The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 23, 1902, Page 1

The e Call. VOLUME XCI-NO. 174 SAN FRANCISCO, FRIDAY, MAY 23, 1902. PRICE FIVE CENTS. MONT PELEE MENACES ENTIRE ISLAND DEL TITE CAUSES TRAGEDY Terrible Explosion in Shasta County Ends Life. Mother and Child Die Under Ruins of a Home. Employe Said to Have Been Smoking Cigarette. REDDING, Ma 35 years, maker, 22.—George Miller, aged } & farmer, miner and powder- | is in the hands of friends, | VIOLENCE EXPECTED AT MINES Clash on Anthracite Coal Fields Is Brewing. Operators Are Angry | and the Strikers Defiant. If Pum;s Stop Work Disastrous Floods Will Follow. Special Dispatch to The Call. WILKESBARRE, Pa.,, May | sides in the great coal fight are forming are trying to soothe him at Delta to-night e is through c ed with the realization that arelessness his wife and babe were blown to death this morning, his two other children so badly injured | that they c ardly survive, two men in agony m injuries and burns | th of property was de- er is declared to have| a cigarette while he attended to in the Deltite Powder the Com- | works and inevitable hap- Powder Works were situ- all Guich, three miles above ve miles up the canyon plant was established i Steele, an inve r his associates. | red a new explosive and more powerful dynamite. TONS OF EXPLOSIVE. plant for the winter and ks ago to fill large r for mining and toll under the superinten- iler. Steele made Several men | and twenty tons of ade and stacked up in | ng ready for delivery. The men the plant lived in bunk-| Louses near Ly except GeorgeMiiler, who | to work in the plant last fall. He | a house twenty yards from his wife, aged about 25 ar-old daughter, | r smoked many cigarettes and sev- ays ago Superintendent Orwiler saw oking in the powder factory. A | ere warning was not heeded and Miller ated the offense. Both General Man- | ager Steele and the superintendent were sent early this morning when Miler | George Barber went to work. James | Gocdyear lay asleep in the bunkhouse | yards aw Miller's wife and chil- iren were in their house. SHOCK LIEKE EARTHQUAKE At 8 o'clock Miller went down into the ment. A few moments later Barber ar hissing sound and started he resched the door a terrible occurred and the fragments of fell upon him at the spot to hurled. The mighty explo- rd for many miles. It shook like an earthquake the houses at Delta, three miles away, and terrified the people. Then they realized that the powder works | had blown up and parties with first re- | lief supplies drove at a run over the trail to the place. he was was A fearful scene of destruction greeted their eyes. The plant and all the (‘abln-‘ &nd houses in the gulch had begn de- | molished and the pleces scattered. George | Miller was seen struggling out of the debris which filled the basement. He was | dazed and weak, but absolutely unhurt. He was led away and the rescuers turned to his home. The walls had been shot away and the roof had fallen to the ground. Beneath it lay the frightfully mangled corpse of Mrs. Miller and close by the crushed body of her babe. The 4- year-old boy was found unconscious, with his skull crushed. His older sister lay bleeding, but still breathing. EMPLOYES IN RUINS. In the wreck of the mill lay George Barber with his left hand and wrist mangled and skin and flesh burned from his back. James Goodyear was freed from under the fallen beams of the bunk- | house, and though burned and hurt, he was able to limp away. The trees on all sides were uprooted and fallen and bent into fantastic shapes. The dead bodies | were laid upon a grassy plat and the in- red ones soothed by friends and re- moved to Delta. Barber makes the statement that Miller lighted a cigarette in the basement. The gas there ignited and set off twenty tons of deltite and explosive material. The concussion occurred above him and for this reason he was not hurt. Miller is too bewildered and grief- stricken to make any statement. The two Miller children were pronounced fatally injured. Barber is in great pain, and while his left hand apparently must be amputated, he has a fair chance of re- covery. Goodvear, who was dressing when the explosion occurred, will soon re- cover. Coroner Thomas Greene is at the scene. The Deltite Powder Company's loss is about $17.000 and uninsured. Mrs. Miller was the daughter of H. C. Howard of Igo. General Booth Coming. NEW YORK, May 22— Commander Booth Tucker of the Salvation Army an- nounced