The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 7, 1900, Page 1

Tall, SAN FRANCISCO, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1900. R | This to be taken from the Library.**** Paper nc PRICE FIVE CENTS. LORD ROSEBERY MAKES SPIRITED ATTACK ON BRITISH GOVERNMENT | | many able being to the of Lord vera the the comment Chamberlain, snies, was rbelief in the but said It had of its p Short Speech From Throne. m Speaker, Wil- 1 his chair in r | »on the | . Gen- | M ¥ and sum House f s, where the I Chancellor, the | f Halsbury, read the Queen’s| e . y { ords Gentlemen: It has he-l make further provision | Africa and to hold a| 2 may give | ent required t enter into | ring your at-| ing of Par- | ks of the Lords. L “onsery in | Horse Guards, | d he thought it d of the rs had had mother- the al Unionist me strain. Jeader in | course of his upon the He ob- tness in nded a defi- ernment’s angerous ce of hostili- d explanations of Boerk, the | similar severities. | nexation of the | Government | policy for speedily His Lordship was -German .agreement, t to capture the Dowager of China the ming undertaking. Lord Salisbury Talks. rd Salis’ Ty ifier paying tribute to | t and General | ery of the offi- | proved of fall | d the people | the polls in win- summer legislators r Parliamentary | ® » South Africa, the Premier solemni He sald the Free Staters and . rstood there could be ho fation from the policy of the Govern- already outlined. Anything re- independence mnever could be The war must proceed to the able issue. They must let it be feit by the issue of an insolent = ultimatum, could force the rent to humble itself and its rights. He could never al- w that a shred of independence could be How soon the Free Staters and Transvaalers would have anything self-governing powers depended on It might be years and it £ht be generations. tegarding China, Lord Salisbury said was unable to reveal anything, as it betraying the secrets of other us well as those of the Govern- He was happy, however, to be ble 1o quiet the fears of Lord Kimberley garding the pursuit of the Emperor and ;ess. He had never heard of such In regard with great at mo one, ic Gove d be 3 [ | and contentment | Gov He Criticises Matters Handled by the ‘Cabinet. Caustic Comment on Salisbury’s Offi- cial Famiiy. - All Policies Arraigned and Chamberiain Rras:ed. A T Stirring Scenes Are Enacted in Par- liament. PO Speclal Dispatch to The Call. ANTA CRUZ, Dec. 6.—There is but a single topic of comment in Santa Cruz to-day. The sensa- tional suit of L. F. Grover against the Bank of Santa Cruz County, the Santa Cruz Bank of Savings and Loan and some of the most prominent men in the town has created a stir which is with- out parallel in the history of the city. The merits of the case are of course a matter of judicial inquiry, which is now in progress before Superior Judge Smith, who is esteemed to be one of the most learned and able jurists on the Superior bench in California. The accusations which are made in Grover's complaint against ex-Lieutenant- « | Governor Willlam T. Jeter, ex-Superior uggestion. The concert existed and latest intelligence showed that it pos. a very reasonable vitality. e doubtful of the time when a ctory result would be achieved than of the fact that the concert of Eu- i be successful. of Devonshire replied to Lord nd Lord Tweedmouth closed for the Liberals. The address agreed to and the House of urned until Monday. Commons Discusses Boer War. It was to a crowded house that the Speaker rose this afternoon to submit the sessional orders, the reading of which, as usual, was interrupted by the motion of James Lowther to tic Lowther especially referred to Lord Rosebery as a delinquent during the recent election. The motion met its cus- mary fate. It was buried by a vote of 2 to 68 After Balfour, the Government leader, ad given notice of the intention of the nt to absorb the whole time of the session, the Speaker read the Queen's speech and J. E. Gordon, sovernm Conservative, in a naval uniform, moved the address in | reply. In doing so he made a lengthy de- se of the war. J. . Hope, Conservative, seconded the address. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the Liberal leader, after allusions to the elec- tions, said the remarkable thing about the war was that the public knew so Iit- tle about it, and the harsh measures be- ing taken against the people of South Africa, such as farm burning. He asked the Government for information as to the | intention of these proceedings. slow to helieve that driving a enemy to despair was the best make him surrender. It was in a de- sire to end the war, but it was also in a desire to lead to promises of harmony that he invited the rnment to declare its policy. He in- quired it should not be announced o the Boers that if they laid down their arms they would be allowed to return to their homes Balfour on South Africa. Balfour dwelt on the difficulties of the present position in South Africa. He said the men they were fighting were to be their fellow subjects and it must be done to prevent bitterness. The Gov. ernment had announced over and over ain that it looked forward to a condi- tion when the British and Dutch would have equal rights. It was the fault of the Boer leaders that the war was pro- longed. In the meantime the duty of the Government was to pursue vigorous mili- tary operations with humanity, not only from common morality, but with a states- manlike He was stubborn way to view of the future. SCORE CHA’};BEELAIN. Secretary of Colonies the Storm Cen- ter in Parliament. LONDON, Dec. 7.