The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 15, 1901, Page 1

"YOLUME XO—NO. 13, SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 1901. BUNKO CHARITY WORKERS DUPE BENEVOLENT CITIZENS, SECURING MONEY FOR “BENEFIT” CONCERTS William Donnely, the Leader of the Crowd, Is Aided by Well-Dressed and Pretty Women Who Canvass the City Daily, Turning Over Contrib of professional “charity rs,” headed by a man known as WiHliam Donnely, is now engaged in imposing upon he citiz y, the headquarters of the : ng in room 612, Emma Spre kels building. The expose of the methods of Mrs. K. C. Gregory, alias Graham, by has been fol z days ago ther investigations, with the by result fur- that that a number together for purpose of “milking the public,’ by the schemers in referring to their impcsition on charitably inclined citizens. Associated with William Donnely, who ¥ laims to hai! from New York, are this paper has discover of persons are banded Ernest Edwards, M. B. Weinberg, Miss Helen Barnes, Miss Bertie Edwards, Miss | Mae Tilden and Miss Deitweiler, while a.| n Sax cepting < ber of respectable young women of Francisco have been duped into the ac with unsavory outfit The methods of Donnely and his gang ally the same as those exposed all in the case of Mrs. Gregory. and benevolent societies enefit™ ts in the societies get- nine dollars pocketed are which rest ting one doliar to he schemers Jese the police interfere with Donnely ng to the “benefit” concerts he i en- gineering, the combination is likely to cleay many thousands of dollars in this o For the past month Donnely and his operatives have been engaged in selling tickets for benefit concerts to be given in 2'd of the S8an Francisco Boys’ Home, run by a man named Hutchinson in the Mission, and also for the Children’s Finding Soclety of Oakland. Hutchinson's “home’” has been exposed as not being all thet is claimed for it, and he is at present hand and glove with Donnely. How the Schemers Work. The schemers have worked themselves into the good graces of Mrs. John Pettee of this city, who is well known in charitable circles Mrs. Pettee some months ago founded the Universal Ser- vice Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Children. A man named A\ Tracy, an ex-soldier, was engaged by his associates, or the public stops do- | The Call a few | the | * the term | s 2 utions to Employer by his female assistants. The women are all fashionably dressed and are glib talk- ers. So profitable has Donnely found San Francisco that he has been obliged to ad- vertise for assistance in order to gather in the money. Ov Sunday, May 2, the following adver- tisement -appeared in a morning paper: WANTED—Tkree young ladies of good address and education, on salary. Apply room 612 Emma €preckels building, Monday, between 9 and 12 m., no later. This advertisement brought a swarm of young women to Donnely's office, and some of them were selected and started out to “list'the town” and sell tickets for concerts. Plans to Give Concerts. Donnely planned to give a concert on | - PRINCIPALS IN THE CHARITY BUNKO SCHEME AND HIS CHIEF ASSISTANT. - = » Mrs. Pettee as a bookkeeper, on the rec- ommendation of the Young Men's Chris- tina Association. Tracy was discharged by Mrs. Pettee in a short time, but before being discharged he introduced M. B. Weinberg to Mrs. Pettee, and Weinberg was engaged as secretary of the soclety. Weinberg was formerly associated with his brother as a dealer in clothing out near the Presidio, and was warned off the reservation. Donnely was introduced to Mrs. Pcttee by Weinberg, who claimed to have known him for ten vears in the East. An offer of Donnely to pay half the rent of Mrs. Pettee’s office in the Emma Spreckels building was accepted by the lady and the grafiers were no sooner installed in the office when they practically ousted Mrs. Pettee 'and ran things to suit themseives. Mrs. Gregory worked formerly with Donnely and his assoclates, but later started in siness” for herself. Donnely Pays Big Salaries. So profitable is Donnely's scheme that he is able to pay one of his lady can- vassers a salary of $300 per month, others receiving $250 and $200. Some of the women came from the East with Donnely and have assisted him in the charity bunko game in other cities. Donnely is the prime mover in this game of spoils. He sits in his office and makes out the lists of charitably inclined ladies and gentlemen who are to be called upon s o June 27 at Golden Gate Hall in aid of | “the San Francisco Boys’ Home.” A sec- dnd concert was fixed for Monday even- iy?g. July 8, at the Alhambra Theater in aid of the *“Children’s Home Finding So- clety.” Just how many tickets havé been | sold or what donations have been made 1o these “benefit” concerts is known o to Donnely and his associates. When The Call exposed the doings sz‘ Mrs. Gregory Donnely took alarm. He hastily called in all the advertising cards he had distributed for the concert of July 8 and instructed his assistants not to sell :‘J‘")' more tickets, but only to solicif dona- on: C. Ernest