The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 22, 1903, Page 1

VOLUME~XCIII=NO. 53. SAN FRANCISCO, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 1903. PRICE FIVE CENTS. AISER’S SHIPS AGAIN M | this afternoon. BOMBARDIN G ARACAIBO, January 21—Three German warships—the Panther, the Vineta and the Gazelle—began shelling Fort San Carlos at 10 o’ciock this morning. The fort returned the fire. The engagement was in progress at 2 o’clock | - VENEZUELANS M ‘STATEROOD BILL WINS TEST VOTE Has Clear Majority of Ten in the Senate. Quay Retaliates Upon Its Obstructionist Opponents, L Hoar Scores the President . : o p - * ; Mitchell, Penrose, and Weilington. ce that he would n bill to-morrow order was then gular said he, “we are bilL"” 1 his feet and de- e was clearly out of ham had not concluded n was practically deter- te of the’ Eenate,” re- ested the passage of a bill been vetoed once by ned that In fts was satisfactory to the ation to ized the President for ha ated to Burton kis approval of the measure Hoar critic} ated in the and measures 1 called rrangements st bills, the The ake up his er we have unless he al privilege entire body t such tt the Presider r the Benate's bill her mea to of his co rication to on was ended by Spos t, which was, car- ke the Senate HAS QUIT POLITICS | TO GIVE HIS TME | TO SHIP BUILDING {Lewis Nixon, Once the Leader of Tammany, Arrives on the Pacific Coast to Inspect Plants of Trust, of Which He Is. President ;2 | EWIS NIXON, president of the great shipbuilding trust and for- mer leader of Tammany, arrived late last evening at the Palace from Los Angeles. He is accom- panied by his wife and his son, 1 il 1 Fire Riéés_inSan Forts Gumers Offer {Great Damage IS Done Dy | | returning the heavy German fire | with Stanhope W. Nixon. servant stranger after a moment’s con- n as a man among men. the representatives of the press the hotel and at once launched out nimated description of the trust he is the executive head. His f which politics ““This is my first visit to California and 1 am going to look over the Union Iron Works, which, as u know, was ab- sorbed by the United jStates Shipbuilding v, of which iam the president.” position do€s Henry T. Scott d with the company now?” was asked. He is still vice president of the com- % no longer chairman of the exec- utive committee. You see, there was a great deal of work which had to be at- tended to here and so he came back to San Francisco. He asked to be appointed president of the Union Iron Works here and his request was granted. His stay in San Francisco is indefinite.” “What shipbullding companies are now in control of your syndicate?” he was asked. | “The Bath Iron Works, the Hyde | Windlass Company of Bath, Mass., | and the Eastern Shipbuilding Company of | New London, Conn., which yard builds the Jargest ships in this country. There are two steamers now completed which | will be launched from these yards when I return to the East. They are both of 33,- | 000 tons. We also own the Crescent Ship- | yard Company of Elizabethport, N. J., | the Samuel L. Moore & Sons Company of New Jersey, the Harlan Hollingsworth Company of Wilmington, Del., the Bethle- hem Steel Company Works, which has the finest armor forges in the world, and the Union Iron Works of this city. z “Our buildings and works cover 375 acres and we employ between 15000 and 16 men. Our capitalization is $20,000,000 pf?f | errea stock, $25,000,000 common stock and $16,000,000 bonds, “We do not own all tne shipyards in | America, but we have enough to control and execute every speclalty of work. In the past shipbuilders had to do every kind of work, but now we segregate the con- s to the vards where we think thai | the plant s best adapted to do the work, | ¥or instance, in the yards of the Crescent He re-| Mr. Nix comparatively a young 77 } man, with pleasing and quiet manners. He W i would be picked out by the most unob- | | }’ Y rtily a few moments after his arrh'ali reservation was t6 refuse to talk | m here ona business trip,” he sald. | | | B - | ] : NOTED SHIPBUILDER AND | POLITICIAN WHO ARRIVED l HERE LAST NIGHT. | B - “ Shipbuilding Company I have seen in one | slip a battleship, in the next a tug and possibly ift the adjoining one a yacht. “The Union Iron Works will still be em- ployed to bulld battleships, at which they have made such a success in the past, and | also big cargo steamers, “Within a few days Max Pam, counsel of the Steel Trust and a prominent officer | of this company; Charles C. Deming, a di- rector, and A. C. Gary, the treasurer of this company, will arrive In this city and look over the Union Iron Works with me. “I have little to say about politics. I re- tired from Tammany because politics took up too much of my time and there were certain features which were distasteful to me. When I was the head of the organ- jzation I often worked twenty hours a day. It is a grand organization, however, and does much good. I cannot say whether Michard Croker will return and take an active part again in the or- ganization. “It is hard to say how long I shall re- main out here. I will attend the annual meeting of the Union Iron Works, which takes place in this city on January 27. I shall then hurry East and expect to be very busy, as we have on hand contracts amounting to $50,000,000.” 