to-day that the commander-in- chief, General Willlam Booth, will visit this country in October next. n line for trouble. eventually That violence must scems inevitable. The and the miners are nt. President Mitchell’s demand that engine drivers, firemen and pumpmen be paid the same wages for eight hours® work that they now are paid for that of ten will be resisted. The miners them- selves do not expect it to be granted. The miners also see that an attempt will be made by pump workers who leave with non-union As this course must inevitably pre- come men. cipitate trouble the mine workers assume | that the operators will at the same time throw down the gauntlet and make the | attempt of resuming work throughout the collieries, involving a bitter struggle for with the certain prospects of violence and the marching of union armies against the renegades or non- union foes. ACTS OF VIOLENCE. mastery, Already sporadic acts of violence have | appeared, but until to-day nothing actu- | ally serious occurred. At New Philadel- phia, however, early this morning twenty | | masked United Mine Workers entered a boarding-house kept by Mrs. Car- | miners’ olina Fogerty. The band was armed and gained entrance by breaking a window. A ncn-union miner, Thomas Creassen, was taken from his bed and bound hand and foot. ing fired to intimidate the other boarders. Creassen was saved from the terrible fate which awaited him by some friends in the | | lower story pulling him in their window and cutting the rope. It is by no means certain that the vast body of union men now in idleness can be held in restrant for any prolonged period. There may be radical defections at any moment when work is resumed in any lo- cality, and only fear will hold back the | dissatisfied. DANGER OF A FLOOD. “There are eighteen collieries within a | radius of nine miles of here,” official of the mine workers, with the local situation. and tunnels extend under Wilkesbarre and the, neighboring towns of Mill Creek, Parsons, Miners Milis, Plains, Ashley, Sugar Notch and Warrier Run, with a total population of possibly 200,000. “All these subterranean passages are connected at some point and if the pumps stop in any of*the mines the water will said an familiar | certainly get beyond control in the others and a great calamity would occor This entire city is undermined and fears have | frequently been expressed that there would be a serious cave-in. With the tunnels turned Into rivers sweeping aside the props and timbers, there would be danger that the city buildings would | suddenly collapse. “Similar conditions prevail in many other towns in the anthracite coal fields. | The operators must keep the pumps going [ or invite damage beyond all calculations with the probability that months or years would be required before the mines could again be worked.” WORK ON A WIRELESS SYSTEM NEAR COMPLETION Stations in the Southern Part of the State Will Soon Be Ready. LOS ANGELES, May 22.—The work of installing the stations of the wireless tele- graph system between Los Angeles and Catalina Island has progressed so rap- ldly that the officials of the company ex- pect to transmit messages from the island to the mainland at San Pedro by the first week in June. The stations at Avalon, on the island, and Point Firman, near San Pedro, are nearing completion and the apparatus for the Los Angeles office has been shipped from Denver. The system will be the first of its kind on the Pacific Coast. The company in- tends to erect a station at Point Loma, near San Diego, and will later construct a wireless system between the Farallones and Point Lobos, off San Francisco, for the United States Government. RUBBER IS ABUNDANT BUT COSTS MANY LIVES It Is Difficult to Reach Owing to the Uninterrupted Equatorial Heat. WASHINGTON, May 22—Willlam Page Bryan, United States Minister to Brazil, has reported to the Department of State that while rubber is abundant in the Up- per Amazyn country, with great chances of ample teturn for its exploitation, the climate ani topography of this remote country are such as to imperil life even during the lriefest sojourn for those un- accustomed Yo uninterrupted equatorial heat. The mortality is conservatively reckoned at t¥o lives to each ton of rub- ter exported. 