Edwards poses as “‘manager of the concerts,” and his picture adorns the advertising cards, which Dcnnely has gathered in from all windows where they were displayed until a few days ago. Ed- wards is the man who engages the talent for the concerts and invariably manages to secure the services of well known peo- ple gratis, in the name of charity. lesu Edwards is supposed to be a sister of the ‘“‘concert manager,” and she is skilled in disposing of tickets among merchants ana professional men. The women of the Don- nely aggregation who are skilled work 111 downtown districts, while the novices en- gaged in the city are sent to call on ladies whose names figure in the society blue bock. How Receipts Are Shared. No books are kept by Donnely for the inspection of the societies he gives con- certs for. The contracts he makes are similar to those used by his former co- worker, Mrs. Gregory. They stipulate that a concert is to be gilven and that the parties giving the concert shall sejl tickets and bear all expenses. The society is guaranteed a certaln cash sum, never more than $200, and “% per cent of all money taken in at the door on the night of the concert.”” After the city has been thoroughly worked in the sale of tickets, the average amount of cash taken in “at the door” is less than $20. The soclety would thus receive never more than $215, while the schemers would clear up hun- dreds of dollars from the outside sales. Donnely admits that it is an easy thing to dispose of thousands of tickets at $1 nly | Continued on Page Two. | the ! the police believe that some lives were | | with life-preservers, | danger. | before the Northfield sank to the bottom FERRY-BOATS COLLIDE ON EAST RIVER Many Passengers of the Northfleld Go Down to Death. Old Sidewheeler Is Rammed and Sunk by the Steel Mauch Chunk. B e Tugboat Crews Do Valiant Service in Rescuing Scores of Persons . From the Water. NEW YORK, June 14—The wooden sidewheeler Northfield, which has been in the service of the Staten Island Ferry | Company for the past thirty-eight years, ‘, was rammed to-night by the steel-hulled ! rropeller Mauch Chunk, used as a ferry- | boat by the Central Railroad of New Jer- sey. The collision occurred just off the Staten Island ferry slip, at the foot of | Whitehall street, and in less than twenty minutes afterward the Northfield, which was ‘crowded with passengers, sank at the outer end of the Spanish line pier, in East River. The Mauch Chunk, which was badly damaged, landed two dozen passengers who were aboard of her. More than a aundred of the passengers of the sunken Northfield were dragsed | out of the water by people alongshore and ! the crews of the fleet of river tugs, which promptly responded to the ferry-boat's call for help. A few of the Northfield's passengers were hurt in the accident, and | lost. Captain Daniel Gully of the tugboat | Mutual, who caw the ferry-boats crash together, says that immediately after the collision between twenty-five and thirty of the passengers leaped into the water and,that many of them perished. Captain Gully also declared that he was sure that more than a hundred of the Northfield’s | passengers were drowned. The captains of other tugboats who were early on the scene are inclined, however, to believe that the disaster was not So-serious as regards loss of life. Thus far no bodies have been recovered. 3 Tugs Do Splendid Work. The reason for such difference of opin=- ion as to the extent of the @isaster is that the wildest excitement prevafled on the Northfield. The tug’ Mutual saved in all about seventy-five persons from the Northfield, and the tugs Unity and Arrow saved between them 130 persons. Two policemen of the Old Slip station claim | to have rescued nearly thirty. As soon as the crowd wlich had followed the | sinking ferry-boat along the river front was able to render any aid it worked with | a will, and in many instances men sprang | into the water to save life. The greatest | service was rendered by the tugboats, which circled around the Northfield and made a bridge to the Spanish line pier. Men and women clambered over the tugs to the shore. While the Northfield was well supplied which were stowed in out-of-the-way places. not more than two dozen of the endangere: nassengers were able to get the lifebelts on. This state of affairs was because the life-pre- ervers were not handily obtalnable. and the wildest sort of panic followed when the hundreds of passengers realized their This was only a few minutes of the river, and then all who had not jumped to the tugs found themselves in the water. Captains Blame One Another. The swift running flood tide and the question of which boat had the right of way was the cause of the disaster. Cap- tain Abraham Johnson was In charge of the Northfield and Captain C. S. Griffin was in command of the Mauch Chunk. Each lays the blame for the collision upon the other. The Northfield, with a load of passen- gers variously estimated at 800 to 1200, at 6:01 p. m. started out of the west slip at Whitehall street for St. George, Staten Island, and at 5:33 p. m. the Mauch Chunk left the railroad slip at Communi- paw for Whitehall street. The latter craft was abreast of the Barge Office at the Battery when the Northfleld came out of the slip. 