The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 27, 1902, Page 1

3 ST e AR OLUME XCII-NO. 180. SAN FRANCISCO, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1902. PRICE FIVE CENTS. L. A SOUFRIERE BECOMES VIOLENT AND TERROR-STRICKEN PEOPLE FLEE INGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Nov. 26.--—-A violent eruption of La Soufriere, the fifth big outburst since the catastrophe on May 8, took place to-day. Geqrgetown and the village of Chateau Belaire, situated on the west coast of St. Vincent, were again evacuated by their inhabitants. Telephonic i communication in those districts is interrupted owing to fierce lightning. Subterranean rumblings can be heard and volcanic clouds are seen from this city. The crater has been smoking constantly since the terrific eruption of October 16. . o oo fen oo oot B e T BOLD USE OF POISON Medical Examiner Confesses to Frauds. | False Certificates of|| Death Aid Insurance Swindlers. Two Victims of Conspiracy Suffer Awful Fate, Ex- ! ‘ i piring in Agony. Special Dispatch to The Call. EL PASO, Tex., Nov. 2.—Startling and tional disclosures in the insurance ud cases were made on the witness | nd to-day by Dr. C. 8. Harle of Chi- | huzhua, Mexico, formerly a prominent | ician of this city. Dr. Harle's testi- | | was somewhat in the nature of a | confession, but while admitting that he, | as medical examiner for the New York | Life Insurance Company at Chihuabua, bad aided the swindlers by furnishing | fraudulent certificates of death and false | Exsamination certificates, il his evidence | was of a dameging character to Mason and Richardson and served to fully clear up the mystery surrounding fhe deaths | of Mitchell and Devers, two holders of 1 of $10,000 each, naming Mrs. Rich- and Mason as beneficiaries. | ie’s Introduction as a witness created | a profound stir in the courtroom, for he | is well known, and his admissions In re- | gard to his own comnection with the| frauds and deaths catised much excite- | ment. Richardson for the first time ap- peared to completely lose his nerve and rol, and his facé wore the ex- & man whe had -lost hope. Il a mental and physical wreck and is unable to-attend court. DIES FROM POISON. “I was appoint d medical examiner for the New York Life Insurance Company @t Chibuahua, Mexico,” said Dr. Harle, “ihrough the influence of Richardson, who with his wife and her brother, Harry Mitchell and Mitchell, was living in Chibuahua. In June, 1901, Mitchell was | | insured for $10,000, payable to Mrs. Mitch- | | ell. The name of he beneficiary was af- Mrs. Richardson, the premium, as Mitche to do so. | “On February Mitchell, while | ia pertect health and engaged in talking | to his wife, was taken violently ill and | €leG half an hour later in convulsions. | Btrychnine poison was the cause. I wa hurri called and prescribed for the patient, but told Mrs all the physicians in eave the msa Richardson that the world could not life. Richardson was ex- to know if he would die showed me a bot- h he said he had found. I concluded that Mitchell had committed suicide. In making out the certificate of death Richardson persuaded me mot to report the man as poisoned, and I reported that he had died of cere- o-spinal fever under oath made before the United States Consul. | POLICY PROMPTLY PAID, || “The policy of $10,00 was subsequently | | paid, but prior to that I reported privately the chief examiner at New York that Mitchell had committed suicide. He| | wrote and asked me If there were| | grounds to contest the payment of®the oClicy. 1 replied there were mone and | gent his letter to Richardson. “The death of James Devers,” said the witness, “was not similar to that of Mitchell. Tevers was a confirmed drunk- ard pleeak up in El Paso by Richardson gnd lured to Chihauhua. Devers was suffering from dysentery and was worn and broken. Richardson took out a policy tor $10,000 on Devers’ life, naming Mason, ‘hen known as Meredith, as beneficlary. Ihere was no medical examination held, sut I made afidavit that there had been ind the blanks were filled out. After the solicy had been issued Devers was given slenty of money to buy whisky and a wpply of liquor was always kept for gim at his house. Meredith, or Mason, ©ld me that Devers would certainly nct est long for he was drinking heavily 1nd about ready to pull. Richardson sati hat Devers was merely an old soak, and f given plenty of whisky would not last| | ong. DIES IN GREAT AGONY. f strychnine, wh! o - i «I prescribed for Devers for dysentery: e was quite ill for several days, still rinking heavily. I was called to see him ON THIS ‘DAY CALIFORNIA GIVES THANKS FOR ‘MUCH, t 2 o'clock in the morning of February 2, 1902. He was suffering agony and his tomach was much swollen. He sald he later. Had he u_ken bichloride of mer- | would have been the same. had eaten cheese, and he died an hour cury mixed with whisky the symptoms — “I certified to the company that Devers died of dysentery and the policy was paid — g — bROWS WEARY - OF S WiFE Captain Hartopp’s Action For a Divorce. Declares the Famous . Beauty Kicked His Shins, Trouble Brews From Lady’s Selection of Her Friends Special Dispatch to The Call. LONDON,~Nov: 26.