1 Chinese Telegraph in Danger. HONOLULU, Jan. 2l—The Honolulu stockholders of the Chinese telegraph sys- | tem have recelved news that the Empress | Dowager intends to seize the telegraph system, giving decorations and orders in payment for stock. A meeting of the local stcckholders has been called. | | for the clouds of smoke, but it | gunners were answering the Ger- ! great rapidity. SHELLS ‘ PALL TN LLAGE | Garlos During | Attack, Splendid Resist- ance. the Guns of the Warships, e Spectal Pispatch to'-The Call, CARACAS, Jan. 21.—The| bombardment of Fort San Carlos | | at Maracaibo, which resulted in| the defeat of the German gun- boat Panther on January 17, was resumed at 10 o'clock this morn- | ing by the Panther, which was re£ inforced by the German cruisers Vineta and Gazelle. When the news reached here at 2 o'clock this afternoon the bombardment was still going on furiously. was reported that the fort making a gallant defense and was no of cessation, al- though the fort had suffered ter- ribly. Many of the shots from | the German warships had reached the mainland, where they | did great damage. < Popular feeling in the capital and elsewhere is inflamed over this new outrage on the part of Germany. 2 A press correspondent in a rowboat approached to within three miles of the fort from Mar- acaibo at noon. The roar of the guns was terrific. The Panther appeared to be not more than 500 yards from the fort. The guns were being fired every min- ute. The fort could not be seen sign was plain that the Venezuelan man fire splendidly and with At 1 o'clock an explosion oc- curred, apparently in the fort, and a cloud of smoke covered part of the ramparts. A number of Indian fishermen were intercepted, fleeing from the direction of the fort in their dugout canoes. ' They reported that the smoke seen was from the burning village of San Carlos, which had been shelled by the German ships and was in flames. The shelling of San Carlos has created much excitement among the German residents of this city and Maracaibo, who have pro- tested against the action of the warships. It is reported here that | the German ships landed marines and set fire to the village. The Government troops were Continued on Page 5, Column 4, It | was | | AKE BRAVE DEFENSE WARM WORDS ENSUE ETWEEN WITTMAN AND DR. BUCKLEY Chief of Police Severely Castigates the Chair-| man of “Bubonic” Health Board, Whichi Prompts the Latter to Make Sharp Retort| - DR VINGENT P BUCKLEY i MEMBER OF BOARD OF HEALTH WHOSE AFFIDAVIT WAS CON- TRADICTED BY CHIEF OF POLICE YESTERDAY AND SCENE AS | THAT OFFICIAL DENOUNCED ALLEGATIONS AS FALSE. | 1S frame quivering with emotion and his voice choked with sup- pressed rage, Chief of Police George W. Wittman arose to his feet at the meeting of the Board of Health yesterday morning, and facing Dr. Vincent P. Buckley In a few remarks containing sundry sharp invec- tives unequivocally contradicted the alle- gations made by that member of the board In an affidavit sworn to several days ago. The scene was most dramatic, and when Dr. Buckley rose to his feet In reply and stated that he hurled the impu- tation of prevarication back Into the teeth of his accuser, the other members of the board shifted uneasily in their seats, speculating on the natural outcome when two men indulge In such belligerent language. 1t had been anticlpated for several days that the meeting would be productive of something of a sensational character, and when Secretary Emery called the meet- ing to order the room was well filled with spectators. In calling the meeting to or- der Mr. Emery stated that Inasmuch as he was only elected to preside over the deliberations of the board temporarily, the first order of business would be the election of a permanent or temporary chairman. At this juncture Michael Casey, chairman of the Board of Publc Works and ex-officlo member of the Board of Health, no doubt realizing a threatened outbreak was in the air, sprung one of the surprises of the day when he moved that the board adjourn until nkxt Wednesday at the same time. The motion was duly seconded, but before the question could be put Chief Wittman arose and said: WITTMAN MAKES STATEMENT. “Mr. Chairman, I would rise to a ques- tion of privilege and ask the indulgence of this board before the motion to ad- journ is put. I read recently in the dafly press an afidavit purporting to have been signed by a member of this board charg- | ing me with having made certain state- ments to him in my office. About the only thing true in that affidavit is that he did call and ask me to vote for him. The statement that a deal had been made between the members of the Police Com- mission and the Mayor of this éity with o refere™Ns_ to Mr. Mahoney is utterly and | maliclously false, and no one knows it | better than the man who wrote it. ']'hei charge that I was influenced by John D. | Spreckels or M. H. do Young is also ut- | terly false. The charge that I had any | understanding with the Mayor In refer- | ence to the appointment of Mr. Mahoney | is also false. The reason that I made up | my mind as I did was that I was looking | to the best business and commercial in- terests of this community. They asked | me to vote for any one rather than the | old one—that the business of this city was | suffering, and that perhaps there 'would} Le trouble with a quarantine against Cal- | ifornia. “Dr. Buckley then sdid to me, ‘You haVe sold out to the