—The fifteenth Parlia- ment of the reign of Queen Victoria opened vesterday. Before the lights went out In the arcient chambers almost every leading politician had spoken. Such fierce personal animosity aad such bitter invec- tive had scarcely ever before marked the proceedings at Westminster. Joseph Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colonies, was the center of the storm. The policy of the empire regard- ing South Africa and China, the action of the Government in causing a dissolution when it did, the conduct of the war against the Boers and, in fact, all the questions vitally affecting the empire were gravely discussed and explained, but dom- inating all was the opposition’s hatred ot the Colonial Secretary. Once Mr. Chamberlain interrupted and leaped to his feet. A thrill went through the house. "It is not so,” he declared, and proceeded to deny the allegation that he had said that any seat lost to the Go: ernment during the recent election was one sold to the Boers. It was nearly 11 o'clock before he rose to reply to the avalanche of attack launched against him. How great a strain he had undergone was evident in the scarcely suppressed excitement of tone on the part of one rarely known to show feeling in the house. He denied that he had ever accused Mr. Ellis of being a traitor. He denied also that he had de- cried any accusations against his own personal integrity. He declared that the special purpose of the meeting of Parlia- ment had been forgotten in an’attack upon himself. Irritated beyond control by frequent interruptions and disturbances he called one of the Liberals, amid the excitement, a “cad.” The Speaker called him to order, and Mr. Chamberlain withdrew the epithet, apologizing for its use. After defending the publication of the Ellis correspondence he was cut off by the midnight adjournment. eliminate the order | prohibiting peers from interfering in elec- | Santa Cruz is Astir Over Its Legal Sensation and the Con- test Which Involves the Names of Prominent Men. JETER DENOUNCES THE CHARGES AGAINST HIM The Ex-Lieutenant-Governor and His Associates Deny Grover’s Grave Allegations of Fraud and Conspiracy. % o+ | 1 | | | | ent. Just how they ‘explained’ this to the Bank Commissioners I do not know. I was looking to the interest of my client. “Thereafter the interest of D. W. Gro- ver in the directorate of Grover & Co. was represented by what I chose to term ‘dummy’ directors of the bank. Such di- rectors, holding from one to ten shares each out of a total of 1500 shares, ordered bills of sale to the bank for all the ma- chinery belonging to Grover & Co. for the sum of $3000. The bill of sale was duly executed and acknowledged by the offi- cers of Grover & Co. and accepted by the | bank, and has been held by it since Jan- uary, 1899. The rough minutes of the cor- | poration Grover & Co., signed by its presi- dent, show that the $3000 was to be applied to and be credited upon a certain mort- + | | | H.E.MACHINNEY. THREE OF THE ME! | WHO FIGURE PROMINENTLY IN THE SENSATIONAL SANTA CRUZ LITIGATION, IN | WHICH THE MOST SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS ARE MADE AGAINST PEOPLE HIGH IN POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND PROFESSIONAL LIFE IN THE STATE. -+ Judge J. H. Logan and H. E. Makinney have startled the town. These men have been prominent socially and profession- ally for years in Santa Cruz, and it is nat- ural that the serious allegations made | against them should create excitement. | All parties concerned were eager to-day to tell their story and explain their position | in the complicated litigation which has | placed reputations no less than money at | steke. In this disagreeable affair there is one transaction that has aroused the greatest bitterness on both sides. In Grover's complaint the allegation is made that the Bark of Santa Cruz County and the Santa Cruz Bank of Savings and Loan released Grover and Hannah F. Grover, and re- ceived absolutely nothing for the release I@x(‘cpt 1100 shares of worthiess stock in | the corporation of Grover & Co., which | was then insolvent. Notes representing | $19.508 65 in indebtedness are in evidence