'An exchange of whistles between the boats was followed by the crash. Captain Griffin apparently be- lieved that the Staten Island ferry boat would be halted until he had worked his boat into the upper slip, and on the other hand Captain Johnson supposed that he would be allowed to cross the Mauchn Chunk’s bows. ‘When the accident appeared inevitable the Communipaw ferry boat's speed was reducec as much as possible under the circumstances, but, borne along by the swift running flood tide, the head of the Mauch Chunk struck the Northfield on the starboard side at the head of the for- ward ladies’ cabin on the main deck. The blow was a terrific one and the force of it wrecked the steering gear of the forward end of the Mauch Chunk, tore up about ten feet of the main deck, wrecked the deckhouse on the port side and broke through the deck rail and threw down the stanchions on the forward part of the Central Railroad boat. Captain Abraham Johnson of the North- field was arrested about midnight on a charge of criminal negligence. ' He is held without bail, and will be arraigned to- morrow. Captain Griffin of the Mauch Chunk went to his home in Jersey City not long after ‘the accident occurred. Officers of the Jersey Central Railroad gave assur- ances that Captain Griffin would make his appearance in court to' answer to a technical charge of manslaughter. The only person reported missing up to midnight was George H. Kopper, janitor of the Criminal Court building. EASTERN SHARPERS FAIL IN ATTEMPTS TO SWINDLE BROKERS OF SAN FRANCISCO IN A MINING STOCK BUNKO GAME Their Scheme Is to Induce M¢ri to Buy Worthless Shares in Colorado Mining Companies in Belief That Denver Men Are Ready to Buy Them at Big Advance in Price L= < o3 HE police have in custody three ‘men who are supposed to be mem- bers of the gang that has been operating in Eastern cities with worthless mining stock. In Chi- cago the men amassed considerable money and they were also successful in New York, Denver and Portland: The three men were arrested yesterday morning by Detectives T. B. Gibson, Ryan and Dillon and gave the names of Charles Gordon, | — PHOTS BY GEQ T RELLY OxrrCias. TOLICE TWOTOERAPHE! < THE PRINCIPALS IN THE AT- TEMPTED MINING STOCK BUN- KO GAME. il H. C. Crosby and H. A. Barton. They will be detained pending further investi- gation. Gordon, or Rodgers, as he is also known, was identified last night as Frank Fegen- bush, one of the most noted confidence men in thé country. Some time ago he | and another crook, named Harry Dubois, swindled a wealthy man of Chicago out of $8000 by the same means the gang worked In this city. Fegenbush was re- leased on bonds and fled to Denver, where he swindled a woman named Laura Fixen to the extent of $4000. He is also wanted in New York and other places for similar offenses. There is another member of the gang still at liberty. Captain Seymour was called up by telephone after the three men were arrested and a man'’s voice told him that Gordon lived at 721 Clayton street, which proved to be false. The supposition is that the confederate tele- phoned to throw the detectives off the scent. Three different stockbrokers in the city, at least, have been approached by the swindlers, but Captain Seymour expects that others will be reported. The three are Paul Redfield Lewis, stockbroker, 210 Examiner building; W. A. Desborough of the National | Investment Company, 8% Market street, and W. B. Ames, manager Investors’ Development Company, 640 Market street. Their experience was prac- tically ‘the same. Select the First Vielim. Lewis was the first one selected by the gang. Gordon called at his office on Fri- day, May 17, and introduced himself as a second cousin from Denver. He was fa- miliar with all Lewis' relatives, and told him that his real rame was Rodgers but he had assumed the name of Gordon, as he had trouble with his wife and did not want uner to know where he was. He showed Lewis a letter purporting to be from W. T. Rodgers, employed in the of- fice of the R. C. Bogy Investment Com- pany, Denver. Gordon first enjoined Lewis to the utmost secrecy. In the letter it was stated that Bogy was anxious to get control of the stock of the Ward Consoli- dated Gold Mining Company of Colorado, as an English syndicate was negotiating to buy the mine, which had developed ex- tensive ores. Rodgers had discovered that a certificate for 60,000 shares, issued to Samuel E. Duncan, had been located in structed three broke s in St. Louis to en- deavor to find it and buy the stock. Rodgers had found that the certificate had been turned over by Duncan to his nephew, H. C. Crosby, who was in this city. Rodgers had not told Bogy, and he thought that !f Crosby could be induced to sell at a low figure they might make considerable money out of the transac- tion. Hard Cash Was Wanted. The letter seemed genuine, and Gordon