22—Both | the operators to replace the | Then a rope was placed about the | young man's neck and he was lowered | from the upper window, several shots be- | “Their shafts | | | | _DI}\DHJSH FORTRESS, CHARLOTTE AIIELIA > ST THOIMAS —— ;our: a fresh stream of lava. Be- lieving that the island is doomed, the population contimues in a state of pitiful panic. Just as fast as possible they are leaving on ships. They do ot care where they go. All that they ask is a means of leaving the place they have come to regard as an inferno. Six hundred refugees have ar- rived here on the Salvador. Two lundred more ‘are expected soon. | Those who are here are in a- sad state of poverty. Many are almost naked, and not one has brought more than the clothes he wears. Among the homeless ones are many too old or too young to care for CcHURCF AT IMORINE ROUSE rMARTINIIRUE - [ OINTE A PITRE, Guad- eloupe, May 22.—Mont Pelee continues to menace the existence of the entire island of Martinique. Without cessation it has been in eruption since Monday. A new crater has opened on the north side of the vol- cano, and from this lava pours in a broad stream down to the sea. This crater is probably the result of the terrific cxplosion that occurred early Tuesday morning, when the pent up forces seemed to rend the mountain from base to summit. It is mow known that there has been further loss of life, and, what is more distressing, a large number of persons, mostly women and chil- dren, are imprisoned by the lava streams which surround them. It is impossible for assistance to be rendered to them by human be- ings, and nothing less than a mir- acle can save them from the awful death which confronts them. These unfortunates are at Grande Riviere. They were cut off from escape when Mont Pelee resumed its labors Monday. The lava that burst from the volcano swept awas all the roads, filled the river chan- nels so that 1t set the bridges afloat, carrying them upon its surface un- — From the Special Correspondent of The Call and the New York Herald. Copyright, 1902, by the New Zork Herald Publishing Company. til they were consumed, and, reach- ing the seacoast, spread through the crevices a boiling mass so hot as to be almost incandescent. In this way have the women and children at Riviere been sur- rounded. Efforts have been made to reach them, and though they can be seen pleading for deliverance, it is impossible to give them aid. Their supply of food is limited, if not wholly cxhausted, and starva- tion, if not a more terrible fate, confronts them. Gradually steadily the rivers of lava are spreading, and if the eruption in- creases a wave of molten material will sweep away the doomed victims. Usine Vive has been destroyed, as has Le Carbet, where twenty sol- diers perished. Many inhabitants of the willage are also believed to have been lcst, but it is impossible to tell the number. In all Martinique the conditions are impossible to describe. Al- though Pelec has been less ugly since Tuesday, it still presents an ap- pearance that is far from reassur- ing. Gun-like reports are heard: at irregular intervals, and after each report the mountain top trembles while some cleft in the summit e bus SQUARE Arie STATOE oF THE EMPRESS YOSEPHITIE, FMMARTINIQUE HOLY EDIFICE THAT ESCAPED DESTRUCTION, AND AN INTER- ESTING LANDMARK ON ISLAND. <+ themselves. Some: are orphans whose parents were victims to the rage of Pelce. A relicf committece has been formed here, and the authoriiies are doing their wtmost to relieve the dis- tress. Free rations have been dis~ tributed, but the supply will not last long. It is probable that some of the provisions intended for Martinique will come here. Fears are ex- pressed that a pestilence will result from the bodies that float ashore on | all the islands. Scores of burned and lacerated bodies have floated ashore on Marie Gallante Island, south of here. They are being burned and precautions have been taken to prevent an outbreak of disease. TWO MEN MAKE PERILOUS TRIP TO THE CRATER FORT DE FRANCE, May 22.