The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 14, 1904, Page 1

& | ciseo for thirty ho & | mianiget Janzary S | 44 | at night; light changing to south A G. District XCV—XNO TEE WEATHER. | TPorecast made a2t San Fran- San Francisco and vicinity— | Fair Thursday, becoming cloudy urs ending at 14: | | north winds, | casterly. | MCcADIE, Forecaster. L TEER TERATERS. Flame.” 3 b 4 o. . | California—“A Trip to Qhina- | Central—*“The ors.* | Pischer's—'The Bea: Shop.” | Grand—“In Oonvict 'ad | Orpheum—Vandeville. Matin | _ to-day. 5 ‘The Chutes—Vandeville. Tivol House — “When vorce.” Johnny Comes Marching Rome.” Columbia—"Mrs. Deering's Di- SAN FRANCISCO, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 1904. PRICE FIVE CENTS. TANKS HOLD JANGEROUS CRIMINAL Bstill Adds Bigamy fo His Record as Clever Forger. AP Deserts Wife and Children to Deceive and Marry Another Woman. Class Him as Cunning Crook d Will Take Him to Michigan for Trial e n H , alias . sco de- bl may well a cel us type trade won of a prom- Rapids, and made h his S ed him his was unaware of s n which her s ntil told by t ama s ity my hom h has thre ears of the y and they, Jaid b herd® Shipman He K The Sher- rsuit WORKS KALAMAZOO. 1at State start risoner. said to be the s r onaire News, i Press seorgia narried sl ther's employ left rt- fe and three ch ing enabled him to ith the Foreman- hing Company ich ke traveled. arge number rafts and her sam- f h he is used t advan- checks to his credit. ; a large supply of ' the Pioneer Press Co s Minn., for which he to ugh replenish his Dete who say seekin; merely for the pur- checks, which names and ns ispecting, vie- se his blank various the secured ns probably went to SAFEGUARDS US ed to ha 2D. sed a clever ff their rd his rep- 1a: improved ; said, he al- s us vice, ustensibly to keep t hom he gave his checks g amounts Jor which period of fourtcen months, hich BEstill is said to have de- in nearly every town s of 100 miles of Chi- ago, and had secured morey under of H. T. Elliott, H. T. Eberstein, E. H. Thompson, R. 8. Zlammond, J. Carson, George P. Harris, R. L. Alex- ander and others, he was tra’’ed to San Francisco. Estill was accused of 4 - i hote POTS (IVIL | SERVICE | JEOPARDY Miss Catherine Flatley Tells Chief Wittman That Brother-in-Law of Joseph Blaise Told Her, as an Inducement for Her to Marry Him, That He Would Soon Have $7000 Coming From Germany---Officers Find That Suspected Man Took Life Insurance Policies 3 House Votes Against - Continuance of the . Commission. | | |Strikes Salaries Appropri- ‘ ation From the Legisla- E tive Bill, | Action Is Taken in Commitee of the | ( Whole and Yeas and Nays | Will be Demanded. | S SR WASHINGTON, Jan. 13.—After a liv debate lasti: g three hours the | Ho to-day in committee of the | whole, by a vote of 78 to 65, struck out | of the legislative, executive and judi- | cial appropriation bill the paragraph | ng for the salaries and expenses Civil Service Commission and sloyed under the commission. The action was taken' on motion of Hepburn of lowa. He was supported by Republicans and Democrats both in | | hes and the vote. Those who spoke in opposition to the civil service system, as it now exists, | | Hepburn (R.) of Jowa, Grosvenor (R.) of Ohio and Bartlett (D.) of Geor- | gia, while among those speaking for | the service were Cooper (R.) of Wis- | consin and Gillette (R.) of Massachu- | | | spee were setts. Notice ch vote is presente was given by Bingham, in e of the bill, that an aye and no would be demanded when the bill 1 in the House. No conclu- was reached on the bill in com- | rer warned the Democrats that | l a “platform which imputes dishonor to | | {the administration and to the brave, l | | i | Sy I'true man in the White House would | find x ympathy with the people of the United States north or south.” Spooner declared that the President had acted within the constitution and the in all that he had dome in| Par He said that he, for one, re- | | sented the imputation that the Pre: ient had been unscrupu in his deal- | with this question. This last state- | : ment was made after Tillman had ex- pressed the opinion that the American had bribed the Colombian forces from the isthmus. civil service appro- law Consu to withdraw posing the » Grosvenor said went into effect thfli the bill now pend- about twenty | | re. To-day