to J. | J. Conlon, another member of the com- mittee, for his consent to the deal, and that the third member, William A.| Kemp, it Is asserted, allowed the mat. | ter to g through at the request of Phijl | on” until‘long after the contracts wers | would sell himself and betray his con- | stituents for such a comparatively paltry sum could not be trusted to de- | liver the goods after he had his fingers on the bribe. But when the contracts were signed the. representative of the firm waited on the doctor and handed him $2000 in $20 gold pieces. Later $800 paid by Gedge to Conlon. The | basis upon which the division was made is a secret that is said to be | locked in the bosom of Gedge. Some time after this Kemp heard the rumors that money had passed without any of it sticking to his palms. He went on a still hunt for information and found enough to make his heart sick. To use his own language, he “felt like being kicked.” He learned of se- cret committee meetings where he had not been invited; it dawned on him suddenly why he had been requested | to remain away from the meeting when the contracts were awarded. He awoke to the horrible revelation that he had been a real good thing for some one without receiving a single twenty. Then Mr. Kemp did some talking. On the highways and byways he com- | plained of his treatment at the hands of the supply committee, of which he “Te got real mad at one Maitre ]7L.”“m;~,f sank back in customers arose to (‘ht-ll" feet and de- | to look ugly. Two Englishmen who Lis chair and tears trickled dowm nded that the string band which | were sitting in the cafe were recognized s chaw ana rears Iricried aow | ? g on the terrace should give the | as foreigners and the crowd hustled his cheeks, and Maitre Labor use to accept the verdict and will | eillaise.” The band struck up | th;"v“ out. At this 1mum»m the cry ; : sty 2 2 the air and the crowds, both fnside | “Police!” was raised, and an instant turned white as a sheet, continue the battle until the judg- de, joined in the national s‘(,,(]:nd | later a strong body of gendarmes and L oo ke it s o lonel Jouaust passed by a little | Police, headed by detectives, rushed around the court men looke ment is reversed. The verdict, they on foot and In fall taitarm oe | Into the cafe and cleared every one out, other in silence. Positively t say, is directed more against the way from the Lycee to his home. | démonstrators or not. At the same | 7 7 1, & 4 . A The crowd, with bared heads, cheered | time several squadrons of mounted gen- sound to be heard was the Jews than against Dreyfus, and | him, crying, “Vive 'armee!” Colone] | darmes and dragoons, with carbines e Al g S .o thei | Jouaust, in reply to their cheers, sa- | SUng across their backs, galloped up of papers from the | if alloweed to stand will make their {0 B SR 0% s epe™ ®27 | and threw themselves across the road benches as each press representative | existence in France impossible.| As dinner time approached the streets | 1eading to the Hotel Moderne. Other c : 3 : ecame empty, but about § o'clock the | detachments of cavalry cordoned all the fried to be first to send the netws. Maitre Labori and Maitre De-| crowds again zathered at the Cafe de | @PProaches to the cafe and then grad- > la Paix and in the square beside it and | U2lly closed In on the crowd. which was the audience left the court- yoom fully ten or fifteen men | crying openly, and the majority of | those present walked quictly the street for more than a block without speaking a word. It was like a funeral procession. : Meanzwhile a tragedy was being enacted in the little room off the courtroom, where Dreyfus listencd to the reading of the verdict. He had been told by his lawwyers and had wept bitterly, but when in the presence of the officials of the court-martial he listened impas- sively to the sentence. | I/I: wife,who was waiting in tor- | ture and suspense at her /z.wxu,j bore the news bravely, and when | visiting her husband this afternoon she showed the onlookers who were in the streets no signs of her suf-| ferings as she :.uu/'/ccd from her car- riage to the prison. | Mathien Dreyfus was not pres-| ent in court this afternoon, but vis- | ited his brother after the wverdict| had been rendered. He found him | perfectly calm and r:'x[./mnt any| manifestation of surprise at the| finding of the court. The prisoner simply shrugged his shoulders, ut- tering an expressive “Bah!”’ add- ing, as he embraced his brother-as the latter was preparing to leave, “Console my wife.” The general belief is that Drey- fus will be pardoned, but this urfll‘ not satisfy his friends, who w @ down vehemently declare that they will mange took the midnight train for Paris. They drove to the station in a closed carriage, escorted by four mownted gendarmes. The road was practically deserted, and no demon- stration occurred on the route or at the station. Maitre Demange and Maitre Labori will to-morrow sign an ap- S the adjacent street. | now large and extremely threatening, Just then an incident occurred at the | and drove it across the bridge, over Hotel Moderne, which is known as the | the river and into the upper part of Dreyfusard center. Two men. notori- | the town, which was filled with shouts ous anti-Dreyfusards, entered the win. | Of “Vive 'Armee” and “Down with the ter garden, inside the garden, and sat | JeWs.” down at one of the little marble tables | A number of the most nolsy of the under the palm trees and ordered cof- | demonstrators were arrested, and the fee. At an adjoining table sat ‘La |cavalry, at a quick trot, broke up every Dame Blanche” with a companion, | roup and forced the participants in the while at other tables were seated MM, | demonstration out of the center of the Bernard, Lz and Corzinotti, with | town around which was formed a cor- other Dreyfusard don through which no one was allowed The two newcomers at once began to | €xcept he was provided with a pass make offensive remarks about Dreyfus | from the police authorities. plication for a revision of the case,|and Jews generally. One of them,| The demonstration dwindled from JoaE i e Sobpiih Jo | turning to “La Dame Blanche.” said: | this time until 11:30 o'clock this even- although there is no hope that the | Em. xho_sf; dirty Jews! These dirty | ing, when only a few noisy bands were S e T e Sees oy | Preyfusards!” | 1eft parading’ the smaller streets, but ] ) e y Rt 3 ” i A verdict will be reversed. Both me | ““Ta Dame Blanche” replied, telling | running at the first sight of a man in him not to address her. The men. how- ever, persisted and added personal in- sults, whereupon “La Dame Blanche" became greatly excited and called them | cads to insult a woman. The men re- | torted offensively, and in a moment “La Dame Blanche” snatched a menu card in a heavy metal frame and threw CLAMOR AT RENNES CAUSES L|VELY RIOTS | it E:!Ei;:i??:“]";"i‘!:’!.