—The correspondent of the As- sociated Press has had an inierview with M. Clerc, a member of the| Legislature of Martinique, who re~ cently explored the vicinity of Mont Pelee. He said: * “I started Friday last for Mont Pelee by the road leading along the coast from Basse Pointe, and, ac-| companied by Telloame Chancele, chief engincer of the sugar works, I reached a height of 1235 meters Continued on Page Two. - Streams of Lava Claim New VICtImS and TORTURE Hopelessly Imprison Helpless Women and Children on Stricken Martinique CRIMINAL AT STAKE Is Negro Assailant Mutilated and Burned. Texans Mete Out an Awful Death at Lansing. Women in the Crowd Witnessing Work of Avengers. LONG VIEW, Tex., May 22—A man hunt, which had been in progress since last Saturday, ended to-day in the burn- ing at the stake of Dudley Morgan, col- ored, who assaulted Mrs. McKee, wife of a Texas and” Pacific section foreman at Lansing, Tex. When it was learned that the negro was captured and was being taken to Lansing the excitement of the people knew no bounds. By 11 o’clock this morn- ing great crowds had gathered at the | Lansing switch and arrangements were made to burn the negro. Just before 11 o'clock the train bearing the prisoner and his captors arrived in Marshall and was met by a great crowd of people. Many boarded the train at Hallville and when it arrived at Lansing every available place on it was occupied. Waiting at Lansing was another large crowd from Longview and the surrcunding country. The negro was not taken from the train on the side where the crowd was and when the engineer started to pull out sev- eral Winchesters were leveled at him and others of the train crew. They were told if they moved the train an inch they | wouid all be killed. CONFESSES THE CRIME. The prisoner was identified by Mrs. McKee and several negroes who worked on the section with Morgan. Mrs. McKee said they had the right man and the negro was escorted by about 200 men, armed with Winchesters, to the place of execution. As he was chained to the stake he made a statément, in which he implicated another negro named Franklin Heard, saying Heard was to get part of the money which was to be stolen. Morgan confessed to having committed the crime and after he had been securely chained to the stake, or rail, with his hands and legs free, the members of the mob began to take the railroad ties from the fire already started and burn out his eyes. They then held the redhot and burning timbers to his neck, and after burning his clothes off, burned other parts of his body. The negro screamed. He ‘was tortured in a slow and painful man- ner, the mob clamoring for a slow death. The negro, writhing and groaning, begged piteously to be shot. WOMEN SPECTATORS. Mrs. McKee was brought to the scene in a carriage, accompanied by four other women, and an effort was made to get the carriage close enough for her to see the negro. The crowd was so dense, however, that this was impossible. Persons held each other on their shoulders, taking | turns about looking at the awful sight. | The negro’s head finaily dropped and the ties were piled around and over him. In half an hour only the trunk of his body remained. As soon as the heat would per- mit, the crowd, with long sticks, began a grewsome search for relics. Parts of his skull and body were gathered up by some and carried away. As the fire died down the crowd took the two men who first caught the negro and held them over their heads, while they held their Winchesters in their hands and were photographed. HUSBAND LIGHTS PYRE. From the time the first fire was applied to the negro’s body until the dying embers alone were left, the crowd yelled and cheered for the men who had chased the negro. Section Foreman McKee, husband of the woman assatlted, applied the match to the faggots. Many women were present from the surrounding country, but owing to the great crush they had very little op- portunity to see the negro until the heat forced the crowd to widen the circle and the flames leaped over him. The railroads brought crowds of people to Longview Junction, where they board- ed the Texas and Pacific fast train, which does not ordinarily stop at Lansing. The engineer was forced, at the point of a Winchester, to stop at the scene of the lynching, however, ‘and the mob disem- barked. FORMER BANK CASHIER SHORT IN HIS ACCOUNTS Resident of Helena Is Accused of Embezzling Nearly Two Hun- dred Thousand Dollars. HELENA, Mont., May 2.—H. H. Mat- teson, former cashier of the First Na- tional Bank at Great Falls, was to-day in- dicted on ninety counts on the charge of embezzling $198,000 while cdshier of theo bank. The testimony before the Grand Jury disclosed the fact that Matteson was at one time $238,000 short. It is expected he will plead guilty to one count if the District Attorney will quash the others. ‘ -— Extending Time of Ratification. ‘WASHINGTON, May 22.