it amounts to | | ZACLITE millions and we are told that for that is that 16 per cent amount—tha the estimate me yesterday—is paid to men ser- we have practically a civil pension. It is enough to say that | | the expenditures under this system have increased 30 per cent; that the wrongs and outrages and irregularities | and crimes that are charged to-day, if | they did not originate under the civni service administration, have been cov-| | ered through the administration of that | | system up to date.” Hepburn declared that he was not | inclined to criticize the methods of the | commission, “but the civil service as | it is administered is a fraud and hum- | bug.” This statement met applause on | | both sides of the House. ] Hepburn declared that if the Repub- | hen this law penditures under nounted to LOZAFL given to absolutely worthless to tne public vice, that 2BFGET LRESTAURANT . [ THOWS ROJTE OF BLAISE | AND SOFEDER FROI THER KOOIT P WA D ERE BLRISES Bo }fo%g From Dead Man’s Valise on Morning Body Was Found. | POLICE SECURE STRONG EVIDENCE AGAINST SOEDER . FROM THE YOUNG WOMAN HE TRIED TO MAK + EW facts in the Blaise murder case that came to * Nllght yesterday did much toward justifying the po- lice in placing a charge of mur- der against Leon Socder. Chief Wittman claims to have re- ceived some very damaging tes- timony from Miss Catherine Flatley, the woman whom Soe- der sought to marry. It is al- leged that Soeder told Miss Flatley a short time ago, as an inucement for her to marry him, that he would have $7000 coming from Germany in about three weeks. This fact accounts for the anxiety Soeder displayed at the delay in the issuance of | the insurance policies on the life of his brother-in-law. Chief Wittman says that Miss Flat- ley has also given him enough other cvidence, the nature of which he refuses to disclose, to make a strong case against Soe- der. Detective Thomas Gibson found that Soeder did not re- turn to his room on the night of the murder. On the morn- ing the murder was discovered Soeder went to his room and took from Bilaise’s grip the in- surance policles on his life. | These were found on him at the time of his arrest. > - CATHERINE & ZATLEY /7 | ~ = Z 2 5 ! T qppp TTES HEZBLAS W7rH WHOIT BLAISE D SOEDER ROOME! / | - il ) < v | | ! MAN,ACCUSED OF MURDER AND I ILE STUDY o= WITNESSES WHO HAVE MADE | LZeox SDEDER- STATEMENTS AGAINST HIM. I B — \GROSS SHOWS | | T | | lican party was responsible for the ad- | %" ministration of the affairs of the Gov- | 7 A/ ernment the friends of that party 1 CO LO‘\BIA SEF“S should hold all of the available places. Hepburn referred to an interview he had had with the head of a department | having more than 500 clerks, who had stated that he had fifty clerks who | | could not get to their.desks if the ele- l vators in the building were not running | and that should he be permitted to| select his own force he could do all| { the business with 200 clerks. | —_——————————— | CSE DYNAMITE TO | CALL BUREAU, 1406 G STREET, N. | MURDER ENGINEER | W, 'WASHINGTON, Jan. 13.—Not only | LU J— 13.—G. H. Gl ‘;is Colombia rushing troops to the bor- HONODULU S8 35~ K. Glej- | ama and maintaining her at- pan. Tormer¥ ok Midwood City. Cal, | S2E 2L ERGY od an engineer on a plantation at Maka- walei, in Kaual County, was murdered Jast Friday night by means of a stick | age tribes of Indians in the wild of dynamite, which was exploded un- | mountainou; der his bed in a tent. Japanese gam- | strip and Atrato River have been allled blers whom Glennan had raided are | with the Colombian cause. the recapture of the isthmus, but sav suspected of the crime. The American naval force on the B 4 | isthmus is watching the situation at | 4 " | every possible point of trouble. Even fraudink the American Hotel of Kala- |} ") spe initiation of hostilities by mazoo, Mich., and a reward of $50 was offered for his capture. KALAMAZOO, Mich, Jan. 13.