—A divorce suit, in- volving people in high society, was be- gun in the courts to-day. It was the case of €ir Charles Hartopp against his wife, who is a fafmous beauty, in which the Earl of Cowley is named as co-respond- ent. Counsel for Captain Hartopp, in opening the case, said the trouble had started through Lady. Hartopp's selec- tion of her friends. She had gone alone to the chambers of Sir John Willoughby to take tea and had also shared his sit- ting-room at the ‘Hotel Brighton. Ceunsel for plaintiff also asserted that Lady Hartopp had suggested that her husband permit her to procure a divorce in consideration of the payment by her of $100,000, but her husband had refused. lady Hartopp met the Earl of Cowley in the hunting fleld at Leicestershire. He helped her to take a cottage, which he helped to furnish. A relative, Lord Gerard, drafted .préposals that the Har- topps should live together for six months. 1f they still disagreed, the husband should then allow himself to be divorced, but Sir Charles refused this also. Lady Hartopp accuses her husband of striking her. Sir Charles Hartopp, short, clean-shaven, bald, a man who is fifteen years older than his wife, in his evi- -dence denled he had struck or kicked his wife. On the day of the marriage of her sister she kicked him upon both shins when he remonstrated with her about her friend- ships. He admitted his wife's father gave him $50,000 to pay his racing and card playing debts at the time of his marriage. The court was crowded with fashionable people. L e e e e e e ol to Mason, or Meredith, who was named as deceased’s half-brother. Both Richardson and Meredith told me that Meredith was not Devers’ ‘half-brother. 1 knew that whisky would prove detrimental or fatal to Devers in his condition. Richardson told me if I would aid him by filling out these certificates he would pay me hand- somely. After the claims had been set- tled he sent me a check for $200 for ser- vices rendered. “Richardson told me before he left Chi- kuahua that he was through the Devers policy as an experi- ment and intended getting $100,000 in the sume manner before he quit. Meredith told me that Richardson was going. to be a big banker.” H SIR CHARLES |SENATORS merely putting | NOW FNOR - MEARIEU Canal Treaty Cause of Considerable Anxiety. Growing Suspicion of| the Insincerity of Colombia. Statesmen f{ecommend That | the Panama Route Be Dropped. Special Dispatch to The Call. CALL BUREAU, M6 G STREET, N.| W., WASHINGTON, Nov. 26.—Many Sen- ators who have already arrived in Wash- ington are regarding the canal treaty sit- | uation anxiously. The check which the | negotiations have received through the fdilure of the Colombian Minister, Mr. | Concha, to agree to the mest liberal | terms' Secretary of State Hay feels em- | powered to offer, is regarded as bringing the negotiations to the most critical stage they have yet occupied. Coupled with this, the expression of fear of the administration that Colombia will declare - invalid the extension of the French Company's franchise has, al- though denied by Minister Concha, caused leading legislators to become more sus- picious of Colombia than heretofore. This has already resulted in certain influential Senators, who will have to ratify any canal treaty - drawn, advising against further dealings with Colombia and ad- vising * the negotiation of a treaty with Nicaragua. The hitch now on is not regarded as any brought about by Minister Concha in- dividually, as was the case several weeks ago when he delayed action on his in- structions because he was displeased with the progress of affairs on the isth- mus. Cencha -is now clothed in full plenary powers as far as the canal treaty is concerned. Any action he takes is es- sentially the action of his Government. As a result of the latest move of Colom- | bia, the State Department professes to be more uncertain as to the true intentions of Colombia than ever before, and sus- picions - that Colombia is not entirely sincere’ are ‘more frequently expressed than at any time heretofore in the nego- tiations. Boyd and Wright Indicted. VICTORIA, B. C., Nov. 2.