—Secretary Hay has requested the Danish Government to enter into a protocol extending one year the period of time allowed for the ratifi- cation of the treaty of cession of the Danish West Indian Islands. The action is. necessary to keep alive the treaty as ratified by the United States Senate until the Danish Rigsdag can act finally upon it at the next session in September, ALLEGE FRAUDS IN CUBA Democrats Are After Campaign Ma- terial. Seeking an Issue to Eclipse “Water Cure.” Committee May Go to Island in Search of Eviderice. Special Dispatch to The Call. CALL BUREAU, 1406 W., WASHINGTON, May Represen- | tative Griggs of the Democratic Con- | gressional Committee is said to be hard at work trying to prove that the Ameri- can army and the Republican party have been gullty of stupendous frauds during the three years and five months the isi- and of Cuba has been under control of the United States. What the committee is doing will not G STREET, N. be admitted by its members, but it Is known that campaign managers are hopeful of finding an issue that will eclipse the “water cure.” The committee reasoned that it would be impossible to make any investigation so long as Brigadier General Wood was supreme in the island, but now that the Cuban Government has been established they think they will have no difficulty in uncovering all the secrets of the Ameri- can occupaftion. RECORDS ARE LOCKED UP. The fact that the War Department has ordered all records of occupation brought to Washington and held under lock and key does not daunt the Democratic in- quisitors. All they need to know now is that the revenues of Cuba, amounting to a great many millions of dollars, have been expended with lavish hand in the island; that there has been one great scandal in connection with the postel revenues; that contracts for millions have heen let to Americans for the sew- ering and ‘paving of Havina and for similar work at Santiago de Cuba; that enormous allowances have been made out of Cuban funds for living expenses of American officials, and, &s one Demo- crat put it to-day, “the island has been under practically military despotism, re- sponsible to no one, for several years.” The mattter, after being discussed by the Congressional Committee, has been kept very quiet, but it is said that a committee of prominent Democratic members will be appointed and sent to Cuba. WILL PROBE FOR FRAUD. It is said that detectives, expert ac- countants and persons familiar with the Spanish language and Cuban customs are to be employed by the committee. One of the names suggested is that of Repre- sentative Slayden of Texas, who speaks Spanish fluently and who made an ex- haustive exploration of the island about | a year ago. There are several other prominent Dem- ocrats who have had experience in Cuba who may be enlisted in the party’s ser- vice. Senator James K. Jones, chairman of the National Democratic Committee, with Senator Money of Mississippi, are now in Cuba and they may be able to throw some additional light upon the sub- ject when they return. CONFESSES IN COURT TO A BRUTAL MURDER Prisoner Tells of the Killing of Mich~ ael Sierk and Lynching May Follow. LINCOLN, Nebr., May 22.—A special to the Journal from Alliance, Nebr., says; There was a sensation in the District Court this afternoon during the trial of Gus Jahnke, charged with the murder of Michael Sierk. Oliver Oleson, held as an accessory, made a confession to the court, saying he and Jahnke killed Sierk by shooting him in the back while he sat at his breakfast table. They had, he said, previously tried to poison and drown him. Jahnke was the beneficiary on Sierk’s life insurance pol- ifcy. There is intense feeling against the prisoners. Following their arrest at the time of the murder threats of lynching induced the Sheriff to take them to York County, 300 miles away. When the ex- citement died down they were returned for trial. To-day's confession has in- creased the bitterness and trouble is feared. — GENERAL AMAYA SAILS | FOR BOCAS DEL TORO Leaves Colon With Troops to Attaclz the Insurgents at Chiriqui Grande. % COLON, Colombia, May 22.—One thous- | and soldiers, under General Amaya, left "here this evening on the gunboat General Pinzon and on a German steamer for Bocas del Toro. They will attack the in- surgent forces which are now occupying Chiriqui Grande. L ———— Dixon’s Blow Is Fatal. BOSTON, May 22.—Tommy Noonan of Chelsea is believed to be dying at the City Hospital from concussion of the brain as a result of a blow received in a six-round boxing contest with Eddie Dixon of Chicago at the Lenox Athletic Club to-night. Dixon gave himself up to 1 the police.