The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 21, 1902, Page 1

e VOLUME XCII— SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 1902. e PRICE FIVE CENTS. STEAMER PORTLAND, FAST IN ICE, IS DRIFTING TOWARD THE ARCTIC FEELING | IN FAVOR | OF CANAL| CongressmenDeclare Route Secondary Question. ‘ House Will Acceptthe Senate’s Panama | Substitute. Building of Isthmian Waterway Seems Assured. 146 G STREET, N mme 20.—The House the isth- passed the Senate | 1 accept take the-ground | te makes it ma | dent to construct | | | on the question of ma bill. Two to one of ves declared thev would a bill in prefer- | 1l In other | erwhelmingly | her it be by | nd the bill possible. in- | The and Representa- f the House bill, lea for the Nicaragua The contest however, will not be pro- | ator Morgan, fatl the Sendte bill, ield and without | e will finally pass longed and with ACTION IS PROMPT. | | | House Committee on | gn Commerce was | nd Chairman Hepburn ed to move for non- sk for an agreement e Sen te for a confer- | the bill into confer- | th this request Hepburn ent this afternoon statement to- out as long as bill to be ua the conferees, only two | voted 1 in Jan- T Re- becomes one e procedure. tion in the d he decide to think he will con- to voting to retain who He a ttee s conference comm HEPBURN FOR CANAL. canal mem- e straight ques- man, or whether, when it became evident en sgreement i not be reached | through the acceptance by the Senate | conferees of the Nicaragua canal bill, he | would yield to the Spooner amendment. “I am for a canal.” | n made the motion to | asked for a conference d whether he would guaran- | in case an agreement is not reached report a disagreement, might be made to con- Spooner amendment and the sense of the House be obtained on n made this tee in so th conference to cur witk the guarantee MEAT-PACKERS PLAN - BILLION DOLLAR TRUST | Foeur Great Companies May Combine and Rival Steel Corporation in Capital. June 20.—The Chronicle will w: A New Jersey corpora- | ted States Steel Cor- e projected. It lar concern. It can Meat Com- | CHICAGO. gigantic con- ided upon. The sreed to form | s known as Morris Hammond be ad- s the com- firms ndous centralization | GOVERNOR GAGE DOES NOT WANT THE SAN QUENTIN FRAUDS EXPOSED IN THE POLICE COURT OF THIS CIT " - | 1 | | | | | News of the vessel’s plight | was carried to Nome three | which itself barely escaped ~ VESSEL v MAY BE CRUSHED Nearly Fifty San Franciscans on Board. Cuttefi‘fietis Is Hurried fo the Rescue. Ship and Passen- gers in Grave Peril; ELD fast in an ice-pack, the old Nome steamer Portland, when last seen on June 4, was being borne through Bering Straits toward the Arctic Ocean. days later by the Nome City, being caught in the jam. Ae- | cording to the captain of the latter vessel there seemed to be little likelihood that the | Portland would be able to free | herself, and, even though she escaped being crushed, the vessel might never be heard of again should she be carried into the Arctic. The cutter Thetis has sailed from Nome to aid the Portland, if possi- ble. Aboard the Portland, 5 3 o which has a large passen- d .t | ger list, are forty-six San ITOrs DPrecKeis an eadKe| Franciscans. Ready for Trial | 2 eady for Trial. | A shat N o i 5 ME, June 7.—(Via Seattle, June 17, 7 £ : . 2).)—The steamer Portland, Captain RGLMEA\_ TS as to whether or not Police Judge Fritz, | Lindquist, the ploneer of Northern after having accepted the bonds of John D. Spreckels and | | | Commercial c.n:palny'sh fleet, - H £ 2 o . | n J 4 hit in the ice pacl W. S. Leake, charged with libel on complaint of Governor | | ::a u;;e befiifig carried up Behr- Gage, had jurisdiction under the code to proceed with the prelim- i ing Straits to the Arctic Ocean at s 4 | v i iles inary hearing of the case, were made yesterday before Judge || an aou‘?ean?ié?&?fa,‘:e'n:: t:-n: ' . . % n . by Fritz by A. A. Moore, representing Governor Gage, and Colonel caught in the same manner, and, when E. F. Preston, representing Messrs. S preckels and Leake. Moore she found a lead and bucked through the ded th istr h i pack to the westward, the Portland could conten ed {mt no niqgtsh ate had thc'rtg/zt to try the case or hold be plainly seen drifting northward past the preliminary hearing but the Justice of the Peace who issued the Diomede Islands. Three whalat; were 1 3 t, but the in ¢ ! | the warrants. Judge Fritz took the matter under advisement. :;”m': ;;:xede: a.n;yi; ,:z ;ans:r :; He will render his decision next Tuesday. being carried into the Arctic by the float- ing pack. z + When Captain Daniels brought word to AN PEDRO or bust” | his footrace to catch up with rival aspir- Nome that the Portland was fast in the “ seems to be Governor |ants for the gubernatorial nomination. ice and diifting toward the Arctic, (% | Gage's motto in the | After hours of argument E. F. Preston, | | Northern Commercial Company and resi- prosecution of the libel | attorney for Mr. Spreckels, smiled bland.. : | aeis Rening. Sl sboard were greatly charges he has sworn |ly and sald, “We have dragged this case | @ | worrled, and, as the revenue cutter The- to, against John D.