—The steamer Acrangi reached port to-night from the colenies. She brought news from Hono- lulu that James H. Boyd, former Super- | mtendent of Public Works, and B. H. ‘Wright, his.chief clerk, were i:licted on November 19 in Honolulu by the Grand Jury on the charge of stealing Govern- ment funds. Three Indictments, contain- ing five counts,” were brought against Boyd charging him with having embez- zled about $4000 in the aggregate. There are two indictments against Wright, charging him with having stolen $3000, B L B e e e ] VENEZUELA BEVDLUTION COLLARSES Sudden Flight of the Rebels Is Peculiar. Matos’ Army Disbands When Vietory Seems in Sight. Dissension Among Leaders Is the Probable Solution of the Mystery. Special Dispatch to The Call. CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov. 26.—Matos® revolution, the most formidable which has arisen in Venezuela for a very long time, having at its command the best generals of the country, money, arms and even a warship, and supported to a considerable extent by public opinion, has failed in the most wretched manner without even a decisive battle having been (fought near La Vietoria. The revolutionists numbered more than 19,000 men at arms, and on the evening of October 30 assembled before La Vie- teria. Without any apparent reason, un- less it be dissension among the leaders, the army was suddenly dissolved on No- vember 2, dividing itself into four or five groups and within forty-eight hours had disappeared. This fact is all the more singular, be- cause after seven days' fighting, from October 11 to 18, the revolutionists had re- mained masters of their positions, the Government not having been able to make any impression on them and be- cause In spite of the latter's resistance everything induced the belief that therev- olutionists would finally obtain the vie- | tory, as they had more than double the | forces of the Government. Generals Matos, Riera, Luciano, Mendoza and Solagni with about sixty horsemen were seen near Nirgua on November 4, and General Matos and his son landed on the Dutch Island of Curacao on November 13, having abandoned Venezuela two days” before in a fishing boat. It was with difficulty that this disaster for the revelutionary arms obtained credence in Venezuela, but the facts speak for themselves. Unless by a mir- acle—and miracles are rare nowadays in Venezuela—Matos’ revolution and its hopes are dead and buried. The Government authorities are not resting on their laurels. They have sum- moned 2000 men from the Andes states in order to attack with sufficient forces the tcwns 6f Cumana, Cuidad, Boliver and Barcelona which still remain in posses- sion of the revolutionists. The Government, under the bellef that it has discovered a Mochist plot, has arrested and imprisoned certain leading members of that party in Car- acas and Valencia. Numerous reforms are attributed to President Castro, and among them Is that of dividing the republic into thir- teen States, instead of twenty, as at present. e WILL TAKE JOINT ACTION. Castro’s Government Must Face Two European Powers. LONDON, Nov. 26.—Diplomatic rela- tions between Great Britain and Vene- zuela have not been severed up to the present, though the Foreign Office would not be surprised if it was compelled to take a decisive step at any moment. Thus far Venezuela shows no signs of granting the reparation demanded and the question of the seizure of the Vene- zuelan customs has been discussed be- tween Berlin and London, as one of the various possible methods of obtaining satisfaction. No decision, however, has been reached regarding the course which shall be finally adepted. BERLIN, Nov. 26.—Germany and Great Britain have determined to take joint ac- tion to collect their claims against Vene- zuela. The two powers.are in corres- pendence over the form of this action. No time can be named when they will act because the respective foreign offices have not agreed to the details. It is understood that only slight differences exist regarding the course to be followed. It is confirmed here that the United States is fully informed on the subject of the negotiations and knows that what is meditated will not infringe upon the Monroe doctrine. WASHINGTON, Nov. 25.—A telegram was received at the Navy Department to-day from the commanding officer of the gunboat Marietta, announcing the re- turn of that vessel to La Guarira from a visit to Curacao for coal and saying that affairs are quiet.