-J. Holbrook Estill is wanted for forgery ry State in the Union for opera- Colombia be not immediately retaliated upon by the United States Rear Ad- miral Coghlan will not be caught nap- ping by the Colombian army. INDIANS FRIENDLY. y ns carried on in hotels. In 1902 he SOME married Miss Lula® Lindsiey, daughter | The following cabie has been received of a millionaire lumber dealer in Dow- | gfrom Admiral Coghlan, dated Colon, agiac. A short time ago it was dis- | covered that Estill had a wife and three children still living in Savannah, Ga. | No aivorce had been granted from the | first wife. | Estill confessed to more than one : hundred crimes which he had com- | mitted throughout the country. He | will be brought back by Sheriff Ship- | man to Kalamazoo to be tried for for- gery. Should he be charged with big- |amy his wife in Savannah will be brought here to assist in the prosecu- tion. January 12: “Report from Cartagena states cruiser Cartagena now about to trans- port troops to Gulf of Darien. Troops are arriving at Barranquilla quite rap- jdly. Four thousand men now there. Castine, from Caledonia Harbor, re- ports Indians unfriendly. Chief at Saradi now wears uniform of colonel of Colombian forces. Large number of canoes at Sasardl and Mosquito vil- lage. No large landing of Colombian force made on the coast—merely par- | ties of two and three in canoes. Trad- | | | and | when Atlanta visited there the s region between the canal | time, except chief having uniform. No 'DETERMINED TO BEGIN WAR ON THE ISTHMUS Continues to Rush Troops to the Border and Is Making Alilies of the Savage Indian Tribes. ok GRSt 2 T Special Dispatch to The Call. ers in that vicinity say Indians are un- friendly to all strangers, allowing none to sleep ashore. No Colombian forces were seen at any time or place in Pan- ama ferritory. No trail or stream titude of determination to undertake| yhich can be entered from the sea was found. Everything about the same as first American vessels have ever been able to buy stores from Indians, even before Colombian forcs went to Tituamati. “Bancroft starts for northeast coast Tuesday morning. Castine and May- flower follow when coaled. The Topeka just from Bocas del Toro with report from Nashville; everything quiet and no excitement. Nashville will remain there. When Stewart is repaired I | propose to send her there also. “Mayflower returned. Found Man- ning Bay Inilans unfriendly. Objected | strongly to exploration in their terri- tory. From Conception Bay south to Mosquito village Indians are friendly and say that they will not permit Co- Jjombian forces or Indians to pass them. Indians said Colombian force expected to get all canoes, and with schooners and steam launches take large force to Mandingo Bay.” P 1t can be stated by authority that ths administration does not contemplate paying one dollar out of the United States treasury to Colombia on account Continued on Page 2, Column 2, The police have obtained new evi- dence of a damaging nature against Leon Soeder, accused of murdering Jo- seph Blaise, his brother-in-law, to se- cure the latter’s life insurance. The new evidence materially strengthens | the case against Soeder and to-day there may be a charge of murder placed against him. Yesterday Detec- tive Tom Gibson discovered that Soe- der did not return to his rooms at the housé of Mrs. Nieblas at 827 Jackson street until early Monday morning. It was also found that Soeder, as soon as | the murder was discovered, went again | to the room he and Blaise had occu- pled and took from Blaise's grip the | insurance policies on the life of the last named. He ate breakfast in the | Original Mexican Restaurant at 721 Broadway, and after getting rid of his gray suit and revolver went to the house of the girl he met coming over on the steamer from Germany and pre- tended to be looking for Blaise. Chief Wittman says he now has a strong case against Soeder and is posi- tive of his guilt. He claims to have secured damaging evidence against Sceder yesterday from Miss Catherine | Flatley, the woman whom Speder was | at one time going to wed, but who | afterward jilted him. SAID HE WOULD GET $7000. Miss Flatley was closeted with Chief | Wittman the greater part of yester-| day. The Chief was reluctant to give out anything, as he said it would ham- per the work of the police. It is known, however, that Miss Flatley gave the strongest testimony against her former lover that has yet been secured. She told Wittman that Soeder,*about a month ago and after his return from | Germany, asked her again to marry him anpd said that he expected to have] $7000 in, about three weeks. Just what other evidence Miss Flatley gave against Soeder is not known, but it is said to have made al- most enough of