in | the case. They show that the Grovers | paid not a cent of interest upon them, and that in June, 1897, they were re- | leased. Including the interest with the | prineipal, these notes aggregated $23,260 30. Around this sum of money particularly | the bitterest controversy in the case re- i volves. ‘ Jeter Denounces His Accusers. | When ex-Lieutenant Governor William T. Jeter was seen to-day by The Call cor- | respondent he emphaticaily denied that | the banks accepted or owned a share of | stock in the firm of Grover & Co. “We did not accept a share of stock of | the corporation,” he said, “in payment | for those Grover notes. There was an | adjustment and settlement of our claims, but we did not accept stock in an insol- vent corporation in satisfaction for our claims, This suit of Grover against the | banks is an unjust fabric of misrepre- sentations and falsehoods. “Every allegation of conspiracy, fraud ana dishonesty made in the suit is un- true. Every charge that I have placed | dummy directors in the company is a | falsehood and Grover knew it when he placed the allegation in his complaint. This suit illustrates what men must sub- mit to under our scheme of government. A complaint in court becomes a privileged communication, and although nothing be proved or be offered as a subject of proof, the person at whose head a string of epithets be flung must submit. “I again most emphatically deny that there is the shadow of fraud in our trans- actlons with Grover & Co. or that there is the remotest element of justice in their claims against us. The suit is now on trial and the court will determine the is- sues. A Lo Says the Suit Is Blackmail. Judge J. H. Logan, characterized in Grover's complaint as a dummy director of Grover & Co. and the tool of ex-Lieu- tenant Governor Jeter, was also emphatic in his denials. “This suit instituted by Grover,” he sald, “is a blackmall suit. T am not the tool of Jeter, nor a dummy director. I own the stock In the corpora- tion. It is true that in the affairs of Grover & Co. In relation to the banks there have been some irregularities’ and some mistakes, but they have not been serious, and I am not responsible for them. The firm of Grover & Co. was in- solvent when I entered it. I received no salary for anything I have done for the an indebtedness of $40,000 owed by D. W. | corporation and whatever I have done I did for the best interests of the corpora- tion. “It was necessary for us to consult the banks in what we did as the banks were the greatest creditors of the corporation. That there has been the least fraud or dishonesty or that I have acted as a dum my director, as Grover charges in his complaint, is emphatically and unquall- fiedly false. The very man who has insti- tuted tis sult, L. F. Grover, was a mem- ber of the board of directors of the cor- poration and voted for nearly all of the | transactions of which he now complains. His father, S. F. Grover, who was then and s now the president of the corpora- tion, did the same. “In the complaint it is charged that I accepted for the company as a voucher expenses charged by the bank to Grover & Co. for a suit brought by the Farmers’ Union. That may have been irregular, but it was not fraud. I simply wish to say that there has been not a single act of dishonesty or fraud in all the trans- actions relating to this corporation. Makinney Denies He Is a Dummy. H. E. Makinney had less than Judge Logan to say on the subject, but he was none the less emphatic in his denials of the charges made by Grover against him. He is the law partner of ex-Lieutenant Governor Jeter and one of the directors of Grovér & Co. As a director of Grover & Co. he brought suit against his own corporation for the bank and his traveling expenses were paid by the bank and charged against Grover & Co. In, discuss- ing this affair Mr. Makinney said: “It was an amicable suit and what did was done in order that attorneys' fees might be saved. I recelved nothing for my services. That is all there is tu that Incident. As for me being a tool of Governor Jeter that is a lie. I am not a dummy director and Grover knows it. Every charge he has made against me 1s false.” In discussing the various issues of the case which has created such a sensation in the town Attorney Frank M. Stone, representing L. F. Grover, spoke to-day as follows: Y “As an attorney representing one side of a case presently pending in court I dislike to enter into a discussion of the questions involved therein. The Call sought an interview with me prior to any publication of the article under discus- | sion and I declined to make any state- ment. As the defencants interested in the suit have sought an evening paper for protection and that publication has un- necessarily and untruthfully made state- ments involving my name I see fit upon your further solicitation to give you some facts now in