Examiner,’ and I re plied that if T had sold out to that paper I had also solq out to M. H. de Young and John D. Mpreckels, because they | all feel the same way about the ‘bu-| bonie’ Board of Health. “I sald it was false—I simply mention those papers; I might have mentioned the other papers also, but it just ‘happencd that way. The statement that I made in answer to the question about its being a deal—'Yes, that is just the case exactly'— is utterly untrue and false in every par- ticular. I never said it at all. I have no reason to go and make an afidavit. I come here as a man to make my state- ment face to face. This is an old politi- cal trick to get a man into a private of- fice and get into a conversation with him, and then go out and put words Into his mouth. That is what s known as dirty politics.” BUCKLEY HEATEDLY REPLIES. ‘While Chief Wittman was speaking Dr. Buckley sat at his desk, his hands tightly clenched and his face red and white al- ternately. At the conclusion of the Chiet's statement he arose and in a voice full of bitterness and mortification said: “I belleve the Chief's knowledge of dir- ty politics is better ‘than ' my own. | His statement, that my staftement is un- | true 1 hurl back into his téeth. It is a question of his word against mine. T have made a statement under oath, and can corroborate every one of my allegations if necessary.” " At ‘the conclusioR ‘ot the lchmonla_gl NAMES MEN WHO TRIEDTO INTINIDATE Lessler’s Charges ' Turn Light on Lobby. Persistent Campaign Without Recent ; Parallel. nfluence For Holland Boats Overrides Opinions of ! Experts. Special Disp to The Call CALL BUREAU, 406 G STREET, N. W., WASHINGTON, Jan. 21.—Representa- | tive Lessler’s charge that an attempt had | been made to brive him into voting for | the construction of a large number of Holland submarine torpedo-boats has had the effect of directing attention to the | methods used during the last four or ve | years to influence Congress favorably to- | | ward building large numbers of this typs | azsinst the almost ynanimous protest of the most experienced officers of the Navy Department. A campaign has been conducted in the halls and lobbles of Congress, In commit- tee-rooms, in newspaper offices, at social functions and on chts which for its scope and persistence has had no parallel In recent years. Naturally all sorts of stories have been current as to the meth- ods used to get the support of members | of Congress for a policy which is con- demned by naval experts w full test has been made of the boats which the | Government now has. But Lessler is the first member of either house who has come out bluntly and said that he was offered money for his vote in committee. INQUIRY IN SECRET. The Lessler charges were the subject of an investigation to-day by a sub-commit- tee of the House Committee on Naval Af- fairs. In connection with his accusations | Lessler has used the names of ex-Repre- sentative Lemuel Ell Quigg and John Me- Cullough, superintendent of elections in | New York. The proceedings have heen conducted in secrecy if the matter is | not clearea up by a report it is not improbable a an to-morrow - | from the committee that a resolution may be offered in the House calling upon the Naval Committee for a statement concerning the charges. Lessler declared that he had been ap- proached by a former member of Con- gress with an offer of $5000 if he would vote to report the bill providing for the purchase of Holland boats. He per: ently refused to give the name of the al- leged briber, and upon being further questioned qualified his statement some- what by saying that the offer had beea made to his secretary. The offer had first been made, he al- leged, shortly after his appointment to the Committtee on Naval Affalrs to succeed the late Representative Amos J. Cum- mings, and it had been repeated since the opening of the present session. As Les: ler’s statement was somewhat vague and indefinite, Representative Wheeler offered a resolution, which was adopted, author- izing a subcommittee to make a thorough investigation. ANTE-ELECTION THREATS. Lessler made a partial statement to the subcommittee yesterday and amplified it this afternoon, making it more definite. He declared that early last summer John MecCullough, superintendent of elections in New York, had come to Washingion and in the presence of his secretary had threatened him with defeat for renomina- tion, or defeat at the polls if nominated, in case he did not support a propesition to purchase Holland boats. In disclosing further pressure that had been put on him Lessler used the name of Lemuel Ell Quigs. He was unable to support his statement with any documentary evidence, although he did mention the names of persons who were present when a money offer was made. He also declared that he had been approached in other ways in the effort to induce him to vote for the pur- chase of Hollond boats. The subcommittee to-morrow will make a partial report to the full committee and leave the matter in the hands of that body to determine what further action shall be taken. @ it e @ discussion upon the statement of Secre- tary Emery that it was imperative that the salaries and bills be allowed, Commis- sioner Casey withdrew his motion for ad- journment. The matter of electing a tem- porary chairman was then taken up, and Conanued on Page 5, Column 3.