(’f her insulter, narrow- £ Jiz | “The other diners, seeing the trouble, rose en masse and threatened to throw blue. Strong repressive measures, however, alone can prevent serious disturbances. The cafes in the neighborhood have been closed, some by the police and others through panic, and tranquillity is now practically restored, though to- night’s trouble may be only the pre- lude to a bigger demonstration to- morrow. LEGAL ASPECT OF are much upset, though it can hardly be said that they are sur- prised. e S Sept. 9.—Scenes of great excitement occurred at Rennes to- | the men out of the garden. In an in- night. The anti-Dreyfusards broke |Stant the place became a perfect babel, THE DREYFUS CASE : : | every one shouting at the top of his loose and started a demonstratipn | yoice, calling the men cowards and e which, but for prompt and rigorous | ‘“canaille.” The ladies present hastily | PARIS, Sept. 9.—What is the legal measures by the police, would un- | withdrew, Mme. Lazare being carried aspect of the case of Captain Dreyfus? doubte disorde away in a fainting condition. Just as the threatened free fight was have developed fnto serious | i SENTENCE MAY BE SHORTENED TO A FORTNIGHT. RENNES, Sept. 9.—It is stated here this evening that as Drey- fus has been condemned to ten years’ detention, and as he has al- ready suffered five years’ solitary imprisonment, which counts as double the ordinary detention, he will be released at the end of a fortnight. In the meanwhile, unless the President of the republic pardons him, which many think certain as being the only solu- tion to the present situation, Dreyfus will have to be degraded here again within cight days. P e Continued on Second Page. | Crimmins, but that he failed to get g | awarded. i [pesiennice | slice of the bribe money, and has been | The change enabled the tricky con- | trying to drown his sorrows in copious | tractors to make their figures as high draughts of alcoholic beverages ever | as they pleased. They were after a fat since. contract and they secured it, consid- When the School Board was handling | ering the bribe money small at $2000. the supplies contracts the people kept | Brown & Powers had a much lower a watchful eye on its proceedings. The | bid, but of course they could not fur- lowest bidders did not win out in every | nish the brand of goods called for in | case: in fact, it was apparently a case | the specifications. Kemp made a great | of the highest bidder being receivea | show of fighting for the best goods at ! with the most favor. Naturally these | the cheapest prices and did some argu- | | circumstances aroused suspicion. It |ing for Brown & Powers, but when it | was evident that there was something | came to the final show-down he let his | crooked. Ginn & Co., Payot, Upham & | men and their bid take care of them- | the §2000 deal was mentioned to him he | Co. and Cunningham, Curtis & Welch | selves and did not attend the meeting. | feigned surprise, but he could not con- | were awarded the contracts. Director | The reason has been stated. He denies | trol his interest in the subject. | Kemp had championed the cause of|that -he was given a consideration to “The very thing that I have been stay away, and from the manner in |t yineto find out—the very thing,” said which he has been bemoaning his fate he, and then to himself Kemp, Kemp, 1 | Brown & Powers, whose bid to furnish ink, paper, pencils, etc., was at least 25 for being on the outside when the un-| '} <o have you been? Two thousand | dollars floating around and you did not per cent lower than the next lowest. get a cent of it. Why any one to hear this would think that I came from the country; wouldn’t they? The reporter acquiesced. “Why I ought to be kicked, I ought—no, no, I don’t exactly mean it that way. 1 would not take a cent if it were offered to me—I wouldn't. But then when a fellow hears about $20 pieces flying through the air his mouth waters a little. It is natural— the most natural thing in the world, even among us strictly honest people. | No use talking, Kemp deserves Kicking. | “Gedge and Conlon might have ar- ranged this matter at secret meetings where I was not invited. I will not say that I know of such meetings. I can- not call to mind that I have heard of any such nor will I say that I have not. I know Phil Crimmins very well and frequently talk with him about school matters in general, just as I would talk with any one else. He might have asked E from the meeting acts were awarded, but 1 don't just remember whether he did or not. “1 favored the bid of Brown & Pow- ers because it was the lowest and the class of goods offered was fully up to the standard. If any crooked work was done it was done by the firm that bid on the same articles that they did. They bid on the ink, paper and stuff of that kind. I believe the contract for that was awarded to Cunningham, Cur- tis & Welch. My men would have got it had I been at the meeting. I would have raised a howl, you bet.” “Then you admit that you did stay * was asked. no—I did not mean exactly that Let me think—well, I I was time, but it did not do him any good. Gedge and Conlon had the coin and they evinced no disposition to part with any of it. As a solace to his wounded feelings and his aching pocket he im- bibed freely; he found some comfort in the cup that cheers, and in this condi- tion words gurgled from his mouth like the liquor from the liftle brown jug, and to all who would listen he poured out his tale of woe. Mr. Kemp was seen last evening by a representative of The Call. When | | “No, —I was there. really do not know whether there or not.” “Did you receive any compensation for staying away? “Not a cent,” and the look of sadness on Kemp's countenance spoke louder than anything he could have said. “Kemp, where did you come from? You deserve to be kicked. Twenty dollar pieces floating about and you did not get one of them. That is just my Aluck.” S SCHOOL DIRECTOR W. A. KEMP, WHO BEMOANS HIS HARD LUCK., 4