a case to warrant the preferring - of a charge of murder against Soeder. Detective Gibson learned yesterday that at noon on Monday, the day Blaise’s body was discovered, Soeder went to his room and removed from the | in the selling of his revolver. | Soeder came out | asked if his friend Blaise had stopped valise of Blafse the latter's insurance policies. These were found on Soeder at the time of his arrest. This is deemed a valuable piece of evidence. Joseph Nieblas and wife of 827 Jack- son street, at whose house Soeder and Blaise roomed, yesterday stated that they did not believe that Soeder came to his rooms until late in the morn- ing following the night on which the murder was committed. Soeder has stoutly maintained since his arrest that when he got up on the morning Blaise was missing he went out to the house of his friends at 4300 Mis- sion street to see if Blaise had stayed there over night. CLEANING OF THE SUIT. The detectives working on the case did not believe the man, however, and | claimed that he spent Monday morn- ing in getting rid of his gray suit and This he must have done before going out to the Mission, as Moritz Meienburg ! an uncle of the girl who came over on the steamer at the same time as Blaise and Soeder, and whom Blaise and Soeder used to visit, confirms his statement. Meienberg says that on the morning the dead body of Blaise was found with a gaping wound in | the neck on the side of Russian Hill to his house and there over night. Later on in the afternoon of the same day Meienberg says, Soeder again came out to the house and showed them the evening paper with the account of the mur- der of Blaise. This statement from Meienberg will tend to help Soeder, bi the other evi- dence against him wi ; ove too con- clusive. One thing is certain, that if he di. go to the Mission on the morning of the murder he got rid of the gray suit he wore on Sunday and sold his revolver before he went to his f-iends’ house. The former statement, made by the proprietors of the Native Sons Cleaning and Dyeing Works at 430 Bush, that the suit of - seder had been brought ¢o them by a boy, was changed yesterday. The clerk in the establish- ment now says that it ¥as a man who brought the suit to be cleaned. The cleaners at the works failed to notice whether the suit had any blood stains on it, thus wiping out all pos- sibility of securing what might have been the most incriminating piece of evidence against the supposed murder- er. To-day Detective Gibson will take Soeder to the cleaning works to see if the clerk can identify him as the one who brought the suit to be clean- ed. They are anxious to know if the alleged murderer received any assist- ance, either in the crime itself or the subsequent destruction of everything that might tend to serve as circum- stantial evidence against him. The police, however, believe that Soeder took the suit to the establishment himself. SOEDER AGAIN QUESTIONED The statement that Miss Flatley made to.Chief Wittman in regard to Soeder’s statement about the $7000 he expected to get will be the strongest link toward his conviction. Chief Wittman refused to say much about the case yesterday. He said that they had secured all that they wanted from Soeder for the time being and that they would now devote their time to running down clews they had. He said that the statements of Miss Flatley had been of most impor- tance to them in their effort to place the responsibility on the shoulders of Soeder. Captain Martin, who has been assist- ing Wittman in-.the case, had Soeder in Sergeant Bidwell’s office in the City Prison in the afterncon. There he un- derwent a vigorous fire of questions from Detectives Hogan and Martin. Captain Martin refused to state what took place at the interview. Late last night District Attorney Byington, it is alleged, met with Cap- tain Martin, Detective Gibson and Soe- der in his office in the Hall of Justice. What took place at this meeting is not known, but it is understood that Soeder skillfully evaded all questions that would tend in any way to strengthen the case against himself. The $7000 that Soeder expected to get and use as an inducement in the gaining of the hand of Miss Flatley is most likely the money represented in the policy for $7000 that he endeavor- ed to obtain from the Hartford Insur- Continued on Page 2, Columa &