evidence in this case. Pre- linfinarily, however, let me say that I have had no professional relations with Grover & Co. or any of the Grovers from June 4, 1847, up to December, 18%9. None of them owe me anything, nor have they in years, The Story of Canceled Notes. “In June, 1897, I succeeded in obtaining promissory notes from the banks referred to, held by them and made by D. W. and Hannah F. Grover, to the amount of over $30,000. For such notes, then canceled at | the bank, in the presence of Willlam T. Jeter and D. W. Grover, the banks re- ceived nothing but 1100 shares of the capi- tal stock of Grover & Co., then insolv- T gage—it never was credited—the minutes of the corporation were not written up for “ about a year and then failed to make a | correct copy of the rough minutes. “Mr. Jeter, the president of the bank, now swears, in this case, that no sale was intended or made and that although the | bank has ever since held the bill of sale and sold some of the machinery it/ was not a genuine bill of sale. About the same time the bank took a deed to a very | large body of land from Grover & Co., and, having sold almost enough to recoup for the $17,500 for which they claim it was taken, and having something like 1400 acres left, consider that a genuine sale. | The bank vouchers of Grover & Co., ac- | cepted from the bank by ex-Judge J. H. | Logan, the secretary, treasurer and one of the directors of Grover & Co., show the following facts, the vouchers being in evi- dence in this case: “The deposit account of Grover & Co. with the Bank of Santa Cruz County, of | which William T. Jeter is president, has] been charged with the attorneys’ fees o!] the bank in a suit brought by the bank | against Grover & Co. The costs of such suit, including attaching the property of Grover & Co., and the expense of the service of papers upon J. H. Logan, its secretary, have been charged to Grover & Co.’s account, and Logan has accepted the memorandum check of the bank, cov- ering the amount, as a voucher. Stone Talks About Dummies. “Mr. Makinney, the law partner of Wil- Ham T. Jeter, and, incidentally, a director of Grover & Co. has become an attorney of the bank in two suits brought within the past year against the corporation of which he is a director, holding, I belleve, one share of its capital stock. The ex- perses of Mr. Makinney to Salinas to foreclose a mortgage against Grover & Co. and the costs of the suit, even to ad- vertising the sale of Grover & Co.’s prop- erty, was paid by the bank out of the funds of Grover & Co., and Logan ac- cepted the memorandum check of the bank against his own corporation as a voucher of Grover & Co.'s expense ac- count. “It is in evidence that the ‘Farmers’ Union,” a corporation, commenced an attachment suit against Grover & Co., and-every cent of the costs of such suit, even to the traveling expenses of the Sheriff, was paid by the bank, upon its memorandum check, against the account of Grover & Co., and Logan, a director as well as treasurer of Grover & Co., ac- cepted such check as a voucher of Grover & Co. nterest has been collected by = the bank for account of Grover & Co. and re- tained, and is 'still retained under claim of ownership. For lack of a more conecise term I have used the word ‘dummy, as applied to certain directors of Grover & Co. Whether such have acted in good faith for Grover & Co. can be judged when the question was asked “What do or did you know of the value of certain machinery (alleged to have cost $15,000) which was sold by what is now consid- ered by the bank a bogus bill of sale, for $3000?"" and the answer was, to use the terse language of the witness, which un- doubtedly stated the fact, ‘Not a d—d thing." “The case bristles with testimony of the most astounding chargcter, and the foregoing but touches the border of the slum. I deem it sufficient for the purposes of this interview.” | his tury. | him. i bors as he met he told the story of his | ATTEMPTS TO MURDER FOUR OF HIS RELATIVES WITH A HEAVY AX Washington Man Slays His Uncle and Seri- ously Injures His Sister and Her Two Stepdaughters. Armead With a Revolver the Assassin Resists Arrest and Only Surrenders After Bzing Wounded. Special Dispatch to The Call. EATTLE, Dec. 6.