|from Runnymede to the sheep country SCENE IN POLICE JUDGE A. J. FRITZ'S COURT WHEN THE QUESTION AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THE LO- tis kad arrived, & petition. ‘well signed, Spreckels, proprietor of The Call, and W. ‘E was presented to Captain Healy, request- and my learned friend, Mr. Moore, has failed to advance one good reason why CAL MAGISTRATE HAS THE JURISDICTION TO PROCEED WITH THE PRELIMINARY HEARING OF THE 8. Leake, manager of the paper. Gover- GAGE LIBEL CASE WAS BEING ARGUED BY COUNSEL. | iIng him to go to the relief of the Port- nor Gage's desire to hold the trial which | will furnish the public a dainty morsel of | scandal away down in Wilmington town- ship was laid bare yesterday befors Police Judge Fritz, when he announceéd himself ready to listen to arguments as to his jurisdiction over the case so far as holding the preliminary examination in the case is concerned. Governor Gage's attorney, A. A. Moore of Oakland, was present im the court- room and he lost no time in apnouncing in a rather dramatic fashion fiat he was there to protest against Judge Fritz or in fact any other local police magistrate turning the calclum of a fair investiga- tion on the charges which the Chief Ex- ecutive of the State has laid at the door of Messrs. Spreckels and Leake. Judging from the frantic efforts Attorney Moore | made in behalf of scooping Mr. Spreck- €ls and Mr. Leake and all of the business men and others interested in the case into a dray'net as it were and hauling them off to San Pedro forthwith, it would seem that Governor Gage is as anxious to cause everybody as much inconvenience in his mad race for vindication as he is in this preliminary examination could not be held here before this court.” MOORE HAD HIS INNING. Mr. Moore had his inning and he talked San_Pedro and Wilmington township un- ‘llll nearly everybody in the courtroom gleaned the impression that the obscure little town down in Southern California, where one has to row three miles across a bay to an island to get a square meal and a room big enough to keep one from going out in the hall to turn over in bed, was a spot provided by a special dispen- sation of Providence for the purpose of trying editors for criminal libel. Mr. Spreckels was on hand to imbibe the pyrotechnic oratory. He sat next to Mr. Preston, and next to Mr. Preston sat General W. H. L. Barnes, who rep- resented Mr. Leake. Governor Gage's at- torney did not sit anywhere long enough to gainapermanent anchorage. e bhobbed up and down and up and down, and when he did not emit something flatter- ing about San Pedro he talked sheep, whereat the newspaper fraternity pres- ent and others in the courtroom laughed L Executive’s Attorney Contends That Judge Fritz Cannot Hear Case. so heartily that Judge Fritz had to rap for order. If the arguments did not develop any- thing else they settled beyond a shadow of a doubt that Governor Gage thinks San Pedro has “any old place on the map beatén to a pulp” when it comes down to trying editors for libel. It also gave the attorneys for Messrs. Spreckels and Leake a chance to make a flat-footed an- nouncement that if the court did not see fit to bring out the facts here In this city under ‘a preliminary examination upon the libel charge they were ready and will+ ing to unbosom themselves and clear themselves of Governor Gage's charge on any slab of ground within the four boundary lines of the State. Colonel Preston’s argument was backed up by different sections of the code, which delegated to a police magistrate the right to call for the witnesses and the facts any time he saw fit to admit defendants to bail, whether the warrants were sworn out in San Pedro or Kala- mazoo. The case was first called when Judge Fritz took the bench at 10 o’clock yester- day morning. After a brief morning ses- slon the matter was laid over until 3 o'clock in'the afternoon, when it was fully gone over by both contending forces. Judge Fritz took the matter un- der advisement and announced that he would render his decision next Tuesday 4 morning. The following is a verbatim report of the principal part of the proceedings: The Court—Proceed, gentlemen, with this matter. Mr. Preston—If your Honor please: The defendants in this case are brought before your | Honor on a warrant of arrest issued by a Justice of the Peace of Wilmington Township, for a misdemeanor, to wit, criminal libel. An application was made to your Honor for ball, and your Honor admitted the defendants to bail and discharged them from custody. The defendants now ask your Honor, as a commit- | ting magistrate—they having been breught be- fore you—to proceed with the preliminary ex- amination. | 1and. * The Thetis left the same even- <% | ing. If any one can render the impris- | oned ship any assistance, Captain Healy | is that man. There is much danger of the ship be- ing crushed in the straits. If she got through the straits and failed to find a lead to eastward or westward by which she could get clear of the pack, she will be carried into the Arctic Ocean, and, fail- ing to get cléar of the ice, may ultimately by wrecked by heavy floes farther north. In the event of her not getting crushed, she will be greatly delayed and no doubt will run short of supplies and fresh wa- ter. Among the Portland’s passengers are forty-six San Franciscang. All Nome is awalting with feverish anx- fety further news from the Portland. The vessel was in such position when last seen as to give little hope that she | would get clear of the ice pack. It is feared that, once carried into the Aretie, she may never be heard of again. Even Criminal libel and its jurisdiction in this | though the Portland escapes being erush- B LR Continued on Page Three. Continued on Page Twas .