asked Lewis if he would not trade oil stock for the mining stock provided they got Crosby's consent to sell, and they could divide <he profits. Lewis had a large quantity of oil stock and borrowed enough to cover the 60,000 shares. By ar- rangement he went with Gordon to Cros- by’'s room, at 511 Leavenworth street, the following Tuesday. Crosby was in bed, and Gordon explained that Crosby had got into a scrape with a woman. Crosby kept up the deception by groaning from pretended pain all the time Lewis and Gordon were in the room. Crosby showed the certificate for the 60,000 shares in the Ward Consolidated Gold Mining Com- Lpany, which he pulled from under his pillow, but said he had decided not to take oil stock in exchange. He wanted hard cash at the rate of 5 cents per share. Lewis got the names of the three brok- ers in 8t. Louls whom Bogy was supposed to have employed to find the missing cer- tificate. They were Joseph M. Hackett & Co., Mason & Douglass and Carleton, Rose & Co. He at once opened up telegraphic correspondence with them and received replies that they were willing to give all the way from 15 to 19 cents per share for the stock. There seemed a big profit in prospect and Lewis wanted Crosby to place the certificate with the Bank of California as security, but Crosby object- ed. Lewis went to a friend and told him of the snap. The friend examined the cer- tificate and declared it genuine, at-the same time expressing his willingness to advance the $3000. Broker Reports to Police. Tewls wired the brokers in St. Louls May 24 to communicate through a bank there with him with the object of closing the deal, but instead of getting a reply through the bank, received a reply from Hackett & Co. urging him to complete the transaction and expressing surprise at the o3 | this city unknown to Bogy., who had m- | ! s delay. This aroused Lewis’ suspicions and he decided to wire Bogy in Denver. That day he received a message from the West- ern Union Telegraph Company to call at the office. He did so and was shown a paper that Bogy did net know the sender of the dispatch to him; he did not know | of any such deal, and some one had evi- idenzly been falsely using his name. Lewis | was then satisfled that the whole thing was a fraud, and communicated with Captain Seymour, who detailed Detective Gibson on the case. Lewis is out the cost of the telegrams and $10 which Gordon ;horrc‘wed from him on the strength of be- ing his supposed cousin. For his own sat- isfaction he got the Germania Bank, with which he deals, to wire to St. Louls about | the three brokerage firms, and the bank recejved a reply that the brokers were un- known in that city. The police are satis- fied that the gang had a confederate in | St. Louis who telegraphed under the names given by Gordon to Lewis. Desborough saw an advertisement in & morning paper offering an investment for $3000 and double money promised. He an- | swered it and Gordon called. He was | shown the certificate for the 60.000 shares st. and wired to the bogus brokers in Louis. He ultimately came to the o clusion that the scheme was a swindle and on June 8 so notified Captain Sey- mour. He was so exasperated that he placed an advertisement in The Call ask- | ing Gordon to call at his office, but Gor- don was too foxy and did not accept the invitation. If he had dome so he would have met with an exceedingly warm re- ception. Deshorough’s only loss is the cest of the telegram to St. Louis. Fourth Man of the Gang. Ames also saw the advertisement offer- ing the investment of $3000, and a client asked him to look Into it. He answered the advertisement and Gordon called upon him. Ames was told exactly the same story as Lewis, exeept that Crosby was willing to sell for 33000. Ames wired to St. Louis and was offered from 12 to 15 cents per share. He finally wired Carle- ton, Rose & Co, “Will you wire $3000 to be paid to us here upon delivery to Colum- bian Banking Company of 60,000 shares Ward stock?” Thursday he received a reply In the affirmative and to send de- scription of stock. He did so and ceived the reply: “Description is correct. Deposit money in First National Bank. Have bank wire confirmative description and we will wire money at your expense.” Early Thursday afternocon a stranger came into Ames’ office and opened nego- tiations for stock for Denver parties. He would not give his name. He offered 35000 cash for the 6) 000 shares, but Ames told him of the higher offer he had got from St. Louls. The stranger told him | he would wire to Denver and asked Ames not to close till to-day, when he would get a reply. He was a confederate of the swindlers. After he went away Ames again wired Carleton, Rose & Co., St. Louis, that stock would be deposited only on the payment of cash. Thg answer came yesterday morning that they ecould mot understand Ames’ hesitancy. If the stock was all right they would wire the money, The stock would be tied up only one day, until the bank should confirm previous de- scriptions. Ames had been suspicious throughout Continued on Page Two.