—Armed with a | sharp and heavy wood ax and moved by some unknown aml bloodthirsty impulse, Willlam Seaton between 3:30 and 4 o'clock this afterndon attempted the murder of four persons at the home of his mother at South Park, seven miles from Seattle. As a result of his murderous attack his uncle, Dan Richards, lies at the Mors: with his skul! crushed in, the resuit of blows from the ax, and with a bullet hoie through his chest. His sister, Annle Seaton, is in a hospi- tal ward. She received three glancing blows from the ax and is severely wound- | ed about the head and back. There is| hope for her recovery. | Her two little stepdaughters, Myrtle | Hapgood, age 7, and Hazel Hapgood, ag2 5, who were the first victims of the at- | tack, are hovering between life and death. | Both recefved heavy ulows on the head from the ax and Hazel will live but a| few hours. An operation has been per- formed upon Myrtle and she has a small | chance for life. Seaton now occupies a cell in the City Jail, with a bullet wound through his neck, received from Deputy Sheriff Mike Kelly while resisting arrest. Seaton fought with desperation for his liber He fired eight shots in all. The only dam- | age resulting was a slight flesh wound to | John Kennedy, a neighbor who attempted | to enter the house while Seaton was still | there. | The entire attack upon the members of | the family occupied but a few minutes. | The little girls were the first victims of They were playing in a stable in the rear of the house, where he W splitting wood. He attacked them with an ax, striking them in the head with the heavy weapon. Their apparentiy ‘ lifeless bodies he threw into the manger. | Their screams reached the ears of their ——— | stepmother, Annie Seaton, who was sew- | ing in the house. She ran toward the | | barn ana was met near the door by her | | brother, who knocked her down with the | ax. He struck her another blow while | she lay prostrate, but in his excitemeut the blow was wild and she managed to get away, clearing at a single leap a high board fence and escaping to the house of a neighbor. Seaton then continued on | to the house. His uncie, Dan Richards, | lay sleeping in the front bed room. Sea- ton struck him three times on the head with the ax and then got a revolver and shot him through the breast. The ax he left standing beside the bed. After the crime the instinct of selt- | preservation apparently seized Seaton, and he closed and locked the doors of the | house. Three neighbors who attempted to secure an entrance through the rear door met with a warm reception. Five bullets were fired through the door, one of them taking effect in the back of Joan Kenkedy, but- not seriously wounding A few mjnutes later Seaton left the house and walked toward the station at the end of the car line, a distance of a little more than a mile. To such neigh- crime and announced his intention to give | himself up. At the station he was met | by Deputy Sheriff Mike Kelly. The offi- cer demanded his surrender, but Seaton | started to run. He went but a few feet and then turned and began shooting. Three shots were exchanged. The third | bullet from the officer’s gun caught Seat- | on in the neck, and he fell upon the street. | car trestle. He recovered sufficiently to | crawl upon the car. without assistance | and did considerable talking during the | trip to town, although badly choked with blood. His wound is not serious. | Through all the crime a little babe, the | 11-months-old daughter of Annie Seaton, | lay sleeping .in the room in which Dan | Richards was killed. It was not molested, | and when the house was searched was found in peaceful sleep. Mrs. Mary Lar- kins, the mother of the murderer, was the only other member of the family who escaped. She was in Seattle at the time and did not return until it was all over. The news of the crime is being kept from her, as it is feared that it would mean her death. D No possible motive can be assigned for Seaton’s terrible crime, except on the ground that he is a moral degenerate. Of himself and the other members of the family practically nothing is known. They came to Seattle from Illinois about a year ago. They moved to the residence in South Park about six weeks ago. The | murderer has been employed as a day laborer in E. C. Squires’ stave factory. Richards was a carpenter, but had not been working recently. Annie Seaton has been twice married; the children were thé' daughters of Hapgood, her first husband, by a former wife, but were being taken care of by her. Myrtle Hapgood returned from school at about 3 o’clock, changed her dress, and went out to the stable to join her sister. As near as can be learned it was just | 2s she came that the mad impulse reached a fixed determination in Seaton’s head. Hazel was standing beside a stall, he broke her skull with the ax and threw her body into the manger. Just then |\ Myrtle came in the door. 'He turned and struck her just as he had her sister. Her body he threw in on top of the other. The head of one of them struck the wall back of the manger and spattered blood over the boards. The little girls were able to give utterance to several screams. Annie Seaton, who was then Insthe house, heard | ax was handy on the floor, them. Of what followed she tells the following story . sitting in the house sewing when T heard several screams from the stable. I thought one of the children had been hurt, and threw down my work and ran I was about half way across . Willle (the murderer) came out of the door. In his hand he held an ax. Before 1 knew what was happening re rushed at me and struck me a terrible blow on the head. He stood over me and struck again. I felf the blow in the back. I don't remember m more except how I ran away and I thought him after me all the time.” 5 City Physiclan McKechnie to-night ex- amined Wllliam Seaton to ascertain whether his demeanor was that of a per- son mentally unbalanced. The murderer told Dr. McKechnie he was 22 years of age, was born and raised in Decatur. IlL, and conversed intelligently on other mat- ters. The physician positively pronounced | the man to be in his normal mind. “I see absolutely nothing In his mental condition to warrant a belief that the man is ecrazy,” said Dr. McKechnle. “His statements are both rational and eo- herent. To sum it up In a few words, my opinion of him is that he is undoubtedly a degenerate, probably as the result of generations of ancestors of simflar short- comings, but he is not insane.” The only statement that Seaton made during the whole of the evening which would in any way tend to indicate a de- ranged brain was as he was being locked up for the night: “Whenever I get mad I am so mad that I don’t know what I am doing.” “There are hundreds of people who could truthfully say the same thing who are not murderers, and pever will he ™ was the remark of Dr. McKechnie, who overheard the statement. At the City Jail to-night Seaton talked freely of the crime, calmiy giving in de- tall every particular. He sald: “Yes, I kilied them all. My sister was the cause of the trouble. She is not the woman that she ought to be. She would not do what was right. I was cutting wood in the backyard of our home when I com cluded to wipe out my troubles. I went to the barn with the ax in my hand. My sister’s stepchildren were playing in the barn. I heard their voices from my place at the woodpile, I entered the barm and saw Hazel standing in a stall. “I struck her with the ax and them caught the other one. This was Myrtle. She ran around the stall and tried to es- cape, but I caught her just the same. The and I killed her, too. Then I threw the bodies in thé manger. “Then this woman, my sister, came run- ning out of the hous~ and asked me what I was doing. I opened the door and struck her on the back of the head with the ax. She fell down, but I hit her again. The third blow which I aimed missed her and the ax went deep into the ground. Be- fore I could regain control of the weapon my sister ran across the lot and jumped a high fence. I then went into the house, thinking that I would dress myself and go to the police station. ““As I entered the front bedroom I saw my uncle, Dan Richards, lying on the bed asleep. The impulse seized me, and re turning to the porch, I seized the ax and struck him a blow on the head. He sat up in bed and tried to talk. I struck him again, this time with the blade. Yes, I know the blow killed him.” Then the murderer again grew deflant. “If it is the will of the law let them hang me,” were Seaton’s last words. LIBERAL VICTORY. VANCOUVER, B. C., Dec. 6.—After one of the most bitterly fought campaigns ever seen here, the Liberal govern- ment was sustained to-day by the elec- tion of Rev. George R. Maxwell to repre- sent Vancouver in the House of Commons at Ottawa. Maxwell's majority in Van- couver city alone was 74). An attempt was made to poll the votes of recently naturalized Japanese, but the plan was abasndoned early in the day. Not a Jap- anese showed himself at the election booths, although the courts a week ago decided that 2000 of the Japanese could legally exercise the franchise as British subjects on election day. The returning officer, however, gave Instructions that no Japanese would be allowed to vote, and if any of the Orientals had come within sight of the polls a riot would in all prob- ability have occurred. At 4 o'clock this morning a special messenger from Jap- anese Consul General Shimisu visited the Japanese lodging-houses all over the city with instructions to the Japanese British subjects not to attempt to vote. A littls later an armed committee of the labor ex- ecutives visited the same houses and inti- mated that if any attempt was made by the Japanese to vote they would simply be killed. This advice had the effeet of keeping the Japanese indoors, for not one of them showed his face on the streets during the day. Maxwell to-day promised the labor men that all of the 2500 fraudulent naturaliza- tion papers issued during the last six months to Japanese would at once be re- voked, and with cheers the crowd declared that the Asiatics would be driven out of the country. Both political parties admit to-night that the introduction of the race cry of the English against the French by Sir Charles Tupper was the primary cause of the defeat of the Conservatives here. It is a blow at the introduction of religious strife in the campaiga.